《Bu Sha》


 Volume 1, 1 : Fateful Meeting

    Volume 1, Chapter 1 : Fateful Meeting


    ¡°Ah, cleaning is really a chore.¡±


    A slender boy, who looked almost handsome and cute, straightened his aching back, and returned to sweeping with his broom in discontent while mumbling complains:


    ¡°How wonderful would it be if I had a Maxun (a name of a machine) to help me sweep!¡±


    However, it was nothing but a fantasy. A Maxun costs a lot of money, especially a full-featured one, and it wasn¡¯t something a minor with random part-time jobs could afford, especially when he has to go to school.


    The damn tuition was so expensive, he got dizzy from working everyday, and he often found himself standing in front of his school, with a guava in his hands.


    What? Bombing a school is immoral? How could you bomb a school with a guava? What do you think a guava is, a hand grenade?


    Hmph, how could he possibly afford a hand grenade. It would be nice even if he could afford a guava to break the school¡¯s window. But seriously, the reinforced glass in the school can¡¯t be broken by a single guava.


    Upholding his principle of not letting anything go to waste, the guava was, of course, saved every time, and later became his after meal fruit.


    Pzz!


    The boy frowned, what was that strange sound? Could be the pre-owned automatic laundry, spinning, tumble dry, and super old to the point of being ancient, washing Maxun was giving him trouble again?


    Oh no! The boy rushed anxiously to check the condition of the washing Maxun, because his only remaining uniform was inside. If he loses his last uniform, he would have to wear underwear to school.


    Before the boy reached the Maxun, he already knew the sound had absolutely nothing to do with the pitiful machine. A strange, colourful whirlpool appeared beside him, and became bigger and bigger. His poor room soon began to distort¡­


    ¡°Goddammit! I know I¡¯m very unlucky, but I can¡¯t be this unlucky, right?¡± The boy looked around the distorted space helplessly.


    The boy wondered if the same unluckiness that killed his parents was going to kill him now: ¡°Even cleaning a room was going to lead to this?¡±


    Despite his complaints, the boy decided he wanted to live, so he hurriedly backed away from the distorted space.


    When he was just about to jump out the window, a flash of light intrigued him. Although his right foot was already on the window pane, he couldn¡¯t help but look at the strange phenomenon behind him.


    The whirlpool started expanding outward, suddenly a ray of light emerged, followed by thousands more, filling the entire room¡­


    ¡°Holy sh*t!¡± The boy could not help but curse in his native dialect. His eyes had been blinded by the light.


    He desperately shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness caused by the light. The boy cursed: ¡°Damn, the ancestors were right; curiosity would really f¡ªing kill a cat.¡±


    Even though he was blinded, he could still somewhat sense the changes around him. The temporary blindness was already fading, and the strange feeling of the surrounding space gradually dissipated.


    Instead of the whirlpool, there stood a person! The boy grabbed the gun on the table, and without looking, aimed at the person by using his senses.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    The boy¡¯s eyes was recovering and he could see the person¡¯s outline. Judging from the person¡¯s outline, he doesn¡¯t seem very muscular but normally, the real gosu* aren¡¯t the muscular type. He asked carefully, but at the same time, held his gun at the person.


    [T/N: Gosu ¨C A Korean term used to refer to a highly skilled person.]


    Who knew the whirlpool would spit out yet another person, who had a really strong murderous intent, and raised a weapon to greet the person who arrived before.


    ¡°Master, why don¡¯t you give up now. The organisation will not let you go, so it¡¯s better to die in my hands.¡±


    The second person who had murderous intent said coldly. Judging by the voice, the person was a woman.


    ¡°Yasha, the murderous intent you emit is too strong, and it¡¯s not something a real Assassin should do.¡± The so-called Master plainly corrected the student¡¯s mistake.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Yasha yelled, her buried anger surfacing. She will never be this person¡¯s subordinate, never!


    The legendary perfect Assassin will be stopped by her, and she will take over the title as the best Assassin! Killing him, as long as she kills the Master who started her to the path of being an Assassin, she will be become best Assassin!


    The two silently stood facing each other. Other than the sound of the Master¡¯s blood dripping, everything else seemed like the calm before a storm¡­ A duel to death was about to start!


    ¡°Oh wow, what are you two doing in someone else¡¯s house? Saying things I don¡¯t understand, and now you¡¯re all quiet. Hey! If you guys are going to fight go outside! If you break anything in my house, I swear I will make you pay, and I mean it¡­¡± The boy finally recovered his sight, and saw a man and a woman facing each other.


    They were both cold as ice. The boy curiously observed.


    The guy was tall and slender, wearing black clothes. Together with his black hair, he looked completely black. As far as his face goes, he had an oval face, which made him look a little delicate. Along with his silver iris, this man has an inexplicable way of intimidating people. The boy shivered.


    The woman, on the other hand, was quite colorful. Her bright red hair was paired together with green eyes. This strange combination didn¡¯t feel conflicting, instead, it made her more glamorous. The only problem with was her eyes, they felt really cold.


    The boy shook his head and sighed.


    But! What these two people look like had nothing to do with him. More importantly, the immense hatred between them was really scaring him.


    He was afraid of anything being broken inside his home. Being poor, he really couldn¡¯t afford to go on trial for two murders in his home.


    Yasha moved suddenly. Perhaps it shouldn¡¯t be called move, because she disappeared where she stood, and then suddenly appeared in front of the man. The razor in her hand had already silently cut his throat¡­


    ¡°Damn, really?¡± The boy stared in awe, he had already been decapitated? The man looked pretty strong.


    ¡®Sh*t, I might have to use some powerful detergent to clean off the blood off the ground.¡¯


    However, there wasn¡¯t even a half drop of blood. It turned out the man was nothing but a shadow.


    Surprised, Yasha immediately turned around to see if the man was behind her, only to find a hand gently pressed on her neck. To be exact, what was holding her neck wasn¡¯t a hand, but rather, just two fingers.


    But Yasha knew clearly that these two fingers were enough to take her life!


    ¡°Hehehe¡­.¡± Yasha wasn¡¯t scared, but rather, she started laughing, and sarcastically asked the person behind her.


    ¡°What? The so-called ¡®best Assassin¡¯ isn¡¯t brave enough to kill me? My Master used to kill people without them feeling any pain¡­ Because before they have felt anything they would already be meeting Hades!¡±


    The man stayed silent.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, Master. An Assassin will always be an Assassin.¡± Yasha¡¯s voice turned cold, and pushed away the man¡¯s hand without any fear.


    She said coldly: ¡°You will break the promise with that person. An Assassin can never not kill! Especially you, Master.¡±


    The man stood quietly; his face remained the same¡ªexpressionless!


    ¡°I will not kill you today, but one day, I will.¡± Yasha¡¯s lips suddenly turned into a dangerous and seductive smile.


    ¡°Master, kill me today, otherwise I will continue you hunt you down for as long as I live.¡±


    If she could get the Master to break the promise with that person, even if the price was her life, she was willing to do it.


    The man said dismissively: ¡°Leave, Yasha. I will not kill people.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± ¡®Is that person really important to you? Damn!¡¯


    Yasha¡¯s face revealed a jealous expression. The person whom Master should be paying attention to was her! She was Master¡¯s only apprentice.


    ¡°From now onwards, you are no longer my Master, but an enemy I must kill!¡± As soon as Yasha finished shouting, she turned to leave.


    But¡­ ¡®Where is this?¡¯ She finally realised the strangeness of the room.


    The boy who helplessly held a gun said.


    ¡°As the ¡®master of the room¡¯, can you guys stop ignoring me?¡± The two had been treating him as if he was transparent.


    If he could understand what they were saying, then at least he could watch them like a Soap Opera: the love and hate between a man and a woman¡­ ¡®Hehe, it¡¯ll be interesting to watch.¡¯


    But the problem was he couldn¡¯t understand anything of what they were saying!


    ¡°Open the door and let me out! Else you¡¯ll die.¡± Yasha said coldly, then knitted her eyebrows and looked at the confused boy.


    ¡®Was she talking to him?¡¯ The boy scratched his face, shrugged, and walked to the central processing Maxun he uses everyday.


    He picked up something that looked like a safety helmet, walked in front of the woman, raised the hat to her, and said, ¡°Wear this.¡±


    Yasha frowned, without taking the safety helmet. She didn¡¯t know if the boy means her any harm.


    The boy impatiently pointed at the hat, then made the gesture of putting on a hat. He prompted her again: ¡°Put it on. Hurry.¡±


    Yasha¡¯s face became colder, and the razor in her hand began to move¡­


    The man, however, walked in towards the boy, took the hat from him, and put it on without any hesitation.


    Upon seeing his actions, the boy walked back to the central processing Maxun and pressed a few buttons on the transparent console. Finally, he hit a button labelled ¡®Language Transmission¡¯.


    The safety helmet suddenly started glowing with colorful lights. As the lights shone, the man frowned slightly.


    Being forced fed information to his brain doesn¡¯t feel good, and many images flashed through in his brain. Nonetheless, he didn¡¯t make any noise, since the amount of pain wasn¡¯t nearly enough to make him grumble.


    After a while, the light on the safety helmet started to fade, until it returned to its original plain state. Then when the boy started asked:


    ¡°Can you understand me now?¡±


    The man nodded slightly, and spoke with the same language as the boy: ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good, now we don¡¯t have any communication barrier.¡± The boy nodded satisfactorily.


    ¡°I am from¡­¡± the man began to explain.


    ¡°I know!¡± The boy impatiently waved his hand and cut him off: ¡°From another dimension!¡±


    The man was astonished: ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Nowadays, even space isn¡¯t reliable. People are falling out of different dimensions, and the media doesn¡¯t report it anymore.¡±


    The boy helplessly placed his arms to his sides, wondering why he was so unlucky, that these people arrived in his home. What should he do now?


    He was, after all, a really lazy person, so he decided to send these strangers to a shelter! The boy approved of his own decision, and said eagerly.


    ¡°Because we have too many people coming from other dimensions, the Aklan Empire has designated shelters for them. You guys will need to leave this place, take a left, cross two streets, get over a lake, through a park, and there will be a management office. Tell them you¡¯re from another dimension and they will settle you into a shelter.¡±


    The man was startled, and then said indifferently: ¡°I don¡¯t need to go to a shelter. I will make a living.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the boy became interested, and asked excitedly: ¡°Oh? What can you do?¡±


    Maybe the man was the person who could rescue him from poverty, continuous part-time jobs, cold and hunger? Maybe he¡¯ll even live an elegant life? If that was the case, then it¡¯ll be great! With these kinds of thoughts, the boy¡¯s face began to brighten.


    The man seemed to be surprised by the boy¡¯s face lightening up, becoming a 500 watt light bulb.


    After being quiet for a while, he answered: ¡°I¡¯m an Assassin.¡±


    ¡®A-S-S-A-S-S-I-N?!¡¯


    As if to compliment his facial expression, his eyes began to brighten too. His face also began to show a flattering expression:


    ¡°Good, that profession is a promising, well-paying, low-cost, and high-return profession!¡±


    The Assassin seemed confused, how could anyone describe his profession like this? But then he composed himself and added: ¡°But, I promised never to kill again!¡±


    Quietness settled the room and the boy¡¯s smile was gone in an instant. He pointed at the door and said: ¡°Get the hell out, Mr. Never-Kill-Assassin.¡±


    Differential treatment was quite obvious. The Assassin walked to the door, only to see a smooth white door without handle, and he didn¡¯t know how to get out.


    The boy yelled impatiently: ¡°Open sesame.¡±


    The door opened instantly. The first person to walk out wasn¡¯t the Assassin, but the woman, Yasha. She turned around as she was leaving, and with a deadly smile on her face, she said: ¡°Farewell, Master.¡±


    ¡®Yasha¡­¡¯ The Assassin felt relatively sad.


    ¡°Hey, leave with your woman already. Don¡¯t stand there and bleed! Do you know blood odors are really hard to clean?¡±


    The irritated boy looked at the blood dripping from the Assassin¡ªdamn, he just finished cleaning!


    Although he had many questions about where he was, the Assassin didn¡¯t say much, especially when the owner has given the eviction notice.


    He quietly walked out, and the door mercilessly shut behind him. The Assassin looked at the strange world he had never seen. Was he nervous?


    ¡°Assassin Rules #3: No matter where you are, always keep calm¡­¡± The Assassin murmured.


    ¡­ Even if the buildings outside were all towering. But what was stranger was their design¡­ No, the reason they are strange was because they had no design. Domes, spires, and all sorts of strangely twisted shapes could be seen. The only word he could use them to describe them was ¡®total chaos¡¯.


    ¡­ There were hundreds, no, thousands of bizarre hemispheres flying around in the sky. If his eyes weren¡¯t playing tricks on him, he saw a few Dragons amongst the flying objects, and there were people riding those Dragons.


    Despite being the strongest and coldest Assassin, he had to take a few deep breaths to deal with all the unfamiliar sights.


    Slowly appeasing his nerves, the Assassin began to think. He was about 50 stories* above the ground, and he couldn¡¯t find any form of stairs leading to the surface.


    [T/N: 50 story is approximately 165 meters, 541 feet and 4 inches.]


    The flying objects around him were so erratic, it seemed like they could hit him at any time¡­ What could he do?


    Even for a level-headed Assassin, felt the sadness comparable to a cold wind sweeping away the falling leaves (the Assassin felt helpless).


    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± He heard the noisy boy¡¯s voice again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get down.¡± The Assassin aloofly stated the truth.


    ¡®Yasha¡­ She probably used a rope to get down.¡¯ Unfortunately, he had already used his rope when he was being chased.


    * * *


    The boy mumbled: ¡°What a pain. Why do I always run into trouble like this? I still have to go to work. If I¡¯m late they will deduct my salary, what am I going to eat next month?¡±


    The Assassin remained silent. He didn¡¯t respond to the boy¡¯s complaints.


    To him, the boy had no responsibility to help a stranger like him. Besides, the boy was already doing him a favor by not calling the police on him after discovering he was an Assassin.


    The boy sighed exaggeratedly, and snappily yelled at the Assassin: ¡°Come over here.¡±


    The Assassin turned, and saw the boy walking into a transparent tube with a radius of about a meter. After the boy walked in, he fell straight down to the ground.


    The Assassin¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he looked down, only to find the boy was standing on the ground, looking back at him.


    Although the distance of about ten stories made it hard to see the boy¡¯s face, but it was certain the boy was safe.


    ¡®So this tube was a tool to get downstairs.¡¯ The Assassin then stepped into the tube. The fact there was nothing for him to step on, made him feel uneasy. The suction from the tube which dragged him down ten stories, made the Assassin so nervous, his pupils dilated.


    The boy¡¯s face and loud voice were in front of the Assassin again. He began to complain with obvious dissatisfaction: ¡°Why are you so slow? Do you want to make me late? Hurry up.¡±


    The boy reached to pull the Assassin. If they don¡¯t hurry, then he really wouldn¡¯t have enough money to eat next month.


    However, the Assassin moved away by reflex and escaped the boy¡¯s reach. When the boy grabbed nothing but air, he just shrugged and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The Assassin scowled.


    This world was completely different. Where he was from, he had never seen so much metal. The buildings were metal, roads were metal, and even the trees on the side of the roads looked like it was made out of metal!


    ¡°Are those real trees?¡± Although asking wasn¡¯t something Assassins do, but he couldn¡¯t contain himself.


    The boy glanced at him, ¡°Of course not! Those are artificial trees, made to replace the real trees. They convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Trees are luxuries, and the government would never plant them on the road,¡± the boy stated as a matter-of-fact.


    ¡®Trees¡­ Are luxuries?¡¯ The Assassin smirked. ¡®Don¡¯t trees grow as they please on the side of the roads and chopped for firewood?¡¯


    A hemisphere made out of metal slowly landed beside the two.


    The Assassin noticed the similarity of the one he saw in the sky, except this one seemed bigger than the others. The smooth surface suddenly opened an oblong hole of about a meter wide and two meters tall, just about enough for a person to comfortably walk through.


    ¡°I have to pay for one more bus fare! I wonder if I could get reimbursed by the government?¡± The boy said with dissatisfaction, and then beckoned the Assassin:


    ¡°Hurry up. You¡¯re so slow that you don¡¯t seem like an Assassin.¡± After he said those words, the boy stepped into the oblong-shaped hole.


    The Assassin soon quietly followed his steps.


    Being alone in a strange world, there probably aren¡¯t many people who could keep as composed as he was, instead his speed suffered, and seemed to be slower than usual.


    The moment the Assassin stepped inside the strange oval, he suddenly realized the vehicle was transparent. He could easily see the view of outside world. It was as if the metal shell didn¡¯t exist at all.


    He could even see below his own feet¡­ And it started to float!


    ¡°Come sit down; it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no seats available, so why are you standing?¡± The boy sat down without any reserve, crossed his legs and leisurely patted the seat next to him.


    The Assassin quietly sat down. The boy still had his legs leisurely crossed, seemed ill-fitted given his handsome or cute appearance.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The boy asked carelessly; and then he realized he should probably introduce himself first, so he hurriedly added: ¡°My name is Kaiser.¡±


    [T/N: He proceeded to explain which two Chinese characters his names were: Kai, and then Si as in the first character of ¡°driver¡±]


    ¡®Kaiser¡­?¡¯ The Assassin smiled: ¡°Liola.¡±


    [T/N: In the boy¡¯s initial explanation of his name, it sounded like he was saying Kai¡¯s Driver. That¡¯s why the Assassin found it funny and smiled.]


    ¡°What a strange name, as if someone just put random letters together.¡± Kaiser criticized mercilessly, and then moved onto another topic:


    ¡°So, what¡¯s your relationship with the fiery red-head? Why did she seem like she wants to cut you into a thousand pieces? Don¡¯t tell me you got her pregnant and then dumped her? I don¡¯t have to tell you this¡­ But, as a man, you have to be liable sometimes. Don¡¯t always do irresponsible things.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola suddenly felt powerless. The boy¡¯s imagination was a bit too colorful: ¡°I¡¯m her Master, not lover.¡±


    ¡°Master?¡± Kaiser could not refrain from assessing Liola, ¡®Can it be?¡¯ he thought.


    He thought Liola and the hottie were lovers. ¡®How could she be his apprentice? No matter how he looked, Liola looked younger than her¡­¡¯ Kaiser thought.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± Kaiser asked bluntly.


    ¡°Twenty five.¡± Liola answered truthfully.


    ¡°How old was the hottie?¡± Kaiser asked again.


    ¡°Twenty seven.¡± Liola thought about it for a while and answered. As far as he remembers, Yasha was two years older than him.


    Kaiser touched his forehead and said, ¡°You¡¯re twenty five, she¡¯s twenty seven, so you¡¯re two years younger; how come you¡¯re her master?¡±


    ¡°In the organization, the master-apprentice relationship doesn¡¯t depend on age, but on abilities.¡± Liola concisely answered.


    After he finished explaining, he seemed to have sank into his memory.


    Yasha¡­ Had she not been the precious daughter of the head of the organization, he wouldn¡¯t have had such a troublesome apprentice.


    ¡°So to say, you¡¯re very strong?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes brightened again. Strong people have monetary value.


    ¡°I¡¯m the best Assassin.¡± Liola said without holding back.


    ¡°Ex-cell-ent!¡± Kaiser¡¯s put his hands heavily upon Liola¡¯s shoulders, looked at Liola hopefully, and whispered: ¡°Did you see the gentleman behind me who¡¯s wearing glasses?¡±


    Liola nodded without looking. When he was getting on the bus, he already memorized who and what were inside.


    Assassin Rule #5, no matter when and where, one must always keenly observe his surroundings.


    ¡°That guy is a really dangerous man! He¡¯s a legendary rank-X wanted man.¡± Kaiser whispered excitedly.


    ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s exciting about this?¡± Liola remained confused.


    ¡°If you catch him and collect the bounty placed on him, then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food or clothes for a long while.¡±


    Kaiser could not resist but indulge himself in the fantasy of not having to worry about food or clothes. It would be even better if he could turn the bounty into paper bills and use them to line a bed.


    He could only imagine how good it would feel to eat while lying on such a bed.


    Liola looked at the gentleman from the corner of his eye.


    Sure enough, the man with the gold framed glasses had already looked at them. His sharp eyes showed some disdain, and his mouth displayed a sinister smile.


    Kaiser was so loud, perhaps only the deaf could not hear!


    ¡°Let¡¯s get off at the next stop.¡± Liola talked to Kaiser as though he was talking to the gentleman.


    ¡°Good!¡± Kaiser¡¯s happy expression pressed Liola to glance at him shortly, realizing he was being loud on purpose.


    As soon as they got off, Kaiser took out his gun. Even though he dragged Liola with him, he wanted to do his part. At the very least, if things went haywire, he could escape alive.


    With a head of blonde hair, blue eyes with gold-framed glasses, a warming and harmless smile, and a black-and-white robe adorned with some unknown symbols, the gentleman appeared to be very strange.


    After Kaiser assessed the man, he lazily pointed the gun at him and said: ¡°Hey, give it up now, or would you like for me to shoot you?¡±


    Liola slightly frowned when he saw how calm the gentleman was.


    The gentleman looked petite with thin arms and legs, and not like someone who could fight. At most, he looked like someone who plans evil schemes behind the scenes, surrounded by bodyguards.


    ¡°You are sure I¡¯m a rank-X wanted criminal? Do I look like a wanted criminal?¡± The gentleman smiled slightly, but his eyes seemed to show slight interest, and with a calm demeanor, fixed his gaze onto Kaiser.


    Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    The person¡¯s eyes looked similar to the leader of his organization.


    Both the gentleman and the leader have confidence shown in their eyes, as if they are somehow had total control of the situation.


    These were the kind of people who would always appear commanding on a battlefield and placed on thrones.


    ¡°Miseroy, rank-X wanted criminal. Unknown abilities, unknown age, and unknown just about everything. But the strange thing is, they knew exactly what he looked like. It¡¯s rare for them to know the appearance of a rank-X wanted criminal.¡± Kaiser explained.


    ¡°Kaiser, are you sure you could catch him?¡± The alarm in Liola¡¯s heart wouldn¡¯t stop ringing. His Assassin instinct tells him they shouldn¡¯t mess with this person!


    Kaiser turned around with an innocent look on his face, and moved his hands aside and said: ¡°He¡¯s a rank-X criminal, how could I possibly catch him?¡±


    ¡°Rank-X?¡± Facing this unfamiliar title, Liola suddenly feels uneasy.


    ¡°Wanted criminals are divided by ranks from A to F, A being the most dangerous and F being the least.¡± Kaiser explained carefully: ¡°But there¡¯s an addition rank, rank-X.¡±


    ¡°How strong are they?¡± Liola frowned.


    ¡°Hmm, I heard they are a lot stronger than rank-A. Criminals whose strength are so strong to the point of being unmeasurable, are all grouped into rank-X. There are only ten rank-X criminals in the world currently.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes shone again:


    ¡°The bounty for every rank-X is enormous. Even if you were to break my arms and legs, it would be enough money for me to spend in ten lives. I can¡¯t believe we ran into a rank-X today in a bus. God treated me well.¡±


    ¡®Maybe God wants to kill you¡­¡¯ Liola can¡¯t comprehend what¡¯s in Kaiser¡¯s mind.


    An Assassin should always assess the opponent first, draw up a plan, and then put the plan into action. It would be the wisest choice.


    ¡°So, I guess we¡¯ll have to fight?¡± Mizerui said, still smiling.


    ¡°Of course! For me to be able to live comfortably by lying down and not do any work, you should sacrifice a little and go eat free meals in the Aklan jail!¡± Kaiser proclaimed.


    Without hesitation, he then raised his gun and fire it blank three times, and then, with a handsome gesture, blew the smoke away from the guy: ¡°Surely rank-X criminals can¡¯t be subdued with just guns. Liola, your turn.¡±


    Liola frowned. Kaiser¡¯s three gunshots were accurate, but he fired them at the wrong time. But how did Mizerui stop those three bullets when they were about three meters away from him?


    Liola didn¡¯t see Mizerui move, nor did feel any Ki waves from him. The only difference was his smile turning into a malevolent grin.


    ¡°You¡¯re a sorcerer?¡± Kaiser asked, surprised. The situation became dangerous.


    Mizerui blinked: ¡°Yep, do you want to try my powers out?¡±


    Liola was still thinking. What kind of powers could possibly make those bullets drop to the ground?


    Suddenly, started to feel a heavy pressure on his body, as if he was carrying the sandbags he used when training to be an Assassin.


    ¡°Re-really heavy!¡± Kaiser was already down on the ground, moaning.


    ¡°Ten times the gravity isn¡¯t enough to make you fall?¡± Mizerui seemed surprised.


    Ten times the gravity meant the people would feel their weight ten times more, and it will total up to a few hundred kilograms. Ordinary people would already fallen the ground.


    Mizerui started showing some interest in Liola.


    ¡°Ten times the gravity? That¡¯s a strange Kung Fu name.¡± Liola didn¡¯t understand what gravity meant.


    Kaiser, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and shouted: ¡°Idiot, this isn¡¯t Kung Fu. He¡¯s a Sorcerer! A Sorcerer!¡±


    ¡°Sorcerer?¡± Liola still couldn¡¯t comprehend. However, he knew the man in front of him wasn¡¯t easy to deal with. In the past, he would¡¯ve already cut his throat before the man could attempt anything, but now¡­


    ¡°Twenty times gravity.¡± Mizerui said gently.


    After Mizerui casted the spell, Liola¡¯s feet sunk a few centimeters into the ground. Though he could still stand, his facial expressions changed.


    The weight was no longer something Liola could take lightly. Kaiser was in an even worse condition. Kaiser couldn¡¯t talk, let alone raise his head, and blood was coming out of the edge of his mouth.


    ¡°This is some evil Kung Fu!¡± Liola said with some difficulty.


    ¡°I¡­ already¡­ told you¡­ I-it¡¯s not¡­ Kung Fu¡­¡± Even though he was dying, he forced himself to correct Liola.


    Liola used Fluttering Blood Ki skill he practiced for more than twenty years, and his body felt significantly lighter.


    Although Mizerui¡¯s gravity spell still affected him, his speed was still unmatched by a normal person. The most important and most basic attribute of an Assassin¡ªspeed!


    Liola instantly took out a thin silver stick hidden in his boots. Because he can¡¯t kill, Liola did not use any deadlier weapons.


    He held up the stick and ran towards Mizerui. He was moving so fast, normal people could only see after-images of black shadows.


    Truthfully, if he wasn¡¯t affected by Mizerui¡¯s gravity spell, people won¡¯t even see those black shadows under the naked eye.


    Mizerui¡¯s face showed traces fright for the first time, and immediately increased the intensity of his gravity spell to the limit, making the gravity within one meter of him to increase to a thousand times.


    The black shadow suddenly stopped and Liola appeared again. The silver stick stopped its tracks in mid-air. If someone were to measure it with a ruler, they would find the end of the stick had stopped at exactly one meter and one centimeter away from Mizerui.


    Mizerui¡¯s forehead started sweating. He couldn¡¯t believe Liola found out the range of his gravity spell. He had underestimated his opponent.


    Liola only paused for a second, and took out a shuriken from his sleeves. Interesting enough, the shuriken was not thrown directly at Mizerui. Instead, it was aimed above his head, with a parabolic trajectory. In other words, if Mizerui doesn¡¯t move, the shuriken will hit his head with a thousand times gravity.


    [T/N: Shuriken is what throwing stars are called in Japanese. Used by ninjas. Ex. Naruto.]


    But Mizerui wasn¡¯t interested in adding a hole on his skull, not to mention the hole would probably extend all the way to his feet with because of the gravity and the momentum.


    Mizerui teleported a step to his left, and his right hand formed a compressed ball of air, and threw it as a bomb towards Liola.


    However, to Liola, it meant nothing. He simply sidestepped to his left, then back. To a bystander, it would look as if he didn¡¯t move, and the ball of air simply passed through his body.


    Mizerui¡¯s eyes tightened, and raised his hands and yelled: ¡°Let¡¯s see how you handle this; Failed Lecture ¡ª Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls.¡±


    ¡®Damn¡­ Was that the name of the spell?¡¯ Kaiser thought helplessly, finding it unfortunate. Mizerui, who had no creativity for skill names, was responsible for him being on the ground.


    Liola didn¡¯t have Kaiser¡¯s leisure to think about how crappy the name is, because thousands of bombs materialized in the sky, was causing Liola quite a headache.


    For someone who had never seen anything like this, even as the best Assassin, Liola wasn¡¯t sure what to do next.


    But, Mizerui didn¡¯t drop the bombs, but rather smiled: ¡°How about we both take a step back?¡±


    ¡°Back, back, back. Liola, go back a few steps.¡± Kaiser suddenly realized, he himself was in the attack range of ¡®Failed Lecture ¡ª Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls¡¯, so he agreed to Mizerui¡¯s proposal, while taking several steps back.


    Strange as it was, Liola really took a few steps back, stopping only until he reached Kaiser, and then he put the silver stick back into his boot.


    ¡®nteresting people¡­¡¯ Mizerui scratched his face, and cancelled the ¡®Failed Lecture ¡ª Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls¡¯ spell.


    He was interested in two guys, and he changed the gravity back to ten times so Kaiser could talk normally.


    ¡°Tell me everything about you two, and perhaps if makes me happy, I¡¯ll let you two live.¡±


    ¡°Oof, a bit better.¡± Kaiser sighed in relief, and looked up at Mizerui with hopeful expression:


    ¡°You¡¯re really going to let us live? Then I¡¯ll tell you everything. My name is Kaiser, and I¡¯m a rank-D bounty hunter. I was just about to bring this guy, Liola, who came from another dimension to the government shelter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Mizerui said, displeased.


    ¡°And, and!¡± Seeing Mizerui¡¯s discontent, Kaiser hurriedly added, but what else could he say? Kaiser couldn¡¯t think of what else to say about himself even if he split his head open, so all he could do was betray the guy from another dimension:


    ¡°Y-you shouldn¡¯t underestimate Liola. You already saw what he¡¯s capable of. He is the so-called best Assassin. So you better not cross him. Twenty times the gravity was nothing to him. The reason why he backed off was because he didn¡¯t want to kill anyone, but if you make him mad, he might just kill you with a knife.¡±


    Mizerui and Liola both pretended as if they didn¡¯t hear anything. Mizerui raised his eyebrows and asked Liola: ¡°From another dimension?¡±


    Liola nodded lightly.


    ¡°Okay, you may go.¡± Mizerui gestured them to leave.


    ¡°What? You¡¯re really going to let us go?¡± Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped: ¡°I thought we were dead for sure.¡±


    Mizerui blinked: ¡°Under one condition.¡±


    ¡°What condition?¡± Kaiser was stunned, and asked: ¡°Let me tell you first, if you¡¯re going to make me a slave or tell me I can¡¯t eat, then you might as well kill me.¡±


    Mizerui showed an innocent expression: ¡°No no, as long as you two apply to the Aklan College and get in to study there, I will let you go.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Kaiser asked, could not believe it.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Mizerui put his hands on his side.


    ¡°Uh, strange things sure happen a lot nowadays.¡± Kaiser mumbled:


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe someone would threaten me with my life to go to school. I don¡¯t know if this was something good or bad. But what am I going to do with my old school? It took a lot to get a scholarship to it.¡±


    ¡°Oh and by the way,¡± Mizerui blinked again, ¡°Today is the last day to apply to Aklan Academy, and the application office is only open until five. It¡¯s already three, so you still have two hours.¡±


    ¡°Whaaat!¡± Kaiser looked at his watch, and to be exactly, there is only an hour and fifty three minutes left, ¡°Aklan Academy is downtown!¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t get in,¡± Mizerui smiled, ¡°Then at five o¡¯clock sharp I will go kill you both. And don¡¯t you dare think about escaping, I will find you wherever you are.¡±


    ¡°Five o¡¯clock¡­ Ah, the bus is here. Liola, let¡¯s go!¡± Kaiser grabbed Liola by the collar, ran with him to the bus stop hundreds of meters away, and jumped on the bus at the very last second.


    * * *


    ¡°That was really fast¡­¡± Mizerui almost drip in cold sweat.


    ¡°Why did you let them go?¡± A shadow suddenly said coldly.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want us to get hurt!¡± Mizerui showed an innocent smile.


    ¡°What do you mean¡­¡± The shadow began to reply unsatisfactorily, and then stopped.


    ¡°Did you finally notice?¡± Mizerui¡¯s smile grew larger: ¡°That quiet Assassin had already fired the warning shots.¡±


    The shadow quietly looked at the ground in front of his feet, and saw there were two shuriken there. He didn¡¯t realize them until now.


    ¡°He threw it when I was activating ¡®Failed Lecture¡¯, if I were to drop the ¡®Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls¡¯, then perhaps somebody¡¯s heart would¡¯ve been stabbed by shurikens by now.¡± Mizerui said, with an expression on his face as if he¡¯s saying ¡®you should thank me¡¯.


    The shadow touched his own nose helplessly. He didn¡¯t think he had been turn into a liability.


    Mizerui acted as if he remembered something, and happily said ¡°Right, I better go tell Barbalis I found him two new interesting students.¡±


    ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t find them too interesting that you¡­¡± The shadow said, his face becoming overshadowed with black lines, turning speechless.


    [T/N: The shadow person¡¯s face was filled with black lines, kind of like how anime characters do when they are speechless or grief stricken.]


    ¡°How¡¯s that possible? I only did it because I think they were talented, and I remember Barbalis was short on people, so I would introduce them to him!¡± Mizerui said, full of seriousness.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± The shadow seemed to have raised his guard.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Mizerui answered seriously, then turned around with a smile on his face again and said: ¡°All right, I have to go and discuss this game with Barbalis¡­ No, I mean the plan to train these talented people!¡±


    The former was the truth, wasn¡¯t it? The shadow was speechless.

 Volume 1, 2 : Purity

    Volume 1, Chapter 2 : Purity


    After a long silence, Liola asked: ¡°If you knew Mizerui was strong, why did you try to attempt the impossible?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s expression turned serious: ¡°It¡¯s because of my dreams.¡±


    ¡°Dreams?¡± Liola asked again.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Kaiser suddenly stood up and shouted firmly: ¡°My dream is to lie on a bed comfortably for the rest of my life without having to worry about food or clothing! And for my dream, I am willing to risk my life to do it.¡±


    Was this being lazy or being diligent¡­ Thought everyone inside the bus while facepalming.


    ¡°Ah! We¡¯ve arrived at Aklan Academy, hurry up and get off.¡± Kaiser looked down at the time and said with frustration: ¡°45 minutes left. Come on, hurry up. I don¡¯t want to be reporting to in the gates of hell in 45 minutes.¡±


    After the two jumped off the bus, a strange gate appeared in front of them. It was a head; that¡¯s right, you¡¯ve read it correctly.


    The so-called Academy gate was just a spherical head, with a half-bald, with tonsured hairstyle. Its facial features were clearly visible, along with a Salvador Dali mustache.


    The mouth was laughing and wide-open, and where its opened mouth lead to, was entrance to the academy.


    Kaiser stared at it blankly before he said: ¡°It really is a ¡®laughing¡¯ door!¡±


    Liola could not arbitrate the architectural design of the building.


    Because this world has a strange architectural style. Kaiser wasn¡¯t surprised for long. He grabbed Liola¡¯s wrist and dragged him into the mouth¡­ No, the Academy gate.


    He felt like a lamb walking into a tiger¡¯s mouth¡­


    Liola suddenly wanted to sigh. Why did his life, within a span of only half a day, change so dramatically? From being chased to falling into a strange world, and now he even had to do something he had never done¡ªgo to school.


    ¡°If Anise knew I¡¯ve become like this, she¡­ Would definitely be happy.¡± Liola laughed bitterly.


    ¡°What kind of trash¡­?¡± Kaiser turned around and curiously asked; but before he got an answer, he had already forgotten the question, and he started to say, ¡°Hurry, let¡¯s go apply now. Otherwise, in half an hour, we¡¯re both doomed.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s just me, even if I couldn¡¯t beat Mizerui, I could escape.¡± Liola assessed the situation, and concluded.


    ¡°Da¡­ Dage¡­¡± Kaiser said, trembling: ¡°Going to school is fun. You¡¯re a world-class Assassin, so you definitely haven¡¯t experienced the joy of going to school, and now¡¯s your chance. So you should fill your head with knowledge while attending school, because in this world, diplomas are the most important thing. Having a diploma will get you a good job, and having a good job will let you survive easily¡­ Plus, you going to school will also save my life, so isn¡¯t it hitting multiple birds with the same stone? You should never miss something that has more pros than cons.¡±


    Kaiser was literally crying while holding onto Liola¡¯s leg.


    Going to school? Liola thought about it, and then nodded slightly. He had nowhere else to go, so perhaps the quiet campus was a good place. Even though the campus would later prove to be anything but quiet, but this was something Liola couldn¡¯t anticipate.


    Kaiser, who had been crying, saw Liola¡¯s nod, and suddenly all his tears seemed to have retreated back into his eyes. He stood up as if nothing had happened, and yelled excitedly: ¡°Good, let¡¯s go apply then.¡±


    Liola pointed with his finger, gesturing in front of them: ¡°Which line should we go to?¡±


    ¡°Whichever line is fine¡­¡± Kaiser turned around and immediately saw many people forming in two snake-shaped lines, extending from where they stood to somewhere they couldn¡¯t see.


    Kaiser blurted: ¡°Damn! Nowadays we have to line up for everything. Buying food, getting on a bus; I wonder¡­ does dying require lining up too?¡±


    Of course it does! He used to have a list of his prey lined up, waiting for him to execute them. Liola quietly thought.


    ¡°Look, look, there¡¯re less people over there!¡± Kaiser said excitedly, as if he had discovered a new world. He dragged Liola again and started running. To someone as lazy as him, doing less was for the best.


    Kaiser forcefully slammed on the table, and yelled: ¡°We¡¯re here to apply!¡±


    The old man who slept in his seat while blowing bubbles from his mouth suddenly woke up and stared at Kaiser, clueless to what was going on.


    ¡°Old man, can you hurry up? Do you know we don¡¯t have long left to live?¡± Kaiser looked at his watch, there was less than 15 minutes left, and said with frustration.


    ¡°Lad, relax, you will definitely live longer than me.¡± The old man said slowly but surely, and murmured: ¡°What¡¯s the hurry? I¡¯ve already lived hundreds of years and I¡¯m not in much of a hurry.¡±


    ¡°You are right, I will live longer than you, because if were die I am gonna kill you first.¡± Kaiser yelled angrily.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you apply. Don¡¯t kill me.¡± After Kaiser screamed, the old man seemed a bit scared. He hurriedly prepared various files and placed them in front of Kaiser, and timidly said: ¡°Just sign these and you will be admitted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that simple?¡± Kaiser skeptically stared at the old man.


    ¡°It is that simple.¡± The old man gulped and answered.


    ¡°What the hell, I thought we were going to be faced with a super difficult test before we would be admitted. But it turns out this easy. I was scared for nothing.¡± Kaiser complained as he took the files, and handed a copy to Liola.


    Liola quietly received the files, but his eyes lightly scanned the timid old man.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have to fill.¡± Kaiser took the pen from the desk, and leisurely said, ¡°Name and gender¡­ That¡¯s it?¡±


    Yes, the 30 cm by 30 cm piece of paper only had two words written on it: Name, and gender¡­ And the handwriting was very ugly!


    Kaiser was not the only one who dumbfounded, even Liola skeptically knitted his eyebrows. The file was a little bit too convenient for him. After all, the only information Liola had to give was his name and gender.


    Kaiser waved, and declared he was done. The old man took the files while shuddering, and handed Kaiser some necessities: a washbasin, a set of toiletries, a set of sheets, a steel knife, a set of uniform, and lastly, a black card.


    ¡°That black card is your student ID, so you should take care of it. Entering and exiting the Academy depend on it, as well as your room.¡± The old man explained.


    Liola received the same things. He held up the black card and examined the strange silver pattern on it. It looked like a pass with jewelry on it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Liola.¡±


    He only looked at it for a short while, because Kaiser was already beckoning Liola from far away.


    Liola thought, despite Kaiser calling himself lazy, he was actually quite quick to take action. So where was this supposed laziness be? As he was contemplated, he started walking towards Kaiser.


    * * *


    When Kaiser and Liola were far away, the timid old man suddenly stood up, straightened his back, and briskly laughed viciously:


    ¡°Ah, finally I¡¯ve tricked¡­ Another two students. As the principal of the School of Sorcery, it would be shameful if I couldn¡¯t even get thirty students.¡±


    ¡°I forgot to tell those two, the School of Sorcery¡¯s graduation rate is less than ten percent.¡± The old man laughed. After all, there is no such a thing as being enrolled with just a name and a gender.


    ¡°Graduation rate weren¡¯t important. What¡¯s most important was the survival rate was less than thirty percent. Wasn¡¯t this the real reason why the School of Sorcery doesn¡¯t have many people, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The old man turned, and sure enough, a gentle and smiling face appeared before him,


    ¡°Mizerui?¡±


    ¡°Long time no see, Barbalis, and you owe me once again.¡± Mizerui greeted him as if they were old friends.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Barbalis curiously asked, not that he minds owing a favor, but why would Mizerui ask him to help handling people¡­ at least he hadn¡¯t seen it before.


    ¡°I helped you trick those two interesting students here.¡± Mizerui smiled.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Barbalis was interested, and curiously looked at Mizerui. Mizerui explained everything in full detail to Barbalis.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting. One is a man from another dimension with unfathomable strength, and the other seems to have exceptional magic fluctuation. I withdrew all of my magic perfectly. The outsider seemed to have seen through my disguise. They¡¯re definitely not ordinary. ¡±


    Barbalis murmured, and gestured to thank Mizerui, while smiling and hitting Mizerui¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Mizerui, my old friend, I can¡¯t believe you send me such interesting people. I really owe you a big one.¡±


    Mizerui blinked: ¡°Not at all, just remember to share their progress with me.¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course. It would definitely be interesting. Hahaha.¡± Barbalis started laughing loudly, and his laughter could be heard all around the campus.


    All the teachers and students who knew of the principal¡¯s personalities shivered, hoping to God the principal will never find them ¡®interesting¡¯.


    * * *


    ¡°This is really not fair.¡± Kaiser said, for the 34th time, ¡°Why does the School of Knights and the School of Mecha Fighters have dorms that looked like five star hotels. But the where School of Sorcery lived, it looked like we should apply to the government to be a historic site.¡±


    ¡°There is no free lunch.¡± Liola said it as a matter-of-fact. The process of getting in this school was too simple. If the only difference with other schools were the dorms, then it would be a good thing. Still, he didn¡¯t think it was simple, especially the old man.


    ¡°No wonder there were two long lines, and there was no one in front of the School of Sorcery, not even a mouse.¡± Kaiser circled the crude room. Other than two beds, two desks, and a bathroom, there was nothing but the four walls.


    Kaiser covered the bed with sheets, climbed on it, and sighed comfortably.


    ¡°Kaiser, what exactly do people learn in the School of Knights, Mecha Fighters, and Sorcery?¡± Liola received a headache trying to figure out the three things he had never heard before. To him, this new world was full of mystery.


    ¡°Knights?¡± Kaiser laid on his bed with hands behind his head: ¡°They are the profession with a great-sword or pike, equip themselves with metal, and they ride things to travel around.¡±


    A bit hard to understand¡­ Liola wondered if he couldn¡¯t understand because he didn¡¯t know much of this world, or was it because Kaiser¡¯s ability to explain was lacking.


    ¡°Mecha Fighters is even crazier. It¡¯s the called money-burning profession. Even if their machine looked like junk, it¡¯s still expensive as hell.¡± Kaiser shook his head, and sighed thinking the rich people were quite wasteful.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand.¡± Liola frowned.


    ¡°Well.¡± Kaiser puffed his pillow: ¡°Liola, just remember: if you see people with armor, those are from School of Knights, don¡¯t mess with them. If you see them with mecha armor, those are from School of Mecha Fighters, don¡¯t mess with them. And as for the School of Sorcery¡­ Don¡¯t mess with them either. Though some of them may be weak, but who knows if you end up messing with Mizerui¡¯s son?¡±


    To sum it up, don¡¯t mess with anybody¡­ Looks like Liola can¡¯t rely on Kaiser to try and understand this world. Liola sighed deeply.


    ¡°Oh right Liola; tell me, why aren¡¯t you a normal assassin, but an assassin who doesn¡¯t kill?¡± Kaiser murmured. An assassin who doesn¡¯t kill? It¡¯s a profession that pays worse than a Sorcerer.


    Hearing this, Liola¡¯s drifted back into his memories¡­ This was about a year ago. The first thing he remembered was a long silky blonde hair dancing around in the wind.


    * * *


    ¡°Liola, have you ever been unable to sleep soundly because you took a life?¡± A pair of sad, lake green eyes stared at him, not with blame, but with sympathy.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never slept soundly.¡± Liola replied truthfully: ¡°Assassin¡¯s Rule #10, staying alert even when sleeping.¡±


    The girl laughed bitterly: ¡°If one day you couldn¡¯t sleep soundly because you killed someone, then perhaps you aren¡¯t a real assassin anymore.¡±


    ¡°Anise¡­ In the past, I couldn¡¯t sleep soundly because I killed someone, but as you can see, that part of me is gone.¡± Liola¡¯s face showed a rare expression of sadness and worry.


    * * *


    ¡°Who is Anise? Does she have something to do with you not killing?¡± Kaiser asked curiously.


    ¡°I promised her, never to kill again.¡± Liola stated the only promise he had ever made in his life.


    Hearing this, Kaiser became really interested in the story. He puffed his pillow again, laid comfortably, and asked Liola: ¡°Tell me the story between you and Annie.¡±


    Liola hesitated for a while, and finally started telling the story of what happened in the past year.


    ¡°Anise was a Master Doctor; at least that¡¯s what everyone says. It seemed like no one she cured had ever died. That year, because the organization accepted a commission, we kidnapped Anise. Who knew Anise¡¯s medical skills were so exceptional? Rather than killing her, as stated in the original contract, the organization was willing to pay the penalty for breaching the contract. Anise was placed under house arrest, and she stayed within the organization to treat assassins who were injured on the job¡­¡±


    * * *


    One year ago¡­


    Liola stood quietly in the center of the hall. But although he stood in the center, his existence was frail enough for others not consider him as a living person.


    His black hair, black clothes, and even darker eyes. Had it not been for the bright red blood dripping from his right arm, people would have mistaken him for an obsidian statute.


    ¡°Li, you shouldn¡¯t be hurt.¡± The leader¡¯s eyes were very cold, and one could tell he was extremely dissatisfied.


    Liola didn¡¯t answer, because an Assassin didn¡¯t need to answer. Liola¡¯s silence didn¡¯t cause any more dissatisfaction, for his behavior was, after all, trained by the leader himself.


    ¡°Go find Anise and get yourself patched up.¡± The leader grunted, and commanded Liola


    To follow the leader¡¯s orders, Liola turned and walked away, exiting the hall silently to find Anise.


    ¡°Master, I heard you were hurt?¡±


    As soon as Liola left the hall, Yasha, who had been waiting outside for a long time, immediately called him.


    She looked at Liola¡¯s bleeding arm, feeling quite perplexed. She had always been jealous of Liola¡¯s abilities as the best assassin.


    Upon hearing the news the best assassin was injured, she should have been happy about his failure¡­ But, when she saw Liola¡¯s wound, her heart sank a bit.


    Liola stopped, turned and asked his apprentice: ¡°Where is Anise?¡±


    Seeing the expressionless face on Liola, Yasha felt angry. She was his apprentice, but he was always greeting her with indifference.


    Yasha pouted, but she had to answer the Master¡¯s question: ¡°In the Bamboo Forest of the Sky, 1st sector.¡±


    1st sector of Bamboo Forest of the Sky was coincidentally where Liola lived. He turned around and left without hesitation, always leaving the angry Yasha behind. She ran directly into the hall, to complain to her dad about her Master¡¯s heartlessness.


    The leader¡¯s expression changed far from how it was when he was spoke with Liola. With a smile, he listened to his daughter¡¯s complaint, and answered helplessly:


    ¡°You are the one who forced me to assign Liola as your master, and I¡¯ve already told you: Liola is definitely the best assassin in the world, but at the same time, also the worst Master in the world.¡±


    Although he was heard Yasha complaining to the leader again, Liola did not think anything of it. Instead, he walked towards the 1st sector of Bamboo Forest of the Sky to comply with the leader¡¯s order to find Anise.


    Before long, the melancholic Bamboo Forest appeared before him. As Liola was walking through the forest, he activated ¡®Heart of Consciousness¡¯ ¡ª a move that increased his perception to the max. It was a move the leader taught Liola himself.


    In an instant, ¡®Heart of Consciousness¡¯ sent Liola¡¯s mind in all directions, quickly finding his target within the dense forest.


    Liola knew every living being¡¯s size, repository rate, and even body temperature. He found a person inside the forest, and concluded it to be Anise, the person he was looking for.


    Liola walked towards his target without hesitation.


    After brushing aside the final bamboo leaves blocking his way, the silky blonde hair and elegant silhouette appeared before him. She was kneeling on the grass, leisurely tasting the tea in her cup.


    ¡°Anise?¡± Liola asked.


    Anise raised her head, and her clear green eyes held their gaze looking at Liola.


    She spoke softly: ¡°I am Anise. You¡­ Are hurt.¡± Anise quickly noticed the person in front of her was bleeding.


    Anise immediately opened the medical kit she carries around, and took out bandages as well as several bottles.


    With a hurried voice, she said to Liola: ¡°You, over there, come here. I¡¯ll help you patch up this wound. I can¡¯t let you keep bleeding.¡±


    Liola walked beside Anise, and after being pulled by Anise. He sat on the grass, letting the girl next to him do work on the wound on his right arm.


    Liola let Anise do as she pleases for two reasons.


    First, it was because it was ordered by the leader. And secondly, Liola had already used ¡®Heart of Consciousness¡¯ to determine Anise didn¡¯t know Kung Fu at all.


    ¡°Okay. Hmm, my bandaging technique is still just as great.¡± Anise wiped the sweat from her forehead, and began to appreciate her work. She then asked smilingly at this unknown patient of hers: ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Li.¡±


    ¡°Li what?¡± Anise curiously asked, ¡°Your name can¡¯t be just Li?¡±


    ¡°Li¡­ Liola.¡± Liola hesitated. Finally he revealed the full name he himself had almost forgotten.


    ¡°Liola!¡± Anise¡¯s green eyes brightened: ¡°Aren¡¯t you the legendary and best assassin in the world? Wow, I didn¡¯t think I would ever meet you. But you don¡¯t look as vicious as they say.¡±


    With a quiet and elegant exterior, Anise was surprisingly talkative. She held onto Liola and talked for hours.


    She even used the excuse that talking was a part of the treatment, to order to get Liola to stay and to listen to her go on and on about who is the most famous, who is the most handsome, and how she had once treated the Hero Swordsman Bell¡¯s menstruation pains.


    For the first time in his life, Liola had an opinion, and it was¡­ The woman talked far too much.


    The sun had set and the sky had been filled with stars. Anise had been talking to the point where she was so thirsty; she drank a bucketful of water.


    Her stomach started growling. It wasn¡¯t until then, when she had finally decided to let Liola leave.


    ¡°Remember to come back to me for another ¡®treatment¡¯.¡± With an innocent smile, Anise lied.


    In fact, Liola¡¯s injury wasn¡¯t severe. With the help of Liola¡¯s own Ki, the wound would probably heal within a couple of days, without the need of re-applying the bandaging.


    Hearing Anise¡¯s words, Liola¡¯s face, which was originally expressionless, twitched twice. This was also the first time he had this expression and a feeling of helplessness.


    And starting from when he met Anise, Liola suddenly found himself having many ¡®first¡¯s¡¯.


    * * *


    A satisfied snore suddenly dragged Liola out of his memories. He looked towards Kaiser, only to see Kaiser sleeping so deeply, his saliva had been dripping from the corner of his mouth.


    This sight clearly indicated to Liola, the guy who asked the question was obviously looking for a bedtime story, but fell asleep before he finished listening to it.


    Liola sighed again. Strange, ever since he had met Kaiser, he seemed to sigh more and more¡­ Is it a good or bad thing? Liola thought while lying on the other bed in the room, and that was how he spent the rest of the first day in an alien world.


    * * *


    ¡°Kaiser, Kaiser.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, and buried his head further into his pillow. His hands also waved around, trying to hit the snooze button on the ¡®alarm¡¯, and at the same time, he murmured:


    ¡°Stop bothering me, I want to sleep.¡±


    Seeing a boy who buried his head under the pillow, and who didn¡¯t get up after Liola tried to wake him up for a span of half an hour. Liola felt it was easier to kill a gosu rather than waking up Kaiser.


    After a short silence, Liola heard Kaiser¡¯s even breath again. Helpless, he said: ¡°I¡¯m going to school.¡±


    As soon as he stepped out of the room, Liola was faced with another scenario, putting him on wit¡¯s end. A delicate girl with blue hair and blue eyes stared at him with both fear and anticipation. What now?


    ¡°Y-You are in the School of Sorcery too?¡± The girl asked timidly, but she clearly already knew the answer, for Liola is wearing a dark gray robe, instead of the uniform of the other schools.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Liola responded concisely.


    ¡°Uh, well¡­ Today¡¯s your first day, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not familiar with the school. Would you like for me to show you around?¡± The girl asked with a shaky voice. Her shoulders were trembling so much, it was as if she were talking to a monster who would eat her at any moment.


    Liola suddenly felt like he was being taken advantage of. However, he does need someone to show him around. He decided to wait and see. He nodded, and followed the trembling girl to the first lesson of his school life.


    ¡°My name is Purity. What¡¯s your name?¡± She asked after they walked for a while. She continued to look to her left then her right, and she seemed extremely nervous as if an assassin would jump out to kill her at any moment.


    ¡°Liola.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what a strange name.¡± Purity came to the same conclusion as Kaiser.


    Though, as soon as she said it, she anxiously said: ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t mean to criticize you. What I mean was, your name is a bit strange, b-but it¡¯s not necessarily a bad name¡­ Just a bit weird.¡±


    Liola wasn¡¯t interested in what others thought of his name. Instead, he was interested in the people around them hiding their bad intentions. These people had been tailing them ever since they stepped out of the dorms. Seeing Purity scared to death, those people were probably after her.


    ¡°D-Do you know how to beat people up?¡± Purity suddenly asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Liola answered directly. He doesn¡¯t just beats people up. He kills them.


    Purity heard this, and her shoulders collapsed, and replied sadly: ¡°Oh, then you should walk to class yourself; just walk straight down this road and you¡¯ll be there.¡±


    After she said this, Purity walked ahead of him as if she was a martyr, though this martyr¡¯s legs couldn¡¯t stop quivering, as if she was going to fall at any moment.


    Purity took no more than ten steps when the people hidden from sight jumped out.


    There were five of them, all wearing blue clothing. The clothing should be similar to the ones Liola was wearing, a school uniform. But the clothing on the five people was adorned with metallic things. It looked like some kind of weapons, and somewhat looked like armor.


    ¡°School of Mecha Fighters?¡± Judging from the messy description from Kaiser, Liola concluded. Considering he wanted to understand this world, this would be a good time to see what the Mecha Fighters really were.


    Purity anxiously took out an old magic staff under her grey robe. The staff was adorned with a thumb-sized jewel, with a crack in it. It was obviously a low quality staff.


    ¡°Purity, school starts again. We haven¡¯t seen you in a whole month, and you know we missed you very much.¡±


    The leader, Jetter, showed the smile he had been hiding. Knowing he inflicted fear in Purity, his smile grew broader.


    ¡°Jetter¡­¡± Purity was so scared, she almost dropped her staff, let alone casting any sort of spell.


    She started begging: ¡°Jetter, please let me go. I-I¡¯ve never done any harm to you, so why are you treating me like this?¡±


    Jetter didn¡¯t reply, but instead smiled and raised his hands, to aim the barrels on the side of his arms toward Purity.


    Liola, who was watching the scenario, was¡­ Curiously looking at Jetter¡¯s arms. Huge pieces of metals lined up on his shoulders and arms.


    The metals on his shoulder looked like huge shoulder pads, while the metal on his arm had claws on the end. It extended from his shoulders all the way down to his arms. They were wider than his arms.


    Purity, whom had already gone pale, was on the ground, hoping the situation would end with no more than a few days in the hospital. Other than this, she had no other wishes.


    As she waited, nothing happened, which was unusual for Jetter. Instead, Jetter turned towards Liola, who was standing no more than a few steps away: ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you planning on saving this damsel in distress?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola plainly answered. Why would he fight strangers he hadn¡¯t met for ten minutes?


    Although he wanted to see the Mecha Fighters¡¯ weapons, he was not planning on testing them himself.


    Jetter was stunned at his reply and started laughing: ¡°What a cold-blooded guy! Purity, looks like you found the wrong guy to help you.¡±


    Cold-blooded Liola felt something in his heart, and suddenly heard the screaming of a young girl.


    ¡°You emotionless thing, are you worth my sister¡¯s sacrifice?¡±


    Similar to his memories of the past, Jetter¡¯s mocking face appeared in front of his eyes again. Liola¡¯s eyes suddenly became cold. He¡­ was starting to get mad.


    * * *


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m hungry.¡± Kaiser lay on his bed for a long time. There was only one thing that could ever get him out of bed¡ªhunger.


    His unwilling head rubbed against the pillow few times, and finally sat up with his hairs sticking up. He rubbed his eyes, and suddenly found a person in his room:


    ¡°Hey! Liola? Didn¡¯t you go to class?¡±


    Kaiser scratched his head, trying to recall. When he was sleeping, he seemed to have heard Liola saying he was going to class.


    ¡°Mm¡­ I ran into a bit of trouble.¡± Liola frowned lightly, while slowly eating his breakfast.


    ¡°What kind of trouble?¡± Kaiser¡¯s skin began to itch. He¡¯s not afraid of anything, except trouble.


    ¡°Liola-dage!¡±


    Liola hadn¡¯t said anything, and the old door to their room was suddenly opened. The one who ran in, was delicate girl with blue hair and blue eyes ¡ª Purity. She was carrying a few plates full of breakfast: sandwiches, desserts, coffee, and bacon.


    ¡°Wow, breakfast!¡± Kaiser immediately jumped down from his bed, ran in front of Purity, and took away those steaming breakfast. He started stuffing his mouth, and was still was able to inquire Liola:


    ¡°Wow, she is, after all, a girl, and she was so thoughtful and brought us breakfast, Liola how could you possibly call her trouble? And even if she¡¯s trouble, she is at least a sweet burden.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t answer. He was wondering, how would Kaiser react after he knew the truth? Probably angry to the point of dying by this ¡®sweet burden¡¯.


    Kaiser kept stuffing, almost suffocating himself. Purity hurriedly brought some juice to Kaiser. He looked thankfully at Purity, and said to Liola:


    ¡°You see? What a considerate girl. And she¡¯s so pretty. Say, don¡¯t be so picky nowadays, you should keep this girl.¡±


    [T/N: Kaiser is saying Liola should marry her.]


    Liola remained quiet, while Purity blushed, and quickly clarified: ¡°Kaiser-dage, it¡¯s not like that. Purity just met Liola-dage. Thanks to Liola-dage¡¯s helping hand, Purity wasn¡¯t bullied by Jetter.¡±


    ¡°Helping hand?¡± Kaiser skeptically looked at Liola. This guy actually gave a helping hand?


    ¡°Yeah, Kaiser-dage didn¡¯t know? Just a while ago Liola-dage was really fierce. He fought off five School of Mecha Fighters students in just a few moves.¡± Purity¡¯s eyes shone with admiration, ignoring Kaiser¡¯s wide open mouth with surprise.


    She continued: ¡°Just now, before Jetter could even realize, Liola-dage clubbed him from behind and he fell to the ground. And then, Purity could only see Liola-dage¡¯s shadow flashing around, and then everyone was already down on the ground.¡±


    Kaiser was quiet for a while, and then finally pointed with a shaking head, and said: ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to mess with students from the School of Mecha Fighters?¡±


    ¡°Accident.¡± Liola explained with a single word.


    ¡°Accident my ass! Didn¡¯t you know they are not to be trifled with?¡± Kaiser pulled his hair in frustration:


    ¡°There are tons of people with money and power in school. This time you beat them, but now you will never be able to live in peace. R-Right, from now on, we will go to class separately. Don¡¯t tell anyone you know me, and even if you do I will deny it.¡±


    In response to Kaiser¡¯s heartlessness, Liola simply said: ¡°Purity will be hiring us as her bodyguard, paying one silver a day.¡±


    ¡°What did you say? Hiring us?¡± Kaiser ground his teeth and yelled.


    As soon as Purity saw Kaiser getting mad, she crouched to the ground, holding her hands together and cried: ¡°S-Sorry, Kaiser-dage. Purity shouldn¡¯t call it hiring. It¡¯s more like begging. Please, Kaiser-dage¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it one silver per person per day?¡± Kaiser held Purity¡¯s hands, and asked with shining eyes.


    ¡°Uh, yes.¡± Confused with the situation, Purity carefully answered.


    ¡°Boss~~ please get up.¡± Kaiser grabbed Purity by the waist and carefully set her down on a chair, then immediately put some breakfast on the desk in front of her.


    He started pouring juice into her cup, and asked as if he were an obedient dog: ¡°Boss, how about some juice? Or would you like some bacon? You¡¯re so thin, so eating more would be healthy for you.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Purity looked at Liola, who was still eating breakfast without any emotion, with perplexed eyes.


    ¡°I-I am full. I¡¯ll come again in the afternoon to go to class with you.¡± Purity really didn¡¯t know how to respond to Kaiser¡¯s sudden fervor, so she ran off.


    Seeing the boss was gone, Kaiser sat down bluntly, and continued stuffing his face: ¡°Why would you go help her? No matter how I look at you, you¡¯re not someone who would save a damsel in distress or being a Good Samaritan, especially if it would cause trouble to yourself.¡±


    Upon hearing Kaiser¡¯s critique, Liola was a bit peeved: ¡°I wanted to kill all of those people and Purity, so they wouldn¡¯t cause us any trouble. Then I remembered I can¡¯t kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t let the boss hear that, otherwise we will have no money to live on.¡± Kaiser shrugged.


    Though he hated trouble, he did need the money to live on. Now, as long as they could protect an innocent girl in a peaceful campus and get paid for it, there was nothing wrong with it.


    ¡°Purity and the silver-eyed bastard, come out here! Come out here and duel with me if you dare.¡±


    But God seems to contradict Kaiser¡¯s hopes, as if to mock him. The screaming was accompanied by strange disturbances, which shook the ancient sites¡­ No, shook the dorms, and dust began to fall.


    Kaiser swallowed the cake in his mouth, and turned to look at Liola. That¡¯s right, silver eyes. It could only mean one thing: trouble was here.


    ¡°Liola-dage, Kaiser-dage!¡± Within the same day, Purity barged in their room for the second time, with tears on her face, and couldn¡¯t stop shaking.


    ¡°Ahh, what do we do?!¡± Kaiser once again pulled his hair in frustration, with a face as if he was saying he was the unluckiest person in the world.


    After pacing around for five minutes, Kaiser feebly put his head on the desk: ¡°We should just let him scream. We¡¯ll be fine as long as we don¡¯t step out of these ruins. They can¡¯t possibly wait outside for long time.¡±


    ¡°Food?¡± Liola lightly replied.


    ¡°With your abilities as the best assassin, sneaking out for a couple pieces of bread shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± Kaiser replied, unconcerned.


    ¡°B-But¡­¡± Purity¡¯s face turned white, and she stammered.


    Kaiser raised his head abruptly, and yelled angrily at Purity: ¡°Hey, don¡¯t think a silver a day is enough to make me risk my life against Mecha Fighters.¡±


    ¡°S-Sorry¡­¡± Purity was scared to tears, and did what she do best: crouching and shaking in the corner of the room.


    Liola quietly stood by the window, looking at what appeared to be a metallic monster standing at about ten meters high, and sitting inside it was Jetter.


    So this was the real Mecha Fighters? Liola analyzed this monster he had never seen before, while thinking about what the best way to defeat his enemies. But since he had never fought with one of these, it was hard for him to analyze.


    The best way, Liola thought, was to personally see it in action first.


    God seems to bless Liola. After getting no responses from a few yells, Jetter started to move the machine to express his foul mood, and started destroying the ancient ruins of a dorm. As soon as the Mecha Fighter turned, the door turned into a pile of rubble.


    The loud sound caused the entire dorm to panic¡­ The so-called entire dorm, only consisted of the lazy Kaiser who slept ¡®til noon, and Purity who was intercepted on the way to class.


    ¡°Damn, now what?¡± Kaiser climbed to the window, and saw the Mecha Fighter doing some deconstruction on the ruins.


    Staggeringly, he asked asked: ¡°What¡­ What is he going to do? Demolishing the dorm? Aren¡¯t there any management people in Aklan Academy who will intervene?¡±


    At this time, Purity¡¯s crying voice could be heard: ¡°B-Because the School of Sorcery only has one teacher. The principal of Aklan Academy: Principal Barbalis.¡±


    ¡°The only teacher is the principal? The School of Sorcery shouldn¡¯t be this terrible!¡± Kaiser was more confused than before.


    ¡°But the p-principal said, he will never intervene any conflicts between students. He said conflicts with other students are a part of the learning process. So, even if the dorm of the School of Sorcery is destroyed, no one would say a word about it.¡±


    Purity frowned, if the dorm were demolished, wouldn¡¯t she have to live in the jungle at night? No, that¡¯s the best ending. In the worst case scenario, she could be buried alive underneath these ruins.


    ¡°Damn! What a principal. No wonder the School of Sorcery¡¯s dorm are in ruins, and it might even be demolished.¡± Kaiser ground his teeth and yelled.


    ¡°Your school is really not peaceful.¡± Liola still coldly standing beside the window, but his eyes were staring at the Mecha Fighters downstairs, and his brain continuously analyzing the ¡®enemy¡¯s¡¯ every action.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Kaiser grabbed Liola¡¯s face: ¡°Who do you think caused all this? Huh?!¡±


    Kaiser pulled his own hair, and then grabbed Liola by the collar: ¡°You should handle your own troubles.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t reply, but lifted his eyebrows, as if he were saying, ¡®how can I handle it?¡¯


    Kaiser paced for a few more minutes. The Mecha Fighter downstairs had already destroyed about a third of the dorm. Kaiser finally sighed, and gave a command: ¡°Purity, go gather uniforms.¡±


    ¡°Uniforms?¡± Purity froze.


    ¡°Yes. We have to disguise Liola so no one can recognize him.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face turned crazy and deceitful.


    ¡°These damn rich students from the School of Mecha Fighters! Today, I, Kaiser, am going to make you guys pay for destroying the dorm where I live!¡±


    With Kaiser¡¯s orders, Purity paused briefly, and then went around gathering uniforms.


    Is Kaiser unhappy with the Mecha Fighters¡¯ contempt or¡­ Because they¡¯re rich? Liola started thinking about this question.


    ¡°Kaiser-dage, i-is this okay?¡± Purity held a set of white clothes.


    Kaiser held the uniforms in the air, and realized they were uniforms from the School of Knights. The tailoring was simple but well done. The clothes were adorned with silver lining in the shape of clouds to show their elegance.


    ¡°Where did you get these?¡± Kaiser gulped. If the clothes were to be sold, it would probably be enough to pay for a semester¡¯s worth of fees.


    ¡°It¡¯s Purity¡¯s brother¡¯s.¡± Purity blushed: ¡°Because Purity really likes older brother, so before school started, stole a set of clothes from the drawer.¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha, even God helps me.¡± Kaiser burst out laughing: ¡°Not only can I frame the dishonorable School of Knights, after I¡¯m done with this, I can even auction off this uniform, and I won¡¯t have to worry about money for this semester.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Purity tried to grab the clothes back, but how could a clumsy girl like her be faster than the crazy Kaiser hell bent on getting more money?


    Kaiser easily ducked Purity¡¯s hands, and threw the clothes to the guy by the window: ¡°Liola, put these on!¡±


    Liola frowned, but Kaiser said: ¡°Don¡¯t say no. If you want to live peacefully and stably in this campus, the best way is to direct Jetter away from you. But if you¡¯re going to keep getting into trouble with the Mecha Fighters, then that¡¯s your business; but don¡¯t ever say a word of you knowing me.¡±


    Liola was speechless, and he took the clothing and went to the bathroom.


    ¡°Next we need something to cover his face.¡± Kaiser scratched his head: ¡°But Liola¡¯s eyes are too unusual. I wonder if I cover the best assassin¡¯s eyes, could he still fight? I heard all gosu don¡¯t rely on their eyes¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Even if I cover my eyes, doing so would make him suspicious. It would be easy for him to know it¡¯s a disguise.¡± Liola walked out wearing the School of Knights¡¯ uniform.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Kaiser turned around, and immediately screamed: ¡°Damn, who are you? Why are you pretending to be Liola?!¡±


    Liola was speechless.


    ¡°Liola-dage is really handsome!¡± Purity said with shining eyes.


    After putting on the righteous Knight¡¯s uniform, Liola¡¯s dark persona seemed to have disappeared completely. Now, Liola didn¡¯t look like an Assassin, but more like a Prince or a Knight.


    ¡°Tsk tsk, the appearance of a man really depends on his clothes.¡± Kaiser exclaimed after he saw the new Liola.


    ¡°Eyes?¡± Liola disregarded what they thought about his looks, and asked the most important question.


    Kaiser snappily answered: ¡°How should I know? You just had to have such a particular eye color.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, hello, everyone!¡± A baffling laughing sound suddenly appeared in the corner of the room.


    ¡°Damn, you again!¡±


    ¡°Who is this?¡±


    ¡°Ah, hello little beauty. My name is Mizerui; you may call me Mi-dage.¡± Mizerui showed his gentle smile, and even his temperament was courteous, making it hard for anyone to nitpick.


    ¡°Miseroy, what are you doing here again?¡± Kaiser asked snappily, and then hurried added: ¡°We are already in Aklan Academy; you can¡¯t turn on your words and kill us.¡±


    Mizerui waved quickly: ¡°Not at all. I would never do that. On the contrary, I¡¯m here to help you.¡±


    ¡°Help us?¡± Kaiser was curious.


    ¡°Yup.¡± Mizerui smilingly took out a silver mask: ¡°Put on this mask specially made by Mizerui, and it will cover Liola¡¯s face. Not to mention, his eyes would turn into a golden color.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to help us?¡± Liola replied coldly.


    ¡°Hehe.¡± Mizerui laughed without replying. As he laughed, his body seemed to have faded until the silver mask dropped onto the ground and Mizerui was nowhere to be found.


    Kaiser grabbed the mask in confusion. Although he had no idea what Mizerui was planning, but the mask was definitely useful to them. Kaiser gave the mask to Liola. Now the issue was, if Liola wanted to wear it.


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m being taken advantage of.¡± Liola said, but he still took the mask because he was really curious about the metallic monster outside.


    He wanted to know if the plan he had concocted would be effective against Mecha Fighters.


    In response to Liola¡¯s dissatisfaction, Kaiser shrugged: ¡°I have always been taking advantage of you.¡±


    You sure are truthful¡­ Liola put on the mask and, without any worries, put his hands on the window pane, and jumped out.


    Seeing Liola was finally willing to do something, Kaiser sighed with relief. ¡°Looks like this thing is settled,¡±


    Kaiser showed a deceptive smile towards Purity, and then put out his palm: ¡°Don¡¯t forget to pay for overtime!¡±


    Liola, jumped out the window, jumped around the building with ease, and within just a few jumps, landed lightly on the back of the Mecha Fighters.


    His landing was so quiet; it was as if a feather had fallen on the machine. The controller, Jetter, didn¡¯t realize the metallic machine had suddenly gained a visitor.


    ¡°Should I break the joint, so this Mecha Fighter couldn¡¯t move? Or should I destroy it completely?¡± Liola could not decide. In the past, the organization always had orders, and all he did was followed them, but now¡­


    ¡°Go righteous Silver Mask! Go defeat the dorm-destroying criminal! Cut it into pieces so the souls of the dorm can rest in peace!¡± Kaiser cried at the window. Not only did it give Liola an answer, it also helped Jetter realize the existence of his enemy.


    ¡°Kaiser-dage, I think y-you aren¡¯t helping?¡± Standing beside him, Purity timidly asked.


    ¡°Ah, Liola is very strong. If I don¡¯t help out the enemy, then the Mecha Fighter would die without even knowing what happened.¡± Kaiser grunted: ¡°Considering you paid us for overtime, it¡¯s my duty to make the person who bullied the boss feel more pain.¡±


    Saying a sentence counts as making it happen? Purity thought quietly.


    ¡°You¡¯re from School of Knight?¡± While controlling the metallic machine, Jetter saw Liola in his white uniform, and his eyes were filled with rage.


    It¡¯s not surprising the academy students were segregated based on their schools, and each having deep-rooted hatred toward one another. It was at the point where they would fight to death whenever they saw each other.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s show you School of Knight what our rank-C Mecha Fighters can do.¡± Jetter said as he stopped destroying the dorm, and turned around to deal with this unwanted guest.


    But, Liola was on the back of the Mecha Fighters. Jetter smiled coldly, and controlled the Mecha Fighters to jump up and down, trying to shake Liola off. But this move not only didn¡¯t shake Liola off, it didn¡¯t affect him at all.


    Liola lightly moved around the Mecha Fighter. At one moment he was on the machine¡¯s arm, and another he was on its chest. Finally, he jumped between the machine¡¯s legs and touched it.


    ¡°What is Liola-dage doing?¡± Purity was dumbfounded, and with a blush she asked.


    ¡°Uhm, I think he¡¯s probably sexually harassing the metallic robot.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem like the sort of a guy¡­¡±


    ¡°You only know his appearance but not his personalities. How would you know if he has any kind of fetish?¡±


    Fortunately, what happened next cleared the suspicion of Liola sexually harassing the machine.


    Jetter swung the arms of the machine wildly trying to catch Liola, but failed. Afterwards, Liola came out from beneath the Mecha Fighter, and unexpectedly stood still in front of it.


    Jetter was certainly not going to miss this golden opportunity. He raised the arms of the machine, and slammed them down toward Liola. It looked as if he was about to crush Liola into meatballs¡­


    Klang!


    A light metallic sound could be heard. Kaiser, who had been standing there next to window, showed an deceptive smile.


    The only person unaware of what had happened was the controller of the Mecha Fighter. He still was trying to get rid of the enemy. Then, a series of metallic sounds could be heard. It was apparent the sounds came from the Mecha Fighter.


    Jetter panicked. But before he could do anything, the Mecha Fighter crumbled. There was no explosion, and it was not cut with a sword. All of a sudden, the metallic monster crumbled into what it was before ¡ª a pile of metallic parts.


    Jetter fell from a three-story height to the ground, and dislocated parts of his face during the landing. His hands were still holding the control stick, fully unaware of what had just happened.


    [T/N: 3 stories is equal to 10 meters.]


    ¡°Hey, bully! Don¡¯t think too highly of your School of Mecha Fighters. Look at how righteous the School of Knights is! They saw you destroying the dorm, so they came and stopped you. Go learn how to be a hero from them.¡± Kaiser yelled at Jetter arrogantly from the window.


    ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± Jetter¡¯s face turned white. He didn¡¯t know the School of Knight were so strong, they could dismantle a Mecha Fighter single-handedly.


    Liola remained quiet. What did Kaiser called him again? Silver something¡­


    Fortunately, Kaiser came to his rescue. He pretended to be a crazed fan, and screamed: ¡°Long live Silver Mask! Long live Silver Mask!¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask?¡± Jetter showed anger, but was too scared to do anything, especially in front of Liola¡¯s cold eyes.


    ¡°Just you wait. The School of Mecha Fighters will not let you get away with this!¡± Jetter yelled fiercely at Liola, and immediately turned around to escape.


    Liola stood alone at where he was. However, a crowd began to gather around him. Liola felt uncomfortable because he was used to hiding in the dark.


    Considering there were many audiences, if he jumped back to the dorm, then it would¡¯ve been pointless for him to be wearing a mask.


    Clueless, Liola caught a ball of rolled up paper thrown at him from behind. He looked up, and saw Kaiser lazily put his head on the window pane. Along with the two thirds of destroyed dorm, the whole scene had felt unfamiliar to him.


    Liola read the rolled up paper, and coldly said toward the direction where Jetter escaped: ¡°The School of Knights awaits your revenge!¡±


    As soon as he was done framing, Liola turned handsomely, and suddenly disappeared from where he stood.


    ¡°Wow, Liola-dage is really cool.¡± Purity¡¯s eyes showed admiration as she praised.


    Purity was not the only one who had eyes of admiration.


    Many of those who crowded around also praised the mysterious man, for who had ever seen someone destroy a Mecha Fighter single-handedly?


    Not to mention Liola¡¯s cool figure captured many hearts of the women. There were already many people trying to guess the identity of Silver Mask.


    ¡°Quiet. Aren¡¯t you afraid people might find out who he is?¡± Kaiser said leisurely. But with them being on the fifth floor, no one could hear them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about something more important!¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes shone suddenly.


    ¡°What? Is Jetter going to come for revenge again?¡± Purity began to worry.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem. Jetter would be going to the School of Knight if he wants revenge, what does it have to do with us?¡±


    Kaiser couldn¡¯t possibly care about someone who couldn¡¯t even take a hit from Liola. What¡¯s more important was¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s time for afternoon tea. I¡¯m thinking a silver a day, plus you get us food.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Purity found it a bit hard to accept someone who loves money and food.


    * * *


    ¡°First day in school, and they haven¡¯t even been to class yet, but they¡¯ve already destroyed the School of Sorcery¡¯s dorm. Looks like those two little guys were more interesting than we had anticipated!¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask. Ahahaha, I haven¡¯t heard such a¡­ Silly name¡­ In a long time¡­. Ahahaha!¡±


    Although he questioned whether the person had the right to make fun of the name, he remained quiet. He didn¡¯t want to know what kissing the ground would feel like.


    ¡°Looks like this is going to be a fun year.¡±


    The two looked at each other and laughed. It was just all too interesting!

 Volume 1, 3 : Pink Big-Eyed Child

    Volume 1, Chapter 3 : Pink Big-Eyed Child


    ¡°Liola, get undressed quickly. Hurry!¡±


    Before he finished what he wanted to say, Kaiser pounced on Liola like a monkey, and started stripping the white Knight uniform off Liola.


    ¡°Wow, s-so the relationship between the two dages is like this¡­¡± Purity covered her eyes, but peeked from the crack.


    ¡°I think, it¡¯s because Kaiser wants to sell the clothes¡­¡± Liola calmly concluded.


    ¡°What?!¡± Purity immediately joined Kaiser, and started stripping Liola:


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that! It¡¯s my elder brother¡¯s clothes. It¡¯s Purity¡¯s precious treasure. You can¡¯t sell it!¡±


    Facing two people who were forcefully stripping him, Liola didn¡¯t have much of a reaction. Instead, he let them do whatever they wanted.


    The only question he raised was: ¡°The dorm has been destroyed. What do we do?¡±


    The two stopped after hearing that. Kaiser looked the other person, who had been in the school for a while:


    ¡°The dorm has already turned into a hazardous building. The principal will at least do something now, right?¡±


    ¡°Principal Barbalis has always been¡­¡± Purity gulped, and continued: ¡°Strange. What he¡¯s going to do, I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Who cares; the boss is going to take care of our accommodations.¡± Kaiser carelessly answered.


    Purity seemed to have mustered all her courage and said: ¡°I-if you sell my older brother¡¯s clothes, then I won¡¯t hire you as bodyguards!¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Kaiser heard this, and his face turned pale. He immediately let go of the half of the shirt that he held, and his speech became extremely flattering.


    ¡°Boss, I was just kidding with you. I would never sell the boss¡¯s precious treasure.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Purity sighed with relief, ¡°But Liola-dage looks really good in older brother¡¯s Knight uniform, so dage should keep it to wear as the Silver Mask.¡±


    Liola and Kaiser both looked at Purity. Kaiser started flailing:


    ¡°Why do we need the Silver Mask? That troublesome guy Jetter is already blaming the School of Knights. Now that the Silver Mask is gone, they will have no one to dispute with. Let the School of Knight and Mecha Fighters duke it out, and we can even watch the show.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ the Silver Mask was REALLY cool!¡± Purity lowered her head, disappointed.


    ¡°What¡¯s so cool about such a silly name?¡± Kaiser rolled his eyes. But when he saw that the boss was starting to pout, Kaiser immediately changed the topic: ¡°It¡¯s already past noon. We should go to school now; if we get expelled from school, there will be deaths involved.


    Liola was planning to change his clothes, but Purity looked at him with disappointed eyes.


    Liola unfastened a button, and Purity¡¯s disappointed eyes started tearing up. And when Liola was done taking off his shirt, Purity was already crying in a corner while doodling on the ground.


    ¡®Three black lines¡® descended onto Kaiser¡¯s face, and he helplessly said to Liola: ¡°I think you should just keep it on, and just wear your School of Sorcery robe on top of it. Otherwise, the boss might not be giving out dinner tonight.¡±


    Purity immediately turned around and looked at Liola with sparkly eyes, who, after looking at Purity, put on his gray robe, took off his mask and then put it in his pocket.


    To avoid the class ending before they even arrive, they all hurried toward the classroom.


    ¡°Purity, what are the characteristics of the three schools?¡± On the way, Liola asked Purity, which was unusual for him. After having experienced it a few times, he finally understood that, if he didn¡¯t want an answer to something, all he had to do was ask Kaiser.


    ¡°Oh, Liola-dage you didn¡¯t know?¡± Purity explained excitedly:


    ¡°School of Knight specializes in training knights. There are all sorts of Knights inside. Paladins, Dark Knights. The most famous Knight would be Dragon Knights. But there aren¡¯t many Dragon Knights in the School of Knights. After all, most Dragon Knights come from the Dragon Empire, so there aren¡¯t many in Aklan Academy. Last I heard, I think there¡¯s only three or four.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s their¡­¡± Liola mainly wanted to know the Knights¡¯ characteristics, such as moves and weapons.


    Kaiser flung his finger, and carelessly said: ¡°Knights value honor, bloodline, and their weapons. Their strength comes mainly from their fighting spirit and their martial arts.¡±


    Purity nodded desperately and added: ¡°The students from School of Knights are cool and handsome!¡±


    ¡°As for the School of Mecha Fighter, I think you¡¯ve already seen it?¡±


    ¡°What are rank-D and rank-C mechas?¡± Liola pointed out what he didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Mechas are also put into ranks of A through D. A signifies the best and D the worst. Ordinarily, rank-C mechas are already pretty good. But with a pilot like Jetter, rank-C and rank-D probably don¡¯t seem all that different; I felt sorry for that rank-C mecha.¡± Kaiser sighed.


    Liola wanted to also ask about the School of Sorcery, because it was rare for Kaiser to answer seriously. But he thought that, as soon as he gets to the classroom, he will understand what Sorcerers do, so he didn¡¯t bother to ask.


    Quietly walking to school down along the broad road lined up with trees, Liola never imagined he¡¯d be living so peacefully.


    After deserting the organization and falling into an alien world, he felt that everything had turned out quite well for him. No matter how powerful the organization was, they can¡¯t chase him across dimensions.


    But does falling into an alien world have something to do with Anise?


    He remembered when the organization had cornered him, the necklace Anise gave him started to shake¡­ Then a crack appeared in mid-air. With no alternatives left, he stepped into the crack and found himself in another world.


    If this had something to do with Anise, then he owed her yet another favor that he couldn¡¯t possibly ever return.


    ¡°Wow, Kaiser-dage, Liola-dage, look over there!¡± Purity suddenly screamed surprisingly.


    ¡°Just call me Kaiser. It¡¯s strange for you to call me Kaiser-dage.¡± Kaiser always felt there was something funny about calling him dage.


    He then looked at where Purity pointed, and his eyes shone.


    ¡°Damn, a Dragon.¡±


    A green, enormous creature was imprisoned within an electrified cage.


    The creature was about ten meters, and covered in a beautiful, white scales that shone under the sunlight. The pair of wings on the back, though restrained by the electrified cage, had large sharp ends that drove fear into the hearts of its enemies.


    Its body full of muscle was also driving people away. This was the most famous creature from Dragon Empire ¡ª a Dragon.


    ¡°Dragon? Does this have to do with Dragon Knights?¡± Liola instinctively connected the dots.


    ¡®Can it be that this huge creature was actually a mount? This would be a bit too astonishing.¡¯ Despite that, Liola¡¯s face still remained calm.


    ¡°Yup. This is my third time seeing a Dragon, and this white Dragon is the most beautiful one that I¡¯ve seen. The Dragon Knight who entered this year must be a handsome guy too. I want to see how cool he is.¡± Purity held her cheeks and began to daydream about the Dragon Knight.


    ¡°Uh, I think you might see him sooner than you think.¡± Kaiser painfully raised his head: ¡°This guy has almost broken out of the electrified cage.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Purity stared at the Dragon dumbfoundedly.


    For some reason, the beautiful yet fearsome Dragon seemed to have gone crazy, and it repeated rammed at the cage around it.


    Liola frowned, the cage¡¯s bars suddenly broke off, and the huge Dragon flew out unobstructed, and landed in front of everyone. It stretched its muscular hind legs, and it shook the ground with every step.


    ¡°W-what do we do now? I¡¯m scared!¡± Purity grabbed Liola¡¯s leg, as if doing so would mean the Dragon couldn¡¯t step on her.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Kaiser watched as if he were watching a movie. Besides, the Dragon was fairly far away, and he saw that there were a few students in Knights¡¯ uniform around the Dragon.


    According to what he knew of the Knights¡¯ spirits, those people would stop the Dragon from harming innocent people like himself, even if it costs their lives.


    ¡°Wow, another one got flattened.¡± Kaiser clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    ¡°What?!¡± Purity panicked and stared at the Dragon.


    With the Dragon¡¯s ferocity, there were already a few School of Knights students on the ground in a pool of blood. But everyone still standing held their swords, trying to prevent the Dragon from leaving.


    Purity was so scared that she felt her heart beating out of her chest.


    If this continues, the casualties would be too great to the School of Knights. Was there any way to help those knights¡­?


    Purity paused, and looked at the leg she was holding onto, and the white uniform underneath the robe¡­ the Silver Mask!


    ¡°Liola, please!¡± Purity mustered her courage, and said, trembling, in front of Liola.


    ¡°No.¡± Liola said decidedly.


    Purity was surprised by Liola¡¯s cold face, and she lost the courage to ask Liola again. All she could do was turn around to ask Kaiser, who was the only one who could make Liola do anything. But instead Kaiser ignored her, and continued to enjoy the show.


    [T/N: want some popcorn? E/N: Yes plz, you got buffalo flavor powder?]


    With no one else to turn to, Purity took off her brooch and yelled:


    ¡°This brooch was given to me on my eighteenth birthday. It is adorned with three rubies, and several diamond pieces; it is also made out of the so-called strongest metal ¡ª adamantium alloy¡­¡±


    Before Purity could finish explaining, Kaiser¡¯s eyes were shooting out blinding lights:


    ¡°That¡¯s the compensation for beating that Dragon?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Purity held tightly brooch, ¡°If you beat that Dragon, it¡¯s yours.¡±


    Kaiser did not say anything else. He took out his gun, and fired it at the Dragon¡¯s head. And then¡­ he grabbed the boss and ran off, and all he left behind was:


    ¡°Liola, the rest is up to the Silver Mask¡­¡±


    Liola was planning on rejecting Kaiser, but when he turned around and saw the Dragon already angrily charging towards him.


    With his sharp eyes, Liola could already see that the person reflected in the Dragon eyes was himself. Since the actual culprit ran off too quickly, the Dragon probably assumed that Liola was the one who shot it.


    Without any delay, Liola put on his mask, threw his gray robe toward the forest around him, and became Silver Mask for the second time.


    At this time, the Dragon was already in front of Liola, and opened his enormous mouth to attack Liola. But Liola used this opportunity to jump on top of the Dragon¡¯s head, and utilizing the momentum of his body to punch the back of the Dragon¡¯s head with his elbow.


    The blow was definitely felt by the Dragon, because it started shaking his head wildly, and ran around crazily . It also tried to stick its head into the forest, trying to get the unwanted guest off his head.


    But Liola already predicted its intentions. After he attacked the head, he slip down along the Dragon¡¯s spine to attack the Dragon¡¯s back, but¡­ Wings!


    Liola suddenly remembered this creature had a pair of wings.


    Unfortunately, the Dragon spread its wings and took off. Dragons were, after all, the kings of sky, and in the blink of an eye, it was high up in the air.


    ¡°Ugh, too careless.¡± Liola was a bit frustrated, thinking that his awareness had deteriorated.


    But in actuality, it¡¯s not really his fault. In the world Liola came from, there wasn¡¯t many things that could fly, much less to such an attitude, so fast that he couldn¡¯t jump off.


    The Dragon obviously knew that what¡¯s on its back could not fly, and it would fall to its death as soon as it detaches from the Dragon¡¯s body.


    The Dragon started to accelerate and stop suddenly, trying to throw the invader off. It even started circling in the air.


    At this time, more and more people gathered to watch, including the culprit and his accomplice.


    Seeing Liola¡¯s tragic plight, Purity was at the point where foam was about to come out of her mouth:


    ¡°Lio¡­¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask.¡± Kaiser corrected with a straight face.


    There were too many people around them, and it was difficult to ascertain if someone was listening in on them. It¡¯s better off to call him Silver Mask for now.


    ¡°S-silver Mask¡­ is he going to be okay?¡±


    At this time, the Dragon started flying figure eights.


    Purity was close to fainting, and had Kaiser not been holding her, she would¡¯ve already been making out with the ground.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Kaiser was looking into the sky.


    Although he hadn¡¯t met Liola for long, the best assassin in the world, who could even take on a rank-X criminal, should be able to handle a simple Dragon.


    Though judging by the circumstance, it does not bode well.


    The situation with Liola in the air wasn¡¯t great. In order to not fall off, Liola had to hold tightly onto the Dragon. But the Dragon¡¯s scales were extremely sharp and, before long, Liola¡¯s hands were full of cuts, and his white shirt were starting to be covered with blood.


    Liola wasn¡¯t going to give up, and when the Dragon was doing aerial stunts, his feet repeatedly kicked the Dragon¡¯s spine. The Dragon roared in pain as a result, and Liola knew it wasn¡¯t feeling too great either.


    After circling for a while, Liola was getting impatient:


    ¡°I only promised to not kill any sentient creatures. If you can understand what I¡¯m saying, then let¡¯s go back to the ground; if not, then you¡¯re not sentient.¡±


    And with his threat, Liola finally took out the weapon that had never left his side ¡ª a silver stick of about forty centimeters long, with fine-patterned carvings.


    With one hand holding onto the Dragon¡¯s spike, Liola held one end of the stick in his other hand, and biting onto the other end.


    With a slight twist, the silver stick cracked open at about a fourth along its length; Liola pulled,


    and he pulled out a dagger as wide as his thumb, from the silver stick.


    After some contemplation, Liola chose to stab at near the Dragon¡¯s tail. This shouldn¡¯t affect the Dragon¡¯s flight, because, after all, he¡¯s not ready to plunge to the ground along with the Dragon.


    When blue blood erupt from the Dragon, it roared again in pain.


    Liola knew, however, that this bit of pain wasn¡¯t enough for the Dragon to surrender. He stabbed a few times more.


    The Dragon¡¯s tail was now covered in blue blood, and Liola¡¯s white uniform was no longer white ¡ª it was red and blue.


    ¡°Descend now! Or I will kill you.¡±


    Liola no longer concealed his murderous intent, and his eyes were filled with ruthlessness. And his left hand that was originally simply holding onto the Dragon¡¯s spike, mercilessly turned the spike around and jabbed it into the Dragon¡¯s body, and twisted the spike to tear Dragon¡¯s flesh.


    The Dragon was in severe pain. It turned around and, without caring whether it would harm itself, spat out several sharp Frostbolts toward Liola.


    Despite the close distance, and his hand in the flesh of the Dragon, Liola quickly flipped and landed on the wing of the Dragon. Going with the flapping of its wings, Liola fearlessly broke a bone on the wing.


    ¡°Even if I fall, I will only get hurt.¡±


    Liola coldly stated his final threat, and broke yet another bone on the wing. The two broken bones had already made the flight quite unstable.


    With two broken bones and several holes in its back, the Dragon sadly howled. It probably knew that it no longer had the advantage, and stopped performing stunts. It flew smoothly, and the fierceness it once had was now replaced with a pitiful moan.


    Liola saw this, and stopped with his attacks. He was no longer destroying the poor Dragon¡¯s wings.


    The silver dagger was also sheathed back to the silver stick, which was put back into his boots.


    After having been through the killing career for many years, Liola knew that, unlike humans, animals won¡¯t have any evil plans. As long as they were tamed, they were no longer dangerous.


    Liola said soothingly, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I won¡¯t harm you anymore.¡±


    This time around, the Dragon seemed to have understood Liola. It turned around to look at him, and it wasn¡¯t until now that Liola realized, this white Dragon actually had pink eyes. With the white scales and pink eyes, had Purity been here, she would been shaking and screaming, ¡°cute!¡±


    Liola touched the Dragon¡¯s neck lightly. He originally wanted to touch its face, but the neck was far too long for him to do so. So he just had to settle with the neck.


    Who knew that the Dragon actually turned his head around, and desperately nodded his head, as if it wanted Liola to touch his head. Liola laughed, and climbed up the Dragon¡¯s neck, to touch its head and to comfort it.


    But, when Liola¡¯s bloodied hand touched the Dragon¡¯s head, it felt like he was electrified.


    Liola felt a strong pain, and he heard a loud sound. Liola lost consciousness, and fell out of the sky¡­


    That loud sound seemed to have been¡­


    ¡°I look forward to learning from you, my strong master.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Liola, can you stop being an assassin?¡± A blurred yet familiar person stood in front of him, looking at him with hopeful eyes.


    ¡°The day I stop being an assassin is the day I die.¡± Because other than dying, there was no way that the organization would let him go.


    ¡°If, hypothetically, one day you won¡¯t have to be an assassin anymore, what would you want to do?¡±


    Liola remained quiet. He was raised to be an assassin, and his career was a killer. Even in his spare time he practiced killing. What else could he do in his life, other than being an assassin?


    ¡°Liola, when you don¡¯t want to kill anymore, come find me, okay?¡±


    Liola faintly answered: ¡°¡­ Okay.¡±


    Anise eventually left. She left the organization, left that bamboo forest, and left him, thanks to other martial arts organizations ceaselessly trying to rescue her.


    The organization could not defend itself against everyone, and did not want to make an enemy out of the entire world; so they eventually let her go.


    Anise was really happy to finally be free again, as shown on her face. But, she was also really worried about him.


    The Anise who had always hoped he could live like a normal person and not an assassin, with happiness intertwined with sadness, she faded away in front of his very eyes.


    * * *


    Suddenly opening his eyes, Liola¡¯s mind was blank, ¡°Where am I? Where is Anise?¡±


    There¡¯s someone behind him!


    The alertness that Liola had trained since a boy made him jump up, and reflexively grabbed the person¡¯s neck, about to break it. It was then when Liola suddenly heard in his head¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill anymore, okay?¡±


    Liola suddenly let go, and remembered everything.


    Anise was dead, and the organization chased him. He also fell into another world, and then some bastard with a gun got him into an aerial battle with a Dragon¡­


    Right, where is that Dragon? It was then when Liola heard a quiet sob from the direction of his hand.


    He turned around to look, and two pink eyes stared at him, with his shadow reflecting in them.


    Although they look far different, Liola still blatantly stated: ¡°You¡¯re that Dragon.¡±


    A cute child nodded desperately.


    Those pink eyes and pink cheeks, along with soft, silver hair, would make anyone¡¯s heart melt.


    But the child¡¯s body was spotted with a strange blue liquid, and the young body had plenty of wounds. The child didn¡¯t seem to mind, but instead searched around Liola with curiosity.


    Liola touched its forehead.


    How would another person react when they see a ten-meter Dragon turn into a cute, five year old child?


    Liola was confused.


    (A normal person would probably be eaten when they see a Dragon, why would they even have a reaction to it?)


    ¡°Do you know how to talk?¡± Liola frowned. Compared to a young child, he was better at handling a Dragon.


    The young child smiled and nodded, and desperately tried to run into Liola¡¯s arms: ¡°Papa, papa¡­ pa¡­¡±


    ¡°Never mind, you shut up.¡±


    Liola was having a headache.


    What should he do now? If this were the old him, he would¡¯ve definitely killed it without a second thought. Now¡­ All he can do was give the child to Kaiser.


    Grabbing the naked young child, Liola¡¯s body felt as if it grew wings.


    He jumped through the forest without making any sound, and returned to the dorm before long.


    He saw that there were no one around, so he jumped through the window to his room, and surely enough, found two people waiting for him.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to be hard to go to class today.¡± Kaiser lazily laid on the desk, two eyes gazed on the ruby brooch in his hand.


    ¡°Liola-dage, what do you have there¡­ cute!¡± Purity began to talk, but when she saw the cute child, she immediately ran up to try to pinch the child¡¯s pink cheeks.


    Liola was more than happy to pass off the child, and immediately gave Purity the ¡®hot potato¡¯ in his hands.


    He then grabbed a chair and sat next to Kaiser, and said coldly: ¡°Don¡¯t do this again.¡±


    Kaiser smiled and answered: ¡°Well, I can¡¯t guarantee that.¡±


    Liola frowned, but really wasn¡¯t angry. Being with a guy who was obviously going to bring him trouble was far better than being with a backstabber, although Liola found himself angry more often now than he did in the past twenty odd years.


    ¡°But, pregnancies take nine months; you were only gone for ten minutes, how come you brought back a child?¡± Kaiser asked, but he had an idea what the answer was.


    Liola was gone with a Dragon, and then came back alone with a child; Kaiser could easily guess where the child came from.


    Liola ignored Kaiser¡¯s nonsense and asked:


    ¡°What was the response from the School of Knights?¡±


    Kaiser flung his finger and shrugged:


    ¡°Someone was really mad! Though this Dragon caused many casualties, I heard that a newcomer in the School of Knights shipped it from the Dragon Empire to be tamed later. But now it¡¯s missing, and if it¡¯s not returned, things may turn ugly.¡±


    ¡°But at the same time, many people admired Silver Mask for his bravery, and his aerial struggle with the Dragon, especially among the female students.¡± Kaiser laughed intently.


    Liola coldly glanced at Kaiser, and looked at the pink-eyed child:


    ¡°Bring him back, and there will be no trouble.¡±


    ¡°Heartless!¡± Kaiser said, but at the same time looked as if he agrees.


    ¡°What, you¡¯re going to take this child back?¡± Purity¡¯s ears were quite sharp.


    ¡°Yeah, what else can we do? Keep him and cause more trouble?¡± Kaiser exclaimed.


    Purity knew in her heart that the child in her arms was trouble, so she was reluctant to keep the child, and played with the child¡¯s cheek while she had the chance.


    Then as she looked at his face, she suddenly realized that, on the child¡¯s forehead, there was a red oval mark, and according to what she remembered from ¡®Dragon Knight¡¯s Glory and Honor¡¯¡­


    Purity immediately threw the child into Kaiser¡¯s arms, and then ran to Liola, as if she had forgotten what being afraid was.


    Without caring about her brother¡¯s clothes, she tore off the Knight uniform¡¯s left sleeve, and was stunned at Liola¡¯s left arm.


    Kaiser, who had been fumbling around, now finally grabbed the pink-eyed child, and examined Liola¡¯s arm with Purity.


    Then Liola, too, looked at his own arm. He too, was stupefied. There was a silver scale growing out of his left arm.


    Purity gulped:


    ¡°Liola-dage¡­ Has turned into a Dragon Knight.¡±


    Kaiser and Liola were both stunned. Purity repeated what she could remember from ¡®Dragon Knight¡¯s Glory and Honor¡¯.


    ¡°Not everyone who wants to be a Dragon Knight could become one. Even at the Dragon Empire, the origin of the Dragon Knight, there are many Knights who could never gain the approval of a Dragon to become a true Dragon Knight.¡±


    ¡°To be a real Dragon Knight, one must first accumulate enormous strength; then they must beat a Dragon by themselves. Finally, they must acquire a Dragon¡¯s approval. Only then, could they become a real Dragon Knight. In other words, Dragon Knights are powerful not just because of their Dragons, but also because they themselves are powerful.¡±


    Finally, Purity stared at the scale on Liola¡¯s left arm:


    ¡°The book says, when one acquires the Dragon¡¯s approval, they must then drop their own blood on the Dragon¡¯s forehead. And then the Dragon will take the scale from the center of its forehead and adorn it on the Dragon Knight¡¯s left arm, to show its loyalty and to link its spirit to the Dragon Knight.¡±


    Kaiser was petrified:


    ¡°You can also tell us, a Dragon who has linked its spirit with a master can¡¯t change its master.¡±


    Purity nodded.


    The pink-eyed child, as if to show his intentions, wobbly walked up to Liola, and then climbed up Liola¡¯s body like a lizard, and then stayed at Liola¡¯s back.


    The child even made a lowly snore, indicating that he was sound asleep.


    ¡°Right.¡± Purity somewhat hesitantly said: ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone know that Silver Mask is Liola-dage. Jetter from this morning is a son of the leader of Commerce Alliance ¡ª the origin of Mechas. And the leader is v-very influential.¡±


    ¡°Liola, I seriously beg you.¡± Kaiser showed a dignified expression: ¡°Please don¡¯t tell anyone you know me.¡±

 Volume 1, 4 : Liola is a Dragon Knight?

    Volume 1, Chapter 4 : Liola is a Dragon Knight?


    ¡°Heh, I ran into a person from another dimension in the morning, and then an X-ranked criminal forced us to go study at Aklan Academy.


    Before noon we¡¯ve already offended the son of the Commerce Alliance¡¯s leader. The next day, without taking a sip of afternoon tea, we¡¯ve also provoked the Dragon Empire, and now we even have a baby Dragon who does nothing but eat.¡±


    Kaiser thought about what had transpired in these past few days:


    ¡°I say, Liola, there are only three countries in the world, and you¡¯ve already offended two.


    Looks like you¡¯re running out of places to hide.¡±


    ¡°If I remember correctly, you caused every single one of those things.¡±


    Liola refuted coldly:


    ¡°You wanted to catch Mizerui, you wanted me to teach Jetter a lesson, finally, you shot the Dragon to draw it away from those people.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is true, but you seem to have the potential to make everything a big deal.¡±


    Kaiser was amazed, perhaps him and Liola were on the bottom of the list of people who are fated to be together?


    One draws troubles, and the other make the troubles worse; it¡¯s only the second day and they¡¯ve already destroyed a dorm, a Mecha, and defeated a Dragon. The days ahead are¡­ worrisome.


    ¡°Oh no, Kaiser, Liola-dage!¡± Purity screamed while running into the room.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s worse than sitting in a half-destroyed dorm staring at a Dragon-turned-baby?¡±


    Kaiser leaned against the table, staring at the pink-eyed child on the table. The child seemed to be curious about Kaiser, and he always stared at him with his big eyes.


    ¡°The School of Knights i-is giving Silver Mask a final warning, if he doesn¡¯t hand over the Sacred White Dragon, they will issue a kill-on-sight order on him, and search every last corner.¡± Purity turned pale.


    ¡°Sacred White Dragon?¡±


    Staring at the child in front of him, whose stare had made him cross-eyed, it was hard for him to think of the child as a Sacred White Dragon.


    ¡°Then hand him back.¡± Liola said dispassionately.


    ¡°I do want to. But I¡¯ve been thinking, which is worse? Not handing over the Dragon, or handing over the Dragon, only to have them find that the Dragon has already chosen a master?¡±


    Liola was quiet as well. If the Dragon had already picked a master, then it would be useless to them, so wouldn¡¯t it be the same either way?


    What to do? All three thought about the problem in their hearts.


    ¡°I-I used to read in the book¡­¡± Purity said with some uncertainty:


    ¡°Dragon Knights are very moral, gracious people, and they respect Dragons. If they know that the Dragon has picked a master, they would be happy for that Dragon¡­¡±


    Under Kaiser¡¯s scornful gaze, Purity¡¯s voice grew quieter as she spoke, until even she didn¡¯t believe her words were possible.


    After all, the Dragon Empire was very strict about Dragons. Everyone in the world knew that. There was a story about a Dragon egg being stolen from the Empire via the sea.


    They were so angry, they butchered thousands of passengers on the ship, and when the egg was not found, they sank the ship. So even if they couldn¡¯t get it back, they would never let anyone leave with it.


    ¡°Then I guess I have to do something I really don¡¯t want to!¡± Veins started popping out of Kaiser¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°Something Kaiser-dage doesn¡¯t want to do?¡± Purity was surprised, and guessed, ¡°Could it be running away?¡±


    ¡°No, running away from Aklan Academy means we would be chased by Mizerui. Compared to him, I think the School of Knights is easier to deal with.¡±


    Liola said lightly, and a murderous intent flashed from his eyes: ¡°You want to silence them?¡±


    ¡°F¡ª you, you¡¯re even more unrealistic than Purity.¡± Kaiser mercilessly rebuked:


    ¡°To quell this, are you going to kill the entire School of Knights? And if you do that, the other two schools will definitely react, so in the end are you going to kill everyone in Aklan Academy?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t done that¡­¡± Liola opened his mouth, and made the other two felt felt the hair on the back of their necks sticking up.


    ¡°No! Neither are what I¡¯m want to do.¡± Kaiser ceremoniously denied.


    Liola and Purity stared at Kaiser, as if they were asking, ¡°So what the hell do you want to do?¡±


    Kaiser held his hand into a fist, and with a serious his face, he said:


    ¡°Well, since we can¡¯t offend Mizerui nor the School of Knights, then¡­ Mizerui-dage, where are you? Help! If you don¡¯t come out soon, we will get killed. If we get killed, then you letting us go would have meant nothing! Mizerui-dage, come out and help us!¡±


    Kaiser screamed and yelled, while pulling his hair and pounded loudly on the wall. If anyone saw him, they would probably think he was possessed.


    ¡°So he¡¯s calling for reinforcements¡­¡±


    Liola said disapprovingly: ¡°I don¡¯t think Mizerui would care about this.¡±


    ¡°Okay okay, didn¡¯t dage come after all?¡± Mizerui¡¯s outline really appeared on top of the table.


    He sat cross-legged on the table while holding the pink-eyed child, playing with it. The big-eyed child was so scared, he ran off into the arms of his ¡®papa¡¯ without even looking back at Mizerui.


    ¡°Damn! You really came¡­¡± Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped as he looked at Mizerui.


    ¡°Hey, were you not the one who called me here?¡± Mizerui said with an aggravated expression.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Kaiser only called for him jokingly, and it was done out of desperation. Who knew that this guy really had nothing to do, and came as soon as called upon!


    ¡°Ah, whatever. Now that you¡¯re here, help us with these huge problem!¡±


    ¡°This problem isn¡¯t going to be easy.¡± Mizerui shook his head and sighed,


    ¡°You two really are the epitome of ¡®trouble-makers¡¯. But luckily, you were clever, coming up with the Silver Mask.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already spoken with the principal, and he will help you suppress this. But, in the future, don¡¯t let Silver Mask come out again, otherwise the School of Knights will create trouble again.¡±


    ¡°Mi-Mizerui-dage¡­¡± Kaiser was so grateful, that it looked like he was about to kiss Mizerui¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± Mizerui smiled gently, but Kaiser already knew that this wasn¡¯t the end. It wasn¡¯t going to end simply like this.


    ¡°Go thank the Aklan Academy principal. You really owe him one so you should repay him.¡± As Mizerui said this, he disappeared again.


    ¡°He does this every time, and never finishes saying his thoughts. What the hell does that principal want with us?¡± Kaiser mumbled.


    Liola frowned. This feeling¡­ There was an evil scheme in progress, and it was making him unhappy¡­ But under the premise of not killing a person, it was not going to be easy beating Mizerui, especially when he wasn¡¯t familiar with Mizerui¡¯s power of sorcery.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Purity showed a worried expression.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, boss?¡±


    Purity raised her head and said: ¡°Do you guys want to go to the eighth period? If we go now, we can still make it.¡±


    Kaiser scratched his already messed up head: ¡°Every time we go to class, it seems like something bad happens.¡±


    ¡°We still have to go.¡± Liola said firmly: ¡°We¡¯ll go to the principal directly, to ask him how we have to repay him.¡±


    ¡°What about the pink-eyed child?¡± Purity asked; but then everyone suddenly realized, the Dragon baby was gone¡­ Even an idiot would know, Mizerui was the one who took him.


    ¡°Hey, Liola, your child was abducted.¡± Kaiser elbowed the father next to him.


    ¡°Ignore him.¡±


    ¡°What a heartless father, you don¡¯t even care about your precious daughter.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­ I peeked a while ago; the pink-eyed child doesn¡¯t have something that girls should have¡­¡±


    ¡°What? Holy sh*t, Liola, your son doesn¡¯t have a penis!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    * * *


    Mizerui¡¯s appearance started as a light outline, and slowly became denser, until finally, he materialized.


    However unlike his usual carefree appearance, Mizerui was busy comforting the crying baby Dragon child in his hand, and sometimes having to rescue his own hair and face from the child.


    ¡°Aiya, Mizerui, why did you make a little child cry?¡± Barbalis smiled while serving tea to Mizerui, and made fun of his good friend¡¯s rare misfortune.


    Mizerui laughed bitterly: ¡°I didn¡¯t make him cry. When I wanted to take this child, he tried desperately to get back to Liola, but instead Liola glanced at him coldly. And this is the result.¡±


    ¡°Looks like that guy is definitely strong, but he isn¡¯t a good father.¡± Barbalis stroke his long beard, ¡°Hmm, I guess, it wasn¡¯t a good idea to give him the Sacred White Dragon.¡±


    Mizerui snapped when he heard: ¡°The Dragon already picked him. So even if it wasn¡¯t a good idea there¡¯s nothing we can do now.¡±


    ¡°But the Dragon Empire¡¯s Princess is rather unhappy! This was her Dragon after all.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve heard. But even after having the Dragon caged for years, she still couldn¡¯t obtain the Dragon¡¯s approval. That little girl is clearly incompetent, and they should¡¯ve let someone else try a long time ago.¡± Mizerui showed an unhappy face.


    Barbalis couldn¡¯t help but smile: ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve been dissatisfied about the Dragon Empire imprisoning the Sacred White Dragon, for a long time. After all, you have ties to the Dragons.¡±


    Mizerui glanced at Barbalis, looked at the crying child in his arms, and patiently explained to the child:


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to steal you away from Liola. It¡¯s just that we have problems to solve first, you are the, after all, Sacred White Dragon, and you mean a lot to the Dragon Empire.


    If you don¡¯t wish to trouble Liola, then you must first meet with the Dragon Empire¡¯s Princess, and explain to her that you¡¯ve already chosen your master. Do you understand? Little White Dragon.¡±


    Dragon child seemed to have understood, and nodded unwillingly. It stopped crying, but still murmured: ¡°papa¡­¡±


    ¡°Why would such a dignified, Sacred White Dragon treat Liola as its father? This is difficult for me to comprehend. Ordinarily, the Sacred White Dragon is the most prideful amongst all Dragons.¡± Barbalis sighed.


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± Mizerui¡¯s expression suddenly became strange: ¡°This might have something to do with its father, the Black Dragon. In some ways, Liola does have a very dark side.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why¡­ But, those two lads certainly didn¡¯t disappoint us two elders. They are interesting, perhaps too interesting. We even had to intervene in their problems ourselves.¡±


    Barbalis shook his head. Why did it seem like they were the ones being played?


    ¡°It¡¯s a game, and if you¡¯re not involved, how is it fun?¡± Mizerui showed an evil smile: ¡°But I believe that you, Barbalis, will make sure that our efforts are worthwhile.¡±


    Barbalis also showed an enigmatic smile: ¡°Of course.¡±


    At this time, they both suddenly showed a thoughtful expression. Mizerui tossed the Dragon child into Barbalis¡¯ arms, and watched him fumbling with the child.


    Mizerui smiled as if he were happy that Barbalis was there to help, and slowly started fading as he said:


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave first, Barbalis, I don¡¯t want to deal with the spoiled Dragon Empire Princess.¡±


    ¡°This guy¡­¡± Barbalis sighed, and he felt the presence of the Dragon Empire Princess outside his door. All he could do, while preparing to negotiate with the empire¡¯s Princess, was straighten up his looks.


    Barbalis thought: ¡°This isn¡¯t an easy job; later on, I will definitely have to ¡®teach¡¯ those two trouble-makers a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Little White Dragon, hurry and change back into your Dragon form.¡± Barbalis looked down, and saw that the pouting child in his arms was clearly not going to cooperate.


    As expected, the white Dragons are a prideful race. Nowadays, humans aren¡¯t even on the same level as Dragons.


    Barbalis sighed: ¡°Little White Dragon, if you want to return to your father, you can¡¯t let the Princess see you in your human form, do you understand?¡±


    Upon hearing ¡°father¡±, the little child pouted and unwillingly started to change.


    Starting from a cute, human child, its body was slowly covered by white scale, his fingers turned into claws, and his circular face also slowly grew longer to become a Dragon¡¯s face.


    Finally, a little white Dragon of about one meter long sat leisurely on the table.


    There was a knock from outside. Although the Princess was extremely upset, the lessons in etiquette from her childhood had not been in vain. The knocking was unhurried, and no one could feel the anger of the person knocking, which, incidentally, had almost reached its limit.


    ¡°Please come in.¡± Barbalis secretly admired this little girl¡¯s ability to keep calm.


    The door opened gently, and the majestic figure of the girl outside stepped into the principal¡¯s large office.


    ¡®The Dragon Empire¡¯s prideful Princess, Lanski?¡¯ Upon seeing her Royal Highness¡¯s unparalleled beauty, and her famous creamy, golden, long hair, Barbalis was in awe. She was indeed worthy of being called the Dragon Empire¡¯s beautiful Princess.


    As she walked in, her voice arrived before she did: ¡°Principal, Sir, if you do not give us an explanation, I¡¯m afraid that the Dragon Empire will not let this pass.¡±


    Despite her perfect manners, Lanski still carried a forcefulness in her voice, and her mesmerizing eyebrows were standing up. After all, what happened had greatly affected her, and pressure from the royal family had almost made her explode and swear.


    After Lanski had calmed down and looked, there was a Sacred White Dragon sitting on the table.


    The fact that the Sacred White Dragon was found made Lanski sigh in relief: ¡°Sacred white Dragon! Thank you for finding the white Dragon for me, Principal, Sir.¡±


    Barbalis laughed bitterly: ¡°I¡¯m afraid you will have to withdraw your thanks in just a moment.¡±


    Lanski, who was in a hurry to bring the Sacred White Dragon back, ignored Barbalis¡¯ mutterings.


    ¡°Sacred white Dragon, please return with me.¡±


    Facing a prideful Sacred White Dragon, even Lanski didn¡¯t want to be disrespectful; she walked up to it and softly asked.


    Little white Dragon turned its head in disgust, and neglected the Princess¡¯s gentle request.


    Lanski frowned slightly, even though the Sacred White Dragon had never liked her much, at the very least it never displayed such open disgust.


    What was going on¡­ Wait, Lanski sudden realized that, on the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s forehead, there was a scale missing. That was the center scale, and it was replaced with a blood-red oval mark.


    Lanski couldn¡¯t believe what she saw. As the Dragon Empire¡¯s Princess, she was very familiar with what this meant. In addition to how the Sacred White Dragon rejected her approach, this explained everything: the Sacred White Dragon has chosen its master!


    The Sacred White Dragon chose its master, and its master was not her. This struck Lanski as if her boyfriend of many years was suddenly getting married, and the bride was someone else. Lanski felt her heart broken into pieces, and murmured while trembling:


    ¡°Why? I have been your companion for many years, and you still refused to recognize me as your Master. Yet, you¡¯ve left me for less than a day, and you¡¯ve already chosen another? In the end, what was the point of my many years of hard work?¡±


    ¡°Well, everything happened according to its destiny!¡± Barbalis shook his head.


    Lanski¡¯s beautiful clear blue eyes were filled with resentment. She asked bitterly: ¡°Who? Who has the Sacred White Dragon chosen as its Master?¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ heart sank, but did not answer directly: ¡°Princess, since the Sacred White Dragon had chosen its Master, the only thing you can do now is display your chivalrous spirit, and wish him well.¡±


    Lanski¡¯s beautiful face appeared to be struggling and unwilling. With that said, she had always been prideful of being the future master of the Sacred White Dragon.


    Ever since she was a child, she had always loved the Sacred White Dragon, and personally prepared its food. Suddenly, her ambition had been in vain.


    Even though she was brought up to accept the situation and be chivalrous, she could not easily let go.


    ¡°That man¡­ Who is he? Is he the man who wore a mask that day?¡± Lanski forced herself to calm down. As a dignified Princess, she could not let her emotions get out of control.


    Barbalis did not know if he should say anything, so he nodded.


    But to his relief, the two guys were not stupid. Fortunately, they created a Silver Mask persona. Otherwise, he was afraid that as soon as the Empire¡¯s Princess hears Liola¡¯s name, she¡¯d take her sword and destroy the remaining half of the School of Sorcery¡¯s dorm¡­


    Hmm, come to think of it, he still had to find a place for his few remaining students. It¡¯s a real pain, but what if¡­


    ¡°I want to see him.¡± Lanski requested without hesitating.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Barbalis revealed an embarrassed expression.


    Though Lanski said first: ¡°Even if I have to give up the Sacred White Dragon, I must see its master, and test him to see if he is qualified to be a Dragon Knight; otherwise, how would I be able to explain this to my Father, the Emperor?¡±


    Although Lanski said that, her true motive was to have a duel with the Silver Mask, otherwise she would never be satisfied.


    Heh, a test really wasn¡¯t necessary; Liola was definitely not a qualified Dragon Knight. Although that¡¯s what Barbalis thought, he still said, with his head held high:


    ¡°There will be someone who will explain this to the Dragon Emperor, your Highness does not need to worry about that. As for your meeting with Silver Mask, well¡­¡±


    Although she doubted anyone could possibly calm her Father¡¯s anger upon hearing the news that the Sacred White Dragon had chosen another master, it was not something Lanski worried about at the moment.


    She wanted to have a duel with the Silver Mask at any cost, and this determination was shown on her face.


    Barbalis knew that if he didn¡¯t let Lanski see the Silver Mask, then he, as a principal, would see no end to his problems.


    Barbalis was helplessly forced to say. ¡°Tomorrow afternoon at 1 o¡¯clock, on the 20th sports field.¡±


    Lanski receiving the appointment, raised her right arm across her chest, and performed a standard Knight¡¯s salute. She then turned around and exited the principal¡¯s office.


    Barbalis was suddenly worried, how could he make a cold Assassin willing to have a duel with a lady, without killing her?


    * * *


    Finally they¡¯ve arrived at the sports field, for the last lesson of the day, but¡­


    ¡°The principal has just announced, the last class had been canceled.¡± Someone who wore the same gray robes as them said to the three late students with good intentions.


    ¡°No wonder it was peaceful on the way here.¡± Kaiser¡¯s shoulders dropped: ¡°We¡¯re destined not to have any classes today.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, don¡¯t be discouraged. As long as we are persistent, we will definitely be able to go to class.¡± Purity earnestly encouraged Kaiser.


    Kaiser scratched his head. Well, it didn¡¯t really matter even if they¡¯re not persistent. He wasn¡¯t eager to the point of wanting to go to class. He only came because he was afraid of being expelled for skipping class, and Kaiser was not mentally prepared to go against Mizerui.


    Liola thought it was a pity that he wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the power of modern Sorcery. Still, Liola began to doubt his own heart. He had been wanting to ask more questions today than he had in the past twenty five years.


    But this is something good, right? At least Liola felt more like a normal person, just as Anise wished upon him. Realizing this, Liola blurted out his question.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the School of Sorcery flourish?¡± According to his thoughts, Mizerui was a Sorcerer, and he was so strong, there¡¯s no reason for the School of Sorcery to be in ruins.


    ¡°Hmm, Liola-dage doesn¡¯t know?¡± Purity showed a strange expression.


    Because Sorcery had been in decline for many years, and it had been a trend throughout the world, so it was strange for Liola not to know.


    ¡°This guy came from another world, and he just arrived in this world today.¡± Kaiser explained on behalf of Liola.


    Purity was surprised, but not too much. After all, the space around this world wasn¡¯t too stable. Every two, three years, there will be a few new outsiders. Purity then started to explain this world to Liola.


    ¡°A long time ago, Sorcerers were also called Magicians, and they were mainly people who can control magical elements. But to those who didn¡¯t understand, Magicians appeared to be people with strange powers, and then they were all called Sorcerers.¡±


    ¡°But as technology advanced, Sorcery declined.¡± Purity showed a regretful expression.


    Liola felt that, if he asked Kaiser a question, Kaiser would answer casually without thinking about it seriously, and then Liola wouldn¡¯t understand. But whenever he asked Purity a question, she would answer seriously, but her answer was always off the point¡­


    Kaiser clearly couldn¡¯t stand it, and started talking:


    ¡°Sorcerers can use elemental magic to make Fireballs, Ice bolts, etc, to attack the enemy.


    This used to be something powerful, but now technology has overtaken it. You have already seen that the Mechas¡¯ gun barrels could do a whole lot more damage than most magic.


    Healing magic also used to be very desirable, but nowadays, it¡¯s better to go to the hospital than to find a healing magician. Stay in the healing Maxun for a day, and whatever wounds you had would be healed.¡±


    Finally, Kaiser added:


    ¡°You¡¯d feel pretty bad if you were to spend a lifetime learning Sorcery, only to realize that different Maxuns could perform better than your magic, which you could¡¯ve only gotten after you¡¯ve spent all your time making that money.¡±


    ¡°Maxun?¡± Liola asked lightly, but he was thinking, that Kaiser¡¯s last sentence seemed to be carrying some sadness.


    ¡°Just a name for all the products of technology. Mechas are also just a more complex Maxun.¡± Kaiser shrugged and explained.


    Liola was still somewhat confused: ¡°Mizerui is strong, and far stronger than Mechas.¡±


    Kaiser answered in disdain: ¡°How many Mizeruis do you think there are in the world?¡±


    ¡°Besides Mizerui, there is still me!¡± A geezer who had been eavesdropping jumped out and said; as a Sorcerer, he did consider himself to be powerful.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Getting used to Mizerui¡¯s sudden appearance, Kaiser was no longer surprised by the geezer, but this guy seemed to be¡­ ¡°Ah, you¡¯re the geezer who took our applications!¡±


    The old guy facepalmed, and coughed: ¡°I¡¯m not a geezer¡­¡±


    ¡°Not a geezer?¡± Kaiser asked coldly: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, you¡¯re twenty five this year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. I¡¯m saying I¡¯m no ordinary geezer.¡± He added.


    ¡°Then what are you? Super geezer?¡± Kaiser pouted.


    But Purity, who had been standing beside him, turned pale. Because the guy in front of her wasn¡¯t just an ordinary guy, but rather, the most powerful person in Aklan Academy.


    ¡°Cough, cough, listen up.¡± The geezer coughed again, and said proudly:


    ¡°I am the Aklan Academy principal, Barbalis, and I am also the only teacher in the School of Sorcery. Furthermore, I am one of the two top Sorcerers in Aklan Empire.¡±


    Kaiser was stunned. This geezer who looked like a worker was actually the principal? And his only teacher? Uh¡­ Kaiser suddenly showed admiration, and said with praise:


    ¡°So you¡¯re Mr. Principal. No wonder I saw an extraordinary aura with you, as if you have hidden a gosu¡¯s talent. I was even wondering which gosu you were, and it turned out that you¡¯re the most famous, Aklan Academy principal, Mr. Barbalis! Nice to finally meet you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, this lad sure knows what¡¯s good.¡± Hearing such flattering words, Barbalis laughed wildly.


    As expected, when all else fails, use flattery. Kaiser had an evil laugh in his heart, while keeping the same fake smile plastered across his face.


    ¡°Mr Principal, wasn¡¯t the last class canceled? W-why are you here?¡± Purity asked while trembling, for she was the person among the three of them who was aware of how terrifying the principal was.


    ¡°Oh, oh.¡± After Purity had reminded him, Barbalis finally remembered why he was here, and hurriedly stated the purpose of his visit:


    ¡°I¡¯m here to tell Silver Mask, tomorrow afternoon at one o¡¯clock sharp, go to the 20th sports field, for your entrance exam!¡±


    What? Anyone who had heard this would have been suspicious. They said there would be no entrance exam, and now there suddenly was one.


    What¡¯s even more strange was that Liola was the only one being tested, but not Kaiser; not to mention it was specifically calling for Silver Mask. This made them very suspicious.


    ¡°What¡¯s the test?¡± Kaiser asked curiously.


    ¡°Beat a Dragon Knight, but without seriously hurting or killing them.¡± Barbalis said proudly; this was something he finally came up with after hours of thinking ¡ª a good reason for Liola to duel with Lanski.


    ¡°So it¡¯s the problem about the pink-eyed child.¡± Kaiser dawned on the truth.


    ¡°I decline.¡± Liola said without hesitation.


    Barbalis stroke his beard and asked:


    ¡°Why? With your abilities, it shouldn¡¯t be hard for you to beat her. As long as you beat her, you can obtain a Dragon, and the Dragon Empire would stop their investigation into this.¡±


    Barbalis took out the pink-eyed child from behind his back, and placed him in front of Liola: ¡°Look, what a cute child! Are you going to abandon him?¡±


    As soon as the pink-eyed child saw his dad, he struggled out of Barbalis¡¯ grasp, and ran towards Liola while yelling: ¡°Pa, papapa¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want that Dragon.¡± Liola firmly declined.


    Even though the child was already glued to his back, he really didn¡¯t want a child who yells all day calling him ¡°papa¡±, there was nothing that could possibly be more troublesome.


    Barbalis¡¯ face sank. Although he already heard Mizerui describing Liola¡¯s cold personality, this was far too heartless. What a cold-blooded assassin, who could even firmly say no to such a cute child.


    Barbalis had no choice but play his trump card: ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to expel you. Either pit your lives against Mizerui, or defeat a mere Dragon Knight, your choice. Tomorrow afternoon, 1 o¡¯clock in the afternoon, 20th sports field.¡±


    Before he left, he pounded yet another nail into the coffin. Barbalis said, ¡°Kaiser, your fate lies with Liola. If he¡¯s expelled, so are you.¡±


    What! Kaiser was alarmed, and quickly said:


    ¡°That¡¯s unfair! How could you punish me with him? This method was only used in ancient times. Principal, please be more modern. One has to be responsible for only one¡¯s actions.¡±


    Barbalis grunted, ignoring Kaiser¡¯s begging, turned around and left, leaving Kaiser with Barbalis¡¯ problem of how to convince Liola to duel with a Dragon Knight.


    After thinking about it for a long while, Kaiser faced Liola with a sad look, and started bargaining with him:


    ¡°Liola, please go fight the Dragon Knight. I promise that I will answer all your questions seriously from now on.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Liola thought about it.


    Kaiser seemed to know a lot of things, and if he could answer his questions honestly, then it would be a fair deal. After all, he hadn¡¯t figured out a good way against Mizerui¡¯s ¡°Failed Lecture¡±.


    ¡°Really, and to show my sincerity, let me tell you the strengths of the Dragon Knights.¡± Kaiser cleared his throat purposely, and began to show his sincerity.


    ¡°Dragon Knights, like their name suggests, ride on Dragons. The combination of a Dragon Knight and Dragon, is the symbol of being powerful.


    Not only do they have air superiority, the intelligence of Dragons is far higher than that of a Mecha. Thus, the difference in level of dexterity between Mechas and Dragons is similar to the difference of climbing abilities between humans and monkeys.¡±


    ¡°Under normal circumstances, a mounted Dragon Knight is comparable with a rank-A mecha.


    Okay, Liola, I know you don¡¯t know how strong Mechas are, so here¡¯s some more freebies.


    Mechas are divided into ranks A through D, but of course there are exceptions, and the three leaders of the Commerce Alliance each has a rank-X mecha. I think you already know what rank-X means? As in, the rank Mizerui carries.


    Even though most Dragon Knights can¡¯t match a rank-X Mecha, rank-A Mechas are already frightening. Not only are they powerful, the price is damn astronomically high. Astronomical is an adjective, don¡¯t ask me what it means.¡±


    ¡°Though I don¡¯t know what it means, I heard that Dragon Knights could use Dragon magic, and I heard it¡¯s really strong. That¡¯s why even when Mechas run around with their biggest guns, they still won¡¯t be easily defeated.¡±


    After saying all that, even the talkative Kaiser was tired, so he had to stop to take a breath, before he could continue his ¡°sincerity¡±:


    ¡°Liola, you have to be careful. Even without their Dragons, Dragon Knights are not to be trifled with. After all, to obtain a Dragon¡¯s approval, they have to beat the Dragon first. If that Dragon happened to dislike them, they would have to find another Dragon. I think you know, for someone who will be fighting Dragons left and right, they won¡¯t be weak.¡±


    Liola thought for a bit, then asked: ¡°Is there a way to judge how strong they are?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Kaiser put up his index finger: ¡°but you have to promise me, that tomorrow you will duel with the Dragon Knight, then I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    Liola nodded.


    Seeing Liola finally agree, Kaiser sighed in relief, and continued to pay his dues:


    ¡°All Knights will learn a Kung Fu called ¡®Aura¡¯.


    I heard that these auras will have different colors based on its strength: there are gold, silver, blue, red, and green, with the latter ones being weaker.


    I heard that there are exceptions, too. Supposedly the strongest Paladin Lancelot had a pure white aura, and the strongest Dark Knight Blood Wolf had a black aura with strings of red. But these are just rumors, don¡¯t hold me liable for them.¡±


    ¡°So, are you happy with my payment?¡± Kaiser asked snappily.


    Liola was very satisfied, for he finally had a basic grasp of the world¡¯s strongest fighters.


    ¡°Jeez, can we go eat dinner now?¡± Kaiser complained, his over-exercised mouth had caused his stomach to growl.


    ¡°We can go to dinner, but I have a condition too!¡± Purity sudden held up her chest¡­ her flat chest, and said.


    Kaiser and Liola looked Purity, puzzled: ¡°What condition?¡±


    ¡°I-I want Liola to name the pink-eyed child, then let me go buy him some clothes.¡± Purity sadly looked at the naked child on Liola¡¯s back, who couldn¡¯t even get Liola¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this easy? Liola, give your penis-less son a name.¡± Kaiser said with indifference.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t have th-that.¡± Purity refuted: ¡°I looked up Dragon Knight¡¯s Glory and Honor, and it said that, before a Dragon matures, it is genderless.¡±


    A name? Liola put the pink-eyed child in front of him. The child¡¯s chubby face smiled, and the chubby arms waved around, as if it was trying to get closer to its father.


    ¡°How about we call it Pink Eyed White Dragon?¡± Liola asked seriously.


    ¡°Your naming abilities are about as good as Mizerui¡¯s!¡±


    Kaiser shook his head and sighed, and with a sinister smile, he suggested:


    ¡°His dad is Liola, so why don¡¯t we call him Lilebao (Li ¨C Happy ¨C Buns)?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Liola nodded in agreement, since he didn¡¯t care what it was called.


    Purity was worried: ¡°No, we can¡¯t name it Lilebao (Li ¨C Happy ¨C Buns), it isn¡¯t a food.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly hit his palm, and yelled:


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it. Let¡¯s call it Baolilong (Baby/child ¨C Li ¨C Dragon). It has Liola¡¯s Li, Dragon, and baby. What about that? It fits, right?¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Purity was very alarmed.


    ¡°Baolilong, then you¡¯re called Baolilong.¡±


    Liola said to the pink-eyed child, who was now named Baolilong, and started to happily nodded, for it was happy that its father had finally given it a name.


    It did not realize that, many years later, it would regret that, due to the foolishness of its youth, it would be known to many as Baolilong¡­

 Volume 1, 5 : Breakfast Interlude

    Volume 1, Chapter 5 : Breakfast Interlude


    Had he not chosen to leave the organization to find Anise, she would still be alive today, right? And she probably would still be carrying her med kit, running around to save many more lives.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to kill anymore, please come find me.¡±


    Anise¡¯s voice resonated in Liola¡¯s head. However, the scene he remembered was not her firm expression, but rather one of Anise lying on the ground, bathed in blood, and still holding out a cross to him, because she wanted him to go to DuanChang Cliff 1 with it.


    He shouldn¡¯t have gone to look for Anise. Had he not done so, she would still be alive.


    * * *


    Liola suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. He felt his heart racing. Liola didn¡¯t know if his eyes were filled with tears or sweat¡­


    After a while, he sat up and wiped away the liquid on his forehead. He turned and looked, and he saw Kaiser was still sound asleep in a strange posture. His body was entirely wrapped in his blanket, and he was still drooling.


    Liola put on his clothes, and wanted to do his morning exercises as usual. He walked to the window, stepped outside, and quickly jumped onto the roof of the building. He looked around and was happy to see there was no one around.


    (Duh! Who would want to live in such a dangerous building, except you and Kaiser? Even Purity took Baolilong to a motel.)


    Liola sat down cross legged, and began to examine his Ki. He started exercising his Ki as he had done in the past twenty years.


    Exercising his Ki for 36 cycles was what he did every morning, as the first part of his basic Kung Fu training. His frustration caused by his dreams was slowly dissipating. All of his thoughts followed his steady Ki, and nothing else.


    After 36 cycles were completed, Liola finished cooling down. With a few deep breaths, he suddenly jumped up, and while doing so, pulled out the hidden silver stick.


    Although the organization¡¯s leader had given it a name ¡ª Broken Silver ¡ª when he gave him the weapon, but Liola, as someone who killed almost every who had seen it, never had the opportunity to even mention its name.


    Liola started exercising his second basic Kung Fu, Windborn Blade. He jumped around as if gravity had no effect on him, while performing various aerial stunts in the process.


    You could see how incredibly flexible he was. Bending his body back until his head touched his leg, was child¡¯s play to him.


    Moreover, he did several unfathomable aerial maneuvers. Some people say that it¡¯s impossible to dodge attacks mid-air, but to Liola, it sounded like a joke.


    While his body were moving around, Liola¡¯s hands weren¡¯t idle either. ¡°Windborne Blade¡± does have the word ¡°Blade¡± in it, so Liola was also practicing various stabbing angles and positions with the Broken Silver in his hand¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Breakfast¡­¡± Kaiser¡¯s sleepy voice could be heard.


    Liola stopped, turned around and looked at Kaiser, who was only holding onto the edge of the building by his arms. The rest of his body was swinging in air, plus he looked like he was about to fall asleep again.


    ¡°Is it time to have breakfast with Purity?¡± Liola sighed, remembered how difficult it was for him to wake Kaiser yesterday. It was surprising to see Kaiser awake because of breakfast with Purity at 7am. Of course, the reason was breakfast, definitely not Purity.


    Liola jumped from the roof top and back into the room, grabbing Kaiser along the way, or else he might fall to his death while dreaming. After they both cleaned up, Liola dragged Kaiser toward the cafeteria.


    When Liola got close to the cafeteria, he saw Purity standing at the doors already. He walked towards her, and said: ¡°Morning.¡±


    ¡°Morning, Liola-dage, and Kaiser.¡± Purity laughed upon seeing Kaiser¡¯s half-open eyes and drool.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong felt like he¡¯d been away from his father for a year. As soon as he saw Liola, he ran towards him.


    Liola, however, frowned slightly and looked at Baolilong. Unlike the naked child yesterday, Baolilong was now wearing a small black vest, black shorts, and a pair of riding boots.


    He was also carrying a backpack with two small wings. His silver hair was also pinned up with a hairpin, which showed his forehead. This made his face look even more like an egg, and made his eyes shine brighter.


    ¡°Baolilong is really cute, right?¡± Purity asked excitedly.


    She had been through quite a few shopping streets yesterday, and finally bought everything she needed. Baolilong¡¯s clothes, and some necessities for Kaiser and Liola.


    Liola nodded, but Kaiser complained loudly: ¡°Who cares if he¡¯s cute, I¡¯m starving.¡±


    With Kaiser pressing on, the three of them ¡ª and a Dragon ¡ª walked into the cafeteria. But as soon as they walked in, they found something rather strange.


    Starting from the door, everyone to the left of Liola¡¯s gang were wearing blue, short-sleeved, military uniforms, and everyone to the right were wearing white and black Knight uniforms, whose clothes were adorned with colorful garnishments.


    Most of them were green and red, with a few blue ones dotted in between. And the blue ones were sitting in the most obvious seats.


    But they didn¡¯t see any gray robes, and this made Liola and Kaiser clueless as to where to go.


    Purity was already striding towards the few seats in a corner furthest away from the food stand. It was then when everyone saw, that there were a few people in gray robes sitting there and eating quietly.


    ¡°The difference in treatment is quite obvious.¡± Kaiser murmured, but he wasn¡¯t planning on starting any trouble. So long as he could eat, he didn¡¯t care where he sat.


    As soon as they found some seats, Kaiser impatiently ran towards the food stands. Liola, instead, was walking leisurely behind him, with Baolilong holding his right leg.


    ¡°Get down.¡± Liola said to Baolilong, who obediently got off his right leg, and stood next to him. Liola handed a tray to Baolilong, and said: ¡°What do you want to eat? Tell me, I¡¯ll get you some.¡±


    Baolilong scanned the food stand with his eyes, and then pointed at the ham cutely and yelled: ¡°Meat meat!¡±


    Liola understood something else, Dragons were carnivores. He cut off a large piece of ham for Baolilong, whom looked at the other half of the ham in Liola¡¯s hand, and yelled in dissatisfaction: ¡°More.¡±


    Liola frowned, and was just about to tell Baolilong not to waste food. Then he thought, Baolilong was ten-meter tall just yesterday, and to a large Dragon, this bit of food was definitely not enough.


    Upon realizing this, Liola took the whole leg of ham and gave it to Baolilong altogether, and then took another plate that had an entire turkey. Baolilong happily carried the two plates of food that were even bigger than his body, and followed his father closely.


    As Liola looked to see what food looked appetizing, he suddenly heard a commotion around him.


    ¡°Really cute!¡± A few girls screamed while looking at Baolilong.


    ¡°You took the ham and the turkey, so what are we going to eat?¡± A few guys in blue military uniforms blocked Liola¡¯s path.


    Liola looked at the food stand, and he was sure that there were more ham and turkey.


    These students from the School of Mecha Fighters probably just wanted to cause trouble. Liola frowned slightly, not sure how he should respond.


    He didn¡¯t want to get into any more trouble, especially since he still had to deal with the duel in the afternoon.


    ¡°You¡¯re that guy from yesterday!¡± Jetter recognized that the guy in front of him was the same person as the one who saved that damsel in distress.


    Rage filled his heart. Had this guy not bothered him, Jetter wouldn¡¯t have had to take revenge, he wouldn¡¯t have ran into Silver Mask, or destroyed a rank-C mecha.


    * * *


    ¡°I guess we can¡¯t avoid our enemies after all !¡± Kaiser, who had just piled his plate with food and sat back down in his seat, was about to eat his breakfast comfortably, and was going to watch the show.


    ¡°What do we do? Aren¡¯t we going to help Liola-dage?¡± Purity said anxiously.


    Kaiser snapped: ¡°And how would we do that?¡±


    ¡°Even if you can¡¯t help, you should try. That¡¯s what friends are for. ¡± Proudly said by a student dressed in gray robes, unlike the usual timid attitude of a School of Sorcery student.


    Kaiser looked up curiously the guy in front of him.


    Golden hair, gold eyes, handsome looks, and arrogant, but¡­ This guy was actually carrying an elegantly carved mirror, and looking at his reflection in the mirror as he spoke.


    He even took out a bottle of cologne and used it every now and then. What was even more disgusting was that, on the originally plain gray robe, he used golden threads to sew in a Mona Lisa Smile.


    Kaiser quickly stuffed his mouth with a few small sandwiches, to stop himself from laughing out loud, because this horrifically elegant man might give him more trouble.


    Purity hesitantly asked: ¡°Meinan2, could you help Liola-dage?¡±


    Beautiful guy? Kaiser almost choked on the sandwiches in his mouth.


    Meinan suddenly stood, and elegantly took Purity¡¯s hand, and kissed it then said:


    ¡°Since such a beautiful lady asked, and a gentleman should never reject a lady¡¯s request. Meinan will definitely help your dage get out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°He¡­¡± Kaiser looked surprised: ¡°His back had the ¡®Last Supper¡¯ sewed on!¡±


    * * *


    Jetter thought about the time when he went to the School of Knights for revenge. Not only did he fail to do so, the School of Knights teachers even put him on record.


    Filled with anger, he made up his mind to teach this silver-haired guy a lesson. After all, the only teacher in the School of Sorcery was Barbalis, and he obviously doesn¡¯t care about his students.


    ¡°You f¡ªer!¡± Jetter said as he pushed Liola.


    Liola originally wanted to duck, but he didn¡¯t want to expose his abilities. He was worried Jetter might suspect him of being Silver Mask, then, he would never have any peaceful days.


    Liola decided that he wasn¡¯t going to do anything about it, and ignoring him would be enough. Jetter didn¡¯t even pose a threat when he was in a mecha, so there was nothing to worry about.


    Just because Liola doesn¡¯t care, didn¡¯t mean that Baolilong wouldn¡¯t care about other people bullying his dad.


    Seeing this guy push his dad, Baolilong¡¯s face turned red, put down his food, and jumped onto Jetter¡¯s leg. He opened his mouth wide, and took a huge bite.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Jetter screamed, and pushed Baolilong aside. Two rows of bite marks appeared on his legs, and blood was oozing out.


    It was obvious the Dragon¡¯s teeth were very sharp. Considering that Jetter was wearing long boots, yet the teeth was still able to penetrate the boots, socks, and pierce into Jetter¡¯s flesh.


    The pain in Jetter¡¯s legs was dreadful, and his scream also caught a ton of unwanted attention around the cafeteria. Some of it was mixed with laughter, which completely dulled Jetter¡¯s face. He roared:


    ¡°You little runt! Do you want to die? Fooling around with me!¡±


    As a proud White Dragon, Baolilong would never fear this guy. He just made a funny face and grunted, which made Jetter even more furious.


    Liola started to worry, but he wasn¡¯t worried about Baolilong. Instead, he was worried that Baolilong might swallow Jetter whole, and it might cause him to be expelled, and subsequently having to duel with Mizerui.


    Jetter raised the barrels on his hands, and aimed them at Baolilong to teach him a lesson.


    The girls surrounding him started a commotion:


    ¡°My god, he¡¯s going to attack that cute child¡±


    ¡°What a monster! He is going to fight a little kid¡±


    ¡°Bastard, if that pink-eyed child loses even a hair, I will break him!¡±


    As soon as Jetter heard them, the hairs on his body stood up. He hurriedly changed his target back to Liola. As long as he could take it out on someone, it didn¡¯t matter who it was.


    Having barrels pointed at him, Liola thought it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to test the power of these weapons, so he would have knowledge about them later on.


    Bang! Bang! After two loud sounds, two blue shots flew towards Liola. Smoke covered the place, and many people sitting in the cafeteria complained, because their food got ruined.


    As the smoke cleared, what appeared wasn¡¯t an injured Liola, but a gold-haired, gold-eyed, man posing, wearing a gray robe with a golden Mona Lisa Smile threaded across it.


    His left hand playing with his hair, and his right hand was held out in front of him in a straight line. In front of his right palm there were some light blue energy shield.


    Meinan smiled brightly, showing a flash of light reflecting from his white teeth, and said:


    ¡°Dage, seeing as I¡¯m here, how about letting my fellow classmate go? Otherwise I would have a hard time answering to a pretty lady.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell are you? How could you tell me to¡­¡± Jetter couldn¡¯t take his revenge, and his rage made him open his mouth to scream. But then a member of his gang pulled him from behind.


    The person behind him had a worried expression:


    ¡°Boss, that¡¯s Meinan from the School of Sorcery. His defensive abilities are quite amazing, and he once saved a Blue Knight, so he¡¯s heavily favored by the School of Knights. We shouldn¡¯t mess with him.¡±


    Jetter¡¯s face froze. He turned and looked towards the School of Knights, and sure enough there were a few Blue Knights glaring at him, which caused cold sweat to run down his back.


    Blue Knights were something Jetter couldn¡¯t afford to mess with, and so he could only grunt, and led his gang off in disdain.


    ¡°My dear classmate, are you hurt?¡± Meinan asked softly.


    Liola shook his head, but thought, why would this guy sew a bunch of people eating on his back?


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you guys take your breakfast and sit down to eat, otherwise it¡¯s almost time for class.¡± Meinan said passionately, and he helped Baolilong carry his turkey and ham, although he got bitten as a result, because Baolilong thought he was going to rob him of his food.


    Back at their seats, there was very little food on Purity¡¯s plate, because she was worried about Liola. Kaiser, on the contrary, already has a stack of plates in front of him, and was currently finishing his desserts.


    While eating, Liola said to Meinan: ¡°Your powers are quite impressive.¡±


    Meinan replied proudly: ¡°Of course. I studied magic for three years, and I¡¯m completely familiar with every defensive magic, even more so than the principal.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t just learn defensive magics, right?¡± Kaiser asked skeptically.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Meinan denied: ¡°I also know some luminescent magic, and I could also make a spark to start a fire. I also know some water magic which could create some drinking water. These are also very useful magic skills.¡±


    So basically no attack magic whatsoever¡­ Sweat ran down Purity and Kaiser¡¯s foreheads.


    ¡°Liola, what¡¯s your relationship to this little child? Your younger sister?¡± Meinan curiously looked at Baolilong, who was swallowing a turkey whole.


    ¡°No, his name is Baolilong. He¡¯s Liola¡¯s son.¡± Kaiser rushed to explain, and then satisfactorily enjoyed the sight of Meinan¡¯s dropped jaw.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Being a young father is rather difficult, isn¡¯t it?¡± Meinan sighed, happy that he hadn¡¯t had any ¡°accidents¡± yet, otherwise, like Liola, he would have to take his son to school.


    Liola was speechless.


    ¡°Liola and Kaiser, what kind of magic are you going to learn? Or do you guys have some special abilities?¡± Meinan asked.


    Liola was quiet for a while, then asked: ¡°Are there any healing magic I could learn?¡±


    Kaiser almost did a spit take with his milk, and Purity¡¯s jaw also dropped. They both wondered, an Assassin wants to be a Healer? What is he going to do, cut someone, then heal them back up for fun?


    But they both didn¡¯t know Liola was thinking that, since Anise was a godly doctor, then he will continue her path, and become a ¡®Godly Healer¡¯!

 Volume 1, 6 : Knight’s Duel

    Volume 1, Chapter 6 : Knight¡¯s Duel


    With Meinan and Purity, the group had finally gotten to the classroom. Today¡¯s indoor class was held at the library.


    Liola and Kaiser were so thankful, they were almost on their knees. They had finally arrived in class safely, without any trouble on the way. (They seem to disregard people like Jetter as trouble nowadays.)


    They walked to the hall leading to the library. Gray-robed students were already there, standing around.


    Liola and his group also joined the rest of the people waiting for the instructor. Kaiser was a little worried, hoping God didn¡¯t intentionally stop them from going to class, and have Barbalis run into some kind of accident.


    If the School of Sorcery got shut down due to the lack of teachers, then he and Liola would get kicked out as a result, which would be terrible for them.


    Fortunately, when the bell rang, Barbalis appeared in the hall punctually.


    He loudly declared: ¡°New students stay, while old students can go practice or research your own field of magic and skills. If you have a question, ask me next time during the outdoor session.¡±


    As soon as he finished, the old students scattered away, even Meinan and Purity showed an expression as if they were saying ¡°take care,¡± and then took off.


    Purity also took Baolilong, who was neither a new nor old student, so he wouldn¡¯t disturb Barbalis¡¯ lesson. In a flash, there were only two new students remaining. Liola and Kaiser.


    ¡°Th-that¡¯s it?¡± Kaiser really opened his eyes.


    Barbalis smiled as if he was saying ¡°who else were you expecting to be here¡±, as if he were a dutiful teacher:


    ¡°These old students already chose their own field of magic. I¡¯ve already taught them the basic magic and meditation. Now the only thing they can do is meditate, to understand and find deeper and better magic. Giving them more lectures would actually impede their development.¡±


    ¡°Besides, most of them have special abilities, and there is nothing more I could teach them.¡± Barbalis shook his head and sighed.


    Magic is magic, grouping it with special abilities was a fundamental mistake.


    ¡°All right, new students! Just listen to my basic magic lecture, then think about what you want to learn, or¡­¡±


    Barbalis showed an intriguing smile: ¡°What kind of magic have you already learned?¡±


    This question was not directed at Liola, who was from another world, and didn¡¯t know half a thing about magic.


    Kaiser raised his eyebrow: ¡°I have learned some attack magic. The most basic types of magic, such as Fireball, Icebolt, etc.¡±


    Barbalis was skeptical. Was that all? Because the magic energy radiating from Kaiser was quite formidable, but he questioned no further, and started teaching his first alien student.


    ¡°Magic, its principle is quite simple. To put it simply, it¡¯s the act of concentrating one¡¯s mana to create a resonance with a magic element, and then using it to do things such as concentrating fire element into a ball, then throwing it. This magic attack would be fireball.¡±


    Liola frowned slightly: ¡°So everyone knows magic?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier said than done.¡± Barbalis corrected his student: ¡°To feel the existence of magic element itself is already a difficult thing to achieve. Many people will never get to do so in their entire lives.¡±


    ¡°After you feel the magic elements, you still have to use meditation to train and increase your mana. If you don¡¯t have enough mana, not only can you not cast fireballs, you probably can¡¯t even cast ¡®fire spark¡¯.¡±


    Barbalis suddenly thought about the unique Meinan, who could use powerful defensive magic he could only dream of.


    However, Meinan couldn¡¯t even cast Fireball, and instead could only use ¡°Fire Spark¡±. And that timid little girl, Purity, was also a unique person.


    ¡°Now let me teach you Meditation.¡± After telling them the principle of magics, Barbalis started teaching his students the introduction to magic ¡ª Meditation.


    ¡°Relax your spirit, and start to feel the outside world.¡±


    After hearing this, Liola naturally crossed his legs and sat. And his body instinctively sent out the ¡®Heart of Consciousness¡¯.


    Liola sent out his perception around the room, and learned everything about the library. After he had made a circle around the library, he perceived that Barbalis was angry and he was screaming, ¡°Wrong¡±.


    Liola immediately opened his eyes, and asked: ¡°What¡¯s ¡®wrong¡¯?¡±


    Barbalis took out a paper fan and smacked Liola¡¯s head without any hesitation: ¡°Of course it¡¯s wrong. I want you to feel the Spirit World, not the Physical World. I¡¯ll be damned if you can feel magic element like that.¡±


    ¡°Spirit world?¡± Liola stopped his ¡®Heart of Consciousness¡¯, and tried as hard as he could to feel the spirit world. But despite his efforts, his heart and mind were blank. He couldn¡¯t feel any magic elements around him.


    Barbalis sighed. Liola was already too used to the physical feel, so it was probably going to be a big ordeal for him to feel the Spirit World¡¯s magic elements.


    Barbalis thought about it, and asked as if he thought of something: ¡°Liola, what kind magic are you planning to learn?¡±


    ¡°Healing.¡± Liola answered without hesitation.


    ¡°Why? You could learn more useful ones, such as Flying, Teleportation, Offensive Magic, or even Space Magic. You may even be able to pass through dimensions and return to your own world with space magic.¡±


    Barbalis was completely surprised by such an answer, that an Assassin wants to learn Healing?


    Liola laughed bitterly. Go back to his own world? To let the organization continue their failed assassination? To let himself experience anxiety 24/7, while constantly facing an elite squad of a few hundred assassins?


    ¡°To carry on someone¡¯s legacy.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it is. Fine, I will teach you all I can.¡± Knowing Liola wants to learn Healing, Barbalis¡¯ inner desire to teach continued without hesitation.


    Liola looked at Kaiser, who was standing next to him, and said thoughtfully: ¡°So Kaiser knows magic.¡±


    ¡°Liola, is there a problem with this afternoon¡¯s duel?¡± Barbalis suddenly asked about the duel this afternoon.


    ¡°No.¡± Liola was still trying hard to feel the magic element. He didn¡¯t care about the duel in the afternoon, he even treated it as if it was a chance for him to see the abilities of a Knight.


    Barbalis suddenly said nervously: ¡°Don¡¯t ever hurt the Dragon Knight too much, or else you¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Liola happily agreed. After all, he wasn¡¯t planning on having the School of Knights get mad at him.


    After obtaining Liola¡¯s promise, Barbalis was no longer worried. After all, with Liola¡¯s strength, defeating Lanski without seriously injuring her shouldn¡¯t be a big problem, though it might be troublesome¡­ But Barbalis would have never predicted, that there will be another person sustaining serious injuries.


    * * *


    To prevent exposing himself, Liola wore the Silver Mask and went to the duel alone, but the Knight uniform was a huge problem.


    The uniform Purity provided had already been dyed red and black, and was riddled with holes. With Kaiser¡¯s distressed crying sounds, the uniform was tossed into the trash and declared discarded.


    Luckily, Barbalis used his power as the principle, and procured a number of silver-ranked White Knight uniforms for Liola, otherwise this whole thing will fail.


    Liola slowly stepped into the 20th sports field. Even though he was supposed to meet her alone, Liola knew, there were quite a few voyeurs in the surrounding area. There was a lazy guy, a timid girl, a Dragon, a principal, and, if Liola¡¯s guess was right, a wanted criminal.


    The sports field was clearly unused for a long time: the weeds were already a foot tall. And compared to other sports fields, it was clearly much smaller, but large enough for a duel between two people.


    Liola found the Knight standing in the center of the field without any trouble. What surprised him, was that the person was wearing light armor, had a rather elegant figure, and it was clearly a woman.


    Unlike Meinan, Liola wasn¡¯t going to be a gentleman to a lady. To him, people were only classified as enemies or not. Even if he knew his opponent was a girl, it wasn¡¯t going to cause him any worry.


    But, this time, Liola¡¯s heart were twisted in a knot, because of that creamy, golden, and long hair flying in the wind. Liola lowly whispered: ¡°Anise¡­¡±


    The female Knight realized someone behind her, and she softly turned around. Her sharp eyes gazed at Liola behind that Silver Mask, and at this time, Liola¡¯s breathing almost completely stopped.


    That face, it was obviously Anise. On a slightly slim, oval face, there were two deep eyebrows, plus her big eyes with long lashes; the girl seemed vibrant.


    in addition to her big eyes and long lashes, the girl seemed vibrant.


    Along with her fitting nose, and pink-rosy lips, the woman was undoubtedly a rare beauty. Though to Liola, her beautiful face represented an eternal, inexplicable suffering.


    ¡°Anise, how are you¡­ Alive?¡± Liola walked towards the girl absent-minded, and without any vigilance.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Silver Mask, I am the person who will be dueling with you today ¡ª Lanski.¡±


    Lanski finally saw the person who took away her Sacred White Dragon, and the rage suppressed in her heart made her almost want to unsheathe her sword and attack, before her opponent could react. But for a Knight¡¯s duel, this was strictly forbidden.


    ¡°Lanski?¡± Liola¡¯s mind was dragged back by the strange name, but his eyes couldn¡¯t leave that familiar face and those cream, golden hair.


    That face was so familiar¡­ The only thing that seemed strange was her eye color. Liola finally realized, Anise had lake green eyes, but this Lanski girl had ocean blue eyes.


    ¡°You took away the Sacred White Dragon that originally belonged to me. If you want me to be sincerely convinced, then duel me with everything you have!¡±


    Lanski took out her long sword. It was razor sharp, but it had no superfluous decorations. This showed that, to Lanski, swords were picked only by their usefulness, and gem decorations were additions that only impeded movements.


    ¡°Unsheathe your sword!¡±


    Liola hesitantly took out the Broken Silver from his long boots. Is he going to fight with Anise? No, she¡¯s not Anise, but instead a girl named Lanski. Liola desperately tried to remind himself.


    Lanski frowned at Liola¡¯s weapon, Broken Silver. She wasn¡¯t sure if Silver Mask was dueling with her using a stick to insult her, or if Silver Mask actually uses such a special weapon?


    It didn¡¯t matter what the answer was, Lanski wasn¡¯t going to let go. If he purposely brought a stick to insult her, then she was going to make him suffer from the consequences of his actions. Lanski said decidedly:


    ¡°I, Lanski, hereby challenge Silver Mask to a duel. With my honor and reputation, I swear that I will not do anything that would insult a Knight¡¯s honor. I will not boast if I win, and I will accept it if I lose.¡±


    ¡°I accept.¡± Liola said the only thing he could think of.


    As soon as Liola finished, Lanski could no longer hold back the rage in her heart. Her body was surrounded by a light blue aura, and she took her long sword and ran towards Liola, attacking as if the sword were raindrops in a violent storm.


    At this time, a sigh came from on top of the trees:


    ¡°Didn¡¯t think Princess Lanski had already reached Blue Knight rank, before she was twenty? Though it¡¯s only light blue, very few could compete such a feat. She¡¯s definitely the best female warrior in a million.¡±


    Lanski¡¯s innate talent was definitely exceptional. Just a few days ago, she still had red aura, until she had experienced the rage from losing the Sacred White Dragon.


    The determination of beating Silver Mask, led Lanski to break through the red aura, and entered the level of blue auras. Though light blue aura wasn¡¯t truly at the level of Blue Knight rank, but it was just a matter of time.


    With a light blue aura, Lanski would be nearly unmatched within the School of Knights in terms of speed, power, and agility. Unfortunately, her opponent was no ordinary Knight, but rather the best Assassin who could stand toe-to-toe with the rank-X criminal Mizerui, Liola.


    In terms of pure power, Liola¡¯s power may be far off from Lanski. But overall, in terms of actual strength, Lanski was inferior to Liola¡¯s strength.


    One could say they were completely on different levels. Lanski¡¯s movements, though fast in her own eyes, were slow motions in Liola¡¯s eyes. The speed associated with swinging a sword can¡¯t possibly be compared to a dagger; after all, a dagger was the most agile weapon.


    If Liola wanted, he could extinguish such a beauty in one blow, and it wouldn¡¯t even take 50 percent of his true strength.


    However, Lanski had nearly the same appearance as Anise. Because of that, Liola had no intention to cause her any harm.


    By properly using the back of a dagger, Liola thought, he could easily strike the back of her head and cause her to faint, and when she eventually wakes up, she wouldn¡¯t even feel the slightest pain. Liola had decided to use this method against her.


    At this time, Lanski seemed to realize the ease of Silver Mask¡¯s movements.


    As much as she didn¡¯t want to think it, Lanski had to acknowledge, it may be probable she was an unworthy opponent to Silver Mask.


    With an unwilling heart, she decided to use the skill she had not fully mastered. For as long as she could hurt Silver Mask, she was willing to risk it all.


    ¡°Dragon Sword Dance!¡± After Lanski¡¯s delicate scream, the sword in her hands suddenly emitted nine lines of Ki, each long as a whip, and each of the ends was shaped like a Dragon¡¯s head.


    The nine Kis surrounded Liola, and attacked him from all directions. The Dragon heads roared as they went, as if they were about to tear Liola apart.


    At this time, another sigh could be heard from the audience in the tree:


    ¡°Dragon Empire¡¯s Dragon Sword Dance is definitely a powerful skill. If she uses this, Lanski could probably even beat a true Blue Knight. Unfortunately, Liola wasn¡¯t someone Blue Knights could compare themselves with. Perhaps if the Dragon Emperor or the Dragon Prince use the fully-realized version of Dragon Sword Dance, Liola could get injured by the surrounding 99 lines of Dragon Ki.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the live casting.¡± Another sound could be heard from the bushes.


    Surely enough, as said by the casters, nine incomplete Dragon Kis were nothing to Liola, and were not much different from the attacks before. Liola didn¡¯t need to block it. He simply shadow stepped to his side, and easily escaped the Dragon Kis.


    ¡°H-how is this possible?¡± Lanski almost couldn¡¯t believe, the Dragon Sword Dance she spent so much time and effort to learn, was so easily evaded by the Silver Mask.


    ¡°The outcome is already obvious. Let¡¯s stop.¡± Liola really didn¡¯t want to prolong a fight with a person with Anise¡¯s face.


    Lanski abruptly raised her head; her eyes filled with tears. This was the first time in her life she would show such an expression in front of her enemy. She said with almost a crying voice:


    ¡°Stop? You are telling me to stop? Do you know how much time and effort I¡¯ve spent over the past years in hope to one day become the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s Master?


    Time after time, trial after trial, everyone I grew up with already has their own Dragon, but as a so-called naturally talented Princess, I couldn¡¯t have a Sacred White Dragon¡¯s approval. Do you know how much pressure I¡¯ve felt over the years?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I came to Aklan Continent, to look for a way to obtain the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s approval. Who knew that the first day I got here, my Dragon recognized someone else as its master, then what the hell am I? What the hell were my years of efforts for?¡±


    Lanski sobbed, but finally, she unwillingly screamed: ¡°Who the hell are you to rob me of all my years of effort!¡±


    Facing Lanski¡¯s accusations, Liola¡¯s heart drifted back into memories.


    Who was he really, to take away the godly healer Anise¡¯s years of healing, her dreams of walking and healing through the world, and finally, her life.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Liola said softly, to this face identical to Anise.


    Hearing this sorry, not only did Lanski not calm down, instead she became more ashamed and enraged. She lifted her sword, and despite her lack of mana, screamed, ¡°Don¡¯t pity me!¡±.


    She again started Dragon Sword Dance. With shame, rage, and self-loath, Lanski used all of her remaining energy. After she had spit out a mouthful of blood, tens of Dragon Kis appeared next to her body, with the dragon heads clearly visible.


    ¡°66 Dragon Kis? Does this little girl want to lose her life?¡±


    ¡°Dragons, right this injustice!¡± With blood oozing out of her mouth, and pain as if she were being burned, Lanski ordered the 66 Dragon Kis to jump towards Liola.


    Facing the threat of 66 Dragon Kis, Liola suddenly seemed absent-minded, and whispered:


    ¡°Anise, are you¡­ Back to claim my life? If so, my life is yours. Fluttering Blood Ki withdraw!¡±


    Realizing something was wrong, two streaks of shadows bolted from the tree. One towards Lanski, and the other, Liola.


    But they were too late. All 66 Dragon Kis hit Liola¡¯s body ¡ª a body that was entirely unprotected by Ki. The strong backlash also pushed Lanski back, and she became unconscious.


    * * *


    ¡°Liola¡­¡± Mizerui, who had always been cynical, was truly surprised. After the smoke cleared from the impact of Dragon Kis, a bloody outline could be seen, with strings of blood dripping.


    Even though Mizerui had just said so himself, to seriously injure Liola, one had to use the fully realized version of 99 Dragon Kis, but that¡¯s under the assumption that Liola would be protected by his heavily fortified Ki, and not his naked body. What the heck does this guy think he is, a rank-X mecha?


    The bleeding body slowly fell. Mizerui rushed to catch Liola¡¯s body. But after he saw the wounds on Liola, he was stunned. C-can this guy survive?


    Mizerui started to wonder if the damaged body in his arms was already a dead man. However, Mizerui¡¯s sharp senses told him, that although the person in his arms may become a corpse, it was definitely not ¡°already¡± a corpse.


    Mizerui turned around and yelled at Barbalis: ¡°Lis, prepare the best healing Maxun now. This guy is going to be reporting to Satan soon.¡±


    Barbalis nodded, and carried Lanski. The two disappeared where they stood, leaving behind a sports field that looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower. It was full of holes, and there was even a twenty-meter wide crater where Liola stood, with bright red blood in it.


    ¡°Papa!¡± A small outline ran out of the bushes, and stared at the pool of blood. It happened too quickly.


    No one knew that Lanski would risk her life to use 66 Dragon Kis, and what was even more surprising, however, was that Liola would cancel his Ki, and took the attack with his flesh and blood.


    Purity also slowly walked out, and carried Baolilong, whose tears ran full of his face. Her face was pale as a ghost, and her whole body was cold.


    Strangely, her voice was unusually calm, and without any shaking: ¡°Kaiser, is Liola-dage going to be okay?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank. He didn¡¯t reply, nor did he want to reply.


    ¡°Papa isn¡¯t dead. I can feel it. Papa won¡¯t die!¡± Baolilong said feverishly, and then suddenly started transforming back to a Dragon.


    After a while, a one-meter white dragon appeared, but said with a child-like voice: ¡°I can help papa.¡±


    As it finished, the White Dragon sensed Liola¡¯s position, and immediately took off towards it, leaving Purity and Kaiser behind, standing where they were, speechless.

 Volume 1, 7 : Dragon’s Contract

    Volume 1, Chapter 7 : Dragon¡¯s Contract


    ¡°Lanski¡¯s life is not in danger. However, she probably won¡¯t be able to use her aura for a few months.¡±


    Barbalis observed the results from the healing Maxun. He sighed in relief. The result of using 66 Dragon Kis was being unable to use her aura for a couple of months. It was a low price she had to pay, if any.


    ¡°Barbalis, are there any better healing Maxun?¡± Mizerui was angry, and began to swear:


    ¡°This damn Maxun dared to tell me there was nothing it could do, and that I should start planning Liola¡¯s funeral.¡±


    Barbalis returned Mizerui¡¯s anger with a look of disappointment and defeat:


    ¡°The one Liola is using is the best healing Maxun on the continent of Aklan. I bought it specifically to prevent casualties when problems arise among students. It¡¯s not possible to get a better one, at least not on Aklan Continent. Perhaps the Commerce Alliance has a better one.¡±


    ¡°By the time I arrive at the Commerce Alliance, Liola¡¯s head would be in seven separate pieces.¡±


    Mizerui worriedly paced back and forth, but couldn¡¯t find any way. He finally asked: ¡°Are there any good healers?¡±


    ¡°Unless the miraculous Priest from two hundred years ago, who had already gone to heaven, suddenly appears again, there are no healers better than this healing Maxun.¡±


    Barbalis snapped: ¡°In fact, there are so many holes on Liola¡¯s body, I¡¯m surprised he wasn¡¯t dead on impact.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid if he dies, there will be two deaths to account for.¡± Mizerui¡¯s face sank:


    ¡°Lanski has always been opinionated, and has always followed the Knight¡¯s Code to the letter. If she knew she lost control of her emotions, and used Dragon Dance to kill Silver Mask, I¡¯m afraid she will commit suicide to repay her mistake.¡±


    These two people, who would never be seen in despair, even in the face of a rank-X mecha or the Dragon Empire, were completely at loss on what they should do. Besides staring at each other, they couldn¡¯t find anything that could help the current situation.


    At this time, the healing room¡¯s fortified glass was shattered. A loud sound and pieces of broken glass flew everywhere, which grabbed Mizerui¡¯s and Barbalis¡¯ attention.


    A little White Dragon was anxiously looking for its master, and soon after, it found Liola completely submerged inside a transparent Maxun in a shape of a cylinder. He immediately ran up to the cylinder, and tail-whipped the glass on the healing Maxun.


    This was yet another thing that surprised Mizerui and Barbalis. They thought, with a Dragon¡¯s intellect, it should definitely understand the Maxun¡¯s function was to heal. But this little Dragon unexpectedly broke his master¡¯s healing Maxun.


    They thought: ¡®What kind of times are these, if even Dragons would kill their own masters?¡¯


    The little White Dragon pushed his forehead against his master¡¯s, and started chanting a strange incantation, ¡°Bey nien efu siou gien? Cari elai fu.¡±


    ¡°What is this Dragon doing?¡± Barbalis asked, puzzled.


    Mizerui was skeptical. After a short pause, he said: ¡°Rumor has it, a Dragon can share its own lifespan with its master, but this magic must be initiated by the Dragon willingly.¡±


    Barbalis wondered. ¡°Really? How come I¡¯ve never heard of it?¡±


    Mizerui said awkwardly: ¡°It¡¯s only a rumor, and I¡¯ve never seen any Dragon that had done so.¡±


    Perhaps the heavens thought what Liola had done was enough to repent for his sins, or perhaps it was Anise who kicked Liola back¡­


    The White Dragon¡¯s body started glowing a light gold color, and the magical energy slowly concentrated on its forehead. Finally, through where their foreheads touched, the golden shine appeared on Liola¡¯s body, and it quickly healed Liola¡¯s damaged body.


    ¡°It really is that magic!¡± Mizerui jumped up. By God, he actually witnessed the incredible magic Dragons use to share their lifespans with their masters.


    ¡°What the heck does Liola have that others don¡¯t? He obviously doesn¡¯t care about this Dragon, but why does the Dragon like this guy so much?¡± Barbalis said with confusion.


    There was something they didn¡¯t know, something very, very small, but it was something that would convince the Sacred White Dragon to willingly share its life.


    * * *


    When Purity was about to bring Baolilong to motel with her, he didn¡¯t want to leave his dad no matter what. After all, Baolilong had once lost his father, and now that he found a Master with the same temperament as his father, he wouldn¡¯t leave under any circumstances.


    Even when Purity nicely explained to Baolilong, she was going to buy him some clothes, Baolilong was more willing to be naked, than leave with Purity.


    Liola didn¡¯t say anything, but instead just took off the cross he had around his neck, and put it on Baolilong. Baolilong looked at his dad in confusion.


    ¡°This is the most important thing to me. You have to give it back to me tomorrow.¡± Liola said surprisingly.


    Baolilong touched the cross necklace. Knowing his dad gave him his most important possession, he would definitely not run off with it. And with the necklace, Baolilong was finally willing to go with Purity.


    * * *


    This necklace was still around Baolilong¡¯s neck, who desperately begged the golden light to heal Liola. He still hadn¡¯t returned father¡¯s necklace. How could father die now!?


    The golden light slowly faded, and Liola¡¯s originally severed body looked like it was mostly healed.


    Mizerui, Barbalis, and a Dragon anxiously looked at Liola, hoping the Sacred White Dragon hadn¡¯t wasted half of its life! Mizerui and Barbalis both prayed, hoping to see a real miracle.


    Finally, under everyone¡¯s collective gaze, Liola¡¯s body moved slightly.


    His eyelids shook slightly, and finally, a pair of unique silver eyes opened once again. Liola, who had a strange expression, and said,


    ¡°I think I saw Anise, she kicked me, and said¡­ Not to see her until I¡¯ve found myself a wife and had a dozen of kids.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­ You¡¯re still alive.¡± Said in an extremely weak voice. When everyone turned towards the source of the voice, they found Lanski soaked in the healing Maxun¡¯s fluid, and standing beside the Maxun with a pale face.


    ¡°Why did you call off your protective energy?¡± Lanski asked the question that she wanted to know, even if it costs her her life to get out of the healing Maxun.


    ¡°You look a lot like¡­ An old friend, to whom I owe far too much.¡± Liola lightly explained.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Lanski got the answer she wanted, and pushed her weakened body out of the room. But before she closed the door, she asked: ¡°So¡­ Am I prettier, or was she?¡±


    After a moment of silence, Mizerui whistled: ¡°Looks like Lanski has taken fancy on you. Liola, you lucky guy.¡±

 Volume 1, 8 : Survival in the Wilderness

    Volume 1, Chapter 8 : Survival in the Wilderness


    After having just half a day of class, Liola called in sick for a week. Everyday he laid on a bed with nothing to do, so he meditated. However, even after a week of meditation, he still couldn¡¯t grasp what the magic element was.


    Because Kaiser and Purity had both gone to class, he had no one to ask. Nevertheless, Purity could never give a clear answer, and Kaiser, who could give a clear answer, was having a cold war with Liola!


    Yes, cold war. Kaiser had said no more than three sentences to him this week, and all three were said when Kaiser and Purity had rushed to the healing room, realizing that he was still alive.


    First: Bastard, you think it¡¯s cool to take an attack with your body?


    Second: You don¡¯t even value your life, don¡¯t you know that your mom had to be pregnant for ten months to have you, you bastard.


    Third: I despise anyone as suicidal as you!


    Though Liola questioned whether the guy who wanted to catch a rank-X criminal had any right to say that to him, but he understood Kaiser was being cold to him because of his suicidal actions. Although Liola knew the reason, he did not know how to reconcile with Kaiser.


    He had already said sorry, but Kaiser only looked at him coldly. Liola felt that it wasn¡¯t considered as reconciliation.


    Just as Liola was getting frustrated, Purity pushed the door open and came in, and put down lunch. Seeing Liola¡¯s knitted brows, Purity asked with concern:


    ¡°Liola-dage, what¡¯s wrong? Are your wounds still hurting?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Liola sighed, ¡°I¡¯m thinking about how to reconcile with Kaiser.¡±


    Purity replied with ¡°Oh¡±, then exclaimed: ¡°I think, Kaiser isn¡¯t really mad. As long as you promise him that you won¡¯t be suicidal again, Kaiser should forgive you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Liola asked skeptically.


    Purity didn¡¯t even have the time to respond before Kaiser slammed the door open. Judging from his facial expression, he had been eavesdropping outside. Kaiser didn¡¯t say anything, and simply pulled up a chair next to Liola¡¯s bed, and stared at him.


    Liola said awkwardly: ¡°Sorry, I won¡¯t be suicidal from now on.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s stern face seemed to finally ease up, and murmured: ¡°Good to know you won¡¯t be making any destructive moves again. If I see you trying to kill yourself again, I will kill you myself, you bastard.¡±


    ¡®If the suicide attempt was successful, how are you going to kill a dead man? Beat on the dead corpse?¡¯ Purity and Liola both thought.


    ¡°Ay, Liola, are your wounds healed yet?¡± Kaiser frowned:


    ¡°Barbalis, that old geezer went as far as saying that tomorrow we are going to be starting the wilderness survival! Damn, this isn¡¯t a military camp! Why the hell do we need wilderness survival training in the School of Sorcery? He said we only get a water bottle and a small knife, and we have to survive in the wilderness for an entire month. What¡¯s even more ridiculous was Barbalis said.


    ¡®Everyone who doesn¡¯t survive for a month will be expelled¡¯!


    How sad, if you die you still get expelled. I¡¯ve never heard of anything as ridiculous as that.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t that bad, actually.¡± Purity said with fear: ¡°Before we even had a noble etiquette class. Everyone had to go to class with a book on their head for a month. Those who failed to do so, or if the book fell off, got expelled. And then we had a cooking classes, those who couldn¡¯t cook a full course meal were all expelled as well¡­¡±


    ¡°Barbalis seems to have some kind of fetish for expulsion.¡± Kaiser muttered in dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Meinan has already agreed to be in our group. If Liola-dage could come with us, we should be able to take care of one another and stay safe.¡± Though she said that, Purity was still looking at Liola¡¯s bandages with concern.


    Having been alone in the dorm for a week, Liola said without hesitation: ¡°It¡¯s okay, my injuries are irrelevant.¡±


    ¡°Good, then us four can be a group.¡± Kaiser showed a relieved expression: ¡°That old geezer Barbalis also forcefully took Baolilong away. When he forbid us from taking Baolilong, it was rather pitiful. With the presence of a Dragon, no beast in the world would ever approach us. But now that we have Liola, even if the sky falls, he will carry it.¡±


    * * *


    A couple days later, the students from the School of Sorcery took off in a large flying Maxun. As they flew, many students were pushed off the flying Maxun. Of course, they had parachutes. Until finally, there were only the four people including Liola.


    Barbalis smiled, and said to the four people: ¡°By the way, I forgot to tell you, the place chosen for your wilderness survival, is determined by the strongest person in your group.¡±


    Before the four of them had time to think about what kind of place would be fitting for someone as strong as Liola, they were all pushed off the flying Maxun. What¡¯s even worse was that, when they opened their parachutes and looked at the place where they will be spending their next month, they realized the place was mostly barren with rocks, and there were plenty of strange monsters, some of which even opened their mouth wide as if they were waiting for the four of them to fall into their mouths.


    ¡°Hmm, I saw a bunch of beasts running on the ground, and they look like a transformed Baolilong.¡± Purity cried but without tears.


    ¡°They are Earth Dragons.¡± Kaiser said after his observation.


    ¡°Kaiser, what are those ten-meter long snakes with bodies covered in rotten marks?¡± Liola asked casually.


    ¡°Serpent Dragons.¡±


    Meinan asked shakingly: ¡°T-then what¡¯s that flying thing, with thin wings shaped like a bat¡¯s, and with a long face?¡±


    ¡°Wing-Hand Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Is this a Dragon¡¯s nest?¡± Liola asked with confusion. Why did every creature have ¡°Dragon¡± in its name?


    ¡°This is the Yaron Plains. Danger level rank A.¡±


    There were Dragons in every direction. Judging from Baolilong, Dragons were definitely carnivores.


    Liola decided quickly: ¡°I¡¯m going down first. When I land, cut your parachutes, and I will catch you. I¡¯m afraid that we won¡¯t have time to slowly untie our parachutes.¡±


    Then Liola immediately cut the parachute¡¯s strings with Broken Silver. Liola fell from twenty-some odd meters, and luckily, with Blood Fluttering Ki and Windborne Blade, he landed safely on the ground, and shooed off a few Earth Dragons that were closing in on him.


    Kaiser also cut off his parachute¡¯s strings, and with Liola¡¯s help, landed successfully. Purity and Meinan also did the same.


    Within moments, the four of them had been surrounded by the sub-Dragon species. Facing these Dragons who killed and preyed upon others purely out of instinct, Liola no longer had any doubts as to whether he could kill or not.


    He twisted Broken Silver, and unsheathed the dagger within. Kaiser took out two barrels, while the gentleman, Meinan, took a step back, created a defense shield for himself and Purity, and stayed in it for safety measures.


    The massacre had started. The originally intended prey; the humans, were the ones covered in the blood of sub-Dragons, instead. Liola¡¯s graceful shadow flew candidly in the midst of all the Dragons, as if he was a gust of wind, but this gust was fatal and sliced through their flesh.


    Every time Liola passed by a Dragon, there was a Dragon collapsing to the ground. There was not a single wound to be found with the naked eye. For some of the Dragons, he avoided their ribs and stabbed their hearts directly, while others had a thumb-wide wound on the back of their head.


    Kaiser¡¯s victims, however, had obvious wounds. They were all shot in the head, with brain matter and oozing blood everywhere.


    When the sub-Dragons¡¯ corpses began to pile up, the Dragons finally got scared and left. They no longer treated the four humans as prey to fill their stomachs.


    The four sighed in relief, since they didn¡¯t have to struggle in some Dragon¡¯s esophagus or stomach. However, with the two troublemakers here, surviving in the wilderness would never end so effortlessly.


    They felt the ground shaking slightly, and the sub-Dragons in the surrounding area were quickly scattered away.


    Liola¡¯s group of four began to consider whether they should start running away with the sub-Dragons. At this time, it was proven that sometimes people thought too much, and it was worse than the sub-Dragons, who relied on their primitive instincts.


    Purity¡¯s iris contracted due to fear, and Meinan increased the strength of his magical shield by three fold. Kaiser desperately knocked on the shield, as if he wanted to hide inside, while Liola was a bit upset. His wounds were just starting to heal, and now he had to fight huge monsters.


    ¡°THAT¡¯S A HUGE DRAGON!¡± Purity finally found her voice again, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her loud scream attracted the Dragon¡¯s attention.


    ¡®Purity, good job, you are now the 3rd troublemaker.¡¯ The other three thought.


    Standing about 15 meters high, and 20 meters wide, a huge Dragon dragged its enormous feet and ran toward Liola¡¯s group.


    After some observation, Liola decided that Broken Silver¡¯s length probably couldn¡¯t even penetrate the skin of this Dragon. Thus, the four of them decided to run for their lives.


    Luckily, there was a strange rocky hill nearby, which had tons of cracks in between. Finding a crack to hide in was what all they could think about. When they finally found a deep crack, Liola ducked while holding Purity, while Kaiser and Meinan went in last to cover their rear.


    Things could have ended there, but when the huge Dragon rammed into the rocky hill, the entrance slowly crumbled, and the Dragon was getting closer and closer. So they desperately tried to go further in.


    Purity then yelled: ¡°Liola-dage, there¡¯s a hole here.¡±


    Liola looked at the hole on the ground, and went in first. Even if the exit was covered by rocks, he was able to break the rocks to get out. With Liola¡¯s abilities, even if he was carrying Purity, he could jump about 20 meters without getting hurt. But this hole was more than 30 meters deep. However, when Liola realized this fact, he had already reached the ground, and the angle of his body was slightly twisted.


    He hurriedly put Purity down on the ground. He determined the direction of the wind, and accurately helped Kaiser land. Then he teleported back to Meinan, and helped him land as well. The four hurried to leave, and dodged the falling rocks from above. The surroundings became quiet, and the four were finally able to relax.


    Liola took off one of his long boot, and frowned while looking at his ankle.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kaiser noticed what Liola was doing and asked immediately.


    ¡°Broken ankle bone. This hole was too deep.¡± Liola calmly stated, as if it wasn¡¯t he who broke a bone.


    The moment Purity heard the situation, she immediately ran to a nearby stream to wet her handkerchief and placed it on Liola¡¯s ankle, then asked worriedly: ¡°Can you still walk?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liola stated as a matter of fact. Even if his leg bone was cracked, he could still walk. It was just a matter of pain.


    ¡°There¡¯s water here!¡± Meinan excitedly exclaimed: ¡°Good, the most important thing to survival is water. Now our biggest problem is solved.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re not suggesting we spend the month in this dark hole in the ground?¡± Kaiser said with disapproval: ¡°What about food?¡±


    Meinan explained immediately: ¡°We could follow the stream. If the water could leave the area, there will probably be an exit. If the area surrounding the exit has a nice environment, we could live there.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Liola, and agreed: ¡°Okay. Since Liola is hurt, then we really shouldn¡¯t go back and fight with the sub-Dragons. Let¡¯s go follow the stream.¡±


    After resting for a while, the four decided to continue looking for a place to live for the next month. Meinan murmured: ¡°Luminescence magic.¡±


    A gentle ball of light appeared in Meinan¡¯s hand and lit up their surroundings.


    The four were stunned, not only was the hole huge, it had a lot of tilted structures with very strange architectural style. There were also a lot of pillars, which had patterns carved into them.


    The passageways were also quite wide, and were paved with colorful stones. In the center of the hole, about a few kilometers away, the ground was more than 10 meters higher than where they currently stood, and on it, was a huge palace of sorts.


    ¡°W-what is this place?¡± Purity blinked her eyes in disbelief.


    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve found a historical ruin.¡± Kaiser concluded, but he couldn¡¯t remember what era the style was from.


    The four walked curiously on the stone-paved road and occasionally looked around and touched random things they could find. Purity played with strange little toys she found, while Meinan gazed at the beautiful carvings on the stone pillars.


    Kaiser focused his attention to see if he could find any gold, silver, or anything else that could reflect light, and Liola started using Heart of Consciousness to scout his surroundings for any living things or traps.


    There was a huge palace but it was too far, and was out of range of Liola¡¯s senses.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and see that palace?¡± Meinan suggested irresistibly. Just looking at the carvings was a feast for his eyes. The magnificent palace made Meinan, who had a passion for art, very antsy.


    The carvings were quite strange. Purity noticed a carving on a random sheet of rock, it looked as if some amateur had carved it.


    There were many people surrounding one, who had his mouth wide open, as if in huge pain. The surrounding people were reaching their hand out and touching him in various parts of his body, and¡­ She didn¡¯t know if it was poorly carved, or if it had been too long, and the images were blurred.


    Many of the people seemed to have missing arms and/or legs. Some were even missing half their bodies.


    ¡°Purity, let¡¯s go.¡± Kaiser beckoned Purity.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Purity put down the sheet rock, and caught up with Liola and the group: ¡°Are we going to that place?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there might be some beautiful (valuable) art.¡± Two people answered in unison, but their responses differed in only one word.


    A few kilometers passed in the blink of an eye, but what was tiring was that, the palace was surrounded by what looked like stairs. Liola and the group lost count after a few hundred steps, and they finally arrived at the gate to the huge palace. Three of them were panting while holding onto their legs.


    Liola was, instead, examining the gate. Why was this gate so huge? It was about 10 meters wide, 20 meters tall.


    ¡°This gate is huge!¡± Kaiser exclaimed.


    But Meinan shook his head: ¡°This gate isn¡¯t that big. Many ancient ruins have more glamorous doors than this. This gate is completely blank, without even any adornments, and it really doesn¡¯t meet the standards of my splendid aesthetics.¡±


    ¡°Are we going in?¡± Liola asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re already here, so of course we¡¯re going in. There are probably a ton of valuable relics.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes shone with a greedy light again.


    ¡°Hopefully the art pieces inside won¡¯t disappoint me.¡± What he said meant that Meinan had also decided to go in.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine either way.¡± Purity didn¡¯t have an opinion.


    Liola looked at the huge gate. The gate wasn¡¯t plain like Meinan had said.


    The edges had a strange pattern, and Liola could feel that there were energies oozing out of the patterns, which made him frown. But Liola was confident in his abilities, and even if he twisted his ankle, he still believed that he could handle most enemies.


    Liola said: ¡°Then let¡¯s go in.¡±


    Kaiser saw that everyone had agreed to go in, lifted his gun, and set the energy to the highest, and opened fire. He created a large hole on the huge gate, and the deep hole emitted some cold air. The palace that had been neglected for ages, was now waiting for its guests.


    But, all of them seemed to have forgotten something. The two troublemakers, along with the third place girl, their combined troublemaking abilities were off the chart¡­

 Volume 2, 1 : Strange Ruins

    Volume 2, Chapter 1 : Strange Ruins


    ¡°It looks terrifying.¡± Purity hesitated. To Purity, dark and cold places were too scary.


    Kaiser grunted: ¡°Have you ever seen a place with treasures that wasn¡¯t eerie and scary? If it were less scary, the treasures would have already been taken by now, or did you think it would wait for you? So the scarier the place the better, then other people wouldn¡¯t come in before you. Understood?!¡±


    Purity and Meinan nodded their heads, as if they¡¯ve been taught a valuable lesson.


    ¡°Hurry up hurry up, the treasures await us!¡± Kaiser screamed, and waved his hands as if he had already gotten a hold of the treasures.


    ¡°Treasure!¡± Purity¡¯s eyes flashed light beneath her huge glasses.


    ¡®The treasure must be a legendary sword, and stuck in a rock. Liola-dage wearing elder brother¡¯s white Knight uniform, and under a ray of light, will pull the sword out. God, that would be too cool, too handsome, and too great.¡¯


    Purity, who had always wore magical contact lenses, was afraid she wouldn¡¯t be able to wash them properly during an adventure, so she had to wear humongous glasses. Cute girls will be cute girls. To match her dresses, she actually brought more than ten sets of glasses, and they took up more than a third of her luggage.


    ¡°Treasure!¡± Meinan brushed his bangs, and he was intoxicated by the various sets of white china, silverware with engraved patterns, and uniquely shaped candelabra adorned with jewelry.


    ¡®Ah! If one could dine within such art, what an elegant atmosphere it would be.¡¯


    ¡°Treasure!¡± Kaiser held his fists tightly. He dreamt of bills flying everywhere, a bed lined with money, endless amount of food, and an advanced housekeeping Maxun beside him to take care of all the chores. How wonderful!


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Liola¡¯s face was still expressionless because he was still currently using Heart of Consciousness to scout the surrounding of the palace.


    The palace was a little strange. There were some places Heart of Consciousness can¡¯t seem to penetrate. Then he saw something that could be the cause of this ¡ª a piece of rock that was emitting a strange energy. Liola was starting to get curious about this rock.


    With the anticipation of running into what they each consider to be treasures, the four of them stepped into the dark path. With Meinan¡¯s Luminescence, the shape of the palace was starting to be visible.


    There was a huge corridor, and two rows of strangely-shaped demon sculptures were lined up on each side, but this was not enough to scare the three of them who had been captivated by the idea of treasures.


    As for the fourth person, Liola, it would be lucky for demons if he didn¡¯t scare them into tears.


    After they walked through the corridor, there was a fork in front of their path. What¡¯s different was that, one path was filled with candlelight, as well as many majestic armor and beautiful vases. Not to mention, many majestic armor sets, and beautiful vases. Not to mention, many other shiny decorations that were enough to turn Kaiser¡¯s eyes into dollar signs.


    The other path, however, was as dark as the corridor they had just passed, as if it was hinting at the darkness of their future.


    ¡°Which way?¡± Liola asked concisely.


    But as soon as words left his mouth, the other three had already ran towards the bright and glamorous road.


    One person stared at the armor and swords with worshipping eyes. One was fixing his hair in front of a large bronze mirror carved with various gods,while the last one was desperately stuffing any stuffing anything shiny inside his bags and pockets.


    Liola frowned, and said: ¡°There is a rock emitting energies at the end of the other road.¡±


    Unfortunately, they completely ignored Liola. Had Liola used ¡°gem¡± instead of ¡°rock¡±, perhaps he would get a tiny bit of attention. But, in Liola¡¯s eyes, rocks are rocks, be it diamonds or cobblestones.


    The only thing that truly interested Liola was the strange energies coming from that rock.


    However, the other three people were completely indifferent at his opinion, Liola said plainly: ¡°I¡¯m going to the other path and check it out.¡±


    He thought about it. The path Kaiser and the others picked didn¡¯t seem to be too dangerous, and Kaiser and Meinan were more than capable of handling a few small traps. So without further hesitation, Liola walked into the dark corridor.


    * * *


    Without Meinan¡¯s Luminescence, the pathway was pitch-dark. For an ordinary person, it would be similar to walking with their eyes closed, and they would be practically unable to move. But for Liola, who had grown up in the dark, and spent more time in the dark than in the light, it was hardly difficult.


    Liola walked as he normally would, and before long, he reached a stone door. Liola stopped two meters before the door, and also a centimeter before the contraption on the ground.


    It was a common mechanism. When weight is put on the stone pressure plate, it will slowly sink deeper into the ground, and it would activate something bigger.


    Liola thought, ¡®Would this trigger a fatal trap, or open the door?¡¯


    ¡®Perhaps both.¡¯


    He had already sensed the area around the door. Other than the contraption on the ground, there was nothing else.


    In other words, unless he wanted to break open the door with brute force, he would have to step onto the pressure plate before him.


    Ever since he came to this world, he felt like he had lost the alertness he had before. While Liola thought of his circumstance, he stepped on the pressure plate, and prepared to face all kinds of dangerous situations.


    However, nothing happened other than the stone door in front of him slowly opening. It led to an empty room. No, it was technically not completely empty. There were buttons on the wall, and a large screen covered with layers of dust.


    To Liola, who couldn¡¯t fully comprehend Maxuns, these buttons and screen were no more than patterns on the wall.


    Other than curiously pushing a few buttons, Liola didn¡¯t do anything else. Finally, he headed for another door in the room, and continued his journey to find the strange energies emanating from a rock.


    * * *


    At this time, on the other side¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m rich! I can really lie on a bed for the rest of my life and still afford food.¡± Kaiser hugged a strange statue that was a bit taller than him.


    It was standing upright, with crossed arms in front of its chest. Though Kaiser didn¡¯t understand why the statue was so simple and completely different from Meinan¡¯s idea of beauty, but what mattered the most was, it was completely made out of gold.


    ¡°Dear goldman, I¡¯m never letting you go for the rest of my life life.¡± Kaiser repeatedly kissed the golden statue.


    Kissing gold seemed like a strange thing to do, but compared to the guy blowing on the mirror and wiping it clean, and the girl rubbing a sword with her face¡­ Kissing gold seemed quite normal.


    Clang!


    Even if the three were in their own fantasy world, they couldn¡¯t ignore the clear sound of metal colliding. Meanwhile, after the clanging sound vibrated throughout the area, it was followed by a sound of a heavy stride. Only one thing appeared in all three of their minds ¡ª armor!


    Kaiser laughed wryly: ¡°Don¡¯t panic, armor cannot walk. Maybe the stand fell.¡±


    Purity froze on the spot and tears filled her big eyes. The sword she was touching moments ago was slowly raised itself in the air. The cold sword swung merely centimeters away from her face, and the metallic foot got off the stand it was on, clanging the ground below it.


    Meinan backed his face away from the mirror, and trembled as he looked at the reflection in the mirror. There seemed to be a bunch of metals that ¡®shouldn¡¯t be able to move¡¯ but were up and about, running around.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t panic.¡± Kaiser said with a trembling voice: ¡°Even if the armor moves, they may not be harmful to us¡­ But¡­ Has anyone seen Liola?¡±


    ¡°Uwaaahhh, Liola-dage said, he was going to go check out the other path.¡± Purity was crouched on the ground, held her head and cried.


    ¡°Defense Shield!¡± Meinan yelled hurriedly, shielding himself and the bronze mirror behind him.


    As soon as the shield formed, a scary greatsword brutally slammed itself against the shield.


    Meinan sweated and said in relief: ¡°Lucky! Luckily my mirror is okay.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch my goldman! You pieces of metal trash.¡± Kaiser held up his gun, and turned its setting to the highest.


    He fired at will towards three sets of armor, and they were riddled with holes, becoming pieces of metallic trash.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Purity screamed on the top of her lungs, and her trembling finger was pointing somewhere.


    Somewhere¡­ If Kaiser and Meinan remembered correctly, wasn¡¯t there a super large armor standing in that direction? And the clanging sound that resembled earthquakes seemed to have confirmed their fear.


    Kaiser frowned, looked at goldman, then back at the valuables he carried, and said with anguish:


    ¡°My goldman, I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t give up the treasures on me for you, nor my dream of eating on my bed for the rest of my life.¡±


    After he moaned, Kaiser immediately backed up ten meters. With tears in his eyes, he saw goldman being flattened into a sheet metal by the huge armor.


    Seeing the huge armor charging at him, Kaiser quickly ran toward the exit, meeting Purity and Meinan on the way.


    They ran as fast as they could, and they were followed by a long line of walking armor, including one that was destroying the ceiling and walls as it walked. The place where they were before had immediately turned into shambles.


    ¡°Where the hell is Liola?¡± Kaiser screamed.


    ¡°My bronze mirror is gone, uwaaahh.¡± Meinan was sad beyond belief, and with two rivers of tears streaming from his eyes, he ran for his life.


    Purity responded to Kaiser¡¯s question: ¡°Uwaaahh, we went the wrong way. We¡¯re dead, and I will never see Liola-dage wearing another Knight¡¯s uniform.¡±


    ¡®Wrong way?¡¯ Kaiser looked at ruins behind him. If they turn back, they would most likely become corpses embellishing the shambles.


    ¡°I-I have never missed someone so much in this life. Liola, where the hell are you?!¡±


    * * *


    Compared to three people missing him, Liola was leisurely examining the new room.


    He deduced, the other three would spend a long time being intoxicated in that room, so there was no point for him to hurry back.


    To Liola, the room he was in was yet another strange place.


    There were many coffins laying around, and a portrait was found on every coffin. Liola opened a coffin, and found a corpse wrapped in bandages. It was quite extraordinary!


    * * *


    Kaiser took a deep breath, and looked at these ¡®boxes¡¯ with portraits. His instinct were alerting him of the possible dangers. But considering the way they came from had walking armors, they couldn¡¯t turn back.


    ¡°Kaiser, I-I¡¯m scared.¡± Purity was trembling so much that Meinan, who was carrying her, was swinging back and forth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look. Shut your mouth, and don¡¯t scream.¡± Kaiser turned his gun to the highest setting.


    ¡°Kaiser, I¡­ I¡¯m scared too!¡± Meinan turned pale and said: ¡°I¡¯d rather take my chances with the armor, than to run into rotten flesh.¡±


    ¡°What the hell are you saying!¡± Kaiser grunted in disdain: ¡°Corpses don¡¯t walk!¡±


    Snap!


    ¡°Didn¡¯t it sound like a box that hasn¡¯t opened in a long time, was being opened?¡± Meinan asked with a strange expression on his face.


    Kaiser¡¯s irises dilated as he saw every box cracked open one by one.


    He screamed: ¡°RUN!¡±


    * * *


    The shape of the coffin was very similar to the cross Anise had given to him.


    With some hesitation, Liola took the cross from Anise out between the collars of his shirt, and started wondering who was really responsible for him sending him to parallel universe.


    Liola walked in front of yet another door, but he couldn¡¯t find any levers to open this door. The only thing he saw, was an indention on the door in the shape of a cross.


    Although crosses were fairly common, this particular cross had a pair of Dragon¡¯s wings in the center, which was uncommon.


    This was the reason why Liola had started wondering. ¡®Could it be this uncanny? That this ruin had something to do with Anise?¡¯


    ¡°Should I put Anise¡¯s necklace on it?¡± Liola hesitated and could not make up his mind. This was, after all, the only thing Anise had left him, and he didn¡¯t want to destroy the necklace.


    * * *


    ¡°Liola, do you believe in fate?¡± Anise asked leisurely, as she had always had.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Anise laughed playfully:


    ¡°You don¡¯t think that our meeting was destined? If someone didn¡¯t order a commission to kill me, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten caught and brought here. And if I didn¡¯t know how to heal, the organization wouldn¡¯t have kept me. That day, If you hadn¡¯t been injured for the first time in your career, you wouldn¡¯t have come to me for healing.¡±


    Anise suddenly held Liola¡¯s hands, and she said emotionally:


    ¡°I believe in fate, Liola. I believe that our encounter was very significant. I hope, that you won¡¯t run away from that significance, okay?¡±


    * * *


    At that time, he didn¡¯t give Anise an answer. Back then, he could only do as the organization asks of him, he didn¡¯t have the ability to give Anise an answer.


    But now¡­ Liola put the cross into the wall, and said firmly: ¡°OK!¡±


    The stone door slowly lifted, and a huge Dragon statue appeared before Liola¡¯s eyes. It was a giant Black Dragon, whose statue looks somewhat similar to Baolilong, but far bigger, probably more than ten times bigger. There was also a huge horn on its forehead that Baolilong didn¡¯t have. From far away, this statue looked practically like a black mountain.


    Liola started to wonder if this was really a statue. It looked too life-like. The huge Dragon was made up of shiny black scales, and they made it look darker than the hallway behind Liola. It made him feel that if he gets close to this Dragon, he would never be able to see light again.


    ¡°My destiny seems like it has something to do with Dragons?¡± Liola shook his head. First it was Baolilong, now he meets another one.


    Liola decided instantly that, regardless of whether this was a statue or a real Dragon, considering his injuries hadn¡¯t fully healed and his ankle bone was broken, he wasn¡¯t interested in forfeiting his life against a Dragon ten times the size of Baolilong. So he decided to leave without waking the Dragon.


    Taking back Anise¡¯s cross, Liola walked as if he were a ghost, and without making any sound he walked across the Dragon and reached the door on the other side.


    He planned to continue his journey of fate, but who knew that as soon as he opened the door, there was definitely something he had been destined for. After he had opened the door, water came flowing in, together with three other people.


    Liola side-stepped lightly, and dodged the stream of water coming from the door he just opened. He also fished out three people in the water, to prevent them from being pushed by the stream and collide with the Dragon¡¯s skin. The three were completely wet, their clothes were torn, and they were gasping for air.


    Liola was quiet for a second, then asked: ¡°Were you guys looking for me?¡±


    The three discomposed people raised their heads, and Kaiser even hugged Liola¡¯s leg and cried:


    ¡°Uwaaahh, I will never leave you again. Not only did we get chased by armors, surrounded by mummies, we even almost drowned by water. Had you not opened the door, we would¡¯ve all drowned outside. What¡¯s even worse was that all my treasure was washed away, uwaaahh.¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage, sorry, Purity should¡¯ve followed you obediently.¡± Purity bawled.


    ¡°Cough, cough¡­¡± Meinan couldn¡¯t say anything. Purity was on his back, and she held onto his neck so tightly that she nearly broke his neck. This was the reason why he couldn¡¯t use his shield to save their lives.


    Liola didn¡¯t say anything, but instead remembered something Kaiser murmured before:


    ¡°We may be last two people on the world that should have met. One causes trouble, another makes the trouble worse.¡±


    Liola remembered those words because he was now certain the Dragon in front of him was definitely not a statue, and the eyes of the Dragon were blood-stained red.


    Kaiser probably realized there was something wrong with Liola. He gulped, and he was wondering what the hell it could be to upset Liola, who would remain expressionless even if the sky falls.


    Kaiser slowly turned his head back, saw what was behind him, and immediately stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was wrong. I think we should go separate ways!¡±


    Kaiser took less than a second to say his parting words, while running in the direction of mummies and walking armor.


    He¡¯d rather help bandage the mummies and oil the armor, than to stand in the sight of this Dragon.


    Meinan and Purity had also finally seen this mountain-like Dragon behind them. Purity climbed back onto Meinan¡¯s back again, while Meinan continued doing what he was doing before ¡ª carrying Purity, and ran behind Kaiser.


    Liola and the Black Dragon stared at each other, and neither of them blinked. It had almost felt as if it were Baolilong playing a staring game with him.


    ¡®This Dragon really looks like Baolilong¡­ other than the color. Could it be¡­¡¯


    The blood-red eyes of the huge Dragon stared at the small body of Liola.


    A terrifying Dragon mouth slowly opened, showing sharp teeth not unlike those of Baolilong, and then the room thundered with the Dragon¡¯s voice:


    ¡°You have my child¡¯s smell.¡±


    Liola was stunned briefly, then said: ¡°You¡¯re black, it¡¯s white.¡±


    ¡°Its color is white.¡±


    Liola was quiet again. ¡®This place was related to Anise, and Baolilong¡¯s father¡­ Was this all fate?¡¯


    ¡°Do you want Baolilong back?¡±


    The Black Dragon, who had not moved, slowly raised its head: ¡°Baolilong? You named it?¡±


    Technically speaking, Kaiser named it, but Liola nodded.


    The Dragon let out a thunderous laughter, and the dust from the ceiling fell as a result of the laugh. Liola dodged a few of them, without making any sounds, and he waited until the Dragon¡¯s deafening laughter stopped.


    ¡°You want Baolilong back?¡± Liola asked again.


    The Black Dragon grunted in disdain: ¡°Why would I want that runt back?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving then.¡± Since the Black Dragon didn¡¯t want its child back, Liola was planning on looking for Kaiser, so that they wouldn¡¯t lose their lives here.


    ¡°Leave?¡± The Black Dragon laughed coldly.


    Hearing the murderous intent of the Dragon, Liola stopped and, without turning back, asked: ¡°Are you planning to kill me?¡±


    ¡°You are very direct, I kind of like you.¡± The Black Dragon narrowed its eyes:


    ¡°Unfortunately you are that runt¡¯s master, so you have to die. But before you die, I will let you know the name of your killer. My name is Miluo. Tell me your name, runt¡¯s master.¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes grew cold as well¡­


    ¡°Liola!¡± A scream came from afar. Kaiser and the others ran back to Liola. Kaiser hurriedly asked:


    ¡°Liola, what¡¯s outside of the door on the other side?¡±


    Liola looked at the door he came from, and answered truthfully: ¡°Nothing at all.¡±


    Kaiser bowed: ¡°Thanks, then I¡¯m going to run for my life. You have a nice chat with Baolilong¡¯s dad.¡±


    In fact, Miluo¡¯s voice was so loud that even Kaiser, who was running further and further away, had heard him, including the declaration of killing him.


    Kaiser was only forced to turned back because the things that were chasing him were far too many and appalling.


    Liola felt an abnormal heat behind him. His instinct told him to move away from the door. A fiery three-headed hound jumped out of the door. The center head looked at Kaiser, and shot out a stream of flames directly at him.


    Seeing this, Kaiser jumped behind Baolilong¡¯s dad, and caused the flame to land on Miluo¡¯s body. Miluo had finally moved, and his enormous wings flapped, trying to extinguish the flame with the wind. But this instead angered the three-headed hound, whose heads all shot out flames, but this time it wasn¡¯t at Kaiser.


    Dragon vs. Hound, who would win?


    Dragons and hounds were on different levels, and just judging by the size difference, anyone would know that the flaming hound losing would be just a matter of time. However, Miluo seemed to hate flames, and as long as he was avoiding the flames, they seemed to have been evenly matched.


    ¡°Liola, hurry, let¡¯s go.¡± Kaiser waved his hand beckoning, gesturing Liola to flee.


    Liola didn¡¯t hesitate, and he left with Kaiser. Liola wasn¡¯t interested in this Dragon-hound war, he was just a bit curious: ¡°Where did you guys find this hound?¡±


    ¡°That you¡¯ll have to ask our great magician, Mr. Meinan.¡± As he fled, Kaiser said snappily.


    Liola was in shock. The hound was the result of Meinan, who had never gotten into any trouble?


    ¡°I¡­¡± Meinan showed an innocent expression: ¡°I accidentally stepped on a hound statue¡¯s tail; who knew it would become a real hound and started chasing us.¡±


    ¡°This place is really strange.¡± Purity had already cried her tears dry, and she weakly said on Meinan¡¯s back.


    ¡°If this was wilderness survival, then who in the world could survive in this kind of wilderness?¡± Meinan said, with a pale face.


    ¡°Damn that geezer Barbalis. He obviously wanted us to die here.¡± Kaiser swore, outraged: ¡°When I get back, if I don¡¯t pull out all of his beard, I¡¯m going to change my name to ¡®Kaiter¡¯*.¡±


    [T/N: Kaiter would mean ¡®Kai-Idiot¡¯.]


    * * *


    ¡°Barbalis, the Yaron Plains shouldn¡¯t be hard to Liola, but wouldn¡¯t it be too hard for others?¡±


    Mizerui stretched comfortably and continued sunbathing: ¡°Liola could get careless, and then¡­¡±


    Barbalis sipped his bubble tea, and waved his hand:


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. We won¡¯t lose a single one of our toys. The strongest thing on Yaron Plains is the Leikesi Dragons, which is just 15 meters tall and 20 meters wide.


    Meinan¡¯s protective shield is as thick as the skin on his face, and Leikesi Dragon will never break the skin on his face¡­ I mean, never break his protective shield.


    Though Kaiser¡¯s true strength is unknown, but at least this guy has mastered the Kung Fu of running for his life.


    As for Purity, if she gets ferocious, then you will understand how much of a human weapon she actually is¡­¡±


    Mizerui listened with increased interest, but these four interesting guys were sent so far away for a month, which means he won¡¯t have any toys to play with for a month.


    ¡°A month is a long time. Why did you send them to the far away Yaron Plains?¡± Mizerui complained.


    ¡°Mi-ge, reconstructing the dorm would take at least a month, right?¡±


    [T/N: Mi is the short form for Mizerui, while ge (bro) is the short form for gege (brother).]


    Mizerui looked at Barbalis skeptically.


    ¡®Constructing the dorms takes a month? A week would be already too long.¡¯


    If all Maxuns in Aklan Academy were utilized, the construction could be done within a day. Even a Dragon Prince¡¯s palace wouldn¡¯t take more than three weeks.


    ¡°This definitely won¡¯t be a simple dorm!¡± Mizerui already saw Barbalis¡¯ sinister grin, and soon, the smirk on his face as well.


    ¡®Fine then, let Liola and the group rest in the Yaron Plains for a month, then they can resume playing after.¡¯


    Mizerui leisurely turned, and imagined many fun scenarios in his head.

 Volume 2, 2 : The Mystery of the Cross Necklace

    Volume 2, Chapter 2 : The Mystery of the Cross Necklace


    ¡°Whoa! Baolilong¡¯s dad is catching up! God, did the three-headed hound suck that bad? It sure got taken care of really quickly.¡±


    Kaiser slowed his pace for only just a moment to look behind him, and he immediately saw the corridor behind them was being crushed under tremendous weight of a Black Dragon with blood-red eyes, furiously chasing after them.


    Suddenly, Meinan tripped. He and Purity both fell on the ground, hard. When Liola saw them, he stopped, grabbed them both, and said calmly: ¡°Hurry.¡±


    Meinan said breathlessly: ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t run anymore¡­¡±


    Purity, too, was trembling: ¡°My legs are petrified.¡±


    Liola turned and saw the Black Dragon was already less than 100 meters away from them, and it was clearly moving much faster than they were. The Black Dragon was going to catch up to them inevitably.


    Liola yelled and stopped Kaiser: ¡°Kaiser, take them with you to the sidelines. Meinan, use your protective shield, and if you find the chance, escape.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to fight him?¡± Kaiser¡¯s expression changed: ¡°Are you confident that you can win?¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t reply. Logically, for him to escape from Miluo wasn¡¯t hard. However, defeating Miluo wasn¡¯t an easy feat, especially considering his current condition. His injuries from the previous fight weren¡¯t fully healed, his ankle bone broken, plus he can¡¯t kill¡­


    ¡°Liola, if you don¡¯t kill him, he will definitely kill you!¡± Kaiser had probably guessed what Liola was thinking, and then added:


    ¡°Besides, that Dragon isn¡¯t a person. Killing him shouldn¡¯t be breaking your promise, right?¡±


    ¡®Is that so¡­?¡¯ Liola didn¡¯t have time to hesitate. Miluo, who was hundreds of meters away moments ago, was already in front of them, in a matter of seconds.


    Liola turned his head, wanting to tell Kaiser to back away¡­ Nonetheless, Kaiser could sometimes be quite swift. By the time Liola looked at Miluo, they had already ran back to a hole in the wall, and were then surrounded by several layers of protective shield.


    When Miluo opened his mouth in an attempt to swallow Liola, Liola started his Blood Fluttering Ki, and jumped using the Dragon¡¯s whiskers as trampoline, launching himself over the Dragon¡¯s head. Liola suddenly increased his weight, and stomped on Miluo¡¯s head.


    If Miluo was an ordinary person, the force would¡¯ve been enough to crack his skull open like a watermelon. Unfortunately, Liola had had just about every kind of opponent, except an ordinary person.


    Though it caused Miluo enough pain, to force him to let out a cry, it didn¡¯t do much damage.


    Miluo angrily swung his head against the wall, trying to crush Liola who was standing on his head. But with Liola¡¯s agility, he would never get hurt so easily. He jumped onto the Dragon¡¯s neck swiftly, and easily evaded Miluo¡¯s attacks.


    Miluo calmed down after failing to get rid of Liola in several hits. Miluo said suddenly: ¡°Looks like that runt does have an eye for talent. Killing you would be a bit unfortunate.¡±


    The Dragon¡¯s enormous body suddenly emitted black smoke.


    When Liola saw the strange event, he had already jumped down from the Dragon¡¯s neck. However, he didn¡¯t know whether he should take this opportunity to launch attack.


    He had no idea what Miluo was up to. Though the smoke seemed harmless, but he wasn¡¯t sure if would fall into a trap by attacking without resolve.


    Meanwhile the black smoke had completely engulfed Miluo, and suddenly dispersed. Miluo, who was originally as large as a mountain, was now covered in a black smoke of only about a person¡¯s height.


    The black smoke slowly returned to Miluo¡¯s body, and a person emerged. He was a handsome man with dark hair and blood-red eyes. His jagged face showed off his character, and it was quite the contrast, compared to Liola¡¯s elegant face.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Kaiser knitted his eyebrows and looked at Miluo, and said without holding back: ¡°You look nothing like Baolilong, whose face is so smooth that it looks like an egg. Are you sure Baolilong is your offspring?¡±


    Miluo¡¯s red eyes looked at Kaiser, and a black ball of energy flew out of his hand and hit the protective shield. Meinan¡¯s face went pale, and strengthened the shield. The black ball exploded, and the hole they had been hiding in disappeared in an instant, even the protective shield shook violently.


    Kaiser, who was petrified at first, calmed down when he saw that the protective shield was still holding, pouted and said: ¡°Getting angry just because what I said was true. You really are a Dragon without manners.¡±


    Miluo narrowed his eyes, raised both hands, and created black balls three times the size of the previous one.


    Meinan was sweating profusely as he finished his incantation to increase the layers of the shield. The originally transparent shield had so many layers, it now looked like a giant glass sphere.


    Kaiser was still itching to ridicule Miluo more, so he put his face near the protective shield. With the glass-like shield magnifying his face, Kaiser¡¯s face looked like he really ought to be taught a lesson.


    Miluo¡¯s veins popped out of his forehead, the two black balls doubled in size again.


    Without any hesitation, Miluo threw them at the shield. But just as they left his hands, two throwing stars suddenly appeared in the black balls¡¯ trajectories. They collided and a giant explosion ensued. The explosion caused the entire palace to collapse into ruins, and the dust formed a mushroom cloud.


    * * *


    ¡°Wow, what a giant explosion. The shield lost three layers in the explosion, Meinan hurry up and put them back. We might be facing Baolilong¡¯s dad playing bowling again.¡±


    Kaiser playfully looked outside, and looked to see if Liola was still in one piece after the explosion, or if he was already shattered into pieces.


    Meinan turned and looked at Kaiser. Meinan¡¯s face was completely pale, and as soon as he opened his mouth, blood oozed out the corners. Meinan looked at Kaiser with sad eyes.


    Even for Kaiser, he couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to these gazes, so he grudgingly said: ¡°F-fine, I¡¯ll say less.¡±


    ¡°You really are crazy. With such a short distance even you will be swallowed by the explosion.¡±


    Miluo was hurt by his own magic, and he got angrier as a result. However, seeing that his opponent wasn¡¯t in a much better situation than him, Miluo started smiling.


    Liola quickly examined his own wounds: medium internal injury, a twenty-centimeter cut on his left arm, and his sprained ankle seemed to have fractured, not to mention plenty of bruises and cuts¡­ But it felt like it wasn¡¯t too severe.


    Compared to his opponent, Liola closely examined, he seemed better off. Miluo¡¯s hands were severely burned, and there was a thirty-centimeter red mark on his chest. Liola was satisfied, at least his opponent¡¯s situation was as bad as his ¡ª they were both seriously injured.


    ¡°Hmm, Meinan, look at them with those bloodied wounds. If we go out with a few bullets, shouldn¡¯t we take care of it?¡± Kaiser pushed his face against the shield again, and saw the two people facing each other, both covered in blood.


    Purity trembled: ¡°Uwaah, the entire palace disappeared. What horrifying magic¡­¡±


    Meinan said with a pale face: ¡°And with such a large explosion, it¡¯s more horrifying that there are two people standing up like that¡­.¡±


    ¡°That IS horrifying, then I should just stay behind the protective shield.¡± Kaiser carefully concluded.


    Miluo finally ran into a worthy opponent, so the smile on his face got wider. He reminded Liola:


    ¡°Stop caring about that little runt¡¯s feelings and summon him already. Use your Dragon magic and let¡¯s have a good fight!¡±


    Liola remained quiet. He couldn¡¯t even feel a bit of magic element, let alone using Dragon magic. He even had trouble using the ¡°Summon Dragon¡± that Baolilong and Purity spent a night trying to teach him.


    ¡°He wants Liola to summon Baolilong?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes flashed: ¡°It would be faster to call that geezer Barbalis and ask him to bring Baolilong with him.¡±


    Miluo¡¯s cold eyes scanned the shield, Purity and Meinan immediately used all four of their hands to cover Kaiser¡¯s mouth. Kaiser, who still wanted to talk, could only make muffled noises.


    Miluo turned around towards Liola, and asked unbelievably: ¡°You don¡¯t know how to summon a Dragon? Are you really a Dragon Knight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Dragon Knight.¡± Liola answered simply and honestly.


    ¡°Oh? You are not a Dragon Knight?¡± Miluo smiled coldly: ¡°Then is the cross around your neck fake? Only the Dragon Emperor¡¯s bloodline has the necklace to enter the room that imprisoned me. Twenty years ago¡­ the Dragon Queen was pregnant, so you are the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who the Dragon Emperor is. This necklace was given to me by someone else.¡± Liola calmly stated the truth. ¡®Anise¡¯s cross¡­ has something to do with Dragon Emperor bloodlines?¡¯


    Miluo suddenly covered his face with one of his hand, and burst out laughing: ¡°Y-you don¡¯t know who Dragon Emperor is? Dragon Prince, your deception has gone too far. Who in the world would not know about one of the three biggest kingdoms: Dragon Empire, and its ruler?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an Assassin.¡± Liola frowned slightly, confused as to why he was mistaken as the Dragon Prince, something he couldn¡¯t comprehend.


    Miluo suddenly stopped laughing, and his eyes were filled with hate. He didn¡¯t believe anything of what Liola said, and thought the Dragon Empire¡¯s Dragon Knights were becoming less and less chivalrous.


    ¡®To save his own life, he would lie as far as this¡­ that runt couldn¡¯t be given to someone like this!¡¯


    Miluo lifted his bleeding arms, his eyes narrowed, and his arms began to change: skin turned into scales, muscles doubled, and fingers became sharp claws. Miluo said with hatred: ¡°Die!¡±


    Broken Silver was already in Liola¡¯s hands, and it was already unsheathed, revealing a sharp dagger.


    Liola had temporarily put the promise of not killing in the back of his mind, because he didn¡¯t think that under the current circumstances, it was possible for him to kill Miluo at all. Or perhaps he should run?


    Liola¡¯s mind flashed with the most intelligent choice, but¡­ Liola scanned the protective shield. If he were to run, what would happen to Kaiser and the others?


    But why should he care about those three? He had only met them for a bit over a week.


    While Liola stood where he was, fending off Miluo¡¯s ferocious attacks, his instincts wanted him to run. An assassin would never fight his opponent head-on, nor would they attack when they are at a disadvantage.


    Instinctively, Liola wanted to run, but his feet stood firmly on the ground. Liola¡¯s conscious thought, he had already let Anise die, and he couldn¡¯t let it go even now.


    If he were to let Kaiser and the others die here, then perhaps he would never have the courage to speak to anyone else again.


    ¡°Dragon Blaster!¡± Though Miluo didn¡¯t understand what Liola was struggling with and why he was distracted, but he wasn¡¯t going to let this opportunity pass. When his Dragon claw was in front of Liola¡¯s chest, Miluo used Dragon Blaster without hesitation.


    When Liola realized what was happening, it was already too late. His body already flew off and blasted through several walls, only to be stopped by a large pillar.


    He didn¡¯t need to examine his wounds to know that his internal injuries had turned from mediocre to severe, but without having time to recuperate, Liola instinctively raised Broken Silver to block Miluo, who had flown over and was following him.


    This block made Liola¡¯s blood boil. Facing his enemies head-on was a disadvantage to him, but with his ankle fractured, Liola couldn¡¯t use his speed to evade Miluo¡¯s horrifying power. Every time Liola blocked Miluo¡¯s attack, he felt as if his arm was going to break.


    ¡°Liola-dage!¡± Purity screamed. The white clothes she had specially prepared for him had already turned red. Everyone could see Liola was in bad shape.


    Liola finally couldn¡¯t hold onto Broken Silver any longer. When Miluo attacked, he hit Broken Silver out of Liola¡¯s hands, and it flew and got stuck in the protective shield.


    Liola could only use his arms to defend for a few more attacks, however, he couldn¡¯t even raise his arms. They were deeply cut by Dragon¡¯s scales, and his bones were vaguely visible in various areas.


    Without being able to use his arms, Liola could only use his legs to defend.


    Miluo let out an evil laugh. Ten black arrows appeared in his claw, and shot them with a wave of his hand.


    Liola used Blood-Fluttering Ki to block the attack, and the dark arrows collided with his Ki, making Liola¡¯s blood-drained face even paler.


    Liola¡¯s body went numb, and he no longer had the strength to stand up. He knelt in front of Miluo, with blood dripping out of his mouth to the ground.


    Miluo looked down at Liola. With one arm, he grabbed Liola¡¯s thin neck, and raised him high in the air as if to show off. He even laughed evilly toward Kaiser, while purposely waving Liola¡¯s body back and forth.


    ¡°T-this is too ridiculous!¡± Purity had tears covering her face, while her body was trembling.


    She kicked Meinan at the back of his head, making the ¡°Protective Shield Generator¡± unconscious. Thus, the layers of shield instantly disappeared.


    ¡°Uh, Purity, do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Kaiser gulped as he backed away a few steps. He even kicked Meinan in attempt to wake him up.


    Meanwhile, Purity was unusually calm, and without any signs of fear.


    She started making various gestures with her hand, and started chanting some indecipherable incantation. The presence of magic forced Purity¡¯s black hair to fly in the air.


    Miluo realized something was wrong. He threw down the dying Liola, and rushed towards Purity.


    When his claw was just about to reach Purity¡¯s face, a gunshot sound occurred.


    Miluo didn¡¯t care much about an antique weapon, for the handgun couldn¡¯t do enough damage to him. However, a strong wave of magic and flame made Miluo duck. A white bomb brushed across Miluo¡¯s face, which made him scream in pain.


    The white bomb crashed into the side of a rock. Though the hole it made was only half a meter wide, and its power seemed nothing compared to Miluo¡¯s black spheroid, but if someone were to measure the hole, they would find a surprising depth of the hole¡­


    ¡®Compressed Fireball?¡¯ Miluo¡¯s iris contracted. The fireball was white.


    ¡®How long had it been since someone used a white fireball?¡¯ Miluo thought of Kaiser as another threat, so he immediately raised his claw to kill Purity and get rid of her first.


    ¡°Kyaaa, so ugly!¡± Purity finally finished her incantation. However, as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Miluo¡¯s face, which was already half destroyed by Kaiser.


    Because of the surprise, Purity immediately used her magic, and Miluo¡¯s whole body was surrounded by her terrifying magic.


    Miluo felt a strong pull behind him, confused, he turned around only to see a black hole behind him. He finally understood what was going on, and he let out a scream louder than when he was hit by Kaiser: ¡°Damn! Space Magic.¡±


    A strong gravity pulled Miluo¡¯s body into the black hole.


    Miluo struggled with all his might, and he even left deep claw marks on the ground. He finally realized that there was nothing else he could do, so he screamed at Liola, who was lying on the ground:


    ¡°Dragon Prince, just you wait. I, Miluo, will never forgive any Dragon Empire royalties!¡±


    As he finished his last word, his last claw could no longer hold on, and he was sucked into the black hole. After the black hole had ¡°swallowed¡± Miluo, as if it had been satisfied, it obediently closed its mouth. Everything went back to normal, as if nothing had happened.


    And the ruins were even more in ruins. Everything that should or shouldn¡¯t have been destroyed, had all been in shambles.


    * * *


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Meinan finally woke up, but he didn¡¯t see Miluo, so he asked his friends what had happened.


    Purity and Kaiser didn¡¯t answer Meinan, they simply looked at each other. Finally, Kaiser pointed at Purity with blaming eyes and yelled:


    ¡°You had this kind of magic but you didn¡¯t use it earlier? Why did you wait until Liola was almost dead?! You obviously wanted to see how Liola looked when he was covered in blood, you vicious woman!¡±


    ¡°Ridiculous! Purity would never want Liola-dage to die.¡± Purity protested profusely:


    ¡°Besides, why didn¡¯t Kaiser use that white bomb earlier, then Liola-dage wouldn¡¯t be hurt by Miluo. Kaiser is the vicious one.¡±


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± Kaiser wouldn¡¯t back down either:


    ¡°Do you know how hard it is to successfully cast that magic? Last time I tried, I almost blew myself up, and I had to spend a fortune just to patch my wounds. Do you really think that I would use it all the time? You really think I have too much money for hospitals?¡±


    ¡®Hey¡­ The most important thing is your life, right?¡¯ Meinan thought while black lines covered his face.


    Purity pouted and said:


    ¡°At least you would only kill yourself. The last time I used this magic, I almost sent the entire Aklan Academy into the black hole, so do you think I should use it all the time? And then they would have to find more students to accept, how troublesome it would be!¡±


    Of course, after the incident, she never admitted that the space magic was her doing, although she had always felt that principal Barbalis already knew¡­


    ¡®Hey¡­ The important thing is the students¡¯ lives, right?¡¯ Meinan was already on the ground, speechless and crying.


    He wept towards Liola: ¡°Liola, we are still alive. How miraculous!¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me about Dragon Empire?¡±


    Liola turned his head toward Meinan, but as he tilted his head, blood gushed out of his mouth like water out of a facet, but in his eyes, he still showed a desire to know the answer, though that too was diminishing. Then Liola tilted his head, and went unconscious.


    ¡®This guy isn¡¯t normal¡­¡¯ Meinan realized that despite his strange habits, he¡¯s probably the most normal person out of the four.


    ¡°If you argue like this, Liola is really going to die.¡± Meinan placed Liola on his back, and anxiously yelled at the other two who was still screaming at each other.


    Purity and Kaiser both turned their heads around, and saw blood gushing out in every areas of Liola body, despite the fact that Meinan had already bandaged parts of him. The blood from Liola¡¯s mouth and his pale face indicated that, if they don¡¯t get some help soon, there would be an additional corpse here in the ruins.


    ¡°Purity, use your space magic and send us back to Aklan Academy.¡± Kaiser said immediately.


    Purity instead said with tears: ¡°I don¡¯t know how. I have no idea where my space magic would send people to.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kaiser screamed in surprise: ¡°Then where the hell did you send Miluo? Don¡¯t tell me you only sent Miluo back to the Yaron Plains?¡±


    Purity shook her head, because she had no idea where Miluo was sent to. Perhaps he¡¯s in the next room, or perhaps he became an interdimensional traveler like Liola.


    ¡°Purity, can¡¯t you at least try?¡± Meinan asked anxiously: ¡°Yaron Plains is too far from the city. Liola will never live long enough for us to reach the city.¡±


    Purity was just as anxious, but she was too afraid to try because she didn¡¯t know how to position her magic. If she uses it to send Liola and the rest of her group away, no one would know where they could end up.


    Seeing that Purity had no confidence in positioning, Meinan and Kaiser were both helpless. Judging from Liola¡¯s wounds, perhaps they would be visiting his grave the next year¡­


    ¡°Kaiser, tell me about the Dragon Empire.¡± Liola, who was unconscious seconds ago, raised his head and asked.


    ¡°¡­Someone is dying and you¡¯re still asking questions?¡± Kaiser was surprised, and snapped. But he was worried that this might be Liola¡¯s last moment of consciousness before he dies.


    ¡°Someone is dying?¡± Liola asked, confused: ¡°Who¡¯s dying? Is anyone hurt?¡±


    Kaiser, Purity, and Meinan all yelled unbelievably: ¡°You are the one dying!¡±


    Liola was stunned. He¡¯s going to die? Liola frowned, wondering if he missed any fatal wound in his last scan. To make sure, he checked his wounds again. Though he did confirm that he had sustained heavy injures, but they weren¡¯t enough to kill him.


    Liola asked skeptically: ¡°Why am I dying?¡±


    ¡°Your arms are almost similar to a skeleton!¡± Meinan pointed the arms around him that were covered in blood.


    ¡°Hm, I can¡¯t move my arms for now.¡±


    ¡°You are covered in blood!¡± Purity observed that his white shirt had turn red.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already stopped the bleeding.¡±


    ¡°You are f¡ªing spitting blood like a water faucet.¡± Kaiser yelled.


    ¡°I have internal injuries, so I¡¯m spitting out the clotted blood.¡±


    Kaiser and the others stared at Liola, who should be ¡°near death¡±. After a long moment of silence, Kaiser said calmly: ¡°Okay, actually¡­ It¡¯s because we want to kill you!¡±


    Liola replied calmly after observing: ¡°Even with my disabled arms, fractured ankle, severe internal injury, and severe loss of blood, the chance of the three of you succeeding in killing me is less than 10 percent.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Kaiser laughed coldly, and raised his gun. A small white bomb slowly materialized.


    ¡°Stop! Kaiser, calm down, you are going to blow yourself up¡­¡± Meinan and Purity quickly held Kaiser.


    Kaiser struggled and said: ¡°Let me go! Let me butcher this ungrateful bastard!¡±


    Liola frowned, and with a light jump, he got off Meinan¡¯s back, and landed with his left foot. He bent over, and with his mouth he took out the dagger from his boot. As the three stood still, stunned by his actions, Liola disappeared where he stood, and then the blade of Broken Silver appeared a centimeter away from Kaiser¡¯s neck, with Liola standing behind Kaiser like a ghost.


    Kaiser¡¯s face was immediately changed to a flattering smile: ¡°Liola, you know, we¡¯ve always been best buds! Why would I really want to harm you? I was just kidding, just kidding!¡±


    Liola moved Broken Silver away, and accurately spit it back into his boots. He seemed indifferent towards Kaiser¡¯s lack of humor, and said plainly: ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys want treasure?¡±


    Treasure! Lights shone again in the other three pairs of eyes.


    Liola nodded towards the right: ¡°Over there.¡±


    ¡°What kind of treasure?¡± Kaiser asked curiously.


    ¡°A stone with energy.¡± Liola answered directly.


    ¡°Is it a art piece/sword/gem?¡± Three of them asked together, but each with what they wanted.


    Without responding to any of the questions, Liola said softly: ¡°Behind that pillar.¡±


    Though each of them three were disappointed that it was just a rock, but even if it¡¯s not what they wanted, simply because Liola said that it was ¡®emitting strange energies¡¯, it meant that, even if it¡¯s just a rock, it was definitely not an ordinary rock.


    Better than nothing, was what they thought. So they all ran as fast as they could to the pillar Liola pointed.


    A bright ¡®rock¡¯ quietly laid on a pedestal, waiting for them.


    Judging from the snow white light that the ¡®rock¡¯ is emitting, they all knew, this ¡®rock¡¯ was hundreds of times more valuable than the treasures they¡¯ve seen before.


    Kaiser even gulped continuously, then murmured to Liola: ¡°Liola, next time, if there¡¯s any rock emitting energy¡­ no, no, if anything emits energy, please tell me first, and as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Such a pretty gem!¡± Purity had already forgotten anything about swords. Her feet walked towards the rock as if they had minds of their own, and her eyes had only the reflection of the rock.


    However, Kaiser was faster than Purity, and suddenly ran to the rock and held it in his hands. Purity, on the other hand, also seemed to show a woman¡¯s natural desire for gems.


    When Kaiser held up the gem, Purity also put her hands around the gem; her pouting face indicated that she was determined not to let go.


    Liola turned to see why Meinan didn¡¯t line up to grab the gem, only to see that Meinan had gotten a huge mirror out of nowhere, together with a comb, and was combing his tousled, gold hair carefully. He then pulled out his bottle of cologne, carefully sprayed it around his body. The carefully grooming Meinan didn¡¯t seem to care at all about the gem.


    While Kaiser and Purity were each trying to grab the gem for themselves, they didn¡¯t realize that the pedestal on which the gem sat, flashed some strange pattern, and then slowly disappeared.


    But Liola noticed something was wrong. Something was moving around the ruins. Something that shouldn¡¯t be moving.


    Even though the fight between Miluo and him had caused many loud explosions, ¡®they¡¯ hadn¡¯t moved, but why would they now¡­


    Liola looked at the gem in Kaiser and Purity hands as if something was on his mind.


    ¡®Perhaps that gem was some sort of seal?¡¯


    ¡°Uh¡­ Purity, Kaiser¡­¡± Originally Meinan was about to put two strings of hair back to where they belong, but what he saw in his mirror made him decide otherwise.


    Meinan took a couple of steps toward Liola, and trembled as he tried to remind the two friends of his, who didn¡¯t notice the surrounding dangerous due to the allure of the gem.


    A few headless ¡®people¡¯ walked past Liola and Meinan, completely ignoring them. Their target was obviously that gem¡­ Or perhaps the two people who were trying to take the gem.


    Seeing that the two had already been surrounded by corpses, Meinan couldn¡¯t hold back anymore and yelled: ¡°Purity, Kaiser! Look around you! Stop fighting!¡±


    The two finally seemed to be woken up.


    After being stunned briefly, Purity and Kaiser finally realized the situation they were in. Purity immediately screamed, and let go of the gem. She ran back to Liola, while trampling a few corpses on the way. She then held onto Liola tightly.


    Only Kaiser was left.


    He gulped, and carefully put his arms around his precious gem. He wanted to run back to Liola like Purity, but he wasn¡¯t successful like her. Wherever Kaiser went, all the corpses moved in that direction.


    Finally, Kaiser was just about buried by corpses. He got angry, and pulled out his gun and fired at will. For corpses that had heads, he shot the heads, as for the others, he shot the legs.


    However Kaiser quickly realized it wasn¡¯t helping his situation. The corpses didn¡¯t seem to mind that they didn¡¯t have heads, and the ones with broken legs crawled on the ground towards him.


    With more and more corpses coming out of the surrounding rooms, Kaiser finally started calling for help: ¡°Liola, help me! If you want, I¡¯ll share 0.5 carat with you!¡±


    Liola said plainly: ¡°Put the gem back to where it was.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡± Kaiser ground his teeth: ¡°No! This is my darling. I¡¯m never letting it go.¡±


    ¡°Put it back, and the corpses will stop.¡± Liola calmly determined.


    ¡°Never! Not even if I die!¡± Kaiser screamed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Liola said straightforwardly, and at the same time turned around to leave this strange ruins.


    ¡°Wait, are you really going to leave your friend behind? Damn you, Liola, we are friends, how can you possibly leave me behind! Remember when you first came to this world, who took care of you? Who answered your questions?¡± Kaiser cried on the top of his lungs.


    Liola thought quietly. All he remembered was someone telling him to go the shelter.


    And by now, the corpses had already gotten a hold of Kaiser. The decomposed and smelly hands had grabbed Kaiser¡¯s ankle, shoulder, arms¡­

 Volume 2, 3 : Light and Darkness

    Volume 2, Chapter 3 : Light and Darkness


    ¡°Kaiser seems extremely depressed. Is he going to be okay?¡± Purity kept turning back to check on Kaiser, who was walking with his face parallel to the ground.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liola said straightforwardly.


    ¡°Sigh, it was just a gem. Could it be more important than his life?¡± Meinan brushed his bright, golden hair, and shook his head in confusion:


    ¡°Kaiser really overdid it. He almost got torn to pieces by those mummified corpses for that gem. If Liola didn¡¯t put the gem back on the pedestal in time, Kaiser would have turned into a corpse too.¡±


    Though Liola saved Kaiser¡¯s life, all he received in return was a couple of days of death glares. Liola was beginning to think, perhaps he should have let Kaiser die with the gem, then maybe he would be happier?


    ¡°Liola-dage, how¡¯s your arm?¡± Purity worriedly looked at Liola¡¯s arm.


    ¡°I can move it now.¡± Liola lifted his arm, and stretched his fingers to reassure Purity.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Meinan interrupted: ¡°The northern city of Freesia is just up ahead. When we¡¯re there, I¡¯ll bring him to the best healing Maxun, and I promise it won¡¯t even leave a scar.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes were staring at the others, with stares full of rage from losing his precious gem.


    Purity, who was on the brink of tears from being stared at, said with a trembling voice: ¡°Purity will buy you the best food. Kaiser should stop being mad. Purity is scared!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes immediately brightened.


    Purity nodded continuously, and Kaiser finally seemed to have lifted his spirit, with the desire for food flashing in his eyes.


    Before long, Kaiser arrived at the gate to Freesia, and turned around to beckon at Liola and the others. Liola and the others sighed and quickened their pace. Then they all arrived at the tall gate of Freesia.


    * * *


    ¡°Put your student ID inside the checkpoint, and the Maxuns there will automatically identify us.¡± As Kaiser inserted a black card into a Maxun, he explained to the confused Liola.


    With Aklan Academy¡¯s student IDs, the four easily entered Freesia.


    The city was an obvious contrast to the capital city of Aklan. It was open and spacious, and there were far less flying Maxuns in the air. There were many people who, like Liola and the others, walked on the side of the road.


    There were far fewer metallic buildings compared to the Aklan¡¯s capital, with quite a few real trees buried in the earth. The buildings were also short¡­ At least far shorter than buildings in Aklan, which are all hundreds of stories tall.


    ¡°Freesia, the city closest to the Yaron Plains, and the city furthest to the north in the continent of Aklan. It¡¯s also called the Northern Star, Freesia. Since people living here will often have to fend of sub-Dragons, they are all very strong, and their customs are fairly rough.¡±


    Meinan explained to everyone:


    ¡°Their barbecue is quite famous. When Liola is cured, I¡¯ll bring you to the most famous restaurant here.¡±


    Everyone cheerfully agreed. However, Kaiser still murmured ¡°But I¡¯m about to die from starvation.¡±


    Everyone arrived at the healing center, and with Purity¡¯s insistence, Liola used the best as well as the most expensive healing Maxun.


    Although it wasn¡¯t as good as the one Barbalis purchased, it wasn¡¯t too far off. Besides, Liola¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t nearly as bad as last time, so Kaiser only had to chant ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡± for half an hour, before Liola¡¯s wounds were completely healed.


    Liola realized, the healing Maxun was quite amazing at external wounds. Wherever it touched, the wound would be healed. But for internal injuries, its uses seemed extremely limited. So, although Liola looks perfectly fine on the outside, his internal injuries remained quite severe.


    ¡®Looks like I¡¯ll have to rely on my Ki to heal the internal injures for the coming days,¡¯ Liola thought.


    With Kaiser¡¯s continuous urging, Meinan lead everyone to a special restaurant. Kaiser arrived as if he were a hurricane blowing through the front door, and he was so happy that he almost danced on the spot. His eyes sparkled as he requested a room from the waitress.


    Meinan showed a proud smile: ¡°Fortunately, there is one room left.¡±


    As soon as he heard, Kaiser cheered with Purity, and even Meinan showed a big smile on his face. Though Liola seemed expressionless always, but judging from the tension from his face, he was a bit more relaxed, indeed.


    ¡°We want a room.¡± Another person appeared through the door, and rashly asked for a room.


    The waitress at the door was apologetic and said: ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, the last room was booked.¡±


    ¡°What? No room? Do you know who we are?¡± The black haired, black eyed man showed discontent, and started yelling. The waitress seemed to have gotten more and more angry, and her middle fingers from both hands looked as if they were about to be out of control¡­


    Originally, Liola and the rest had already walked away, but then they suddenly stopped. The reason as to why they stopped, was obviously not because of Kaiser, who only had grilled meat in his mind. Nor was it Purity, who would be trembling at the mere sight of an argument. Of course, nor is it Liola, who was a cold-hearted assassin that didn¡¯t care much about others.


    ¡°Sir, if there were no rooms left, can¡¯t you find another place to eat? Why make things difficult for this lady?¡± Meinan brushed his hair, and denounced at such rude behavior.


    The yelling man heard Meinan¡¯s criticism, and flashed a smile as if some evil plan had worked; he then turned all of his anger towards Meinan:


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your damn business. If she doesn¡¯t want me to yell at her, then give me your room! Otherwise stop faking chivalry over there.¡±


    As soon as they mentioned giving up their room, Meinan had already felt two burning eyes on his back. If he says yes, then those eyes would probably materialize as bullets, and Meinan certainly didn¡¯t want to hold a protective shield while he was eating, so he decidedly declined:


    ¡°No! We booked the room first. My friends and I will never submit to bullies.¡± Although, he was already giving into the bully known as Kaiser¡­


    ¡°Bully? Haha, do you know who my master is?¡± The man said in disdain.


    Meinan said righteously: ¡°No matter who it is, you shouldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°My master is the Paladin Lancelot!¡± The man¡¯s face sank, and all the rough expressions were gone. When he said Lancelot¡¯s name, his attitude was similar to that of a devoted follower saying his God¡¯s name.


    At this time, everyone was quiet, and their eyes opened wide, showing complete disbelief. Meinan stammered: ¡°H-How is that possible? A Paladin appearing in such a remote location.¡±


    The man laughed. Every time he says Lancelot¡¯s name, everyone¡¯s expression would always make me laugh out loud.


    The man resumed his rough expression: ¡°What? My master disappeared long ago because he wanted to travel the world. Now he¡¯s traveled to Freesia, what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Paladin is really here?¡± Purity rushed up, her eyes filled with sparkles: ¡°Where is he? Where? Can you tell me where he is?¡±


    The man was dazed by the long series of questions, and said:


    ¡°Lancelot¡­ couple days ago he went to the Yaron Plains to check out the disturbances there. Today I got a message from him, saying that he¡¯ll be back today, and told me to book a room to have a drink with him¡­ Wait, why the hell am I telling you this?¡±


    ¡°So I will be able to see the famous Paladin soon?¡± Purity resumed her fantasy of the prince charming.


    ¡®Disturbances in the Yaron Plains?¡¯ Liola thought, ¡®these ¡°disturbances¡± were all in the barbecue restaurant in Freesia, other than one who was sent to God-knows-where.¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s right, so give up your room! Lancelot wants to eat meat and drink.¡± The man laughed evilly


    Meinan and Purity almost nodded, but the sound of a gun stopped their heads. Meinan took out his mirror, and with a shaky mirror he saw Kaiser pointing a gun at two people in front of him. Their faces went pale, and immediately changed their nodding to shaking of their heads. But they were afraid that, when the Paladin arrives, he would be giving the speech on their funeral.


    ¡°I-WANT-GRILLED-MEAT!¡± Kaiser said slowly, word by word.


    Liola, who was next to him, murmured, ¡°I haven¡¯t felt this strong of a murderous intent in quite a long time¡­¡±


    Meinan ran back to Kaiser¡¯s side, and used this action to show that he won¡¯t give up the room. Purity was crying instead, and said unwillingly: ¡°I-I want to see the Paladin, wooo¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so great about the Paladin? Is he edible? Can he fill my stomach?¡± Kaiser yelled angrily. Kaiser, who had already smelled the scent of barbecue, will never give up the room.


    Though Purity was trembling, but in order to fulfill her dream of seeing the Paladin Lancelot, she heaved her small chest, and screamed on the top of her lungs: ¡°I want to see the Paladin~¡±


    This explosive scream made everyone cover their ears in pain. Kaiser was the only one covering one ear with his left hand, while his right hand still pointed a gun at Purity.


    ¡°I say¡­¡± The man also covered his ears, and tried to find a way to resolve the current situation:


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t have that many people, and there¡¯s only Lancelot and me, how about we share a room?¡± The man thought, if this continues, then the whole restaurant might be destroyed today.


    ¡°W-We can eat together with Sir Lancelot?¡± Purity covered her chest, as if she were about to faint.


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to rob me of my grilled meat, is he?¡± Kaiser asked skeptically.


    The man¡¯s mouth twitched: ¡°Order separately!¡±


    After coming to an agreement, they all followed the waitress, who sighed in relief, into the room.


    * * *


    When Kaiser saw dishes of red meat being served, he almost forgot that humans ate cooked meat, and picked up the raw meat as if he were going to eat it. Fortunately, Purity grabbed them back, and within seconds she cooked them, so Kaiser didn¡¯t have to eat raw meat.


    The black haired man drank a few cups, and then started laughing. He turned to the cold Liola and asked: ¡°Bro, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    Liola gave the man a cold look, and said: ¡°Liola.¡±


    The man frowned: ¡°That¡¯s a strange name¡­¡±


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Purity asked curiously, while her hands were still busy cooking meat for Kaiser.


    ¡°Oh, my name is Blood¡­¡± The man suddenly paused, then continued: ¡°Just call me Wolf.¡±


    Purity nodded understandingly: ¡°So it¡¯s Wolf-dage.¡±


    A thought suddenly flashed through Liola¡¯s head, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Besides, after this meal, they will be going in separate ways. It didn¡¯t matter who this man was at all.


    ¡°Wolf! L-Let¡¯s drink!¡± Kaiser, whose stomach was now filled, had already forgotten the hostility moments before. He started drinking with Wolf. They both started to get drunk, and even started dancing. They were drinking as if they had been the best friends for their entire lives.


    As time passed by, dishes containing meat were piling up in front of them. Kaiser stared at the growing ¡°mountain¡± of meat, but he didn¡¯t want to grab any because, he felt that if he continued to eat, he would have to fill his skull with barbecue.


    But Purity continued to order more, and her hands continued to cook more. She stared at door, waiting for someone in shining armor, carrying a flashing blade, and push through that door as if they were a soldier from heaven.


    Meinan said with a pale face: ¡°Kaiser, eat some more!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kaiser looked at the meat mountain in front of him. It was the first time in his life when he wanted to vomit at the sight of food.


    Meinan and Kaiser were both staring at the meat and sighing. Only Liola, who was chewing slowly from the beginning, was eating the meat slowly. But with Purity cooking a piece every 3 seconds, the meat mountain was only growing.


    Then, there was suddenly a ringing sound. Kaiser, Meinan, and Purity all looked at their communication Maxuns. Finally, Wolf, sitting on the side, grabbed his communication Maxun, and said angrily:


    ¡°Damn Lancelot, where the hell are you? I¡¯ve been waiting for you for ages, and there are already three meat mountains in front of me.¡± Wolf said as he saw Purity¡¯s longing and yet terrifying eyes.


    ¡°Wolf, come back me up!¡± A deep voice said, and it was panting.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The levity of Wolf¡¯s face disappeared. He suddenly stood up, in complete disbelief that there would be anything in Yaron Plains that would result in Lancelot asking for back up.


    Lancelot didn¡¯t answer. The only thing that could be heard from the communication Maxun was a sound of a violent fight.


    Lancelot continued to yell: ¡°Twenty years ago¡­ The one Dragon Emperor sealed away¡­ Black Dragon¡­¡± Before he finished, the voice fragmented, and then there was nothing but static.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Without saying bye to Liola and the others, Wolf pushed the room¡¯s door and ran out.


    Strange expressions appeared on all their faces. Then everyone looked at Purity, whose face had turned pale. Kaiser cleared his throat and said:


    ¡°Looks like we won¡¯t be seeing the Paladin today.¡±


    ¡°Good thing we left the ruins quickly, otherwise ¡®he¡¯ would¡¯ve found us.¡± Meinan said as if his fear hadn¡¯t subsided from before.


    Liola¡¯s face sank, and he turned his face away from Purity¡¯s doggy-eyed expression. But Purity sat closer and closer to him, and there were more and more tears on her face. Finally, she practically put her large glasses in Liola¡¯s face and begged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to cause trouble.¡± Liola said coldly.


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡± Purity said as if she were prepared. No matter what she was going to convince Liola. The problem was started by them, and they can¡¯t dump it on the Paladin.


    Liola was still indifferent, and continued to chew slowly. Purity turned to Kaiser, and begged: ¡°Kaiser, weren¡¯t you just friendly with Wolf? He went as reinforcement, what if something goes wrong?¡±


    Kaiser shrugged: ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong. After all, Lancelot is the Paladin!¡± Just like Liola, Kaiser had already noticed that Wolf was probably¡­ Plus the Paladin, with the two of them they shouldn¡¯t lose to Miluo. Worst case scenario they could at least escape.


    Purity thought: ¡®How could the legendary Paladin Lancelot lose to Miluo?¡¯


    After thinking that way, she calmed down, but still continued to murmur: ¡°But I want to see the Paladin.¡±


    At this time, the door was rushed open again, and Wolf appeared again. He yelled hurriedly: ¡°You guys need to take a Maxun and leave Freesia immediately.¡± Without any further explanation, Wolf rushed out of the room again.


    ¡°Why do we need to leave Freesia? This is the closest place to Yaron Plains. Before that geezer Barbalis come get us, we still have to go back to the Yaron Plains to pretend that we¡¯re still in our wilderness survival test.¡± Kaiser scoffed at what Wolf said.


    But just as Kaiser finished, the ground suddenly shaking violently. This mountain-moving shake was all too familiar to the four of them, and their faces all turned pale. Purity asked while trembling: ¡°So we take a Maxun back to the capital of Aklan?¡±


    Meinan and Kaiser both nodded. But strangely, Liola declined: ¡°You guys go first. I¡¯m going to go and see.¡±


    Meinan and Purity both looked at Liola in disbelief. Only Kaiser raised his eyebrows: ¡°You want to see the true strengths of the Knights, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Liola did not deny it. He took out the mask and, as if he already knew, dug through Purity¡¯s luggage. As expected, he found the silver Knight¡¯s uniform ¡ª Purity would not forget to bring her brother¡¯s Knight uniform even in wilderness survival.


    After Liola put the uniform on, he pushed out the door to the room, and prepared to see the true strength of the Knights.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t think this guy was a martial arts fanatic.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    * * *


    Liola stepped outside, and saw many people running for their lives.


    A doubt flashed in Liola¡¯s mind ¡ª Miluo was practically released by him with Anise¡¯s cross necklace. If these people were killed by Miluo, would that count as him killing them?


    Although Liola knew that he¡¯s nitpicking, but he didn¡¯t want any possibility of breaking his promise with Anise.


    With these thoughts, the white figure accelerated. Liola could already see from afar, the black mountain, Miluo, who was trying to destroy Freesia¡¯s not-so-tall walls. There were only two figures stopping him, one was a bright white, and the other was black and red.


    Liola lightened his step, and jumped on the walls. He saw Miluo, who was in his Dragon form, shooting out rays of black light towards Lancelot. Coincidentally, Wolf was also on the walls, looked at his own situation with a frown: ¡°Crap, my black aura has limited effect on the Black Dragon.¡±


    Wolf turned around, and suddenly realized Silver Mask was standing next to him but he didn¡¯t know when or how.


    He was stunned, but then he saw the white uniform on Liola, he treated him as if he¡¯s a rank-silver Knight. According to Knights¡¯ ranks, rank-Silver Knight must obey Wolf¡¯s orders. Therefore, Wolf said coldly: ¡°Runt, don¡¯t butt in! A rank-silver Knight will only become a liability in this fight.¡±


    Liola nodded. With his internal injuries, he didn¡¯t want to fight anyhow. He was here to only watch the strongest of this world fight.


    He curiously looked: Lancelot was in the air with a sword, riding on a snow-white horse, and the horse even had a horn. Liola frowned slightly, not knowing whether that was a horse or some other creature.


    If Kaiser were here, he would¡¯ve definitely answered, that it was an unicorn, supposedly the holiest of creatures, and only the Paladin Lancelot could ride it.


    Wolf again observed the battle, and then started chanting. An enormous black pike appeared in his hand. Knowing that he and Miluo both had dark element, Wolf knew his attacks wouldn¡¯t be useful against the black Dragon.


    He wasn¡¯t planning on joining the fight, but he was defending, so that the Black Dragon wouldn¡¯t have the opportunity of breaking the wall of Freesia and injuring the lives within.


    But, something seemed wrong. After the Black Dragon couldn¡¯t defeat Lancelot, and noticed that there was the threat of a large pike on the wall, he angrily used a Dragon howl into the sky. A dust storm appeared in the distance, and with Liola¡¯s sharp eyes, he could see them clearly. He said: ¡°Sub-Dragons.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Wolf couldn¡¯t believe it as he looked at the approaching dust storm, but he too could feel the rumbling of thousands of feet.


    Wolf immediately started murmuring: ¡°I¡¯m Blood Wolf. My mount Blackie, if you don¡¯t come here in three seconds, I¡¯ll skin your hide for a coat.¡±


    Liola was stunned. This mount summoning spell was far different from the one Purity had taught him.


    ¡®How can some random things he said summon something?¡¯


    Though Liola was skeptical, but obviously, Blood Wolf was the famous Dark Knight, and was significantly different from Liola, who was not even a Knight and a failed Dragon Knight.


    A crack appeared mid-air, from which an enormous black wolf jumped out, and it obediently let Blood Wolf get on its back.


    Wolf¡­ who should now be called Blood Wolf, frowned at Liola and said: ¡°Runt, summon your mount, and follow me to kill those Sub-Dragons!¡±


    Liola hesitated: ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know how to summon.¡±


    Blood Wolf almost fell out of his mount: ¡°You¡¯ve already gotten to Silver rank, and you still don¡¯t know how to summon?¡± Blood Wolf widened his eyes in complete disbelief.


    ¡°I can¡¯t feel the magic element¡­¡± Liola said hesitantly.


    ¡°Who cares about magic element.¡± Blood Wolf waved his hands impatiently: ¡°Just think about your mount in your heart, and then call for him.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola closed his eyes, trying his best to think of Baolilong¡¯s look¡­ Slowly, Baolilong¡¯s appearance did indeed appear in Liola¡¯s mind. He could almost see Baolilong pouting in Mizerui¡¯s arms, and Mizerui was lazily sunbathing.


    Liola tried to call out for it: ¡°Baolilong?¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s pink eyes really blinked, and looked around for Liola, but it couldn¡¯t find it¡¯s father.


    The confused Baolilong turned his face, not knowing what had happened.


    ¡°Baolilong! Come to my side.¡± Seeing that it was working, Liola concentrated and yelled again.


    Baolilong suddenly jumped up, and its little feet heavily stepped on someone¡¯s family jewels, which was accompanied by a loud scream.


    Baolilong said: ¡°Father is calling me.¡±


    Baolilong floated up in the air, and it¡¯s figure suddenly disappeared.


    Only Mizerui covering his parts was left behind, and a few words came out between his clenched teeth: ¡°Good fella, you¡¯ve finally learned summoning. Uwaah~~ that really hurts.¡±


    * * *


    As soon as Liola ¡°saw¡± Baolilong disappear, and he knew that he was successful in summoning.


    He pulled his consciousness back, and sure enough, a crack appeared in the sky ¡ª one that was even larger than the one Blackie came through. And then a White Dragon of more than ten meters tall flew out of the crack, and gave out a loud Dragon roar as it landed.


    For a moment, Blood Wolf was stunned. And even Lancelot and Miluo in the distance were also stunned.


    Blood Wolf murmured: ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of a Dragon Knight didn¡¯t know how to summon his own Dragon, and had someone else teach him.¡±


    ¡°Sacred White Dragon?¡± Lancelot started feeling uneasy. If he remembered correctly, the Sacred White Dragon was the offspring of the Black Dragon in front of him. ¡®Did it come as reinforcement for its father?¡¯


    ¡°Runt¡­¡± Miluo realized the situation with mixed feelings.


    ¡°Ah, that Dragon¡­¡± Seeing another Dragon, Baolilong yelled. Liola frowned, as he had forgotten the relationship between Baolilong and Miluo. But then Baolilong continued: ¡°¡­ is black!¡±


    Everyone fell to the ground! Miluo and Liola fell especially hard. Miluo yelled angrily: ¡°Damn runt, it¡¯s only been twenty years, and you¡¯ve already forgotten your old man?!¡±


    ¡°Old man?¡± Baolilong blinked its big, pink eyes, as if he suddenly realized: ¡°You¡¯re the old dad!¡±


    ¡®There was old and new dad¡­?¡¯ Everyone thought. Liola, however, was wonder if the new dad referring to himself.


    ¡°Runt, you¡¯re not allowed to recognize any of the Dragon Empire Royalties as your master.¡± Miluo narrowed his eyes. He couldn¡¯t imagine the little runt liking its master enough to call him dad. So killing its master was more troublesome than he previously thought.


    ¡°Dragon Empire Royalty?¡± Lancelot frowned and looked at Liola. Lancelot had seen all three sons of the emperor, and he said with absolutely certainty: ¡°He is definitely not a Dragon Empire Royalty.¡±


    ¡°You must be lying? Even the youngest son of the Dragon Emperor has become rank-gold a long time ago.¡± Even though Blood Wolf hadn¡¯t seen the Princes, he would not believe Liola was a Dragon Empire prince.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Dragon Empire Royalty.¡± Liola denied again.


    Miluo finally realized something was wrong. For Liola¡¯s denial, he could treat it as a lie. Miluo doesn¡¯t know Blood Wolf, but he knew Lancelot well.


    Considering Lancelot¡¯s relationship with the Dragon Emperor, he would definitely know what the Emperor¡¯s sons would look like. And given Lancelot¡¯s straightforward nature, there was no way he would lie¡­ ¡®Can it be that the runt¡¯s master really isn¡¯t a Dragon Empire royalty?¡¯


    But twenty years ago, it was obviously the Dragon Emperor who took the runt away. And the only people who could free him, were the royalties. Miluo was getting more and more confused, and he didn¡¯t know what to believe.


    ¡°What a stupid Dragon!¡± Just as the atmosphere intensifies, a disdained voice came from the wall, and a green-haired boy lazily lying on the walls.


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Miluo angrily breathed.


    ¡°Stupid Dragon! I¡¯ve already told you. The queen gave birth to the princess twenty years ago! Li¡­ Silver Mask was just someone who accidentally became Baolilong¡¯s master. You can¡¯t even comprehend such a simple thing, and you have such a large head. What the hell is in your head, tofu curd?¡±


    Kaiser stood up, and yelled condescendingly. He thought that, since there was the Paladin, the Dark Knight, plus Liola. There was no way Miluo could breach their defenses. So he would never be satisfied unless he spoke everything on his mind.


    Lancelot raised his eyebrows because he couldn¡¯t deny what was said, and Blood Wolf was already rolling on the ground, laughing. But Liola was thinking, what is tofu curd?


    Good thing Miluo was already shocked by the previous statements that he didn¡¯t hear the bit about tofu curd, otherwise Kaiser¡¯s days would be numbered.


    Miluo said in shock: ¡°The little runt¡­ really didn¡¯t recognize a royalty as its master?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what had happened in the past between you and the Dragon Empire.¡± Kaiser laughed like a thief:


    ¡°But, Silver Mask not only took the Dragon from the Empire, he even defeated the Emperor¡¯s precious daughter. It¡¯s safe to say that, he hasn¡¯t gotten along well with the Empire either.¡±


    Miluo¡¯s face showed hesitation again. He was starting to doubt who Liola really was. Ever since the beginning, Liola¡¯s actions didn¡¯t match that of a royalty. And now even Lancelot denied his identity as a royalty.


    Miluo hesitated for a moment, then he transformed from that mountain of a Dragon into the black-haired, black-eyed man again.


    Miluo walked in front of Baolilong, and asked: ¡°Runt, why didn¡¯t you recognize a Dragon Empire royalty as your master?¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s big, pink eyes flashed with dissatisfaction: ¡°They, disgusting!¡±


    Miluo seemed very satisfied with this answer. His previous anger completely disappeared, and instead it was replaced with great laughter.


    Miluo yelled as he laughed: ¡°Dragon Emperor! Now you can¡¯t have your ways! Let¡¯s see what you could do with the little runt!¡±


    Lancelot frowned, and tried to explain on the Emperor¡¯s behalf: ¡°Back then, the Dragon Emperor had no choice.¡±


    Miluo stopped laughing, and coldly said to Lancelot: ¡°No choice? ¡®Righteous¡¯ Paladin, there are plenty of immoral things you don¡¯t know about. You have no idea of what the Dragon Emperor is really like.¡±


    Miluo then scanned Baolilong and Liola, then took off into the air. Before he left, he said: ¡°Runt, treat your master well. I have some things to settle with the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Old papa¡­¡± Baolilong sat there as he saw Miluo leave, its pink mouth was pouting slightly.


    Seeing Miluo¡¯s leaving, everyone sighed in relief. Only Lancelot yelled in distress: ¡°Crap, I have to go warn the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    As Lancelot finished, the unicorn emitted a long snort, and carried its master towards the Dragon Empire.


    Blood Wolf who that saw Lancelot was leaving, hesitated and then complained: ¡°What the hell, he called me from the Commerce Alliance for a reunion, now he just leaves by himself¡­ But, the fight between Dragon Emperor and the King of Dragons, Miluo will definitely be exciting to watch.¡±


    ¡°Fine, catch up.¡± Blood Wolf, with an excited expression, ordered Blackie to catch up as fast as possible to the snow-white figure.


    Only Liola and the others were left behind to stare at one another¡­ There were also a crowd pointing their fingers at Liola, and one could faintly hear them saying:


    ¡°Silver Mask¡±, ¡°Dragon Knight¡±, and ¡°Such a large Dragon¡±¡­

 Volume 2, 4 : Silver Mask is such a bas——

    Volume 2, Chapter 4 : Silver Mask is such a bas¡ª¡ª


    Since Kaiser expressed himself and yelled at the King of Dragons, Miluo, the crowd who watched him remembered his appearance. People were afraid that the Black Dragon would come back for revenge, so they exiled Kaiser as well as his companions.


    Without any other choice, they had to go back to Yaron Plains to live out their month of wilderness survival. What was funny, was the fact that with Baolilong being there, all of the Sub-Dragons kept their distance from them¡­ All except one, which got dissolved in their stomachs.


    The time they spent here with Baolilong was, in fact, the most peaceful time they had spent ever since Kaiser met Liola.


    When Mizerui appeared in front of them with anticipation, Liola was somewhat sad. Perhaps the rank-A danger zone, Yaron Plains, was actually more peaceful than Aklan Academy.


    When they stepped back on the flying Maxun, Barbalis counted of all the students. There were exactly 30, none were missing.


    Barbalis nodded in satisfaction: ¡°You are all worthy to be sophomores, and you¡¯ve all learned how to survive. Hahaha, I, Barbalis, sure taught you all well, hahaha!¡±


    Black lines grew down every student¡¯s face. All of them helplessly returned to the place more terrifying than rank-A Yaron Plains ¡ª Aklan Academy¡¯s School of Sorcery!


    Everyone thought that, since they had already been through a month of trouble, they would at least have some time to rest, and the principal wouldn¡¯t come up with some strange new ideas.


    They all thought wrong. The very reason why Barbalis sent them away, was to prepare a bigger game. This month of wilderness survival was the rest and relaxation they had hoped for.


    * * *


    With a large smile, Barbalis took the students to the brand new student dorm.


    They couldn¡¯t believe the School of Sorcery dorm looked even flashier and newer than the School of Mecha Fighters. With bright silver metallic wall, and modern designs. All of which suggested that Barbalis was up to something.


    All the students gulped, and started backing away. They all feared the dorm would suddenly stand up and eat them alive.


    ¡°Hot damn, the penny pincher suddenly turned around!¡± With his jaw dropped, Kaiser stared at the new dorm that looked nothing like the old ruins. He then immediately ran through the door, and as he swiped his black student ID, he yelled happily: ¡°Dear bed, soft sheets, puffy pillows I, Kaiser, am here to sleep on you!¡±


    As Kaiser swiped his ID, the door opened with amazing speed.


    Before Kaiser even had the chance to scream, with a woosh sound, he was sucked into the black room behind the door.


    The door closed with amazing speed, as if the whole thing happened in the blink of an eye! It was then when everyone realized how horrifying the door was.


    ¡°K-Kaiser got eaten by the dorm!¡± Purity cried, and ran behind Liola, as if she were afraid the arms would come out of the door to grab her.


    ¡°Papa, where did Kaiser go?¡± Baolilong, who was in its human form, asked Liola curiously.


    Liola¡¯s face sank. He turned only to see Barbalis smiling, as if he was pleased with his work.


    Though he wasn¡¯t sure of Barbalis¡¯ intent, but he was certain that he would never step into this building without knowing more about it.


    Barbalis probably noticed the Assassin¡¯s cold eyes. To avoid having a dagger around his neck, he quickly explained:


    ¡°This is a special design. This dorm will, according to your student ID, instantly transport you to your own room.¡±


    As if he was trying to prove what Barbalis had said, Kaiser time pushed open the window, and yelled through the window:


    ¡°Liola, before you go to your room go buy me some food. I want to eat when I wake up.¡±


    Without responding to Kaiser, Liola frowned slightly, walked up to the door, and swiped his own ID. The door swung open again, and a strong suction grabbed Liola into the hall.


    Liola wasn¡¯t too fond of flying through the air without being able to control it, although Baolilong, who was on Liola¡¯s back, smiled brightly, and even cheered with its hands in the air.


    In a matter of seconds, Liola floated to an empty room. The only thing inside the room was a very large sphere in the center, and it was flashing with various ray of colorful light.


    The sphere suddenly shone a ray of light towards Liola, and Liola almost ducked on reflex, but the light stopped in front of Liola, and a semi-transparent screen appeared.


    There were many buttons, and every had different destination written on them, such as: Your room, Hall, X person people¡¯s room, etc.


    Liola hesitated, but Baolilong didn¡¯t.


    Seeing the bright screen, Baolilong laughed innocently, and with its little hands, Baolilong started mashing every button on the screen.


    Liola took off again, and with blazing speed, he flew to some sort of hall. There were all sorts of strange things placed in it, and they confused Liola. Had Kaiser been here, perhaps he would have been able to identify them all.


    The Maxuns looked identical like gaming or entertainment equipment¡­ Perhaps the only difference was, they were more deadly.


    Liola was just about to walk forward to take a closer look at these Maxuns.


    With a cute look, Baolilong pounded on the screen again. Liola then instantly flew to a place that, no matter how advanced it was, it always had the same functions ¡ª the bathroom.


    When Liola was considering whether he should go to the bathroom, Baolilong decided to put all its weight forward and rammed its head against the screen.


    The holographic screen obviously couldn¡¯t support Baolilong¡¯s weight, so it went through the screen, and landed on its face. The pain made Baolilong cry.


    ¡°How did you fall.¡± Liola was just about to pick Baolilong back up, but because Baolilong used its face to press some button, Liola flew away from Baolilong.


    Baolilong wanted to run back to papa¡¯s arms, but as soon as it got off the ground, it only saw Liola flying away from him.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong suddenly stood up, its baby face filled with fear. It stretched out its small Dragon wings, and flapped them as hard as it could to try to catch up to papa.


    Finally, Liola stopped, but Baolilong couldn¡¯t stop in time, so it flew through the transparent screen. Before it reached Liola¡¯s arms, Liola started yet another flying journey.


    Some people say, humans were species incapable of learning. But obviously, same could be said about Dragons. Or perhaps Baolilong was special. It continuously tried to catch up to papa, run into the screen, only to have papa fly off again.


    Liola couldn¡¯t do anything but watch the tears running down Baolilong¡¯s face as it gave chase. It wasn¡¯t until the next morning that Liola had finally arrived at his own room. By this time, he had been to just about everywhere. Finally, there was something Liola understood better than Kaiser, the School of Sorcery dorm.


    ¡°Hmm? Liola, why did it take you so long to get food?¡± Kaiser got up from his bed, still half asleep. He looked at the situation in the room:


    Baolilong was kneeling on the table with face filled with tears and regret. In front of it was Liola who wore a naturally cold expression.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kaiser asked curiously, and then turned pale: ¡°Baolilong didn¡¯t eat all of our food, did it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola looked at Kaiser: ¡°It¡¯s time for class.¡±


    Kaiser touched his stomach, and thought, did he really sleep for such a long time? No wonder he was so hungry.


    Thinking of food, Kaiser finally felt some motivation. At the same time, he realized that Liola was still wearing the same clothes as last night.


    Kaiser asked: ¡°You¡¯re such hobo. Why didn¡¯t you take a shower before you sleep, or is not taking a shower popular among Assassins?¡±


    Liola murmured: ¡°I haven¡¯t slept.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Liola with unbelieving eyes:


    ¡°You didn¡¯t sleep for the whole night? What did you do? Did you have a tryst with the Dragon Empire Princess?¡±


    Though he said that, Kaiser knew Liola too well. Liola was more likely to play with Broken Silver all night than to have a tryst with a worldly beauty. In fact, Kaiser doubted Liola even knew what tryst was.


    Liola wasn¡¯t too interested in Kaiser¡¯s nonsense. He quietly walked to the bathroom, there can never be any smell on an Assassin.


    When Liola stepped out of the room, he looked at that semi-transparent screen again. He sighed in relief, seeing that Baolilong, who had been up all of last night, was so tired that it was sound asleep, otherwise he wasn¡¯t sure if he could even step out of the dorm.


    ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t sleep last night, are you going to have a problem? Don¡¯t fall asleep half way. I¡¯m not going to carry you.¡± Kaiser examined Liola, who was rather thin, but considerably taller than him.


    ¡°Not sleeping for one night isn¡¯t going to affect me.¡± Liola plainly stated the truth. When he was chased by Assassins from the organization, there was a time when he didn¡¯t sleep for a week, and he even had to fight some of the organization¡¯s top Assassins.


    Kaiser grunted: ¡°How can you not sleep? Humans should sleep everyday, and when you wake up you should eat, and then after that you should sleep again.¡±


    Kaiser lazily held his stomach. He wasn¡¯t eating or sleeping, and that was violating his principle of what humans are supposed to do.


    ¡®Is he talking about pigs or humans?¡¯ Liola started wondering.


    ¡°Liola-dage, Kaiser, I¡¯m here.¡± Purity cheerfully stepped out of the dorm, and greeted both of them.


    Kaiser said idly: ¡°Boss you¡¯re finally here, so please hand out breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser sure loves to eat.¡± Purity shook her head helplessly. Good thing the allowance her dad her was still enough, otherwise Purity didn¡¯t know how she could keep Kaiser fed.


    Finally, Meinan arrived. As soon as he saw Purity waiting for him, he started to apologize, murmuring something about how gentlemen should never make a Lady wait.


    As for the two guys who were standing beside Purity, Meinan completely ignored them. After all, no one says anything about gentlemen making other gentlemen wait.


    After Kaiser stared hard at Meinan, the four of them were finally ready to solve the problem of breakfast.


    Before stepping into the cafeteria, Kaiser murmured: ¡°I wonder if Jetter is going to cause more trouble today?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s too busy to cause us trouble, but¡­¡± Meinan looked at Liola from the corner of his eyes as if there were something on his mind:


    ¡°Silver Mask better be careful. From the rumors I¡¯ve heard yesterday, big trouble is coming for him.¡±


    The three had suddenly straightened their backs. They had almost forgot not ever mentioning that Liola was the Silver Mask, but Liola changed into Silver Mask¡¯s uniform right before Meinan¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Uh, Meinan, can you not tell anyone about Liola-dage and Silver Mask?¡± Purity asked carefully.


    Meinan bowed exaggeratedly, and said in a gentle manner: ¡°Meinan will definitely follow Lady Purity¡¯s request.¡±


    Liola asked bluntly: ¡°What kind of rumor?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it has to do with Princess Lanski.¡± Meinan wasn¡¯t sure. But what was certain, was it was definitely not something good.


    Liola remained silent, thinking that as long as he doesn¡¯t appear as Silver Mask, it will be fine.


    Ever since he arrived in this world, the wounds he endured were actually worse than when he was being chased by the organization.


    With the internal injuries from the fight with Lanski, plus the ones from his fight with Miluo, plus not having any sleep last night, Liola was in a bad mood.


    Fortunately, an Assassin¡¯s instinct told him that, no matter what the situation was, his emotions had to be under control. Indeed, Liola would never lose control of his emotions, never.


    As soon as the four stepped into the cafeteria, they all immediately realized there was something wrong.


    The School of Mecha Fighters, who were wearing blue military uniforms, all sat in a line with their face towards the School of Knights students. Their eyes were filled with rage, and their forks, as if it were taking revenge on the food, forcefully stabbed the food.


    However, the Knights seemed normal. They weren¡¯t angry, but instead they were curiously looking among themselves, as if they were searching for someone or something.


    The Knight students with gold eyes received the majority of the angry stares. Fortunately, there was no Knight with gold eyes and black hair, and there was no rank-silver Knight, otherwise the result might be catastrophic.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go let¡¯s go. We¡¯re from the School of Sorcery, and we have nothing to do with Silver Mask.¡± Kaiser laughed loudly, with a sly look in his eyes, and seemed happy seeing the conflict.


    Hearing Silver Mask, some Mecha Fighter students finally couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. A tall and buff student suddenly stood up, and yelled:


    ¡°The School of Knight really are a sanctimonious bunch. You actually performed such shameless acts toward the beautiful and royal Princess Lanksi!¡±


    ¡°Definitely bastards! You went as far as seriously injuring the beautiful Princess Lanski, when you shouldn¡¯t have even touched a strand of her hair!¡± Another Mecha Fighter student angrily stood up as well.


    Kaiser and Purity looked confused. They thought, it was obviously Lanski who almost killed Liola, and no one actually touched even a strand of hair. It was her own doing, using up all her Ki, and there was nothing wrong with her other than not being able to call forth her Dragon Aura for a couple months.


    ¡°If the principal hadn¡¯t arrived in time, Princess Lanski probably would¡¯ve been defiled by that bastard Silver Mask.¡± Another student cried in pain, as if it was his wife who was to be tarnished.


    ¡°Definitely shameless! I really wanted to, too.¡± Hearing this, every Mecha Fighter student seemed to have an indescribable pain on their faces.


    Then the first student who stood up yelled again: ¡°Give us that bastard Silver Mask!¡± Then all the Mecha Fighters started chanting the same thing.


    At this time, Kaiser and the others turned to looked at Liola, who remained expressionless.


    They thought: ¡®This guy was 99.9% likely to be still a virgin? It was more probable that Lanski would defile Liola!¡¯


    The Knight students maintained their cold appearance and stared back at the Mecha Fighter students.


    Finally, a Blue Knight stood up, and said in a cold voice: ¡°The internal matters of the School of Knights does not concern the School of Mecha Fighters. As for Silver Mask breaking the code of chivalry, we will deal with him ourselves.¡±


    It was probably better if something like this wasn¡¯t said, because as soon as it was mentioned, the Mecha Fighters became even more enraged. Most of them had already pulled out their cannons and lightsabers.


    The Knights wouldn¡¯t back down either, who took out their swords and shields. For a moment, the tension was extremely high, and with the sound of a cannon from the Mecha Fighters, a huge battle raged on¡­


    ¡°Liola, please!¡± Kaiser immediately turned around and cried to Liola: ¡°Please grab me some food in the middle of this battle. I don¡¯t ask for much, ten sandwiches would be enough.¡±


    Liola turned around to leave, completely ignoring Kaiser. Kaiser was stunned, and then touched his nose and cried: ¡°Purity, breakfast¡­¡±


    ¡°L-Let¡¯s go outside to eat.¡± Purity looked at the knives and chairs flying across the cafeteria, she was so scared that her body was completely stiff, let alone going in to grab food.


    ¡°Great!¡± Kaiser cheered, and hurriedly grabbed Purity and Meinan to catch up with Liola, who was already outside.


    * * *


    As they walked, Liola and the others suddenly realized a military formation was in front of them, consisting of more than ten Red Knights, and there was a Blue Knight in the middle of them. The person in the middle, wearing blue Knight uniform adorned with red stripes, was radiantly beautiful, and incredibly elegant. This was the famous Dragon Empire Princess, Lanski.


    ¡®She isn¡¯t Anise¡­¡¯ Liola quietly walked around these Knights, not wanting to look at Lanski¡¯s near-identical face to Anise¡¯s. When they passed each other, a Knight suddenly stopped them: ¡°School of Sorcery students¡­¡±


    Liola and others stopped, and turned around to look at these Knights. Other than Liola¡¯s expressionless face, the other three appeared to have innocent expression on their faces.


    Kaiser, who was the best at acting, asked in a trembling voice: ¡°Sir Red Knight, is there something I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°Is there anyone with gold eyes and black hair in the School of Sorcery?¡± The Red Knight asked as he looked at Liola¡¯s black hair with suspecting eyes. But when he saw Liola¡¯s unique silver eyes, he frowned.


    Another Red Knight asked impatiently: ¡°Why bother asking them? Silver Mask wore Knight¡¯s uniform.¡±


    ¡°Wearing Knight¡¯s uniform doesn¡¯t necessarily mean he¡¯s a Knight. There is no Silver Knight, definitely no gold-eyed black-haired Knight, and most definitely no Knight that would hurt Princess Lanski!¡± The first Red Knight yelled back.


    Lanski, who had already walked afar, suddenly stopped and turned around to look at them with her beautiful and cold eyes. Her voice was as cold and proud as her eyes:


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said, my fight with Silver Mask was honorable, and no one should fight him in revenge.¡±


    The Red Knight hastily clarified: ¡°I just want an honorable duel with Silver Mask too, Princess Lanski, please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡±


    Lanski¡¯s face seemed a bit calmer and nodded.


    She glanced at Liola and others, and when she saw Liola, her eyes hesitated a bit. But when she saw Liola¡¯s silver eyes, she seemed a bit disappointed, and looked away from Liola and the others.


    Her ears seemed to be perking up, as if she were afraid that these Sorcery students actually knew about Silver Mask.


    The Red Knight asked again impatiently: ¡°Is there any gold-eyed black-haired student in School of Sorcery?¡±


    ¡°No, sir Knight.¡± Kaiser answered honestly. There was genuinely no gold-eyed black-haired student enrolled in the School of Sorcery, even though it does have Silver Mask.


    The other Red Knight interrupted again: ¡°School of Sorcery can¡¯t possibly have a strong student, and definitely not someone who can beat the Blue Knight, Princess Lanski.¡± As he finished, he smiled in satisfaction. Since he conveniently bragged about the Princess getting to Blue rank in the process, thinking that the Princess would be fond of him for doing so.


    Liola was still expressionless, but Kaiser and the others weren¡¯t so happy. In fact, they were the ones who survived in the rank-A Yaron Plains, not to mention the dangers they had run into had far surpassed rank-A. The King of Dragons, Miluo, was someone who made even the legendary Paladin Lancelot call for backup.


    Liola¡¯s incredible strength didn¡¯t need further mentioning. Purity¡¯s space magic wasn¡¯t something to be laughed at, either, even Miluo was defeated by it.


    Meinan¡¯s protective shield also blocked Miluo¡¯s attacks. Finally, Kaiser¡¯s white bombs were also powerful. If hits, even the toughest Dragon scale would rupture.


    Altogether, the four of them actually possessed incredible strength, just that the two of them were still unstable with their magic, so friendly fire was a real danger among them.


    So hearing the Red Knight looking down on them, Kaiser and the others felt quite unhappy. But they obviously weren¡¯t going to pick a fight with the School of Knights Red Knights.


    Purity was afraid, Kaiser didn¡¯t want trouble, and Meinan was actually a friend of another Blue Knight there.


    ¡°Meinan.¡± A true Blue Knight suddenly called out Meinan¡¯s name. Her flowery bright smile made everyone fond of her.


    [T/N: Lanski had just received her Blue Knight ranked, and therefore not counted as a ¡®true¡¯ Blue Knight.]


    Meinan, too, smiled: ¡°Long time no see, Jasmine.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you guys went to Yaron Plains for a month of wilderness survival?¡± Jasmine suddenly asked. She was satisfied when she saw the Red Knights in complete disbelief.


    Jasmine would never let her friends¡¯ reputations be tarnished, especially since she was fully aware of how powerful Meinan¡¯s protective shields were.


    ¡°Sure did!¡± Meinan smiled. He knew all too well why Jasmine asked, because he had already told her about it before, there was no other reason on why she would ask.


    Seeing the Red Knights¡¯ faces change, the two looked at each other in satisfaction. It wasn¡¯t until then, when Jasmine actually excitedly asked her real question:


    ¡°I heard that the Paladin appeared in Freesia, and even fought with a Black Dragon. Even the Dark Knight watched them. Did you guys see it?¡±


    ¡°About that¡­ We saw it from afar, but it was too far to see clearly.¡± Meinan hesitated, and decided not to tell Jasmine the truth.


    After all, Jasmine was close to Lanski, so she could end up telling Lanski the secret. If some day Lanski comes looking for Liola, then perhaps that day would be the day Meinan dies.


    Jasmine looked disappointed: ¡°Such a shame. It would be great if I could see the Paladin and the Dark Knight.¡±


    Seeing her disappointed face, Meinan almost told her everything about running into Blood Wolf and Lancelot. Fortunately, Kaiser opened his mouth in time:


    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯m really hungry, and we have to go to class soon. Let¡¯s go eat breakfast.¡±


    Jasmine also suddenly woke up from her fantasy, turned around and hurried Lanski: ¡°Lan, we should hurry. If we don¡¯t stop them soon, who knows what the cafeteria might turn into.¡±


    Lanski nodded, and marched away towards the cafeteria. It wasn¡¯t until then when Liola looked directly in Lanski¡¯s direction, and felt a sense of sadness in his heart.


    * * *


    Hearing that Silver Mask wasn¡¯t in the School of Sorcery, Lanski felt empty. Just thinking of that silver masked Knight, mixed emotions would appear in her eyes.


    On one hand, Silver Mask was the person who stole her Sacred White Dragon. On the other hand, Lanski couldn¡¯t deny, he was indeed charming: his white uniform suited him, and his cold temperament was attractive.


    When he was fighting, his body was moving as if it were dancing in the air. But what she liked the most was, when Silver Mask called her Anise, she could see the weakness in his eyes¡­


    Fortunately, Anise was dead, Lanski couldn¡¯t help but think about her.


    ¡°Lanski? Lanski?¡± Jasmine called for her several times without getting a response. She saw her preoccupied with something, then blushed lightly, and then seemed frustrated.


    Jasmine knew, Lanski was definitely thinking about Silver Mask again. Jasmine couldn¡¯t resist but said in mischief: ¡°I heard that Silver Mask¡­¡±


    Lanski was stunned, and hurriedly ask: ¡°Silver Mask? You know who Silver Mask is?¡±


    Jasmine scowled: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    She waited until she saw Lanski¡¯s disappointment, and then she laughed out loud:


    ¡°I heard that, when the Paladin was fighting with the Black Dragon, people at Freesia saw that Silver Mask appeared with the Sacred White Dragon.¡±


    Lanski couldn¡¯t help but imagine heroic appearance of Silver Mask in white Knight uniform riding the Sacred White Dragon, and then pulled herself together and said:


    ¡°Is it possible, for Silver Mask to be related to the Paladin?¡±


    ¡°Probably. His white uniform signifies that he probably is on the side of light. Perhaps he¡¯s the apprentice of the Paladin?¡± Jasmine guessed, and she felt she was right on the mark:


    ¡°Or perhaps Silver Mask was visiting the principal on behalf of the Paladin? That could be why only the principal could find him, since Silver Mask isn¡¯t a student of Aklan Academy.¡±


    ¡°Definitely possible!¡± Lanski murmured as well. After all, she had never heard of a Silver Knight in the Academy.


    Though she originally thought that Silver Mask might be hiding his strength, so he didn¡¯t wear a Silver uniform to school. But after looking for so long, she couldn¡¯t even find a gold-eyed black-haired student¡­


    Though she didn¡¯t think of it, but she couldn¡¯t deny the possibility that Silver Mask may not be a student at Aklan Academy at all.


    Then where would she go to look for Silver Mask? Lanski couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit flustered.

 Volume 2, 5 : Liola’s Rage

    Volume 2, Chapter 5 : Liola¡¯s Rage


    ¡°Whoa, Silver Mask, the lowest Dragon-thief, most heartless woman beater, and the most shameless woman kidnapper.¡± Kaiser looked at headline of the Academy Weekly in his hands, as he shook his head in confusion.


    ¡®As Liola¡¯s room mate, how come I didn¡¯t know Liola was this terrible?¡¯


    ¡°Liola-dage isn¡¯t like that!¡± Purity seriously objected.


    Kaiser took the newspaper, used it to wrap the fried bread-sticks he planned to eat as a midnight snack, and shrugged: ¡°At least now we know that the Academy Weekly has its uses as a bread-stick wrap.¡±


    ¡°The Academy Weekly isn¡¯t usually this biased.¡± Meinan quickly clarified: ¡°But this time it involves Princess Lanski, so everyone¡¯s a bit strained.¡±


    Kaiser raised his eyebrows, and reminded Meinan that they had just walked past the cafeteria: ¡°They blew the cafeteria into smithereens, and you call that ¡®a bit strained¡¯?¡±


    Thinking about the original state of the beautiful cafeteria compared its current outlook, Meinan couldn¡¯t hold back a sigh: ¡°A gentleman¡¯s rage is always because of a lady¡±


    ¡°Even for a lady, there should be a limit to the rage.¡± Kaiser shook his head in disagreement: ¡°With the cafeteria gone, we have to go really far for breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the cafeteria will be rebuilt in three days.¡± Barbalis¡¯s voice suddenly came from behind Kaiser, whom jumped in fear.


    ¡°But you guys really are¡­¡± Barbalis didn¡¯t know if he should be happy because these four are interesting, or start to worry considering they were natural troublemakers.


    ¡°Hey, hey. This time we weren¡¯t the ones who caused the cafeteria¡¯s destruction. It¡¯s because the Mecha Fighters and the Knights started fighting each other.¡± Kaiser immediately started to protest.


    Barbalis frowned: ¡°I¡¯m not talking about the cafeteria. I¡¯m talking about Freesia.¡±


    ¡°Freesia?¡± Kaiser¡¯s heart shook, and he made an innocent face: ¡°What¡¯s Freesia? We were at Yaron Plains Plains!¡±


    ¡°Stop playing dumb.¡± Barbalis said with a serious expression:


    ¡°Mizerui received a notice from the Paladin to immediately head of to the Dragon Continent. Both Lancelot and Blood Wolf mentioned a Knight wearing a silver mask and had golden eyes with black hair. Let me ask you, did you let Miluo out?¡±


    Kaiser didn¡¯t even stop to think, and immediately denied it: ¡°Definitely not.¡±


    But as soon as Kaiser said so, Liola glanced at Kaiser.


    Barbalis smiled: ¡°Oh? Then how would you know what the heck Miluo even is? No newspaper even published the Black Dragon¡¯s name.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped wide open. He was completely speechless.


    Barbalis turned towards Liola, and asked solemnly: ¡°Do you have the Dragon Empire Royal Family¡¯s Dragon cross?¡±


    Liola hesitated, and then took out Anise¡¯s cross necklace.


    Barbalis stared hard at the necklace, and frowned. ¡°How the hell did you get that?¡±


    ¡°An old friend gave it to me.¡± Liola didn¡¯t like Barbalis staring at the necklace, so he immediately put it back inside his shirt.


    Barbalis murmured: ¡°But how is this even possible? You aren¡¯t even from this world. How did the Dragon cross get to the world you¡¯re from?¡±


    Liola already had a guess in his mind. Seeing the similarities between Lanski¡¯s and Anise¡¯s face, between Purity¡¯s space magic and the magic that sent him to this world using the necklace, Liola had already guessed that Anise was from this world, and perhaps she was even closely related to Lanski.


    ¡°Sigh, no matter what, this necklace belongs to the Dragon Empire Royal Family. Maybe you should return it?¡± Barbalis gave the most reasonable suggestion.


    Liola¡¯s eyes suddenly turned cold, and the temperature seemed to have dropped as result.


    Kaiser and others shivered against their will, and even Barbalis felt the pressure that made even Mizerui shudder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even dream of it!¡± Liola said with a cold expression. Everyone around him felt as if they were about to freeze to death.


    As soon as Liola finished what he was saying, he turned around to leave, completely ignoring his class and its instructor.


    ¡°I think that guy is in a bad mood today.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    ¡°What!¡± Barbalis, who was nearly frozen to death, screamed:


    ¡°You knew he¡¯s in a bad mood, and you didn¡¯t stop me? Are you trying to get your instructor killed?! Don¡¯t make me expel you and force you to fight Mizerui.¡±


    ¡°Damn! I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d be someone who¡¯d say those words. I didn¡¯t think you would dare to cross the best Assassin. Do you honestly think an Assassin would respect his instructors?¡±


    Kaiser pouted in disdain, and advised kindly: ¡°Next time when you speak to Liola, stand further away. Even Mizerui isn¡¯t brave enough to stand too close to Liola.¡±


    Barbalis thumped his chest: ¡°Fine, fine. Next time I will stand a mile away. That way, I will have time to use Teleportation to escape.¡±


    Kaiser and the others started to wonder: ¡®Who in the world appointed Barbalis as the principal?¡¯


    * * *


    Even though Liola left class out of rage, he soon regretted it. Why was he so short-tempered, and rash? Though now that he left, wouldn¡¯t it be weird for him to go back?


    Liola sighed, and decided to head back to the dorm to use Ki to heal himself, since it¡¯s not a good idea to leave his internal injuries unattended.


    However, when he was halfway to the dorm, Liola changed his mind. He remembered Baolilong was still inside the dorm.


    The little White Dragon who was far more troublesome than helpful, would probably ram into his arms when it sees him, and therefore preventing from concentrating his Ki.


    Liola sighed again. He decided it was best to find a secluded grove. Liola intentionally walked deeper into the forest, until he reached a small hill where no one was around, and started using his Ki to treat his internal wounds.


    His internal injuries seemed to have far surpassed his previous estimation. While circulating his Ki, Liola had already spat out many mouthfuls of blood, and time flew as he tried to heal.


    Suddenly, Liola felt someone was heading towards his direction.


    He originally planned to stop healing, but when he felt the approaching person was holding Baolilong in their arms, who shared a mind with Liola.


    Liola told Baolilong via telepathy, not to disturb him. He then continued healing, and planned to completely take care of his internal injuries in one go.


    * * *


    ¡°Baby, your papa is vomiting blood, are you sure he¡¯ll be okay?¡± Jasmine was concerned when she saw the black-haired man was surrounded by dark blood stains.


    ¡°Papa said don¡¯t disturb him.¡± Baolilong took another huge bite from a piece of beef jerky Jasmine bought, as it told her what Liola had told it.


    Jasmine answered with an ¡°Oh¡±.


    She contemplated on the strange situation she had earlier. She had ran into a five year-old child who was running around by itself, and Jasmine, as the child lover, went and asked the child where its parents were.


    When Baolilong screamed that he was hungry, Jasmine took it to buy food¡­ Though Jasmine had always wondered:


    ¡®Do all the five year-old kids like to eat this much meat? And a lot of it too, he had already eaten enough beef to cover half of its body!¡¯


    Jasmine turned and looked at Liola. She thought, that black-haired man seemed really young and he was, at most, her age.


    ¡®He really didn¡¯t look like a father. But then again, for a man as handsome as he, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if he had some¡­ Accidents. It was definitely possible.¡¯


    Jasmine imagined this aloof man in front of her eyes, fumbling around as he changed diapers, fed the child milk (cow milk, of course), or coaxed the baby to sleep.


    She couldn¡¯t hold back a burst of laughter. Baolilong was confused by the sight, and it didn¡¯t understand why Jasmine suddenly laughed.


    ¡°Baby, where is your mama?¡± Although Jasmine knew this question could hurt the child, she couldn¡¯t repress her question.


    ¡°Mama? Dead.¡± Baolilong answered as a matter-of-fact.


    Jasmine blinked several times as she held back sympathetic tears.


    ¡®So Baolilong¡¯s mother had already died, and his dad must be devastated by her death, right?¡¯


    Jasmine looked at the handsome man with compassion.


    * * *


    Liola vomited out the last of his clotted blood. The blood he had spit out had almost dyed the ground around him completely red. But Liola felt his whole body relaxed. Unlike this morning, his steps no longer felt heavy.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jasmine ran to Liola¡¯s side with surprise and worry at the same time.


    Liola slowly opened his eyes, and a pair of unique, silver eyes met Jasmine¡¯s eyes.


    Jasmine said without thinking: ¡°Your eyes¡­ are you blind?¡±


    As soon as she said ¡®blind¡¯, Jasmine suddenly realized she said something very rude, and she got annoyed of how careless she had always been.


    ¡°I am looking at you.¡± Liola replied plainly.


    Jasmine looked at the eyes staring back at her, and stuck out her tongue. She then handed Baolilong to Liola: ¡°Here¡¯s your son.¡±


    Liola took Baolilong without saying a word. He didn¡¯t tell her of the two mistakes she made.


    One: Baolilong wasn¡¯t his child.


    Two: Baolilong was genderless.


    ¡°Hmm, classmate, you¡¯re from the School of Sorcery, right? Were you meditating? I¡¯ve never heard of vomiting blood during meditation.¡± Jasmine asked Liola curiously.


    ¡°I was healing.¡± Liola told her the truth.


    ¡°Oh.¡± As Jasmine replied, she stared at Baolilong¡¯s actions.


    As soon as Baolilong got back to Liola¡¯s arms, its two little hands grabbed onto him tightly, as if it was afraid Liola would run away.


    Jasmine had originally doubted if Liola really were Baolilong¡¯s father, but seeing Baolilong¡¯s actions, Jasmine was no longer worried.


    ¡°It¡¯s dinner time. Baby¡¯s dad, would you like to come with me for dinner?¡± Jasmine invited Liola with sincerity.


    Liola had planned to reject the offer, but Baolilong pulled him, begged him with its pink, big eyes, and it even murmured: ¡°Hungry.¡±


    ¡®Didn¡¯t you just finish two huge pieces of beef¡­¡¯ Jasmine¡¯s eyes widened. ¡®Where did the meat he just ate go? Can it be that his stomach was connected to another dimension?¡¯


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Liola nodded. He thought about the fact that he was penny-less, and the cafeteria was destroyed. Kaiser probably had already dragged Purity to some restaurant, and Liola wouldn¡¯t know where to look for them.


    Jasmine smiled, and she brought him to the restaurant where Lanski and her had agreed to meet for dinner.


    On the way, she couldn¡¯t restrain herself from asking Liola various questions. But except his name, Liola used silence as an answer to all of them. This really wasn¡¯t Liola¡¯s fault, it¡¯s just that Jasmine¡¯s questions were far too¡­


    ¡°Classmate Liola, when did you meet baby¡¯s mom?¡±


    ¡®Never met her¡¯ Liola thought.


    ¡°How many years did you spend with baby¡¯s mom?¡±


    ¡®Never spent any time together, though I spent quite a few hours with the baby¡¯s dad¡¯


    ¡°Was your wedding a Knight¡¯s wedding, or Mecha Fighters¡­ Ah, sorry, I forgot you¡¯re a Sorcerer.¡±


    Finally, Jasmine stopped, and said solemnly:


    ¡°Classmate Liola, I don¡¯t think drowning yourself in sadness is good. If the baby¡¯s mom is still watching you from the heavens, and she sees you being this depressed, she would be unhappy. So restrain your grief and find someone else. Find a new mom for your five year old child.¡±


    Liola nodded. He would surely pass all these messages to Miluo, that is, if he was given another chance to see him.


    Seeing Liola had agreed, Jasmine nodded in satisfaction.


    * * *


    They arrived at the restaurant, and was guided by a waiter to the best room in the restaurant. As soon as they opened the door, they saw more than ten Knights chatting amongst themselves cheerfully.


    When they Knights caught a sight of Jasmine, they greeted her with warmly. However, when they saw Liola following her, they quieted down and stared at Liola with suspicious eyes.


    Jasmine easily found Lanski among the Knights. She walked up to Lanski, and greeted, then introduced Liola: ¡°Lanski, I brought a friend, is that okay?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Lanski glanced curiously at Liola, and she started to guess what Liola¡¯s relationship with her good friend was. Lanski was also curious about the child in Liola¡¯s arms. As a woman, she was naturally drawn to Baolilong¡¯s cute face.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a Knight.¡± A Red Knight narrowed his eyes as he observed Liola. He was disturbed by Liola¡¯s handsome face, and wasn¡¯t fond of Liola¡¯s thin body. But none of those reasons compares to his dislike to the gray Sorcerer robe.


    Another Red Knight grunted: ¡°A Sorcerer.¡±


    ¡°This is a meeting for Knights. This weakling of a Sorcerer shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± All the Knights complained with dissatisfaction.


    Liola wasn¡¯t interested in the dissatisfaction among the Knights, but in the tone of their voices.


    The Knights spoke differently than the straightforward Kaiser. Had it been Kaiser, he would probably have said somewhere along the lines of:


    ¡°This is the Knight¡¯s territory, all Sorcerers get the hell out.¡±


    ¡°If I remember correctly, I asked Jasmine to come. So any friend she brings is my friend. Do you guys have anything to say about my friend?¡± Lanski said coldly.


    ¡°We would never insult your friend, Princess Lanski, but this person is a Sorcerer.¡± A Red Knight protested.


    All the Knights were trying to hold back their hatred, but the truth was, Knights despised Sorcerers. Their hatred were far deeper than their hatred towards Mecha Fighters.


    Mecha Fighters and Knights hated each other because of their competitiveness. The only common ground they had was their similar hatred for helpless Sorcerers.


    Lanski waved her hand impatiently. Since she was a child, she knew Sorcerers were not all helpless. At the very least, she knew the Dragon Emperor, her father, has a Sorcerer friend who was terrifying. Someone never to be trifled with ¡ª Mizerui.


    ¡°Jasmine, come sit beside me with your friends.¡± Lanski maintained her gaze on the adorable Baolilong. She really wanted to pinch Baolilong¡¯s face.


    Jasmine knew it all too well. She knew Lanski would definitely like Baolilong. In fact, she perceived that no female creature who wouldn¡¯t fall in love with Baolilong. With a smile, she led Liola sit between her and Lanski.


    Liola sensed his seat was an important position. The rage index of the surrounding Knights¡¯ eyes had already gone up from 100% to 1000%.


    If he was a normal person, he probably would have ran off before his butt touched the seat. But Liola was the best Assassin, and the best Assassin must have the best ability to calm himself.


    As a matter of fact, the only thing that¡¯s challenging Liola¡¯s ability to maintain his calm was not the terrifying eyes (He saw these eyes way too often. He had grown accustomed to them.), instead, it was the fact that she was sitting right next to him. The woman who had Anise¡¯s face and Anise¡¯s creamy golden hair.


    ¡°This little child is¡­¡± After Lanski had taken a few bites of her food, she finally asked.


    Jasmine answered with a smile: ¡°This is my friend Liola, and this cute little child is his son. His name is Baolilong.¡±


    ¡°Son?¡± Lanski looked at Liola curiously. However, Liola couldn¡¯t look back, because Baolilong was bugging him to get the honey-baked ham on the table.


    The pouting Baolilong once again took Lanski¡¯s attention away, and she grabbed the plate of ham and set it in front of Baolilong.


    Baolilong happily took large bites at the ham.


    Lanski, with a smile on her face, got closer and closer to Liola. Liola could almost smell Lanski¡¯s fragrance, though Lanski¡¯s real intent was to touch Baolilong¡¯s head.


    ¡°Sorcerer!¡± A Blue Knight couldn¡¯t hold himself back anymore and yelled at Liola.


    Lanski, who had noticed what she was doing was inelegant, bounced back to her original position.


    Liola raised his head, looked in the direction of the Blue Knight, and stared at him curiously.


    The Blue Knight put on his perfect Knight¡¯s smile: ¡°Since you¡¯re a Sorcerer, and you¡¯ve received Princess Lanski¡¯s hospitality, shouldn¡¯t you showcase some magic spells to entertain our Princess?¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine both turned and looked at Liola. To them, this wasn¡¯t too difficult of a request, and they were definitely curious about Liola¡¯s ability, especially after Jasmine had witnessed Liola¡¯s blood-spitting healing method.


    Liola found himself in a difficult position. He couldn¡¯t even feel the magic elements, so how could he possibly cast any magic spells and show these Knights?


    Liola suddenly realize that Kaiser was useful in cases such as this. Had Kaiser been present, he could probably come up with some excuses to get through the current situation.


    However, Liola could only answer them honestly: ¡°I haven¡¯t learned any Sorcery.¡±


    Now, all the Knights looked down on Liola. So much that they almost started pointing at him to ridicule him! Even Lanski seemed colder. She could perhaps befriend a Sorcerer, but she didn¡¯t want to be friends with someone completely helpless.


    Jasmine, who had seen a number of similar situations in her days, kept her calm. She noticed how extremely calm Liola was, and she knew he was obviously not ordinary person.


    ¡°I should go.¡± Liola said, knowing he had overstayed his welcome. And if he stayed longer, these Knights would probably pull out their swords.


    ¡°Go?¡± A Red Knight laughed coldly: ¡°Since you didn¡¯t fulfill a guest¡¯s duty, then leave behind the money for the meal.¡±


    Liola replied apathetically: ¡°I didn¡¯t eat.¡±


    The Red Knight pointed at Baolilong, who was still wrestling with the honey ham. The Knight obviously he wanted Liola to pay for his child.


    If Liola had the money, he would have paid them without a word, but now he finally realized how money could bring about a hero. However, Liola would never become a hero because of money.


    [T/N: Hero is referring to someone who died in battle and become a hero.]


    Nevertheless, the Knight had the guts to ask Liola for money.


    Perhaps he should go earn some money? Liola started considering this possibility seriously, especially when he had the king of eaters, Baolilong, next to him.


    ¡°Stop making things difficult for my friend.¡± Jasmine started frowning. She started to feel uneasy. Trifling a secretive person like Liola couldn¡¯t possibly end well.


    Under normal circumstances, the Red Knights would never disobey the Blue Knight Jasmine.


    However, with a damsel next to them, all the Knights wanted to show off their skill in front of Lanski. Therefore, the Red Knight ignored Jasmine, and slowly pulled out his sword, with hatred flashing in his eyes:


    ¡°If you don¡¯t perform your duties, and you don¡¯t pay, then don¡¯t blame us for attacking you to protect our Princess Lanski¡¯s honor.¡±


    Liola tried hard as he could to turn what the Knight said to ¡°Kaiser-ean¡±:


    ¡®If you don¡¯t f¡ªing pay, then for the sake of my wallet, I¡¯m going to beat you up so much that you have to crawl out of here!¡¯


    ¡°I have no money.¡± Liola said again with honesty.


    The Red Knight smiled with satisfaction: ¡°Draw your weapon!¡±


    Jasmine got angry of what she saw. She didn¡¯t think a mere Red Knight would possibly dared to ignore her orders, but Lanski stopped Jasmine.


    Normally, Lanski would follow the Knight¡¯s chivalry code to the letter, and would never let a Knight touch an ordinary person.


    Lanski whispered in Jasmine¡¯s ear: ¡°Do you think that person looks ordinary at all?¡±


    Jasmine smiled with understanding. She finally confirmed Lanski¡¯s thoughts were similar to hers in regards of Liola.


    From the look of things, Lanski seems to want the egotistical Red Knight to be taught a lesson, in addition, he could be a pawn to help her and Jasmine observe Liola¡¯s real strength.


    Liola had no plans to unsheath his weapon. Lanski had already seen his Broken Silver. If he pull out Broken Silver, isn¡¯t he practically admitting he is Silver Mask?


    Furthermore, Liola had no intention on battling with a Knight, since a Sorcerer shouldn¡¯t even know martial arts. Liola stood still as if he planned on taking a beating, and said:


    ¡°I have no weapon.¡±


    The Knight got angrier. A Knight was absolutely forbidden to swing a weapon at someone who had none. In anger, the Knight threw his sword aside, and threw punches at Liola.


    Liola nonchalantly looked at the random punches. He thought of hundreds of ways to avoid them, not to mention thousands of ways to kill this Knight in a single blow, but he didn¡¯t use any of them. The Knight¡¯s fist landed heavily on Liola¡¯s face, and many more landed on his body.


    Lanski and Jasmine both widened their eyes in shock. Something seemed wrong. ¡®Could Liola really be helpless?¡¯


    Baolilong was still biting the ham, and its pink eyes were filled with rage. If it weren¡¯t for Liola who had already told it via telepathy not to do anything, Baolilong would have swallowed the Knight who dared to attack its papa. Baolilong bit hard on the ham, to try to suppress its rage.


    Seeing Liola being beaten up, Lanski stood up and yelled at the Knight: ¡°Stop. Let him go. A Knight should never hit an ordinary person.¡±


    The Knight stopped his punches, and saluted Lanski as a fellow Knight, with his right hand across his chest.


    Lanski looked down at Liola, her eyes were filled with sympathy. She took out a few pieces of gold coins, placed them in front of Liola, and apologized:


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t stop them in time. Please take this money and go to the nearest healing center.¡±


    Liola slowly raised his head. Compared to the punches, Lanski¡¯s sympathetic eyes was far more fatal.


    ¡®Please don¡¯t look at me with Anise¡¯s eyes!¡¯ Liola screamed in his heart.


    He noticed his feelings were identical to what he felt when Anise died. It was a feeling Liola was completely unfamiliar with.


    Like a child throwing a tantrum, Liola hit the gold coins and they flew off the table. He glanced bitterly at the Knight who threw punches at him, and then walked out of the room without looking back.


    Baolilong saw Liola leaving, it spitted out the ham inside of its mouth, and caught up to papa. At this time, Baolilong¡¯s eyes had turned from pink to a near blood-red color.


    Jasmine saw those bitter eyes, she shivered. Unlike Lanski, she still felt Liola was definitely not an ordinary person.


    * * *


    Liola didn¡¯t know what he was doing. He started circulating his Ki and healed all the wounds he had on his skin. He didn¡¯t consider these scratches and bruises as wounds. However, he was very frustrated, as if his heart has been set aflame.


    After he had ran out of the room, he coincidentally ran into Kaiser and the others, who immediately backed more than ten steps away.


    Kaiser yelled:


    ¡°Don¡¯t come near me. Your eyes are a thousand degrees below freezing point. I don¡¯t want to be the first person to die from cold eyes.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m just a bit¡­ unhappy.¡± Liola hesitated, still unsure of how to describe what he was feeling.


    ¡°Did you blow your lid?¡± Kaiser widened his eyes.


    ¡®If this was just a bit unhappy, then how would Liola be when he¡¯s furious? Would he run straight to the Commerce Alliance, launch all of their missiles, and perish along with the rest of the world?¡¯


    ¡°Lid?¡± Unfamiliar with the expression, Liola didn¡¯t want to say anything more.


    He on reflex: ¡°Give me the Knight¡¯s uniform.¡±


    But even Liola, himself, didn¡¯t understand why he wanted the uniform.


    Kaiser and others gulped.


    Even if Liola had told them to bring Mizerui to him, they probably would rather pit their lives against Mizerui than to see Liola¡¯s cold eyes, let alone some Knight¡¯s uniform.


    Purity trembled as she handed the uniform to Liola, and unlike her usual behavior, she didn¡¯t stick around Liola¡¯s side.


    Liola took the uniform and patted the pocket where the silver mask was. He then disappeared into the darkness, only leaving behind a single sentence: ¡°Get Baolilong something to eat.¡±


    ¡°I pity the poor bastard who messed with him.¡±


    It was rare for Kaiser to show pity, but as soon as he thought about eating, he placed his pity on the back of his mind and happily went along with Purity, Meinan, and Baolilong to go eat some hot pot.


    * * *


    Liola put on the Knight uniform and the Silver Mask.


    He knew what he planned on doing. He also knew full well that what he was about to do will do far more harm than good¡­ But, he had to do it. The rage inside his heart continued to burn.


    Liola walked into the restaurant. He stood by the door, completely ignored the waiters, as well as the curious and terrified eyes around him.


    Even in Aklan Academy, it was rare to see a Silver Knight, let alone a Holy Knight wearing a silver mask, surrounded by a terrifying aura.


    Before long, more than ten Knights approached the restaurant door. After seeing Silver Mask, they were all stupefied.


    The Silver Mask, whom they have searched for long and hard, had actually been found, and was obviously waiting for them.


    Everyone was surprised. Especially Lanski, who, with a surprised yet happy tone, asked shyly: ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liola said coldly.


    Lanski was slightly flustered and a little loss for words: ¡°Then¡­ have you eaten yet? Uh, do you want to have dinner with me?¡±


    Lanski had completely forgotten that she had just eaten.


    Liola smiled in a strange, yet sinister way: ¡°I¡¯m full¡­ of anger.¡±


    Lanski was stunned, she didn¡¯t know what Silver Mask was talking about, but all the other Knights were already quite angry when they saw Silver Mask.


    With the addition of Lanski¡¯s unusual behavior, their rage grew even more. A few Red Knights jumped out and yelled:


    ¡°You honorless coward, for our Princess Lanski¡¯s honor, we challenge you.¡±


    ¡°You want to challenge me?¡± Liola smiled in satisfaction, and used his ability to feign a Knightly way of talking:


    ¡°Funny, I, too, want to teach a lesson to the people who tarnished my honor.¡±


    Lanski looked at the Red Knights in complete disbelief.


    A challenge across different ranks was not unheard of, but almost no Knight would dare challenge anyone who was two ranks above them. It was practically suicide! Since Lanski knew full well of Silver Mask¡¯s true strength, he definitely had every right to be a Silver Knight.


    ¡°Princess Lanski, don¡¯t worry. We suspect that this guy isn¡¯t even a Knight, but instead just a lying trickster.¡±


    A Red Knight said in satisfaction: ¡°We already went through the entire list of silver Knights, and not a single one had a silver mask.¡±


    ¡°Any Knight who runs into a trickster with a Knight¡¯s uniform has the duty to punish those who tarnish our reputation.¡± A Blue Knight who had been silent had jumped out after he heard the Red Knight.


    Hearing this, Lanski was confused. ¡®Could Silver Mask really be a trickster?¡¯

 Volume 2, 6 : Lancelot’s Apprentice

    Volume 2, Chapter 6 : Lancelot¡¯s Apprentice


    ¡°I had a fair duel with Knight Lanski, but people have been spreading rumors of me bullying her.¡±


    Liola opened his mouth and said coldly: ¡°This rumor is an insult to both me and Knight Lanski, and I will not let the people who started this rumor go unpunished.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. It was obvious you who used dirty tricks to get Princess Lanski to duel you. How can you even defend yourself when you know you¡¯re guilty?!¡± Red Knight yelled loudly at Liola.


    Lanski, however, felt a bit dizzy. Since when did her duel with Silver Mask spread as such a twisted rumor? No wonder Silver Mask was angry. No Knight could stand such a dishonor. Lanski suddenly felt like crying, she thought Silver Mask must think she was one who spread such rumors to tarnish his reputation.


    ¡°He called you Knight Lanski, not Princess Lanski.¡± Jasmine started to admire Silver Mask. It was rare for someone to call Lanski as a Knight instead of a Princess.


    Lanski smiled forcefully: ¡°Yeah, Knights should call each other ¡®Knight¡¯.¡±


    Lanski thought to herself: ¡®He was able to get approval from the Sacred White Dragon, his actions is filled with a Knight¡¯s pride, and his martial arts were amazing. For someone like him, what could he be, other than a Knight?¡¯


    Lanski blamed herself for even doubting Silver Mask.


    ¡°Can a Silver Knight handle ten Red Knights, plus two Blue Knights?¡± Jasmine smiled.


    ¡°Two?¡±


    Before Lanski had time to react, Jasmine had already pulled out her sword and jumped into the group of Knights.


    The Knights surrounded Liola, and Jasmine¡¯s face was filled with desire to fight. A Silver Knight wasn¡¯t something that she saw everyday. If she didn¡¯t challenge him now, she feared she would not be able to sleep at night.


    Liola took out Broken Silver from his boot. But unlike what he normally does, Liola pulled the dagger out. He held the sheath in his left hand and the dagger in his right.


    Like a light breeze, Liola¡¯s white outline appeared in front of a Red Knight. The Knight was frightened and lifted his sword to block but Liola had already, without any hesitation, cut the Knight¡¯s broadsword in half with his dagger, and knocked the Knight out cold with the sheath in his left hand.


    Jasmine took a deep breath: ¡°In that instant, he hit the Knight 8¡­ No, perhaps 10 times.¡±


    It was too fast for Jasmine to see clearly. ¡®Was this the strength of a Silver Knight?¡¯ Jasmine held her favorite sword tightly, her eyes flashing with excitement for battle.


    Liola continued towards his next target, and left Jasmine a surprise: ¡°It was 13 times.¡±


    The Knights knew that one-on-one, they had no chance of beating a Silver Knight, so they all rushed in, to try and win with numbers against Silver Mask.


    However, they had no idea that the person in front of them was an Assassin, and chaos was always what Assassins favor.


    Most of them blacked out before they even saw Silver Mask, let alone actually land a hit on him. The battle was one-sided.


    Finally, Liola appeared in front of a Red Knight whose face had turned pale, and this was the Knight who punched the crap out of Liola.


    With Silver Mask¡¯s gold eyes narrowing, he appeared behind the Red Knight, the Red Knight¡¯s mouth foamed and fell to the ground with injuries all over his body.


    Jasmine frowned and asked: ¡°32 times?¡±


    ¡°39.¡± After releasing some of his anger, Liola seemed to have calmed down a little, especially since he always had a good impression of Jasmine.


    But, there was still one person who hadn¡¯t been taken care of.


    Liola slowly turned around to look at the Blue Knight who stood in silence with his mouth wide open. Of course, it was the other Blue Knight and not Jasmine.


    Though the Blue Knight knew, he would never be a worthy opponent to Silver Mask, he couldn¡¯t beg for mercy, that would be destroying his own honor.


    When he saw Liola approached him, the Blue Knight was so scared, his knees almost gave out. He no longer doubted Silver Mask of being a Silver Knight. He knew he was one of the people who had tarnished a Silver Knight¡¯s honor, and how serious the consequences would be¡­


    Jasmine could no longer hold herself back and jumped in front of the other Blue Knight. Her right hand held a narrow sword, and a small shield on her left arm. She was wearing a light armor that didn¡¯t restrict her movement.


    Jasmine wasn¡¯t sure why, but she was shaking. Could it be trembling because of Silver Mask¡¯s incredible strength? Or was she just excited to be able to fight a strong opponent?


    Liola stopped and asked to verify: ¡°Are you going to protect him?¡±


    Jasmine raised her eyebrows: ¡°If I have to find a reason to duel with you, then yes, I¡¯m protecting him.¡±


    Liola slowly put Broken Silver back to its sheath, and Jasmine¡¯s face turned sour in dissatisfaction.


    Jasmine said with frustration: ¡°You¡¯re not going to fight me? It is because I¡¯m a woman?¡±


    ¡°No. Only when my dagger is sheathed will I be able to use my true strength.¡± Liola had already sensed Jasmine¡¯s true strength, which was much higher than the trembling Blue Knight behind her. To fake his Knighthood, Liola planned on facing his opponent head on like a Knight.


    Jasmine probably knew the difference in strength between her and Liola, and she knew how sharp Broken Silver really was. For him to turn it back to stick, would let him fight without holding back, so he wouldn¡¯t injure her.


    After she understood Liola¡¯s intention, she said: ¡°You¡¯ll have to let me make 10 moves first.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Liola said without hesitation.


    Jasmine couldn¡¯t hold back. After a few steps in the air, her sword had already reached Liola.


    Jasmine was famous for her speed among Blue Knights, and the rate at which she swung her sword, made it seem like she was swinging three swords at once. However, to Liola, who had easily evaded Lanski¡¯s nine Dragon Kis, three swords was nothing to him. With a swift move, Liola easily evaded Jasmine¡¯s first attack.


    Jasmine was determine to use all of her ten moves at once, so Liola wouldn¡¯t have any breathing room, since he can¡¯t attack.


    For her second move, Jasmine¡¯s body was wrapped with a blue aura. She jumped in the air, and jabbed her sword at an amazing speed. The sword jabs fell like raindrops toward Liola from above.


    Liola took the Broken Silver in his hand, and waved it like an ordinary person waving his hand. Ten crisp metallic clashing sound filled the room.


    Jasmine had two setbacks, but the smile on her face only grew broader. Jasmine increased her speed even more and attack again and again¡­


    Under the naked eye, one could only see Jasmine¡¯s outline moving around like a gust of wind.


    Liola looked like he wasn¡¯t doing much. Sometimes, it even looked like he was standing completely still. However, both Jasmine and Lanski knew, Liola wasn¡¯t stock- still. He was just so fast that people didn¡¯t notice him moving.


    Jasmine finally stopped, her hands were on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes were not filled with frustrations from setbacks, but instead, excitement for facing a strong opponent. She raised her head, and had a large smile on her face.


    ¡°You attacked 13 times.¡± Liola smiled slightly.


    Jasmine stuck out her tongue, put away her sword, and laughed as she said: ¡°So I attacked three more times than I should. Fine, we¡¯ll count that as me losing.¡±


    Clap, clap, clap!


    Someone in the room suddenly started clapping. Everyone turned around to look the in the direction of the source of the applause. They saw a man dressed in black, whose face was filled with smile as if he was watching a show.


    Jasmine and Lanski were both confused, but Liola wasn¡¯t. He knew who exactly the man was. However, he thought that the man would still be in the Dragon Continent with the Paladin, Lancelot.


    ¡°You¡¯re worthy to be Lancelot¡¯s apprentice. Ten Red Knights were nothing to you, even a Blue Knight didn¡¯t make you move more than a meter.¡± Blood Wolf laughed as he said this.


    ¡®Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?¡¯


    Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped in disbelief, and even the other people in the restaurant who were watching the show sputtered wine from their mouths.


    However, the person who was most surprised, was the Blue Knight who insulted Silver Mask. He looked as if he was about to pass out.


    ¡°Excuse me, Sir Knight, who are you? Or how would you reveal to us the identity of the Paladin¡¯s apprentice?¡± Jasmine asked carefully and respectfully.


    Blood Wolf smiled, and used his strange summoning: ¡°Blood Wolf is my name, and I¡¯m not going to say much. Damn Blackie come here.¡±


    As always, every Knight was in disbelief when they heard the strange way of summoning, but Blood Wolf¡¯s mount really did come.


    It was the same as the last time Liola had seen it, a black wolf jumped out of thin air, and its majestic presence left all the Knights in awe.


    Everyone knew that the Dark Knight Blood Wolf¡¯s mount was a black wolf, they also knew of the friendship between the Paladin and the Dark Knight.


    ¡°Greetings, Dark Knight Blood Wolf.¡± Jasmine and Lanski both greeted, with their right hand across their chest, performing a standard Knight salute.


    ¡°Hello to you two, pretty ladies.¡± Blood Wolf greeted them dubiously, but no one could say anything about it.


    The ranks among Knights were clearly defined, and there was nothing wrong even if Blood Wolf completely ignored the two Blue Knights.


    Liola¡¯s head was in a fog. Why did Blood Wolf say that he¡¯s Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?


    Liola narrowed his eyes. He didn¡¯t like the feeling of being involved a sinister plan.


    Blood Wolf still kept the smile on his face. He placed his arm around Silver Mask¡¯s shoulder and said:


    ¡°Little Silver, your master, Lancelot, asked me to talk to you about a lot of things. Why don¡¯t we find another place for some wine?¡±


    Liola maintained his cold expression, and still held onto Broken Silver in his hand.


    He thought: ¡®At least Knights use martial arts.¡¯


    To Liola, Knights were far more easier to handle than Sorcerers. Liola responded: ¡°There sure are a lot of things to discuss.¡±


    Seeing them acting strangely, and that they were about to find another place for a good talk.


    Lanski asked somewhat impatiently: ¡°Silver Mask, will I see you again?¡±


    Liola turned to look at Lanski. He didn¡¯t know why she wanted to see him again, and Liola wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯s going to ever appear again as Silver Mask.


    He was silent for a moment, and then he nodded, after which he saw a bright smile surfaced on Lanski¡¯s face.


    * * *


    After Liola and Blood Wolf had stepped out, Jasmine had a mischievous smile on her face.


    She prodded Lanski with her shoulder, who was still giggling, and said: ¡°Wow, the Paladin¡¯s apprentice? Wouldn¡¯t that be a perfect match?¡±


    Lanski suddenly blushed: ¡°What are you talking about, what perfect match?!¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Jasmine continued teasing her good friend, and enjoyed her rare blushing face: ¡°Alas, remember to let me borrow your boyfriend later for sparring!¡±


    ¡°What the hell are you talking about?!¡± Lanski protested, even her ears were red.


    As the two girls playfully talked to each other, the Blue Knight standing beside them, who had been ignored for all this time, let his sword fall to the ground. His face was filled with rage.


    * * *


    As Liola and Blood Wolf walked, a crowd gathered around them. A Silver Knight was a rare sight, and now there¡¯s even a Knight with a huge black wolf¡­


    There were already plenty of people who guessed Blood Wolf¡¯s identity, and their jaws were almost reached the ground.


    ¡°Little Silver, you have to promise me, when you have time you¡¯ll spar with me.¡± Blood Wolf rubbed his palm. Seeing the previous fight, he was itching to fight Liola ¡ª so much that he almost jumped in the middle of the fight.


    ¡°No.¡± Liola denied instantly.


    Blood Wolf almost slipped off his mount, and he murmured:


    ¡°What the hell. Even Lancelot would give me some crappy excuse, something about a rain check. You little runt denied me without hesitation?¡±


    On the way back, Blood Wolf kept pestering Liola with dissatisfaction, trying to make him promise for sparring.


    However, as an Assassin, Liola had plenty of patience, and he actually answered ¡°No¡±, ¡°No¡±, ¡°No¡± the entire way back, until they were back in Aklan Academy, and inside principal Barbalis¡¯s office.


    Barbalis was sitting inside his office, waiting for them. When he saw them walking in, Barbalis immediately asked: ¡°Blood Wolf, did you do as I asked?¡±


    With his mouth dry from pestering Liola, Blood Wolf snapped:


    ¡°Yes. But old geezer, aren¡¯t you afraid of what would happen after Lancelot finds out he suddenly gained an apprentice whose face he has never seen. Won¡¯t he be incredibly furious?¡±


    Barbalis laughed: ¡°Lancelot¡¯s rage is nothing. He¡¯s straight as an arrow, not to mention this was approved by the Dragon Emperor himself.¡±


    ¡°What are you two doing?¡± Liola¡¯s expression started to change. Blood Wolf plus Sorcerer Barbalis, whose abilities are unknown, would be hard for Liola to handle.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth.¡± Barbalis stopped laughing: ¡°At the same time, I¡¯ll tell you the truth about your Dragon Cross necklace.¡±


    ¡°You probably didn¡¯t know this, but as long as you wear that cross necklace, the Dragon Emperor will know everything you¡¯re doing.¡± Blood Wolf pulled the chain on Liola¡¯s neck and revealed the cross pendant.


    Blood Wolf added: ¡°Even what you did in the past.¡±


    Liola¡¯s face sank, and he pushed Blood Wolf¡¯s hand away.


    No one likes to be watched, but Liola knew he would never let go of this necklace. Even if his life was broadcasted to the world, he wouldn¡¯t let it go.


    Barbalis simply said: ¡°Anise is Lanski¡¯s twin sister, and also a Dragon Empire¡¯s Princess.¡±


    Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed. Though he had guessed it before, but he never thought about it seriously. Now it was finally confirmed that Anise was from this world.


    ¡°Twenty years ago, there was an accident. Princess Anise, who had just been born, was sent to another world.¡±


    Blood Wolf continued: ¡°That accident had also caused Miluo¡¯s wife, that is, your Sacred White Dragon¡¯s mother, to die. Because of this, Miluo and the Dragon Emperor had turned into each other¡¯s nemesis.¡±


    ¡°When the Dragon cross returned to this world, the Dragon Emperor had already felt it.¡± Barbalis sighed:


    ¡°He originally wanted to obey to the will of his daughter and let you live peacefully, so he didn¡¯t come to disturb you. But he didn¡¯t think that, not only would the Sacred White Dragon recognize you as its master, you even let Miluo out.¡±


    ¡°Destiny is like a drunk man. You never know what it¡¯ll do next. In my opinion, you were never meant to be an ordinary person.¡± Blood Wolf laughed.


    Liola, however, couldn¡¯t laugh. He sank deep into self-blame again. Had he not caused Anise¡¯s death, she may have already returned to the Dragon Empire, lived peacefully and happily as a Princess.


    ¡°You now have two choices, Liola.¡± Barbalis continued:


    ¡°Declare Silver Mask is Liola, and Lancelot will really accept you as his apprentice. Then the Dragon Emperor will announce to that world, that twenty years ago, you were taken in by Lancelot to be trained in secret, and Princess Lanski¡¯s twin brother. Then, you will become a Prince of the Dragon Empire.¡±


    Blood Wolf laughed secretly: ¡°Or, you can continue your current life, and see where destiny takes you.¡±


    Liola¡¯s mind was in chaos. After finding out many truths, Liola was clueless on how he should respond. So he could only remain silent.


    ¡°Think about it. I will be here for a week. If you plan on being a Prince, in a week I will bring you back to the Dragon Continent.¡± Blood Wolf leisurely laid down on the sofa.


    * * *


    Liola had no idea how he had gotten back to the dorm.


    After he had gotten back, he saw Kaiser turning himself in a sushi wrap again, and Baolilong actually did the same thing and wrapped itself up on Liola¡¯s bed.


    Liola frowned, and decided not to ask Kaiser to look after Baolilong too much, or else who knows what other habits Baolilong would pick up.


    When Liola got on the bed, Baolilong immediately unwrapped itself while half-asleep and went to Liola¡¯s arms.


    Before Liola closed his eyes, he prayed Anise would appear in his dreams tonight. He had far too many questions to ask her.


    * * *


    ¡°Anise, where is your home?¡± Liola asked suspiciously. The doesn¡¯t seem worried about her family.


    My home?¡± Anise blinked her beautiful eyes: ¡°My home is right here.¡±


    Liola was confused: ¡°Here? This is the headquarters of the organization that abducted you.¡±


    Anise laughed sweetly, and pointed at the sky and the grass: ¡°My home is here. I swore to travel the world, and practice healing around the world!¡±


    Practice healing around the world!


    * * *


    Liola opened his eyes again, and saw a pair of blue eyes, and Liola realized his face was being pulled in opposite directions by four fingers.


    Liola asked coldly: ¡°Kaiser, what are you doing?¡±


    Kaiser said in all seriousness: ¡°Getting the lazy Assassin off the bed.¡±


    And then, Kaiser added: ¡°Originally I was going to leave you alone, but then I thought, without you, boss might not be willing to go pay for breakfast, so I had to get you up.¡±


    ¡°How come you were so sound asleep?¡± Kaiser raised his eyebrows.


    Before today, he could never get within ten meters of Liola without being noticed, but now he was even able to touch Liola¡¯s face. This was more unfathomable to Kaiser than winning the lottery.


    Liola did not respond, and instead he asked Kaiser: ¡°What exactly do I have to do to learn healing magic?¡±


    ¡°Meditation, sensing magic element. Practice magic, continue meditation. Learning magic is fairly difficult, and there is no shortcut at all.¡±


    Liola sighed in his heart, and understood he was too impatient. Even when he was trying to learn martial arts, it took years of practice and training. How could he expect to learn any healing skills like those of Anise in a short time?


    Liola, Kaiser, and Baolilong, who clung onto papa¡¯s leg, walked outside of the dorm.


    As soon as they did so, they saw Purity and Meinan already waiting outside. When Purity saw Liola, she cheerfully went up to him, and said with curiosity: ¡°You guys seemed slow today.¡±


    ¡°Because someone was still on the bed, and I couldn¡¯t get him up!¡± Kaiser replied confidently.


    As soon as he replied, he saw Purity and Meinan glancing at him, as if there were no possibility of the Assassin, who was standing right next to him, to be the person who couldn¡¯t get up.


    Kaiser immediately protested: ¡°Hey! I wasn¡¯t the lazy bum, it was that silver-eyed guy.¡±


    Purity¡¯s eyes widened in complete disbelief, and Meinan looked at him as if his eyes were saying ¡°stop feigning your innocence¡±. Even Baolilong poked its head out from behind Liola, and its eyes were filled with doubt.


    Veins popped out of Kaiser¡¯s forehead: ¡°I wasn¡¯t the bum! When there¡¯s breakfast, I will never stay on the bed!¡±


    Purity and Meinan both suddenly realized: ¡°That¡¯s right, when there¡¯s food to eat, Kaiser would struggle and crawl over even if he hasn¡¯t had sleep for seven days. So did Liola really oversleep?¡±


    Should he be happy that his friends believed him? Or sad about what they said of him? The corner of Kaiser¡¯s mouth twitched. But in the end, he succumbed to the smell of food. He grabbed the bag from Purity¡¯s hands. Kaiser asked as he pulled food out of bags:


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to the cafeteria today?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the class plans announced yesterday? Yesterday the principal said, we will be having classes inside the dorm today.¡± Purity worriedly said.


    She was suspicious that the principal might have came up with some new stunts to pull on the students.


    ¡°This dorm is beautiful, but something seems very strange about it.¡± Meinan sighed.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if he could graduate from the School of Sorcery. He heard the graduation rate in recent years had become terribly low.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s strange.¡± Kaiser said as he was swallowing: ¡°I noticed the other day, the room we¡¯re staying in is on the top floor. That floor was completely empty other than our room. Why didn¡¯t they make more rooms in that floor?¡±


    ¡®If the principal¡¯s plan only involved Kaiser and Liola, then it¡¯d be great¡­¡¯ The Sorcery students congregated in front of the dorm thought.


    ¡°Dear students,¡± The principal had suddenly appeared behind everyone with a satisfied smile on his face.


    All the students trembled. Seeing the smile on Barbalis¡¯ face, everyone¡¯s heart sank.


    The principal must have thought of something absurd for class. And unfortunately, this class probably had something to do with their dorm. Meaning even after class, the dorm they would go back to probably won¡¯t be a safe place at all.


    ¡°Come, come, everyone take a textbook.¡± Barbalis cheerfully handed out textbooks, completely ignoring the dropped jaws of every student.


    ¡®Since when did we have something like textbooks?¡¯


    Dormitory User¡¯s Manual. Kaiser blinked, realizing he didn¡¯t read it wrong.


    Kaiser started wondering:


    ¡®What needs to be explained about a dorm? Can it be that they need to explain where you should go to pee, or where the fire escapes are? No, Barbalis can¡¯t be that bored¡­ To be exact, Barbalis was pretty boring, but no matter how bored he might be, he would never care about the students¡¯ escape in the event of a fire. On the contrary, he was more likely to be the arsonist who sets the dorm on fire, and expel anyone who dies in the fire.¡¯


    Liola was more practical. He didn¡¯t make any guesses. He immediately opened the book and started reading. However, Liola was completely clueless as to what this manual had to do with the dorm, because it was obviously a Mecha manual. More specifically, it was one that required multiple pilots.


    ¡®Can¡¯t it be¡­¡¯ Liola raised his head to look at the metallic hull of the dorm.


    ¡°Principal, sir¡­¡± A student raised his hand hesitantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. Every room has an assigned number, use your eyes! I¡¯ll give you half an hour, go learn what you need to control it.¡±


    Barbalis yelled: ¡°We will begin drills in half an hour! Anyone who makes a mistake will be expelled!¡±


    All the Sorcery students gave a long sigh. ¡®Why is graduating this difficult?!¡¯

 Volume 2, 7 : The Strongest Student Dormitory in History

    Volume 2, Chapter 7 : The Strongest Student Dormitory in History


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± Liola said calmly.


    ¡°What¡¯s up? Don¡¯t bother me. This is difficult. God, why were you and I assigned the hardest part? Most of the actions are controlled from where we are. Wooah. Purity is only responsible for a barrel. Let¡¯s me see about Meinan. What? He¡¯s only responsible for the temperature of the air conditioning system?!¡± Kaiser was so mad, he almost tore the manual in half.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop bothering me, Liola. Go and read your manual quickly. We¡¯ll have to divide labor.¡± Kaiser¡¯s blood was pumping with adrenaline. He was using his ability to read 10 lines at once, and he was determined to compress ten years of Mecha Fighter classes into half an hour.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡±


    Kaiser finally raised his head and yelled loudly: ¡°Why the hell do you keep calling me? Why aren¡¯t you reading the manual? What do you want?¡±


    Liola pointed at the first line of the first page of the manual: ¡°What is a control stick?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    Kaiser was too busy minding his own business. Finally, Purity, who spent 3 minutes on barrels, and Meinan who spent 3 seconds on air conditioning, took the job of explaining things to Liola.


    However, the main functions of the Mecha Fighter was very complex. Even Meinan and Purity could only understand about a third of it. When they explained what they understood to a confused Liola, no one knew how much Liola actually understood.


    A minute before the half hour was up, Kaiser asked while trembling: ¡°Liola, which parts do you understand?¡±


    ¡°I know how to use the sensors.¡± Liola answered honestly. The sensors looked fairly simple. As long as you equip them, the sensors will detect the user¡¯s movements.


    Kaiser almost fell to the ground. He then gave a muffled reply: ¡°Then you control the sensors.¡±


    When Barbalis was teaching the students, he would never arrive late.


    In exactly half hour, without even a second of delay, Barbalis appeared in front of the students. His face was filled with a strange, satisfied smile. He said excitedly:


    ¡°Come, come. Everyone head up to your rooms and get ready. We¡¯re going to be putting on a show for the Mecha Fighters and the Knights. To display that we, the School of Sorcery, can do everything! Hahaha!¡± Barbablis finished his instructions and burst out in laughter.


    ¡°The principal must have gotten into something with the mentors from the other two schools.¡± Purity and Meinan both wanted to cry.


    With two streams of tears on his face, Kaiser patted Liola¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Bro, let¡¯s prepare you for the fight with Mizerui.¡±


    Liola had no rebuttal. For someone who didn¡¯t know what a control stick was just a few moments ago, controlling the large mecha without any mistakes would be impossible.


    Liola and Kaiser practically walked into the dorm thinking they were going to be expelled soon. When they reached their room, the first thing Kaiser did was pack his belongings. Although it was just a couple sets of clothing.


    ¡°Hurry up and start the mecha! Otherwise everyone in room 111 will be expelled!¡± Barbalis¡¯ voice echoed throughout the entire dorm.


    Kaiser was so scared that he stopped packing and rushed towards the desk with his life was on the line. He placed his hand on a circular symbol made out of paper. After a few rays of light emitting from the symbol, a soft and neutral voice could be heard.


    ¡°Mecha starting. Please choose the transformation shape.¡±


    ¡°Human.¡± Without thinking Kaiser chose a shape of a human. Considering they were not familiar with the Mecha, he didn¡¯t want to choose the shape of an eagle to fly. Although if he fell out of the sky, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting expelled or fighting with Mizerui.


    Liola sat quietly in another desk, also putting his hand on a symbol.


    The large metallic dorm started to change. All the walls and room started to recombine.


    The bed in their room turned upside down, and it turned into a metallic platform, and Kaiser¡¯s chair was moved on top of that platform.


    The walls started to move towards them and, before long, the whole room became a small cubicle.


    A dashboard and buttons appeared on the walls surrounding Kaiser. Liola was standing in front of Kaiser¡¯s platform, with all sorts of sensors wrapped around his arms and legs.


    Finally, they were both surrounded by screens. The screens all around showed the outside view.


    They saw Barbalis flying in front of the Mecha, with shining eyes, he yelled: ¡°DESTINATION: SCHOOL OF MECHA FIGHTERS!¡±


    Sweat ran down Kaiser¡¯s back. He thought, while crying:


    ¡®We haven¡¯t even had time to practice, and now we¡¯re taking the fight to the School of Mecha Fighters? When they see something this huge coming towards them, wouldn¡¯t it be strange for them to not open fire? Can a bunch of Sorcery students, who spent half an hour with a manual, even have a chance against Mecha Fighters? Forget it. It¡¯s probably better for me to fight Mizerui.¡¯


    ¡°Kaiser, what am I supposed to do now?¡± Liola lifted his hand and looked at the sensor on his wrist. He was completely clueless as to what it was.


    ¡°The things on your hands and legs are sensors. Whatever you do, the mecha will do the same.¡± Kaiser said weakly.


    Of course, things were easier said than done. Every single action must be coordinated by the complex control panels in front of Kaiser.


    Kaiser took a deep breath: ¡°Don¡¯t move too fast. This is a robot, and it can¡¯t move as fast as you. You have to coordinate with me, otherwise we won¡¯t even need to wait for the mecha fighters to fire at us. We¡¯ll fall to our deaths first.¡±


    ¡°Now take a few slow steps ahead.¡± Kaiser said, as his hand started hitting buttons, activating various parts of the mecha¡¯s body.


    Liola nodded and slowly raised his foot. Outside, the human form mecha also slowly lifted its foot. This made the students in other parts of the body very busy, as they all tried to obey Kaiser¡¯s coordination commands.


    Liola took a few steps ahead, and turned his head to ask: ¡°Everything good?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to turn your head. Doing so requires another command. As long as you talk, everyone will be able to hear you. Now walk towards your 10 o¡¯clock. Barbalis is getting impatient again.¡± Kaiser snapped.


    A silver, human shaped mecha was slowly heading towards the School of Mecha Fighters, although sometimes it seemed like it was about to fall on its face.


    The news immediately reached the ears of the Mecha Fighters¡¯ mentor. Because of the disappearance of the School of Sorcery¡¯s dorm Barbalis flying proudly in front of the Mecha, the mentor immediately jumped up and yelled:


    ¡°Damn Barbalis! It¡¯s certain that he wants to break the School of Mecha. He only lost a game of chess. Does he really have to make such a big deal out of it?!¡±


    Seeing the reports in his hand, the School of Sorcery¡¯s Mecha was more than 30 meters tall. The mentor¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Such a large mecha would take the students a long time to learn to operate, even for Mecha Fighter students. Could it be that their previous wilderness survival was actually a secret training in operating Mechas?


    The mentor immediately used the emergency broadcast and yelled: ¡°ENEMIES INCOMING! All Mecha students on deck! Go to our mechas and wait at the academy gates!¡±


    The emergency broadcast, which had never been used before, shook the entire school of Mecha Fighters.


    Could someone actually dare to attack the Aklan Academy? Every student started running, boarded their Mechas, and waited for their first real battle with anticipation and nervousness.


    Seeing hundreds of mechas lining up outside of the School of Mecha Fighters, the hearts of all Sorcery students sank. The only fortunate thing was that all the Sorcery students were well prepared, they all bought a very high life insurance policy¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    However, driving a mecha to challenge the School of Mecha Fighters was probably a suicidal act.


    The students wanted to cry, they were worried that if they die, they will not be able to cash in the insurance policy!


    ¡°Liola, do you think it¡¯s easier to kill Mizerui and Barbalis, or to control this mecha and defeat hundreds of mechas controlled by the students of Mecha Fighters?¡± Kaiser started to hesitate.


    ¡°I can¡¯t kill.¡± Liola answered straightforwardly.


    The giant mecha from the School of Sorcery slowly came to a stop about 10 meters away from the School of Mecha Fighters, and the students quietly awaited Barbalis¡¯ next order.


    All the Sorcery students had already started their prayers, and the opposing students gulped when they saw the gigantic mecha. Such a gigantic mecha was a rare sight to be seen. The School of Mecha students began to wonder if they would be flattened under the huge mecha.


    Barbalis proudly yelled: ¡°Such tiny things. With a single step of my mecha, they will all turn into paper mach¨¦!¡±


    The opposing mentor used an angel-shaped mecha to fly in front of Barbalis, and yelled angrily: ¡°What the hell are you doing?! Is it necessary to start a war between our schools because of a round of chess?!¡±


    ¡°Hehe, of course it¡¯s necessary!¡± Barbalis said with a sinister smile. Of course he wouldn¡¯t admit it was just an excuse. The real reason was that the Knights mentor said to him in disdain:


    ¡°The School of Sorcery sucks at everything.¡±


    After Barbalis takes care of the School of Mechas Fighters, and the resulting fear had been instilled into the School of Knights, he will of course, take a trip to the School of Knights.


    ¡°Liola, I really want to flatten Barbalis with his mecha!¡± Kaiser ground his teeth. The Sorcery students inside the mecha¡¯s body nodded their heads like crazy in agreement.


    However, Barbalis didn¡¯t give them a chance to flatten him. He yelled at the giant mecha: ¡°Fire the main cannon!¡±


    The main cannon was Purity¡¯s jurisdiction. Purity who was scared to death of Barbalis, didn¡¯t give it much thought, and she immediately aimed the loaded cannon at the School of Mecha Fighters and fired.


    Meinan, who was right next to her, couldn¡¯t stop Purity in time. Two large rays of light shot towards the School of Mecha Fighters. No one would have imagined that Barbalis, as the principal of Aklan Academy, would be serious in starting a war.


    Before the School of Mecha Fighters even had a chance to activate their protective shields, half their school was destroyed.


    The Mecha Fighter¡¯s mentor¡¯s jaw dropped. He couldn¡¯t believed Barbalis actually bombarded the School of Mecha Fighters.


    Barbalis proudly said: ¡°It sure was really powerful. Now we can go have fun with that holier-than-thouKnight¡¯s mentor. Hahaha! This time, he will definitely pay for what he did!¡±


    ¡°Y-you have grudges against the School of Knights? Why the hell did you take it out on my school?¡± The Mecha Fighter¡¯s mentor pointed at Barbalis with a shaking finger. He was so angry, his face turned into the color of pig liver.


    The angel-shaped mecha took out a bow and an arrow.


    Barbalis burst out in laughter: ¡°My good old chess mate, how could I dare to take it out on you? I¡¯ve already obtained money from the Aklan Empire to remodel the academy. So now that I¡¯m taking my mecha for a test run, I can also save you the money for demolishing your School of Mecha. Hahaha!¡±


    The Mecha Fighters¡¯ mentor sat there trying to digest what happened. Barbalis, again, commanded the Sorcery students towards their real target, the School of Knights.


    ¡°Knights¡­ Aren¡¯t exactly easier to mess with than Mecha Fighters.¡± Kaiser sighed, hoping the Knights will follow the ¡®one-on-one¡¯ chivalry code. If so, then the chance of the School of Sorcery being destroyed would lessen.


    Liola also hesitated for the first time.


    Lanski and Jasmine are both in the School of Knight. Knowing their personalities, they would be the first and second person to jump to their School¡¯s aid.


    With the gigantic Mecha¡¯s big steps, Kaiser and the others quickly arrived at the School of Knights.


    * * *


    The trained Knights of the school who were riding their mounts, had already formed two lines in front of the school. The person in front of them was a Silver Knight wearing a mostly-black uniform. It was the mentor of the School. He was riding on a black horse, and looked at the giant Mecha with scorning eyes.


    ¡°Mentor, please let me fight it!¡± Two female voices could be heard, and they were Lanski¡¯s and Jasmine¡¯s. Judging by strength, these two were probably among the top students.


    Seeing his fearless students, the Silver Knight¡¯s cold firm lips turned into a smiled. But after some consideration, he decided not to send the two out.


    He said with dignity: ¡°You two don¡¯t have mounts, so it would be hard for you to handle a mecha of this size.¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine were disappointed when they heard their mentor¡¯s response.


    Jasmine actually sighed in relief in her heart. She thought if this mecha were really controlled by the Sorcery students, then Liola too must be inside!


    The Silver Knight looked at the incoming giant mecha. With an icy laugh, he thought,:


    ¡®Come Barbalis!¡¯


    He will prove to Barbalis how strong his students are. Without any hesitation, he called forth the strongest student in the School, someone who was strong beyond belief.


    ¡°Daylight, you will fight them.¡± The Silver Knight mentor called out a name that everyone in the School of Knight knew.


    He was one of the only three Dragon Knights in the school, and the strongest among the Blue Knights in the school, not to mention the one closest to rank Silver. His chivalry was also famous, and people in the school had often called him the perfect Knight.


    In fact, had Daylight not been so perfectly chivalrous, his blue hair and gold eyes, and the fact that he was holy-aligned, would have made everyone in the School of Knight believe that he was Silver Mask, especially since, out of all the students in the school, only Daylight could block Lanski¡¯s Dragon Dancing Ki. (Of course, he could only block the 9 Kis, not the 66 one that Liola had sustained.)


    ¡°I will do all that I can, teacher.¡± Daylight stepped out of the crowd, wearing a white uniform and silver light armor. His ocean blue long hair was tied behind him, and his face was calm. He was the exact image of a true Knight.


    He murmured a spell and called forth his mount ¡ª a Red Fire Dragon. After jumping onto the Fire Dragon, Daylight held a long, snow-white pike in his hand, and flew towards the giant mecha.


    * * *


    ¡°A Knight is flying toward us!¡± Kaiser nervously looked at the Dragon heading towards them.


    Purity¡¯s voice could be heard throughout the mecha: ¡°It¡¯s Daylight!¡±


    ¡°Bullcrap! I know it¡¯s broad daylight without you telling me!¡± Kaiser yelled.


    Considering he was using his two hands and eyes as if he had 16 of them, Kaiser was in a terrible mood.


    Purity was so scared by Kaiser¡¯s yell that she went into a corner to cry. Meinan continued to explain:


    ¡°The ¡®Daylight¡¯ Purity pointed out is the name of the person who is heading towards us, riding the Fire Dragon. He¡¯s the strongest Knight in the school, even Jasmine is no match for him.¡±


    Kaiser was frustrated. Even though School of Sorcery also had a strongest ¡°Knight¡± ¡ª Silver Mask, but under the circumstances, there was no way to send Silver Mask out.


    Although the giant mecha looked imposing, Kaiser knew all too well. Having had only a crash course on the mecha controls, the Sorcery students couldn¡¯t get out a tenth of the full potential from this mecha. Besides walking slowly, transform, and automatically launch missiles, they couldn¡¯t do much else.


    How could they possibly beat such an agile Fire Dragon Knight?


    ¡°Kaiser, can we speed up?¡± Liola¡¯s eyes stared at the Fiery Dragon Knight. He was estimating in his mind; if they don¡¯t speed up it would be impossible to block the Knight¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kaiser said as if he had no other choice: ¡°Perhaps we will fall from our uncoordinated controls, but at least that would be better than the Fiery Dragon Knight hitting us and blowing us up.¡±


    It was easier said than done. When Liola deducted what the Knight¡¯s intention was, he used his right hand to quickly block the Knight¡¯s attack. But the movement was too fast for Kaiser and the students in the body.


    The giant mecha¡¯s right hand didn¡¯t perform the action Liola wanted it to. Instead, the whole mecha spun in its place.


    Kaiser was busy with the controls for a long time and finally made the spinning mecha sit on the ground, and stopped the endless twirl.


    ¡°Slow down! Liola, please use the speed of an ordinary person.¡± Kaiser yelled as if he just had a heart attack.


    ¡°We will lose with an ordinary person¡¯s speed.¡± Liola stated as a matter of fact.


    At this time, Daylight rode the fiery Dragon and stopped in front of the giant mecha.


    He yelled at the Sorcery students: ¡°Please stop. You aren¡¯t Mecha Fighter students, so there¡¯s no way you can control this mecha properly. Stop. Knights will never attack ordinary people.¡±


    All the Sorcery students, including Kaiser, wanted to run out and scream, ¡°I¡¯m an ordinary person! Please don¡¯t attack me!¡±


    With Barbalis staring widened eyes, everyone could only cry while hiding inside the mecha¡¯s body, wondering why in the world they enrolled in School of Sorcery.


    Barbalis had already seen the glorious smile on the Knight instructor¡¯s face. If he weren¡¯t the principal, he would¡¯ve already ran up to Daylight and knock him off the Fire Dragon.


    Barbalis thought, since he can¡¯t fight himself, and his school couldn¡¯t win with the mecha, then¡­


    Barbalis remembered that within the school, there was someone as good as himself, but he was still just a student.


    ¡°School of Knight dude, are you willing to accept an one-on-one duel from the School of Sorcery?¡± Barbalis yelled at Daylight.


    ¡°Shameless Barbalis, are you going to fight with student?¡± The Silver Knight replied coldly, thinking that Barbalis wanted to fight himself.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not me.¡± Barbalis let out a sinister laugh: ¡°It¡¯s a student who just joined the School of Sorcery!¡±


    Everyone was confused, especially those from the School of Sorcery. There hadn¡¯t been any new students coming into the school, nor was there any Sorcerer who could hold their own against Daylight.


    Of course, Meinan could hold his protective shield for a long time. Provided, Purity¡¯s magic works, and if Daylight was easy on girls and didn¡¯t attack first, she could possibly send Daylight to another place using Space Magic. But they had both been in the school for over a year, definitely not new.


    Barbalis knew he had captured everyone¡¯s complete attention. He cleared his throat and said: ¡°A while ago, Lancelot asked me to take care of his apprentice.¡±


    The expression on everyone¡¯s face changed.


    ¡®The Paladin Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?¡¯


    Even the rank-silver instructor¡¯s face sank. He did indeed hear of the Dark Knight, Blood Wolf being here yesterday. And he knew Lancelot¡¯s apprentice had taught a dozen Red Knights a lesson.


    ¡°Hot damn! Is there anything our principal couldn¡¯t do? Even Lancelot¡¯s apprentice got forced into his School of Sorcery? He should be a Knight, right?¡± Kaiser murmured.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s an Assassin.¡± Liola said plainly as he took off the gray robe, showing a white, silver-lined Knight¡¯s uniform. And then he put on a silver mask!


    ¡°What?!¡± Kaiser was stunned, the only Assassin he knew was¡­ Liola!


    ¡°Which way is the exit?¡± Disguised as Silver Mask, Liola asked Kaiser.


    ¡°Use the escape door behind me, so no one sees you coming out of the control room from the mecha¡¯s head.¡± A calm expression returned on Kaiser¡¯s face. Up until now, there was nothing Silver Mask couldn¡¯t handle.


    Liola nodded. He went out the escape door, slid down the mecha, and hid in a nearby forest.


    He concentrated on summoning Baolilong, and not before long, the small Baolilong appeared in front of Liola. He touched Baolilong¡¯s forehead and used telepathy to say: ¡°Transform.¡±


    Baolilong immediately turned into a ten-meter Dragon, and carried Liola into the air. With everyone¡¯s surprised gazes on him, he flew next to Barbalis.


    ¡°Hehe, please handle that Dragon Knight over there.¡± When Barbalis saw the surprised expressions of the Knights, he was so happy that he wanted to do a happy dance.


    Liola glanced at Barbalis, and said coldly: ¡°Only if you promise me, no one will be expelled.¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡± Barbalis answered without any hesitation.


    Unlike Daylight, who was a true Knight, and rode his Dragon, Liola was actually standing on Baolilong¡¯s back.


    [T/N: The original text has a play on words which only makes sense in Chinese. Knight literally means, Riding Warrior, so Daylight is a true Riding Warrior because he was riding his Dragon. Whereas Liola was standing, so then the author said he might be a Standing Warrior]


    In fact, Dragon scales were very slippery, and the muscles of a flying Dragon make it quite a bumpy ride. Factoring in the air current at such a high altitude, standing on a Dragon was terribly difficult. Considering Liola was keeping his balance perfectly, the Knights were terribly impressed.


    ¡°Silver Mask? You¡¯re Knight Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?¡± Daylight was surprised. As a holy Knight, Lancelot was the idol he worshipped.


    Liola nodded. Being honest was a Knight¡¯s virtue, but lying was an Assassin¡¯s virtue. Liola didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable with his lies.


    The mentor had already heard about Silver Mask¡¯s strength from Lanski, Jasmine, and the other Red Knights. He was afraid that Daylight couldn¡¯t beat Silver Mask. Without giving up, the mentor yelled at Barbalis:


    ¡°Barbalis, you found a Knight to fight for your School of Sorcery, don¡¯t you find this disgraceful? Is there no talent within the School of Sorcery?¡±


    Unfortunately, Barbalis¡¯ skin was as thick as the mecha¡¯s hull. He completely ignored such verbal provocation and replied:


    ¡°Silver Mask is a student in the School of Sorcery, so he is a Sorcery student, so of course he can fight for us.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± The mentor gritted his teeth in anger, but he didn¡¯t know what else to say.


    ¡°Do you accept this duel?¡± Liola asked calmly. He wanted to get it over with quickly, instead of being watched from below.


    ¡°For the School of Knight¡¯s honor, and for Princess Lanski¡¯s honor, I accept your challenge.¡± Daylight accepted the challenge seriously.


    Though Daylight thought it was strange. A higher ranked Knight challenging a lower ranked Knight was something uncommon, and it brings dishonor to the higher ranked Knight. It was suspicious for Silver Mask, as Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, to challenge him.


    Liola didn¡¯t say anything else, and took out Broken Silver from his boot. He didn¡¯t unsheathe Broken Silver, and used it as a stick to fight, so Liola wouldn¡¯t have to worry about making a mistake and break his promise with Anise.


    Both schools already knew the outcome of this battle. Though Daylight was a Blue Knight with unbelievable strength, but the gap between the valley of Blue and Silver Knights wasn¡¯t something that could be crossed easily.


    Furthermore, Silver Mask was Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, and Lancelot was the legendary Paladin, whose power cannot possibly be ignored.


    However, no one clearly knew the disparity between the participants of the duel was far more than they had ever imagined!


    First of all, Liola was not just a Silver Knight. If Liola¡¯s strength was measured properly, he could possibly be in the same rank as Lancelot. Secondly, among Dragons, the Sacred White Dragon was one of the commanding species.


    Daylight, who was riding on the Fire Dragon, couldn¡¯t help but feel fear. He knew that under the current situation, he was in a disadvantage in so many ways. Not only would he lose, he would lose very quickly.


    As the two Dragons clashed in mid-air, Liola unexpectedly jumped onto the Fire Dragon, and stood facing Daylight. Daylight¡¯s expression changed and also stood up. But unlike Liola, he did so with great difficulty.


    ¡°Go down. We¡¯ll fight on the ground.¡± Liola said calmly.


    Daylight nodded. In his heart he admired how honorable Liola was, because he purposely gave up a huge advantage ¡ª his terrifying sense of balance. This eased Daylight¡¯s doubt about Silver Mask¡¯s identity.


    Daylight commanded the Fiery Dragon to land on the ground, and then ordered it to go away. While staring at Silver Mask, he tightly held onto the pike in his hand. Though he knew he would probably lose, as a Knight, so long as he fights honorably in a duel, there would be no shame even in losing.


    Daylight lit up his blue aura, in accordance to his rank, but on the edge of his blue aura, there were some silver light. The Knight students gasped in admiration. For a twenty-five year old Daylight, his current level of power was already amazing.


    On the other hand, Liola, who was also twenty five, had already been through terrifying training in the organization. Plus he had been living the life of an Assassin ever since he was five. All this gave him power far surpassing Daylight¡¯s. However, for the strength he gained, Liola had already given up far, far too much¡­


    The two talented people moved at the same time. Liola immediately dodged Daylight¡¯s pike, and used Broken Silver to accurate hit Daylight¡¯s hand. With the sound of a bone cracking, Daylight almost lost hold of his pike. But he gritted his teeth and swung the long pike around to aim on the back of Liola¡¯s head.


    Liola felt the changes in the air. He lowered his body to dodge it, and Broken Silver once again landed on Daylight¡¯s hand. This time, however, Daylight could no longer hold onto the pike. With a crisp metallic clang, the pike landed on the ground, and Daylight¡¯s right hand was severely bruised, it even seemed to be crooked in a strange angle.


    ¡°The outcomes of this duel was decided without you having to use your aura. Is this the difference between Blue and Silver Knights?¡± Daylight smiled bitterly.


    Liola¡¯s expression changed. Should he learn how to emit auras? Otherwise, sooner or later people will know that Silver Mask isn¡¯t a Knight at all.


    ¡°I lost.¡± Daylight calmly accepted defeat. A pair of determined eyes looked at Liola: ¡°I will work harder, and hope to one day catch up to you, Lancelot¡¯s apprentice.¡±


    Daylight didn¡¯t know, but Liola actually admired his tenacious eyes. To Liola¡¯s current self, who lived day-to-day, those eyes filled with goals and fighting spirit was what Liola lacked the most.


    However, the Knight students gasped. Seeing how easily Daylight lost, some students were about to run up to support Daylight, but Daylight stopped them. He took a deep breath, picked up his pike from the ground, and returned to the rows of Knights.


    The mentor went up to check on him. After he realized it was just a fractured hand, he walked up to Liola, and said with criticism and anger:


    ¡°As a Silver Dragon Knight, you should never challenge a Blue Knight.¡±


    Liola looked past the mentor, and he saw Lanski and Jasmine. The two¡¯s eyes were also filled with critique and disappointment. Liola¡¯s heart suddenly felt bitter.


    Barbalis was full of himself. He landed on the ground and said loudly: ¡°What now Silver? Don¡¯t you dare say my School of Sorcery has no talent.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Liola suddenly yelled angrily. His yell made Barbalis¡¯ mouth turn into a big ¡°O¡±. Even the Knight students widened their eyes, and couldn¡¯t believe Silver Mask actually told his own mentor to shut up.


    Liola was surprised at himself for yelling. But he didn¡¯t want to explain his agitated mood. Without a care as to whether or not Barbalis would expel him, Liola jumped onto Baolilong, and suddenly flew off. To get away with the feud between the School of Knights and the School of Sorcery, and to get away from Anise¡¯s disappointed eyes.


    * * *


    Sitting on Baolilong¡¯s back, Liola took off the mask, and his mood slowly returned to the calm waves that it was supposed to be. He started to wonder why his mood has been strange lately. Especially when he wears the mask. His emotions easily went out of control. Or is it¡­ because of Anise¡¯s face that¡¯s making him lose control?


    This was not a good sign to an Assassin¡­ But Liola suddenly remembered he had stopped being an Assassin a while ago.


    Liola was at a loss for words concerning his emotions, which were getting closer and closer to those of an ordinary person.

 Volume 2, 8 : Difficult Decisions

    Volume 2, Chapter 8 : Difficult Decisions


    ¡°Papa?¡± Baolilong opened its eyes and did not understand why Liola was looking at the silver mask in a daze.


    Liola awoke from his thoughts, and at the same time he realized there was someone nearby, so he instantly put the mask back on. Liola blamed himself for being not vigilant enough.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to cover your face, it¡¯s me.¡± Blood Wolf jumped out from behind a tree while laughing


    Liola didn¡¯t know how to respond to a Knight who kept laughing and joking, and didn¡¯t have any chivalry. So he did what he do best: stood there with an expressionless face, while waiting for the other person to strike up a conversation.


    ¡°So? Have you decided?¡± Blood Wolf asked curiously.


    Liola was confused for a moment and asked: ¡°What decision?¡±


    Blood Wolf opened his mouth and said in disbelief: ¡°The decision of whether you want to be a Prince in the Dragon Empire¡­ Hey, it¡¯s a rather big deal, don¡¯t tell me you forgot about it?¡±


    He really did forget¡­ Liola thought for a moment and remembered; when Barbalis was telling him about Anise¡¯s real identity, he did mention something about being a Prince. It was another problem to which Liola didn¡¯t know how to react, so he simply said: ¡°Let me think about it some more.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to think about?¡± Blood Wolf said: ¡°To an Assassin who doesn¡¯t want to kill, staying in the palace as a Prince would be a dream that comes true. All you have to do is learn the etiquette of the court, no one will force you to kill, so you can live there peacefully.¡±


    Liola frowned and answered: ¡°It goes against my wishes.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s your wish?¡± Blood Wolf asked curiously.


    ¡°To become a healer.¡±


    Blood Wolf was silent for a moment, then blurted out: ¡°Is that your wish? Or is it Princess Anise¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Anise¡¯s, but I will fulfill her wishes.¡± Liola answered without hesitation.


    ¡°Oh? Do you really think if you fulfill her wish, she would be happy? Don¡¯t you think she wanted to save you and not become a copy of her?¡±


    Liola remained quiet. He didn¡¯t completely understand what Blood Wolf said.


    Without getting any response from Liola, Blood Wolf sighed:


    ¡°You know, Liola, you¡¯ve been an Assassin who obeyed orders for twenty years. Your biggest problem is not having thoughts of your own.¡±


    Blood Wolf walked up to Liola, and patted his shoulder: ¡°Think about it. What¡¯s important here is what you want to do, not what Anise would do.¡±


    Liola hesitated. He began wondering if his thoughts were better than what Anise might have planned. As he was thinking, he reached the dorms unknowingly, and at the door, he saw Kaiser and the others waiting for him. Kaiser¡¯s face was filled with discontent.


    ¡°Liola-dage, you¡¯re finally back. Let¡¯s go eat.¡± Purity smiled in relief, and grabbed Kaiser, who had already been complaining about his hunger, taking him to his favorite hot pot restaurant.


    Having finally eaten, Kaiser finally eased the tension on his face. As he munched on dessert, he looked at Liola, who was feeding Baolilong.


    ¡°You really love disappearing lately!¡± Kaiser flung his finger in disdain. Seeing Liola wasn¡¯t going to answer him, Kaiser exploded. He placed both his hands on the Assassin¡¯s shoulder and said:


    ¡°Explain everything to me now! When the hell did you become Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?¡±


    ¡®Here we go¡¯, Liola thought, explaining to Kaiser and the others what had happened.


    When he said he was considering whether he should become a Prince, the other three¡¯s jaws almost fell into the hotpot, being cooked as human jaws.


    ¡°Dammit! You and I are in different worlds!¡± Kaiser yelled: ¡°I¡¯m still wondering what I should eat for my next meal, you¡¯re actually considering about whether you¡¯ll be a Prince?!¡±


    ¡®You and I ARE from different worlds¡­¡¯ Liola thought to himself.


    ¡°So is Liola-dage going to be a Prince?¡± Purity asked hesitantly.


    ¡®This question again.¡¯ Liola remained silent. He was completely clueless as to what he should do. Out of habit, Liola raised his head and asked Kaiser: ¡°Kaiser, what should I do?¡±


    Kaiser snapped: ¡°How would I know. I¡¯m not the one becoming a Prince.¡±


    Seeing that Kaiser refused to answer, Liola¡¯s face sank. Purity felt bad, so she said to Kaiser: ¡°Kaiser, I will get a plate of Kobe beef, why don¡¯t you explain things to Liola-dage?¡±


    [T/N: Kobe beef is a rare style of Japanese meat. It is sold for about $180 USD per kilogram in Japan. In the United States, One Kobe beef burger cost around $40.]


    ¡®Kobe beef¡­¡¯ rays of light came out of Kaiser¡¯s eyes. He suddenly adapted professional attitude and started to analyze the situation:


    ¡°You have two choices. First choice, you become a Prince and live peacefully, not to mention you¡¯ll never have to worry about food. Second, you stay in the Academy, living in a world where tomorrow may not come, and you don¡¯t know when Barbalis would expel you.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± This was why Liola was frustrated. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed he was better off being a Prince than staying here. However, Liola remained hesitant, and his biggest problem was not knowing why he was hesitating. But he can never ignore his hesitation and immediately become a Prince.


    ¡°Besides, during the past few adventures, our luck has been damn amazing. Coming back alive from those journey should be listed under the ten wonders of the world.¡± As Kaiser finished, he suddenly raised his head and asked Liola without thinking:


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t have to keep your promise to not kill, would you have beaten Miluo?¡±


    Liola hesitated, and answered: ¡°I could have killed him.¡± An Assassin never defeats his opponents, he just kills them.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t. If it weren¡¯t for Purity and me using our unmastered magic, we would have all died in Miluo¡¯s hands.¡± Kaiser said coldly.


    Hearing these blames, Liola yelled quietly: ¡°I can¡¯t kill.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly stood up, and yelled angrily:


    ¡°In this world, if you don¡¯t kill, then you¡¯re waiting to be killed! If you want to die, it¡¯s none of my business, but if one day you have to kill to save us, what would you do? If you do what you did last time when you faced Miluo, who was absurdly powerful, then you better effing be a Prince. Stay in your dark palace, because there will be more than enough Knights to protect you!¡±


    Purity and Meinan¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. They couldn¡¯t believe Kaiser would talk in such a manner especially when he was talking to the best Assassin.


    Baolilong was chewing on a piece of meat and looked confusedly at confrontation between Kaiser and Liola.


    Liola looked at the angry Kaiser, and his heart had finally decided the place he should go ¡ª the dark palace¡­


    Only in such a place, Liola could keep his promise with Anise. It was also a place where Liola wouldn¡¯t have friends giving up their lives in order for him to keep his promise. Liola sighed and said with calm resolve: ¡°I understand. I will leave.¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage!¡± Purity¡¯s widened with disbelief. She could accept Liola¡¯s decision and leave the Academy just like that.


    However, before she was able to stop him, Meinan grabbed her to prevent her from saying anything. Meinan shook his head to express to Purity that she should not interfere.


    Kaiser continued: ¡°If you can¡¯t judge right from wrong, then you¡¯re better off hiding inside the palace.¡±


    Liola stood up, and without saying anything else, he walked out of the room. He thought it was about time for him to find Blood Wolf, follow him back to Dragon Continent, and grow old living inside a palace.


    * * *


    While being held back by Meinan, and not having a chance to stop Liola, Purity exploded. Her hands were clenched into a tight fist and yelled at Kaiser: ¡°Kaiser, did you know what you just did? Liola-dage will really leave for the Dragon Continent and you won¡¯t be able to see him ever again!¡±


    Kaiser lowered his head and chewed on the beef, and mumbled: ¡°It¡¯s not so bad to be a Prince!¡±


    Purity was so angry that she used her hand to pull out the Kobe beef that was halfway inside Kaiser¡¯s mouth. A fight for the beef soon ensued. Meinan watched from the sidelines and sighed: ¡°Kaiser, your way of caring for someone is rather unbearable.¡±


    Liola walked out of the restaurant. He felt depressed and empty.


    Kaiser¡¯s accusations felt like a twisting blade through his heart. If he caused three deaths because he didn¡¯t want to kill, wouldn¡¯t it be the same as killing?


    Liola as getting more and more confused, and his steps got faster and faster. He wasn¡¯t heading towards the principal¡¯s office, but instead in all sorts of random directions. Even Liola didn¡¯t know where his destination was¡­


    ¡°Papa!¡± Behind him, Baolilong was continuously running, but it still wasn¡¯t able catch up to Liola. Baolilong was worried that papa would disappear, so he yelled loudly. However, being in a terrible and confused mood, Liola ears had blocked all sounds. No matter how many tears Baolilong cried or how loud it yelled, Baolilong saw that papa was getting further and further away.


    Suddenly, a shadow grabbed Baolilong, and took huge steps towards Liola. When they reached Liola, the person tapped Liola¡¯s shoulder. Liola suddenly turned his head.


    ¡°Blood Wolf?¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Purity screamed explosively on the headboard of Kaiser¡¯s bed. Even Kaiser¡¯s specially-made thick pillow was no match for Purity¡¯s scream. Two hundred decibels of terrifying voice reached Kaiser¡¯s ears.


    The biochemical noise weapon, Purity vs. Kaiser¡¯s unbeatable sleepiness. The former seemed to be winning¡­


    ¡°What the hell do you want?¡± Kaiser couldn¡¯t take it anymore. He got out from under his pillow and started complaining.


    With tears in her eyes, Purity grieved: ¡°L-Liola-dage has already been gone for three days. Is he really not coming back?¡±


    Kaiser turned, and pretended he didn¡¯t care:


    ¡°He went to enjoy his life as a Prince in the Dragon Empire. Why the hell would he come back to the peasants he only spent a few months with? He didn¡¯t even say goodbye before he left! Hmph!¡±


    ¡®Looks like Kaiser was also unhappy that Liola left without a word¡­¡¯ Purity and Meinan concluded.


    ¡°For Liola to leave on the same day you had the confrontation¡­ He was probably hurt by your words.¡± Meinan sighed.


    Kaiser¡¯s body twitched a little on his bed: ¡°I was just telling the truth.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, you should go ask the principal. Perhaps Liola is still on campus, and he just doesn¡¯t want to see us.¡± To comfort the irritable Purity, Meinan quickly suggested with a smile.


    Who knew that as soon they spoke of the devil, he arrived. The principal kicked open the door, and then rushed in. He immediately asked Purity: ¡°Where is Liola?¡±


    All three of them were confused: ¡°Didn¡¯t Blood Wolf bring Liola to Dragon Continent?¡±


    Barbalis was stunned. He had been frustrated for three days because he couldn¡¯t find Liola. Since something happened in the Dragon Empire, Blood Wolf had rushed back to the Dragon Continent, so Barbalis came to find the trio who were closest to Liola, but he couldn¡¯t believe that these three would say that Blood Wolf had taken Liola.


    Barbalis scratched his head in confusion: ¡°Blood Wolf didn¡¯t take him. Both he and I haven¡¯t seen Liola in the last three days.¡±


    Kaiser and the others widened their eyes. ¡®Where the hell was Liola?¡¯


    Purity¡¯s face turned pale: ¡°C-could it be that Liola-dage got really angry at Kaiser? Could he have done something stupid¡­?¡±


    Kaiser snapped back: ¡°You¡¯re thinking far too much! If an Assassin would kill himself just because I yelled at him, I would make a hell of a living from this special ability. Besides, Liola still has to follow his promise not to kill. Suicide the same as killing!¡±


    ¡°Could Liola have run away from home?¡± Meinan suggested with hesitation. But as soon as he did, 3 pairs of eyes stared at him. He then lowered his head in shame.


    Barbalis frowned and murmured: ¡°Could Miluo put his plan on motion this quickly?¡±


    ¡°What did you say about Miluo?¡± Kaiser rushed up, and grabbed Barbalis by the collar. Even Barbalis wanted to run away from the crazy look in Kaiser¡¯s eyes.


    Barbalis sighed:


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s fine to tell you. Miluo had ran away from the Dragon Empire. From what the Emperor told me, it seems Miluo had teamed up with an underground group, and planned on turning the Empire inside out.¡±


    Kaiser and Meinan took a deep breath. Purity asked: ¡°This doesn¡¯t have anything to do with Liola-dage, does it?¡±


    ¡°Of course there is!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly: ¡°There are two things Liola has that are important to both sides!¡±


    ¡°Dragon cross necklace!¡± Barbalis said with a frown.


    ¡°Sacred White Dragon!¡± Meinan added.


    Purity understood now, and she covered her mouth with both of her hands in fear.


    Kaiser paced around the room, as he tried to collect himself:


    ¡°Liola is really strong, and he was close to the Emperor¡¯s daughter. Unfortunately he is also the master of Miluo¡¯s child. Now both sides probably want Liola on their side. No wonder the Emperor would request that Liola to be a Prince. Liola was practically a gosu who fell out of the sky.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly stopped. He looked at Barbalis and asked sharply: ¡°Old geezer, you said Miluo had already acted, what did you mean? Do you already know Miluo¡¯s plan regarding Liola?¡±


    Barbalis replied seriously: ¡°As you¡¯ve said, Liola would be a huge advantage to both sides. We¡¯ve guessed Miluo might do something to Liola soon. Either bring him to his side or¡­ kill him!¡±


    ¡°Liola has been missing for three days.¡± Meinan tried to remind everyone of the seriousness of the issue.


    Purity couldn¡¯t help but scream, while Kaiser paced back and forth while pulling his hair.


    Tuning his brain gear to the highest, Kaiser attempted to make sense of the situation. He finally yelled:


    ¡°Not possible! It¡¯s impossible for Miluo took him, at least it wasn¡¯t Miluo who did it!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The other three asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to take Liola by force. There would have been be a huge battle at the very least before Miluo can capture Liola. But there hasn¡¯t been any battles around the Academy.¡±


    Kaiser bit on his finger: ¡°Who could possibly take away Liola without making a fuss?¡±


    ¡°A Sorcerer!¡± Meinan brushed his hair confidently, and said the conclusion what he deeply believed:


    ¡°By using the unfamiliar Sorcerer spells, could someone take such a powerful Assassin.¡±


    ¡°Who cares! Let¡¯s find Liola-dage and bring him back!¡± As soon as Purity thought of the horrors Liola being in the hands of Miluo, she immediately bawled. Who knew how much Miluo would torture Liola?


    Barbalis hesitated, and stuttered: ¡°I do have a way¡­¡±


    ¡°Then tell us!¡± Three of them yelled together.


    ¡°We could use the senses between dragons.¡± Barbalis shrunk his body, and said timidly: ¡°But there are only three Dragon Knights in the Academy¡­ And the closer the Dragon Knight¡¯s rank to Liola¡¯s, the better. Which means¡­¡±


    ¡°Daylight!¡± Kaiser and the others yelled in unison.


    After Kaiser yelled, he pulled his hair again: ¡°Damn, we just finished messing with the Knights. Liola even defeated Daylight. How the hell are we going to get him to help us?¡±


    ¡°Purity must save Liola-dage! Even if I have to threaten Daylight by sending the whole Academy into a dark hole, I¡¯ll do it!¡± A chilling expression floated on Purity¡¯s face, which made the others shiver. The words ¡°Human Weapon¡± emerged in their heads¡­


    * * *


    Liola was deep in his self-blame and regret. Because of his negligence, he had fallen into a terrible predicament. This made Baolilong hungry, and it could do nothing but lie sobbing in Liola¡¯s arms.


    That day, Liola ran into Blood Wolf. Without thinking he gave Blood Wolf his answer ¡ª to become a Prince in the Dragon Empire.


    Blood Wolf smiled and asked Liola to follow him. Liola followed him to a small field in Aklan, and five or six other people suddenly appeared. These weren¡¯t enough to worry Liola worry, so he quietly waited for Blood Wolf¡¯s explanation.


    Blood Wolf gave Baolilong, who had fallen asleep, to another person.


    ¡°These are Sorcerers. They can transport us directly to Dragon Continent.¡± Blood Wolf laughed, and he beckoned Liola:


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we can now go to the Dragon Continent. There you can live comfortably and without any worry as a Prince.¡±


    Liola hesitated. He didn¡¯t think he would be leaving immediately. He said: ¡°I need to say goodbye to Kaiser and the others.¡±


    ¡°What good bye, you will be the royal Dragon Empire Prince soon. The Emperor wouldn¡¯t be happy if you¡¯re friends with such lowly peasants.¡± Blood Wolf seemed a bit hurried.


    Upon hearing Blood Wolf¡¯s disagreement, Liola¡¯s eyes turned cold. And with an even colder tone, he asked: ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Liola glanced at Baolilong, and he tried to use telepathy to call him, but there was no response. Liola frowned.


    Blood Wolf was stunned: ¡°Me? I¡¯m Blood Wolf, the Dark Knight Blood Wolf.¡±


    ¡°No matter who you are, you¡¯re not the Blood Wolf I know.¡± Liola narrowed his eyes. That easygoing Blood Wolf would never say something like ¡®lowly peasants¡¯.


    Blood Wolf¡¯s expression changed, stomped his foot and yelled: ¡°Binding Symbol activate!¡±


    A magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground, and it was covered in indecipherable runes.


    Liola¡¯s outline quickly flashed towards the impostor Blood Wolf, but before he reached him, a transparent wall separated them.


    If Liola used Broken Silver and forced his way out, he wouldn¡¯t be trapped. However, as a result, the impostor on the other side of the wall would end up being pierced by Broken Silver. Because of this reason, Liola hesitated, and it gave a chance for the impostor to yell for backup:


    ¡°H-hurry, use Illusion of Paradise!¡±


    The other five immediately started an incantation. The spell made Liola, who was standing in the circle, feel weight on his eyelids, and his body started to become uncontrollable.


    Liola used the Assassin¡¯s Strong Will, and forcefully rammed the unguarded part of the circle.


    With one hit, the wall started shaking violently, and cracked slightly. Though it was quickly repaired with magic, the six of them who maintained the symbol were in a state of shock. The impostor yelled again: ¡°Use Lightning spells to hit him.¡±


    ¡°It will kill him!¡± One of them hesitated.


    Liola stood still and attacked with what seemed like an infinite amount of hits.


    When they couldn¡¯t repair the wall fast enough, the crack became bigger and bigger. The six of them no longer hesitated, three bolts of lightning headed towards Liola. But unexpectedly, Liola easily sidestepped it, and Broken Silver continued to enlarge the crack.


    The impostor trembled with fear. Without any hesitation, and without any time to ask others for help, he chanted a spell: ¡°Element of fire, obey me¡­ Fire Bomb!¡±


    Liola suddenly feel a heat wave behind him. He turned around, only to see a fireball shrinking, and then finally exploded. The magic circle where he was trapped was in range of the explosion, so Liola had no place to run. He could only use his back to take this attack.


    The six of them looked at the explosion nervously. If this person dies, they would be in big trouble. After the smoke cleared, the impostor yelled: ¡°H-He¡¯s still awake.¡±


    That¡¯s right, Liola¡¯s silver eyes were looking at them coldly. With another charge, Liola broke a foot-wide hole in the wall, and the impostor, who was closest to the hole, received a jab on his shoulders. He yelled in pain, then screamed: ¡°Beat him up, or we will all die here!¡±


    Without thinking, they all unleashed their most powerful attack into the magic circle. In a flash, Liola¡¯s body was submerged under the colorful lights from the spells. Terrifying bolts of thunder, huge boulders dropped, and invisible wind blades¡­


    ¡°Damn, he¡¯s going to die.¡± The impostor pressed down onto his shoulder, which was continuously bleeding, and cried out. He didn¡¯t expect them all to attack at once, or use their strongest spells.


    Under the ferocity of these spells, even the wall couldn¡¯t handle it, and it fell into pieces. And the ground on which the magic circle was, became a huge crater.


    When the smoke cleared, the impostor kept feeling uneasy. Although he thought it would be impossible for Liola to stay alive. And even if he was, there was no way he¡¯d be able to move¡­


    Right before the impostor¡¯s face, appeared a pair of ruthless silver eyes. A line of silver light passed by him, and a stream of blood oozed out the impostor¡¯s chest.


    However, the ruthless killer was not satisfied. He suddenly appeared before his next target, and frightened him to the point where he fell on his knees. Nevertheless, before he even any felt pain, his stomach was sliced open.


    The Assassin found another his next target, but before his Broken Silver could chop the target¡¯s hands off, it was stopped. Countless vines held the Assassin tightly, and he was no long able to move.


    The Magician who almost peed in his pants, mustered all his encourage and yelled: ¡°Bind!¡±


    The strong vines tightened around the Assassin. After the sounds of cracking bones filled the air, the Assassin, whose body was covered with injuries, finally spat out blood like a fountain, and fell unconscious.


    The Magician who casted the binding spell didn¡¯t dare to get any closer.


    He immediately casted dozens of the strongest vines, then sighed in relief. However, he wasn¡¯t brave enough to check whether the Assassin was dead.


    The impostor, whose body was oozing blood like a fountain, finally received healing from his accomplice, and then said weakly:


    ¡°Three rank-A and two rank-B Magicians, trying to catch a single person. We even used deceit. Still, we ended up with two seriously injured¡­ No wonder, master Miluo valued him greatly.¡±


    * * *


    When Liola woke up, he realized he was hanging in the air. A layer of thick steel chains locked him in place. In addition to the chains, he was also locked inside a steel cage.


    Even though Liola felt extremely weak, he was still able to sense the unusual energy continuously flowing through the cage. Touching it was definitely out of the question.


    Without needing to examine himself, Liola already knew he was in a horrible state. A sharp pain began to manifest from his body.

 Volume 3, 1 : Meeting between the Master and Apprentice

    Volume 3, Chapter 1 : Meeting between the Master and Apprentice


    ¡°School of Sorcery students are looking for me?¡± Daylight found it strange. Considering he had never made any friends enrolled in the School of Sorcery, why would someone from there be looking for him?


    ¡°Yeah, Daylight, I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re looking for you, hurry up and go deal with them.¡± The student who delivered the message seemed unhappy, as if the student was troubled that Daylight had anything to do with the School of Sorcery.


    Daylight nodded. And with questions in his mind, headed towards the School of Knights¡¯ lobby.


    Along the way, he saw many School of Knight students whose faces were filled with disdain, and all of these students seemed to be walking out of the lobby.


    What happened with Barbalis seemed to have caused more hatred towards the Sorcerers. All the Knights probably felt it was an insult for them to even be in the same lobby as Sorcerers.


    With curiosity, Daylight stepped into the lobby. In the empty lobby, there were only three Sorcery students with long faces, the girl among them was already covered in tears, and she was constantly trying to wipe them off. Daylight widened his gaze, and was clueless at the situation at hand.


    These three students are, of course, Kaiser, Purity, and Meinan. Kaiser kept pinching the skin on the back of Purity¡¯s hand, and she couldn¡¯t stop crying. Kaiser also stepped on Meinan¡¯s foot repeatedly, and it looked crooked as a result. But Meinan couldn¡¯t yell in pain, so he shook his head, and his face looked as if he was trying to hold back the pain.


    ¡°Mr. Daylight, sir, we finally have the pleasure to meet you.¡± Kaiser opened his arms and yelled, then he forcefully threw himself into Daylight¡¯s arms, who was so surprised that he took several steps back, trying to escape Kaiser¡¯s claws.


    ¡°What do you want with me?¡± Daylight took another few steps back, stopping only after he saw that Kaiser was no longer getting closer to him.


    With a sad expression, Kaiser said as he was sobbing: ¡°Mr. Daylight, sir, we¡¯re actually here to talk to you because of the Paladin Lancelot¡¯s only apprentice, Silver Mask.¡±


    Daylight, who felt awkward that Kaiser was calling him ¡°Mr. Daylight, sir¡±, asked hurriedly as soon as he heard ¡°Silver Mask¡±:


    ¡°Silver Mask is looking for me? What¡¯s up? Does he want another duel?¡± When he spoke of a duel, Daylight¡¯s eyes lit up, as if he wanted to pull his weapon out at that very moment.


    Kaiser covered his face, faked two sobbing sounds (even though he actually laughed), then wailed: ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Sir Silver Mask can never duel with you again!¡±


    ¡°Why? Is he unwilling to duel with me?¡± Daylight¡¯s expression immediately changed.


    ¡°Not at all. Sir Silver Mask really wants to spar you again, but he was sent by the Paladin to punish evildoers.¡± Kaiser shook his head and sighed.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Daylight no longer worried, and said: ¡°It¡¯s good that he went to punish the evildoers, I¡¯ll wait for him to come back.¡±


    Seeing Daylight fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Kaiser laughed in his mind, but his face looked as if his dad died and his belongings were donated to the museum. Kaiser wailed as if he was crying in front of his dad¡¯s grave:


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Sir Silver Mask may never come back again.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Daylight was shocked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve received news that, Sir Silver Mask had fallen for the enemy¡¯s trickery, and is now captured, his life is in grave danger! But there is nothing we can do, and we don¡¯t even know where Sir Silver Mask is being held!¡±


    Kaiser yelled hysterically, and then covered his face while crying, while looking at Daylight¡¯s reaction through a crack between his fingers.


    Hearing this news, Daylight was both shocked and worried. He then fell deep into thought, and then finally said to the three:


    ¡°Come with me.¡±


    And then Daylight turned around and walked outside. He seemed he was so worried that his walking speed was blazingly fast.


    Kaiser was elated as he glanced at Purity, who was speechless, and Meinan, who was in disbelief.


    Kaiser then shook his head and said in a quiet voice: ¡°Sigh, why did he fall for this so easily, that wasn¡¯t even a bit challenging for me.¡±


    Daylight, who had been tens of steps ahead, yelled:


    ¡°Hurry up, the situation with Silver Mask is dire, and it can¡¯t wait any longer.¡±


    Kaiser snickered as he followed.


    * * *


    ¡°Let me explain to you, there exists a force that allows Dragons to sense each other. Along with it, Dragon Knights can also sense each other, though it¡¯s not as strong of a connection as that between Dragons. So I should be able to sense where Silver Mask is, and if he brought his Dragon with him, even better.¡±


    Daylight said, as he walked to a nearby field. He drew a magic circle in the air, and it flashed and expanded into the sky. And then with a flash of a flame, a fire Dragon had came out of the magic circle with a roar.


    ¡®We all know about this, why else would we come looking for you¡­¡¯ Kaiser and the others quietly thought.


    Daylight lightly touched his trusted partner, and said: ¡°Flames, the Knight we dueled is now in danger, I need you to find out where he is, is that okay?¡±


    The fiery Dragon nodded, and then closed its eyes to concentrate on the search.


    Daylight, Kaiser, and others all stared at the Dragon, who sometimes raised its head, sometimes breathed flames out of its nostrils, as if it were angry. Finally, the fiery Dragon opened its eyes, and then put its forehead against Daylight¡¯s.


    The fiery Dragon transmitted the images he saw to Daylight, who immediately took a deep breath, and his face was filled with anger and worry. He suddenly turned and look at Kaiser and the others:


    ¡°The situation with Silver Mask is very dire, I have to go save him immediately. You¡­¡±


    Daylight looked at Kaiser and the others skeptically, thinking that their ability to fight was questionable.


    ¡°We have to save Silver Mask!¡± Purity answered without hesitation, and the same firm expression could be seen on Kaiser and Meinan¡¯s faces.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s go¡­¡± Daylight was interrupted by another voice in the middle of his sentence.


    ¡°What did you say happened to Silver Mask?¡± Lanski stood with a pale face on the edge of the field.


    Ever since she heard ¡°Silver Mask¡± back in the lobby, Lanski had hurriedly followed them, but she didn¡¯t expect to hear Silver Mask¡¯s obituary. Now the only thing that resounded in her mind was what Daylight had said:


    ¡°The situation with Silver Mask is very dire¡±¡­


    ¡°Knight Lanski?¡± Daylight was surprised, then he explained truthfully:


    ¡°Because of a mission on behalf of the Paladin, Silver Mask unfortunately, has been captured. Now he is bathed in his own blood, and restrained by heavy chains within a cage.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Hearing this news, Lanski suddenly felt dizzy. Kaiser and the others were also surprised ¡ª they had never imagined that the situation with Liola would¡¯ve gone this bad.


    ¡°The situation I saw was terrible, and it can¡¯t wait any longer. We have to go help him immediately.¡± Daylight said with seriousness.


    ¡°I am going, too!¡± Lanski and the other three all said at the same time.


    Daylight nodded. After jumping onto Flames¡¯ back elegantly, he said to the others:


    ¡°Jump up, we will go directly to Silver Mask.¡±


    With light steps, Lanski flew up the Dragon¡¯s back, but Kaiser and others clumsily climbed up the back.


    The three of them were both skeptical and terrified, because they all had an unpleasant experience with riding Dragons. Of course, the one who gave them that experience was none other than Baolilong.


    Without waiting for them to get used to it, Daylight had already commanded the fire Dragon to take off, and impatiently urged the Dragon to fly faster.


    Kaiser and the others feared for their lives, and each held tightly onto the person in front of them. Meinan grabbed Kaiser, Kaiser hugged Purity¡¯s waist, and Purity had almost broken Daylight¡¯s neck. Only Lanski sat beside Daylight, and constantly yelling, ¡°Faster, faster.¡±


    Daylight had no choice but to unwrapped Purity¡¯s arms from his neck, while urging the fire Dragon to fly faster. He took the chance to breathe, so he wouldn¡¯t die before they even get there.


    * * *


    Since he had time, Liola, who had never really liked to contemplate, began to think. Should he end his life like this, or should he join Miluo?


    For some reason Liola thought that the former option was more attractive to him than the latter. Liola sighed, blaming his bad habit of unable to decide, and then asked:


    ¡°Baolilong, do you wish for me to join sides with your papa?¡±


    Baolilong, however, wept: ¡°Where is Purity? Baolilong wants meat-meat.¡±


    Liola was quiet. He was blaming himself because to was his careless mistakes that made Baolilong hungry for three days.


    At this time,the sound of footsteps came from behind the door, and a man with long, white beard walked through the door. He had a sinister smile on his face. Anyone would have loved to punch his front teeth.


    ¡°Young master¡¯s master, have you made your decision?¡± The white bearded old man asked courteously.


    Liola remained quiet and felt disgusted. He then said plainly:


    ¡°Kill me if you want, and remember to tell Miluo to help Baolilong find a good master.¡±


    The old man probably didn¡¯t imagine for Liola to give such an answer.


    He hurriedly said: ¡°Wait, are you sure you don¡¯t want to give it some more consideration? Think about it some more, we aren¡¯t in a hurry. How about we give you three more days?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to think about it. Kill me now.¡± Liola replied coldly.


    If they were forced to go hungry for three more days, perhaps Baolilong would start eating the only food it could reach ¡ª Baolilong¡¯s new dad, and unfortunately, that would be Liola.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong immediately started to struggle, and yelled loudly: ¡°No! Baolilong doesn¡¯t want another papa! White fur isn¡¯t allowed to kill Papa, or else Baolilong will eat you!¡±


    Hearing the contradicting answers from the man and the Dragon, the old man¡¯s face went pale, and said as he trembled:


    ¡°Young master¡¯s master, think about it some more, I beg of you. I still have to go with Master Miluo as he conquers the world, and I can¡¯t be eaten by the young master here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to think about it! Do it now.¡± Liola replied coldly for the third time.


    ¡°You may not, Baolilong will eat you!¡± Baolilong emitted a paltry but terrifying growl.


    Being forced by both sides, the old man¡¯s red lips, which were buried inside his beard, cried as he ran out the door:


    ¡°Wooo, you guys are mean, I don¡¯t want to play with you anymore, wahh!¡±


    Liola was speechless as he watched the old man run out, and Baolilong innocently sobbed in his arms: ¡°Papa, Baolilong is hungry.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s go out.¡± Liola¡¯s eyes flashed. With three days of rest, Liola had already used his Ki to heal most of his wounds, so all that remained were mostly scratches, though it was still hard to tell with all his external wounds.


    He had originally planned to trick the old geezer into opening the cage to kill him, but he was unwilling to do so.


    Liola thought it was regretful, so all he could do was fight head on with this cage of unknown powers. Liola tightened his Ki, and all the muscles in his body contracted. It was as if Liola had suddenly went down a dress size, and the tight chains before were now hanging on his body loosely.


    With a slip of his body, Liola got out of the chains, but he still deftly held onto the chains. He examined the energy on the cage carefully.


    As a habit, Liola tried to reach for the Broken Silver in his boot, but it was completely empty. Liola wasn¡¯t surprised. He grabbed a metal chain and threw it against the cage. The instant the two touched, a strange cyan smoke emanated.


    Liola pulled the chain back and realized a corner of the chain had completely melted. Liola grabbed even more chains, and spun it around him. He threw the chains, which now looked like a sphere of metal, and it dented a corner in the cage.


    Liola kicked it hard. Because the metal chains had cushioned his foot from the cage, his foot did not end up melting, and a bar on the cage broke off. Liola slipped sideways, and perfectly escaped from the cage.


    ¡°Papa, can we eat now?¡± Though there were no more chains, Baolilong still held on tightly onto papa¡¯s chest, its little head raised and pitifully asked Liola.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Liola decided to finish this, otherwise he may never be at peace again. Besides, Broken Silver was still in hands of those Sorcerers, so there was no way Liola could just leave.


    Liola walked like a cat through the hallway, following the direction the old man departed in. He heard loud noises of people debating from afar.


    Liola found the source of the sound without much trouble ¡ª there was a half-opened door on the hallway, where beams of light were emitted. Liola shadow-stepped to the back of the door, and peeked through an eye to observe.


    * * *


    ¡°What do we do now? Young master¡¯s master is not willing to join Miluo¡¯s faction.¡± The white-bearded old man asked the other Sorcerers helplessly. They were the people who abducted Liola the other day.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± One of the young Sorcerers said coldly.


    ¡°But Master Miluo said to invite him to the faction at all costs. He is indeed a strong person and could be quite an asset to Master Miluo.¡± Another Sorcerer, whose age looked similar to the white-bearded old man, had a different opinion.


    ¡°But he isn¡¯t willing to join! We should kill him, and then bring the young master back.¡± The young Sorcerer rebutted intensely.


    The white-bearded old man put on a long face and said: ¡°The young master said that it will eat whomever that kills Liola. So which one of you is going to volunteer to kill Liola?¡±


    As soon as that was said, even the young Sorcerer immediately sat down. Everyone frowned, and some murmured:


    ¡°But we can¡¯t possibly bring such a large cage back to the base, especially since Barbalis and the Dark Knight have already noticed that Liola is missing. Before long, they will definitely find this place since it isn¡¯t too far from Aklan Academy.¡±


    * * *


    They can¡¯t kill, and they can¡¯t not kill. Their situation was so pitiful that even Liola shook his head for them.


    However, the reason Liola shook his head was because he couldn¡¯t understand why Miluo would send a bunch of idiots to catch him. What put him off even more was he was actually captured by these idiots. It was quite a burning shame.


    ¡°Papa, can Baolilong eat them?¡± Baolilong looked at the people inside, as if he saw many, many pieces of meat lying there Baolilong¡¯s mouth watered.


    This terrifying sentence acted almost like a bomb thrown into the room. Every Sorcerer jumped up from their seats as if their butt was on fire, grabbed their staves and pointed at the door. Though no matter how fast the Sorcerers were, they were no match for the Assassin¡¯s speed.


    Liola had already slipped into the room before Baolilong had said anything. And when they stood up, all they felt was the numbness on the back of their necks. A pair of cold, silver eyes appeared before the white-bearded man, and a colder-than-normal hand (because he hadn¡¯t eaten for three days!) held his throat.


    ¡°Young master¡­ ¡®s master, h-how did you escape?¡±


    As the old man asked, the Sorcerers standing behind Liola all fell to the ground at the same time. He knew that there was absolutely no way for him to even use half a spell before Liola hits him unconscious. So all he could do was tremble as he surrender life in Liola¡¯s hands.


    ¡°You underestimate me far too much.¡± Liola said calmly.


    The old man laughed bitterly: ¡°I think so, too. Are you going to kill all of us?¡±


    Liola replied coldly: ¡°No. I want you to go tell Miluo, as long as he doesn¡¯t cause me any trouble, I won¡¯t join the Dragon Emperor¡¯s faction. If he continues to interfere in my life, then I will go directly with Blood Wolf to the Dragon Continent.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The white-bearded man was still laughing bitterly. The punishment for not finishing his mission will be severe, but he was already extremely grateful that his life was spared.


    ¡°My weapon?¡± Liola asked coldly.


    The old man slowly took Broken Silver out of his long robe, and handed it to Liola. After Liola received Broken Silver, he pulled his hand away from the old man¡¯s throat, and then turned to yell at Baolilong: ¡°Baolilong, don¡¯t eat that. Let¡¯s go eat hotpot.¡±


    Baolilong opened its mouth, though it was somewhat unwilling to release the young Sorcerer¡¯s hand it had been chewing on.


    Baolilong climbed onto Liola¡¯s back, and cheerfully yelled ¡°Hotpot, hotpot!¡±


    Liola looked at the old man and said: ¡°Now, get out!¡±


    The old man was scared by Liola¡¯s cold tone. He used his staff and floated his unconscious colleagues into the air, and then threw them inside a door labeled ¡°Garbage Recycling¡±.


    Liola raised his eyebrows, and the old man hurriedly explained: ¡°This is a disguised escape door. Now then, young master¡¯s master, may we meet again¡­¡±


    Liola glanced at him coldly and the old man immediately corrected himself: ¡°No no, may we NEVER meet again. Farewell.¡±


    As the man said his parting words, he, too, jumped into the garbage recycling door, and things like ¡°ow my head¡± could be heard from the door.


    Having finally taken care of everything, Liola turned to leave this baffling place and the incomprehensible situation about becoming a Prince.


    Liola suddenly caught a weapon flying through the air with a soft whistling sound. He then side-stepped to dodge another fatal kunai [throwing knife], and what followed it was a series of ten other kunais.


    Liola was surprised to see the knives, ¡®Why did these knives look so familiar¡­¡¯


    With a swinging kick, Liola swept away all the kunais. Whoever threw them didn¡¯t seem to learn. The kunais still flew towards Liola like snowflakes in a snowstorm. Liola, of course, dodged or swept away all the kunais. His body was so agile that it was as if he was dancing.


    ¡°Long time no see, Master, your skills are still very fascinating. It¡¯s never tiring to watch you.¡± Yasha appeared from the shadows, and she took off the heavy black cloak she had on, which revealed her attractive body, wearing only a red-hot tube top and a mini skirt. Yasha flung her red-hot hair, and a pair of green eyes stared at Liola.


    ¡°It WAS you, Yasha.¡± Liola said lightly, he was uncertain why she suddenly appeared here after being missing for so long, and he actually didn¡¯t notice her being there. Could it be that in a short month, her stealth abilities improved so much that even Liola didn¡¯t notice?


    ¡°Yo, Master, I haven¡¯t seen you for a month, and you already seem more talkative than before.¡± Yasha laughed seductively. With her long legs and heels, she was getting closer to Liola step by step.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Liola took a few steps back. The reunion between master and apprentice should be a touching scene, but when you¡¯re an Assassin, it¡¯s probably a good idea to stay away from your own apprentice.


    Seeing Liola backed up alarmingly, Yasha stopped, and her eyes showed dissatisfaction. With a strong tone she said: ¡°Why do you have to ask? Of course I¡¯m here to defeat you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the best Assassin in this world, even if you beat me you won¡¯t be the best Assassin.¡± Liola stated as a matter of fact.


    Yasha¡¯s face sank, and her beautiful face seemed dark. With a cold voice she said:


    ¡°Who cares about being the best Assassin. Now as long as I take care of you, I will be a princess.¡± Then, she returned to her lazy tone:


    ¡°Master, your net worth keeps going up. Even as your apprentice I get quite a bit of benefits~.¡±


    ¡°Yasha, you don¡¯t want to go back to our original world?¡±


    Liola was filled with doubt. It was understandable for him to not go back, because Liola didn¡¯t want to be constantly chased by Assassins. But Yasha was the leader¡¯s daughter, in that world, wind and rain were practically at her command, could she really not want to go back?


    ¡°Go back?¡± Yasha¡¯s face sank again, her eyes flashed a sense of sadness, but then she immediately said with a sinister smile:


    ¡°I have to at least kill you before I go back, Master.¡±


    But Liola didn¡¯t think much of it. She had probably said she wanted to kill him over a thousand times. Ever since she became his apprentice, she probably averaged at ten times a day. Plus, she tried to assassinate him once a day, every day of the week, and she used different methods everyday. Liola thought that the reason why he was so vigilant, was at least half due to Yasha¡¯s frequent assassination attempts.


    ¡°You have somewhere to go?¡± Liola asked.


    Yasha seemed somewhat disturbed: ¡°Yep.¡±


    Liola nodded, then without any desire to fight, he turned around to leave. He didn¡¯t care how much Yasha yelled ¡°stop¡± or other threats behind him.


    It was always like this! Yasha bit on her red lower lip, and her clenched her fists tightly. Yasha pulled out two silver guns from her skirt, and pointed them at Liola.


    ¡°Halt!¡± Yasha said coldly.


    Liola stopped, and asked without turning his head: ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I asked you, which side will you join?¡± Yasha held the guns, and asked threateningly.


    Liola answered directly: ¡°Neither.¡±


    ¡°Then, do me a favor and go to hell!¡± Yasha held the guns, and the muzzle had lit up with a bright light. Liola was familiar with this light, every time before Kaiser fired, his gun also emitted light like this.


    Liola was just about to open his mouth to tell his apprentice not to do something so reckless, but a familiar voice was yelling:


    ¡°Silver Mask, Silver Mask! We¡¯re here to save you. We¡¯re here with Daylight and Lanski to save you!¡±


    ¡°How did Kaiser find me?¡±


    Liola¡¯s mouth kept twitching, he didn¡¯t know if he should feel touched that Kaiser found people to save him, or complain that they should mind their own business. But Liola had no chance to complain. He instantly took off his gray robe, and then put on a silver mask.


    Yasha observed with a curious expression. She had never seen her master wear anything but black or gray, much more, a silver-lined white uniform (though now it looked red), and he even wore a strange mask:


    ¡°Master, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask where are you?¡± Kaiser put on an act and yelled loudly.


    Liola had already understood why Kaiser had put in so much effort in screaming the words ¡°Silver Mask¡±.


    Kaiser was afraid that Liola¡¯s true identity would be known by Daylight and Lanski from the School of Knights. So he yelled ¡®Silver Mask¡¯ and hope that Liola would hear it, thus letting him transform in time.


    ¡°Stay there and don¡¯t move.¡± Liola commanded his apprentice, and Yasha really did put down the guns and stood still.


    Liola was originally going to tell them that he had already escaped, but he lowered his head, and saw that Baolilong was still in his arms. Liola¡¯s face sank, and said immediately to Baolilong: ¡°Baolilong, hurry and transform to a Dragon.¡±


    Baolilong stared at Liola with its big, pink eyes: ¡°Big Dragon or small Dragon?¡±


    ¡°Small.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t want Baolilong to turn into a big Dragon and ram its head into the ceiling, then try to rush into his arms while crying. A ten-meter Dragon ramming its head into his chest wouldn¡¯t be a pleasant thing.


    Baolilong obeyed and started transforming. Before long, the cute child had already turned into a majestic little Dragon. Liola then asked Baolilong to follow him. He opened the door, and kept a pose unique to Knights: raised jaw, straightened back, elegant yet proud.


    Liola followed the hallway towards the source of the sound. He turned a corner, and ran into the fixe backups. The five people were stunned as soon as they saw Liola.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Kaiser narrowed his eyes: ¡°Aren¡¯t you bathed in blood¡­ Okay, there is plenty of blood on you, but why aren¡¯t you chained and locked in a cage, and almost dying?¡±


    How did Kaiser know his situation? The curious Liola still said coldly: ¡°I escaped.¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask, h-how are you?¡± Lanski heard what Kaiser said, and suddenly realized that the white uniform on Liola¡¯s body was practically red. Lanski suddenly felt a pain in her heart, and quickly asked how his wounds were.


    ¡°I feel¡­¡± Liola showed a heavy expression.


    Everyone seemed worried at what Liola may say. But¡­


    ¡°Very hungry.¡± Liola solemnly stated his feelings.


    Everyone fell to the ground¡­


    Kaiser gave Liola a death glare and then yelled: ¡°Who the hell cares if you¡¯re hungry?! We¡¯re asking about your wounds!¡±


    As if he just found out that he was injured and bleeding, Liola lowered his head and looked at his bloodied clothes and then calmly said: ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Kaiser shook his head in disbelief:


    ¡°You must be related to earthworms, even if you¡¯re cut into 8 segments you won¡¯t die. Next time if Bao¡­ your Dragon gets hungry, you should just feed it meat from your body, because you will grow it back anyway, and it saves money.¡±


    Purity and Meinan, who had both seen the severity of Liola¡¯s wounds after his fight with Miluo, were worried at what Kaiser said. They wondered if Liola could be injured so much that only his skeleton remains, and he was still able to calmly say that he¡¯s fine.


    However, Daylight and Lanski didn¡¯t see it that way. To them, the Silver Mask wearing bloodied clothes, with a tired expression (but it¡¯s actually because he hadn¡¯t eaten for three days) didn¡¯t look okay at all.


    ¡°Silver Mask, are you really okay?¡±


    Lanski worried and walked up to Liola. She touched the 30 cm wound on Liola¡¯s chest. Though it was no longer bleeding, the wound was still terrifying. Then Lanski touched the wound on Silver Mask¡¯s shoulders, and looked at many of the other wounds. Lanski felt several heavy blows to her heart. The strong girl she had always been was actually starting to cry.


    ¡°This Liola guy is really lucky with women.¡± Kaiser shook his head, but he didn¡¯t really care about Liola¡¯s luck.


    However, having spent almost a month with Liola, Kaiser knew that this luck with women could easily turn into tendency to get into trouble.


    Kaiser only hoped the troubles this time wouldn¡¯t involve him. With him and Liola, the problems could only get bigger.


    ¡°They look quite a couple. Knight and Princess are best together, just like in fairy tales.¡± Purity engrossed herself in a fairy tale, but this is the part where the villainess usually appears, and then¡­


    ¡°Get your dirty hands off him!¡± Two silver guns appeared on Liola¡¯s shoulder, and they were pointed at Lanski.


    At the same time, Daylight¡¯s flashing sword was also appeared at Yasha¡¯s long neck, and he warned: ¡°Put down the guns.¡±


    So the situation was as follows:


    Lanski¡¯s hand was on Liola¡¯s chest, Yasha was standing behind Liola, with her guns resting on Liola¡¯s shoulders, pointing at Lanski.


    Daylight stood behind Lanski, with a long sword reaching over Lanski and Liola¡¯s arm, resting on Yasha¡¯s shoulder.


    As for the three other people, they were more than five meters away, and Meinan had already put up countless layers of shielding. Purity was cheerfully watching the fairy tale story unfold, and Kaiser was sitting there eating popcorn.


    Oh, of course, and there was the hungry Baolilong ramming at the shield from outside. It was drooling as it looked at the popcorn in Kaiser¡¯s hand¡­ or perhaps just Kaiser¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Take your dirty hands off of my Master!¡± Yasha said as if she didn¡¯t notice there¡¯s a sword on her shoulder, and stared Lanski¡¯s beautiful yet strangely familiar face.


    ¡°Point your guns away from the princess!¡± Daylight also yelled.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Lanski seemed to be unhappy. She instinctively hated the beautiful redhead, and she wasn¡¯t willing to remove her hand from Liola¡¯s chest.


    Facing such a messy situation, Liola speechlessly looked at Kaiser, and his eyes were screaming for help. But Kaiser seemed to be enjoying Liola¡¯s misfortune, and continued eating his popcorn.


    Purity was still euphoric in her fairy tale dream. Perhaps the only person here who knew anything about sandwiched between two women would be Meinan, but unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t much help either.


    Without Kaiser¡¯s backup, Liola had to save himself. With a flash, he escaped from the sandwich. Without Liola being the insulating middle part, the eyes of the two women met, and it was as if lightning appeared before them.


    ¡®What is this! Wearing a Knight¡¯s uniform? Not feminine at all. And that face, it was identical to Anise¡¯s, no wonder Master would be enthralled by her¡­¡¯


    Yasha angrily stared at Lanski¡¯s beautiful cream hair, and couldn¡¯t help but show jealousy in her eyes.


    ¡®Red-hot wavy hair, and lipsticks bright as a rose. Plus she¡¯s wearing such tight top, with such a short skirt¡­ Silver Mask wouldn¡¯t like a girl like that, right?¡¯


    Lanski held herself back from commenting on Yasha¡¯s beautiful long legs.


    ¡°Yasha, put the guns down.¡± Liola said condemningly.


    Hearing Liola¡¯s commands, Yasha unwillingly put down her guns, then unhappily said:


    ¡°Master, are you really going to let this woman touch you like that?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about Silver Mask¡¯s wounds.¡± Lanski blushed, realizing how unlady-like her actions were. But Lanski didn¡¯t want to appear weak in front of the other woman, so she forced out a reason.


    ¡°Caring about his wounds? Hmph!¡± Yasha grunted contemptuously, and then added casually: ¡°You were obviously taking advantage of Master, you shameless slut.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Lanski pulled her sword out angrily: ¡°You may not insult me.¡±


    ¡°Your shame turned into anger just because I¡¯m right~?¡± Yasha said mockingly.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Lanski was so angry that she gritted her teeth, and had forgotten all the rules of a duel. She angrily took hold of her sword and took a jab towards Yasha.


    Yasha, whose favorite pastime was making people angry, was obviously prepared. Her guns formed a cross and blocked the sword, and her long leg used this opportunity to sneak an attack at Lanski.


    Lanski barely dodged this kick, and her rage grew more. These two women immediately fell into a fight.


    Although a cat fight between two gorgeous women would normally be a welcoming thing to watch, this scene gave two men a headache.


    Daylight put away his sword, and frowned: ¡°Since Princess Lanski was the one to attack first, then it should count as a duel. I won¡¯t intervene.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Silver Mask, do you think your apprentice will win, or the princess?¡± Kaiser was extremely excited, and he even wanted to have a bet with Meinan next to him.


    However, Meinan was too nervous about the two beauties fighting each other. He was afraid that their faces might even be scratched even just a tiny bit, and thus damaging their beauty. He was so nervous that he forgot to maintain his shields, let alone have bets with Kaiser.


    ¡°Kaiser, what would you use for a wager?¡± Purity thought it was strange, since she remembered that Kaiser was so poor that the only person poorer than him would be Liola, who had nothing because he was from another world.


    Kaiser seriously thought about it: ¡°Then I will wager Liola. He¡¯s currently worth a lot.¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage is the wager? Then Purity will bet with you!¡± Purity¡¯s glasses flashed, and she started observing the fight between the two beauties, trying to figure out who had better odds of winning.


    Meinan took a second to advise the two gambling addicts: ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to wager ¡®Liola¡¯ in front of ¡®Silver Mask¡¯¡­?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s not good about it? Even if I lose him to Purity, then he might even be happy to have left me!¡± Kaiser snapped.


    ¡®That goes without saying!¡¯ Liola thought in response, as he watched the two women fight.


    ¡°This fight really is exciting. Princess Lanski actually lives up to her name and the fact that she has already reached Blue Rank, and the opposing woman can¡¯t be overlooked either. Her moves are very agile. This is a Knight¡¯s duel worthy of cheering.¡± Daylight examined both women¡¯s martial arts, and even praised them.


    Hearing Daylight¡¯s conclusion, then turning to see the two women, Kaiser said accurately: ¡°If two women escalating jealousy into a catfight counts as a Knightly duel, then my pillow fight with Baolilong should be called the Brave Hero vs. the Evil Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Can we just ignore those two women and go eat first?¡± Kaiser pointed at Baolilong:


    ¡°Look, this Dragon even ate the plastic bag that held my popcorn, if we don¡¯t go eat soon, I think we seriously have to go up against ¡®Hungry Dragon¡¯.¡±


    [T/N: Evil Dragon and Hungry Dragon in this context sounds identical in Chinese, so the author was trying to make a pun here.]

 Volume 3, 2 : Six Forbidden Sins

    Volume 3, Chapter 2 : Six Forbidden Sins


    On the table, there were two people eating without a care in the world¡­ Well, technically, there was one, and that would be Kaiser, while the other one was a Dragon, Baolilong.


    Silver Mask, who was just as hungry as the others, was still chewing slowly as always. The way Daylight ate was more chic, following a Knight¡¯s manners to be generous and elegant.


    When Purity had eaten a couple of bites, she then took her food and fed it to Baolilong. As for Meinan, he was smiling so much, he almost had facial muscle cramps. He was desperately trying to lighten the mood between the two beautiful women.


    ¡°Princess Lanski, why don¡¯t you eat something? You used a lot of energy just now, you¡¯re probably hungry, right?¡± Meinan said as he put up a plate of salad before Lanski.


    Meinan then turned around and put a plate in front of Yasha: ¡°Beautiful lady, why don¡¯t you eat something too? Don¡¯t starve yourself.¡±


    Yasha¡¯s expression changed. She slammed the table and she yelled: ¡°Why did you give her food before me? Are you looking down on me? Do you think lowly of me compared to her?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that at all.¡± Meinan was surprised, and immediately apologized.


    ¡°So in other words, you think that my social standing is the same as this unknown woman¡¯s?¡± Lanski said coldly.


    ¡°No no no! I don¡¯t mean that either¡­¡± Meinan turned his head to answer Lanski.


    ¡°You dare to look down on me?¡± Yasha yelled angrily.


    ¡°No, I would never dare to!¡± Meinan wailed again.


    Seeing was Meinan in a difficult position, Liola remembered he was still friends with Meinan, so with a grim tone, he yelled. ¡°Yasha!¡±


    Hearing the master¡¯s yell, Yasha pouted and sat down. She took a plate and angrily stabbed a piece of meat with a fork. As she ate, she stared at Lanski, and chewed it angrily as if the meat was Lanski.


    Lanski¡¯s face was cold and calm, and she did not react to Yasha¡¯s provocation. On the contrary, Lanski ate small bites nobly and elegantly.


    ¡°Silver Mask, why aren¡¯t we going to the healing center to treat your wounds, instead of coming here to eat? Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Daylight put down his silverware, and looked worriedly at the Silver Mask¡¯s wounds.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. My wounds are mostly healed. There are only minor injuries remaining.¡± Liola answered straightforwardly.


    Daylight thought about it for a moment and said in understanding: ¡°Looks like you, Silver Mask, are worthy to be Paladin Lancelot¡¯s apprentice. You even mastered the healing magic unique to Paladins, and cured such serious injuries.¡±


    Kaiser quietly murmured:


    ¡°This guy isn¡¯t anywhere near worthy to be Lancelot¡¯s apprentice. Everyday he talks about some Assassin¡¯s guide, and he can¡¯t even feel magic elements. Good thing he learnt how to summon a Dragon, otherwise he couldn¡¯t even be a fake Dragon Knight.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Daylight frowned. He couldn¡¯t hear Kaiser¡¯s mosquito-like voice.


    ¡°Nothing, I was praying before a meal.¡± Kaiser said with a straight face, pretending that it wasn¡¯t strange to pray before a meal, even though he already has more than ten empty plates stacked up in front of him.


    Although Daylight found it weird, he wasn¡¯t familiar with Sorcerers, so he assumed all Sorcerers prayed during their meals.


    After eating quietly for a while, Lanski could no longer hold back to urge to ask: ¡°Silver Mask, why does this woman keep calling you Master? What¡¯s your relationship with her?¡±


    ¡®Master-Apprentice relationship, duh¡­ she already called him ¡°Master¡±¡¯.


    Kaiser and others thought in their minds. However, to prevent the situation similar to Meinan from recurring, the three of them buried their faces in their bowls, even though they were all ears.


    ¡°She¡¯s my apprentice.¡± Liola answered simply. At the same time he frowned when he saw the ground near Baolilong was covered with food. He used telepathy to express his discontent.


    Baolilong¡¯s eyes looked at Liola as if it Liola had wronged him, and took small bites of meat from its plate.


    ¡°Apprentice?¡± Lanski seemed to be eased yet worried at the same time.


    She hurriedly ask again: ¡°S-so how old are you?¡±


    ¡®Could he be really old?¡¯ Lanski glanced at the mask again. Being a Silver ranked Knight, he should be at least 40 to 50. But no matter how Lanski looked, she thought that Liola didn¡¯t look a day past 30.


    ¡°25.¡± Liola replied again as a matter of fact.


    ¡°25? How is that possible?!¡± Lanski and Daylight were in shock.


    Being a Silver ranked Knight at the age of 25, it was practically unfathomable.


    Lanski had just achieved Blue rank at the age of 20, while Daylight had begun to show glimpse of silver aura mixed with his blue aura.


    These two were already considered to be prodigies amongst all prodigies. If Liola had really reached Silver rank at 25, he would be the youngest Silver Knight in history.


    ¡°What¡¯s shocking about that? Master IS 25 years old.¡± Yasha taunted.


    She was proud to be the an apprentice of such a gifted Master, but at the same time she was jealous at his talent.


    ¡°Same age as I am.¡±


    Daylight couldn¡¯t avoid being discouraged. He had originally thought he was the rare genius, so he couldn¡¯t imagine the person in front of him to be even more talented. But it also meant he had to work harder, so he lifted his spirits back up.


    ¡°Wait, then how could you be her master? What is your real relationship?¡±


    Lanski observed Yasha as she asked Liola. No matter how she looked, she felt Yasha was probably around 25 as well. How could people of the same age be in a master-apprentice relationship?


    Liola frowned. He realized that if he started explaining this, then there was no way to hide his real identity. He replied: ¡°I don¡¯t want to say.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t have imagined how much jealousy this caused. Yasha laughed jauntily, and Lanski¡¯s face sank. She said: ¡°If you don¡¯t want to say it, fine. You have the right to remain silent!¡±


    Hearing this, Liola nodded and really wasn¡¯t planning to say anything else.


    Lanski had no idea that Liola would really act that way, so she assumed Yasha and Liola really had some unspeakable secrets.


    Vexed, Lanski couldn¡¯t restrain herself: ¡°No! You have to tell me.¡±


    Liola frowned, he couldn¡¯t understand why Lanski¡¯s attitude was so volatile. He repeated the same reply as before: ¡°I don¡¯t want to say.¡±


    Lanski was furious, and she yelled: ¡°Fine, then don¡¯t ever tell me!¡±


    She threw her silverware on the table and, without looking at Liola or Yasha, lifted her head and walked out the door. On the way out, she slammed the door shut.


    Liola stared at the door for a moment, and asked cluelessly: ¡°Is she mad?¡±


    ¡°What, you thought she left happily?¡± Meinan said in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t imagine that Liola could be this dense.


    ¡°Why is she mad?¡± Liola couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Because some idiot¡¯s brain is filled with mud.¡± Kaiser replied coldly.


    ¡°Li¡­ Silver Mask-dage would score zero in a class of Romance.¡± Even Purity sighed and shook her head in disbelief.


    Yasha put both of her hands on her hips and asked: ¡°Master, why do they call you Silver Mask? You obviously are called Li¡­¡±


    Before she finished, everyone had covered her mouth. She blinked with her long eyelashes, and her arms flailed around, struggling.


    Everyone glanced at Daylight. Kaiser walked in front of him and said:


    ¡°We¡¯re very grateful that you came with us to save Silver Mask. But now, we have to discuss some School of Sorcery secrets, do you think that¡­¡± Kaiser purposely showed Daylight an awkward expression.


    Daylight was briefly stunned, then he understood: ¡°Ah, all right, then I shouldn¡¯t stay around. Silver Mask, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay, and I hope that one day I will have another chance to duel with you.¡±


    Daylight touched his chest with his right arm, and gave a Knight¡¯s salute to Silver Mask. He then followed Lanski¡¯s footsteps and left.


    ¡°Such a chivalrous guy, so easily fooled. Looks like I have to get to know him more, so I can frequently take advantage of him in the future.¡± Kaiser laughed sinisterly, and this evil laugh made Meinan and Purity both pray for Daylight.


    At this time, Yasha finally broke free. She yelled: ¡°Let go! What the hell are you guys doing?¡±


    ¡°Because you were about to say Liola¡¯s name out loud! That¡¯s a gigantic secret around here. And if people know it, then Liola and I would be in deep trouble.¡± Kaiser threatened.


    ¡°You shut up, little kid!¡± Yasha said as she poked Kaiser¡¯s forehead. Unfortunately, Yasha stood tall at 176cm with heels (approx. 5¡¯9¡±), and the pitiful Kaiser was only 168cm (approx. 5¡¯6¡±), not to mention he couldn¡¯t wear heels. The difference in height made Yasha feel justified for calling Kaiser a little kid.


    ¡°Oh? Fine, I¡¯ll shut up. Don¡¯t get so angry, it¡¯s causing your wrinkles to show, auntie!¡± Kaiser seemed like he didn¡¯t care.


    Round one, Kaiser wins!


    After falling to the ground from receiving such a blow, Yasha grabbed Meinan¡¯s mirror desperately checking for any sign of wrinkles.


    No matter how she looked, she could only see a pair of attractive, electrified eyes, and no wrinkles!


    Yasha sighed in relief and then resumed her previous jaunty look. She¡¯s a natural beauty, how could she possibly have wrinkles at 27?!


    ¡°Yasha, after you left Kaiser¡¯s home, where did you go?¡±


    Liola¡¯s tone was still cold, but to Yasha, who was used to having her master being completely indifferent, asking her for her whereabouts was unusually caring. She almost wondered if the person in front of her really was her master.


    It made Yasha uncomfortable. The Liola before her wasn¡¯t the master she was familiar with. The person that Yasha worshipped was a merciless Assassin, but could his heart have been defrosted?


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t concern you, does it, master?¡± Yasha purposely gave an apathetic reply, and then she secretly glanced at Liola.


    Yasha was hoping to hear the familiar cold tone, but all Liola did was remained expressionless and nodded, which made her very disappointed.


    ¡°I went to this world¡¯s Assassin organization!¡± Yasha turned her head to answer.


    To a stranger like Yasha, the only way she could survive in this world was to find places familiar to her, such as the Assassin organization.


    Coincidentally, she actually got ahold of information regarding Liola there. With some hesitation, she looked at Liola and said:


    ¡°Master you should be careful. Someone hired the Six Forbidden Sins to kill you.¡±


    Upon hearing the name, Meinan¡¯s expression suddenly changed. His hands were trembling so much, he almost dropped the mirror he held in his hands.


    But the name of the organization didn¡¯t affect Liola much, and all he did was frown slightly.


    ¡®Someone wanted to kill him? Who could it be? Was it Miluo?¡¯


    Liola nodded at Yasha: ¡°I understand.¡±


    Yasha¡¯s face blushed, and suddenly stood up to yell:


    ¡°Don¡¯t think for a second that it¡¯s because I care about you! I¡¯m afraid if you get killed, I¡¯d end up in serious trouble, understand? Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t care whether you live or not!¡±


    ¡®Yeah right!¡¯ Everyone knew Yasha¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t match what¡¯s in her heart at all. Well, everyone except the unromantic Liola.


    Liola simply nodded his head and said: ¡°I understand.¡±


    Yasha¡¯s mood¡­ was practically identical to Lanski¡¯s who had just burst out the door. She was almost grinding her teeth at Liola¡¯s bluntness.


    Yasha stomped her feet a few times and said: ¡°Anyhow, you are only allowed to die by my hands!¡±


    Yasha stomped a few more times, but saw Liola was not going to respond. Her face turned completely red, and she turned to kick the door open.


    Liola had made yet another woman leave¡­


    ¡°Your apprentice is quite strange. On one hand, she says she¡¯s going to kill you, on the other, she obeys your every command.¡± Kaiser said as he shook his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Assassin¡¯s principle. Killing one¡¯s own master indicates they are ready to graduate. If one¡¯s master is killed by someone else, then they must avenge their master by killing the killer before they can graduate.¡± Liola stated emotionlessly.


    Ever since the day Yasha became his apprentice, she had constantly tried to kill him.


    ¡°Then who the hell wants apprentices? You have to teach them then get killed by them.¡± Kaiser touched his neck, and felt lucky he didn¡¯t have an apprentice.


    Thinking about Yasha¡¯s warning, Liola hesitated and asked: ¡°What is the Six Forbidden Sins?¡±


    ¡°Six Forbidden Sins?!¡± Kaiser acted as if he had been shocked by ten thousand volts of electricity, his body straightened, and it wasn¡¯t until now that his mind registered what Yasha had said before.


    He pulled his hair in agony and said:


    ¡°My god, Mizerui and Barbalis, King of Dragons plus Dragon Emperor, Paladin plus Dark Knight, and now we have Six Forbidden Sins? Damn! Liola you practically messed with every strong person in this world. Wahhh, we¡¯d have a better chance of living if we pit ourselves against Mizerui!¡±


    ¡°What exactly is Six Forbidden Sins?¡± Liola asked again impatiently.


    Kaiser cleared his throat as he grabbed Purity¡¯s large glasses. He put them on, and started lecturing as if he were a professor:


    ¡°This world has countless Assassin organizations, and the most terrifying of them is Adorning Flowers. And the reason why this organization is the best is because of six Assassins, who claimed they could kill anyone and everyone.


    Rumor has it, their martial arts have many different forms, but anyone who would have seen them are already dead. Because I¡¯m still alive, I¡¯m not sure. the only thing I know is that the organization had announced their names: Black Rose, Clover, Gypsophila, Sunflower, Gladiolus, and Anthurium.¡±


    ¡°These six people are the Six Forbidden Sins. Trifling with them is a death sentence.¡± Kaiser said as he touched his neck.


    ¡°Assassins¡­¡± Strangely, Liola felt somewhat familiar.


    Meinan¡¯s face sank: ¡°We aren¡¯t playing around. The Six Forbidden Sins aren¡¯t ordinary Assassins. Liola, you must not take them lightly.¡±


    Purity glanced at Meinan, and her eyes were filled with sympathy. She knew roughly of what had happened to her good friend Meinan in the past, and it wasn¡¯t a pleasant story.


    ¡°But, who would hire such Assassins to kill Liola?¡± Kaiser carefully pondered: ¡°Could it be Miluo? Or¡­ does Liola have some other enemies?¡±


    * * *


    After Lanski had rushed out of the room in anger, she sanked in deep regret.


    It was hard for her to see Silver Mask, but now she parted with him on such unhappy terms.


    ¡®Such an idiot!¡¯ Lanski thought to herself, ¡®Great, now Silver Mask would have a bad impression of her.¡¯


    Lanski was getting more worried, the more she thought about it. Not only did her feet stop their track various times, she occasionally walked backwards, thinking about reconciling with Silver Mask.


    However, when she thought about the fact of her rushing out because of anger, and if she ran back to apologize, then that¡­ that Yasha woman will definitely make fun of her. But if she doesn¡¯t go back, when will she see Silver Mask again?


    Lanski walked a few steps, she seems to be struggling with something on her mind, and turned around. She took a few steps, she bit down on her lips. And because she didn¡¯t want to see Yasha crowing over her, she turned around again and continued walking towards the dorm.


    Lanski walked back and forth, and even the bystanders who were enjoying the Princess¡¯s beauty had gotten dizzy.


    ¡°Lanski? What are you doing and why are you pacing back and forth?¡± Jasmine held a large paper bag and walked up to Lanski from the other side of the street.


    She was surprised when she saw Lanski¡¯s unusual behavior. Lanski who was normally elegant and proud, was now frowning and lost, like a little girl.


    She really did look like a young girl who had fallen in love for the first time, and contemplating whether she should run away from home to see her lover.


    Jasmine couldn¡¯t help but burst out laughing, with this Princess walking back and forth must be related to Silver Mask.


    Lanski stuttered and she wasn¡¯t willing to clearly explain what happened. Jasmine laughed mischievously and yelled: ¡°I think I just saw Silver Mask on the street!¡±


    ¡°Really? Where is he? Was there a glamorous woman next to him?¡± Lanski asked immediately in response. But as soon as she saw Jasmine¡¯s snickering, she immediately knew that she was tricked again and pouted in protest.


    Jasmine, with a large smile on her face, she placed her right hand on Lanski¡¯s shoulder, and said:


    ¡°Tell me, you know you can¡¯t hide it from me.¡±


    Lanski had awkward expression, but since Jasmine was her best friend, Lanski didn¡¯t hesitate to tell her everything, and then she asked anxiously:


    ¡°Jasmine, do you think I should go apologize to Silver Mask?¡±


    Jasmine purposely pretended to be deep in thought. At one moment she shook her head, and in the next, she nodded. It made Lanski quite impatient and anxious.


    After pretending for a while, and seeing Lanski¡¯s rare expressions, Jasmine finally burst into laughter, and Lanski knew that Jasmine was teasing her again. Lanski yelled, while blushing furiously: ¡°Jasmine!¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Jasmine held her tummy and stopped laughing, and started analyzing the situation seriously with her friend:


    ¡°Why would you apologize? That wouldn¡¯t increase his affection for you. Why don¡¯t you just ask him out?¡±


    ¡°Ask him out? Wouldn¡¯t that be¡­¡± Lanski stuttered and couldn¡¯t say the last word.


    ¡°A date!¡± Jasmine said with a firm expression. She then forcefully dragged Lanski, whose face was completely red, and walked towards the restaurant Lanski had talked about.


    ¡°W-wait, Jasmine.¡± Lanski¡¯s heart was filled with shock and shame when she thought about dating Silver Mask.


    ¡°What for? If we wait any longer, that red-hot beauty would rob Silver Mask from you!¡± Jasmine yelled as she turned her head. She was actually worried for her friend.


    Lanski¡¯s personality was rather firm and sometimes even stubborn. If someone stole Silver Mask away, who knows what would happen¡­


    Hearing what Jasmine said, Lanski immediately stopped struggling. She timidly asked: ¡°But, what do I do if Silver Mask doesn¡¯t want to have a date with me?¡±


    Jasmine put both of her hands on Lanski¡¯s shoulders:


    ¡°Lanski, are you really the Lanski I know? I remember my good friend Lanski is a courageous, indomitable, and resolute woman! So what if Silver Mask rejects you? You can keep pestering him and he will eventually surrender!¡±


    Hearing Jasmine¡¯s reminder, Lanski¡¯s shyness and timidness slowly faded. What replaced it was a firm and courageous attitude. Jasmine no longer had to drag her, but instead Lanski grabbed Jasmine and walked in front of her, towards the restaurant.


    ¡°He will agree even if I have to pester him!¡± Lanski¡¯s blue eyes were burning with flames.


    Jasmine was pleased and contented. Her good friend Lanski was finally back!


    Jasmine glanced with the corner of her eyes, and she saw a familiar face, it was the person they were looking for. Jasmine immediately waved her arm, and yelled: ¡°Liola!¡±


    Lanski heard Jasmine¡¯s shout, and stopped in confusion. She saw Jasmine running towards Liola, and it wasn¡¯t until she widened her eyes to look at the person, did she remember it was Liola.


    ¡®Wasn¡¯t he the student with a child from the School of Sorcery?¡¯ Lanski¡¯s eyes suddenly glinted, ¡®Weren¡¯t the three people around Liola the very same ones with Silver Mask just moments ago?¡¯


    * * *


    These four people had, of course, just filled their stomachs to the brim and were heading back to their dorm.


    Liola had changed from his Silver Knight uniform to his Sorcerer robe, and he was carrying Baolilong on his back. Hearing his name called out, he turned and looked at Jasmine behind who was running to catch up to them.


    With a few light steps Jasmine had caught up to Liola, and laughed as she raised up the large paper bag in her hand: ¡°I bought a lot of beef jerky to feed your child. I didn¡¯t think I would run into you half way!¡±


    The smell from the paper bag had already attracted Baolilong, who kept climbing forward on Liola¡¯s back while reaching forward with its chubby fingers. Unfortunately, its hands were too short to reach it.


    Baolilong desperately tried to reach a tad bit further, and yelled: ¡°Meat, meat!¡±


    Jasmine saw Baolilong¡¯s cuteness, and she went a bit closer, so that Baolilong could climb into her arms. Baolilong then grabbed ahold of the paper bag and wouldn¡¯t let go.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just finish eating?¡± Liola frowned and said. At the same time he wondered, can Baolilong never be full?


    ¡°Dragon? A pig is more like it.¡± Kaiser murmured to himself on the side.


    After Jasmine had taken out a large piece of beef from the bag to give to Baolilong, she handed the child to Lanski, who was just as fond of children as she was. Then Jasmine walked in front of Liola, and said with a big smile:


    ¡°Is Baolilong¡¯s papa interested in going to the amusement park with me this weekend? You and the child probably haven¡¯t gone out to play for a long time, have you?¡±


    Liola frowned. ¡®What is an amusement park?¡¯


    ¡°Are you free this weekend? If not, next weekend is fine too.¡± Jasmine took another step towards Liola. She definitely intended to do what she told Lanski before: pestering him until he agrees!


    Lanski observed from the side. She admired her friend¡¯s courage but at the same time, she wished her well. Though she felt that Jasmine was a bit¡­ too good for Liola, but if Jasmine liked him, Lanski would definitely give them her blessings.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay for the tickets and lunch!¡± Jasmine remembered that the child¡¯s papa seemed to be a bit short on money, so she immediately added.


    ¡°Lunch!¡± As soon as Baolilong heard of food, no matter if it was day or night, it will raise its hands and start cheering.


    Kaiser hurriedly pushed Liola and said:


    ¡°Hey, they¡¯re going to pay for it, so why don¡¯t you agree now? At least you can save Purity some money, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how much Baolilong eats.¡±


    ¡®Kaiser, you wouldn¡¯t lose to Baolilong either¡­¡¯ Purity thought and remembered the money left in her bank account was going down rapidly. Looks like she will have to pettishly charm her brother for more allowance again.


    Although Liola had no idea what amusement parks were, he was fond of Jasmine. With a push from Kaiser, Baolilong¡¯s excitement for food, and anticipation on Jasmine¡¯s face, Liola nodded in agreement.


    Seeing Liola had agreed, Jasmine happily jumped up and hugged Liola. After she saw the three people behind them, with an ambiguous expression she playfully stuck out her tongue, then let go of Liola.


    With a smile, she said: ¡°Then, Baolilong¡¯s papa, come pick me up at ten o¡¯clock this saturday¡­ No, I¡¯ll pick you up.¡±


    Liola nodded. With Jasmine¡¯s sudden hug, he felt a bit¡­ embarrassed. It was another emotion that Liola didn¡¯t understand until Kaiser explained it to him.


    After she had transferred the paper bag into Liola¡¯s hand, Jasmine happily walked back to Lanski: ¡°Okay, my things are all taken care of. Now let¡¯s go take care of yours.¡±


    Lanski put Baolilong back in Liola¡¯s arms, then walked up to Kaiser and the others. She asked with a bit of embarrassment: ¡°Excuse me, where did¡­ Silver Mask go?¡±


    Kaiser pretended calm and said: ¡°Oh him? He left first. What¡¯s the matter? I could take a message for you.¡±


    Lanski held back the disappointment and worry in her heart, and said to Kaiser: ¡°Can you ask him to meet me this Saturday?¡±


    ¡°Saturday?¡± Kaiser said and drowned in his thought. And in his mind, he thought:


    ¡®Are these two women joking? One asks ¡®Liola¡¯ to go play on Saturday, and another asks ¡®Silver Mask¡¯ to meet her. Damn! I wonder if the best Assassin knows the rumored ninja skill: Shadow Clone?¡¯


    ¡°Er, please, tell him to meet me this Saturday!¡± Lanski¡¯s hands made fists, and she was asking almost as if she were begging.


    Kaiser was completely clueless as to what to do in this situation. He took a few steps back, turned, and pushed Meinan in front of him.


    Kaiser yelled: ¡°I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t know anything! I¡¯m not that familiar with Silver Mask, but Meinan is! Ask him!¡±


    Meinan, who was enjoying the show on the sidelines, suddenly got pushed forward. Scared, Meinan tried to evade looking into Lanski¡¯s eyes.


    But when Meinan finally gave up the thought of escaping, Meinan bit the bullet and answered: ¡°Perhaps if it¡¯s dinner¡­¡± ¡­Maybe? Meinan glanced at Liola from the corner of his eyes, and saw that Liola didn¡¯t give any indication of rejecting, so Meinan calmed down a bit.


    ¡°Dinner? I understand. So Saturday night at six o¡¯clock, could you please ask him to come to the Knight¡¯s dorm to look for me?¡±


    Lanski couldn¡¯t hold back the happiness in her heart. Her excitement, shyness, and beauty intoxicated quite a few of the male audience. Jasmine was also happy for her friend and she gave her a thumbs up.


    Meinan again glanced at Liola once again. Only after he confirmed that there was no expression on Liola¡¯s face, he nodded his head to accept Lanski¡¯s request.


    Lanski was so happy that she almost couldn¡¯t control her face. With a wide smile, she ran back to Jasmine. They happily squealed at each other: ¡°Very good!¡±


    ¡°Very good? Very miserable is more like it¡­¡± Kaiser and others looked at Liola strangely.


    Of course, Liola was still expressionless. He was too busy thinking, what did Lanski want from him?

 Volume 3, 3 : Method for Dual Identity Dating

    Volume 3, Chapter 3 : Method for Dual Identity Dating


    Purity¡¯s face was full of seriousness, and Meinan was frowning. The two looked like they were deciding the fate of their world.


    Meinan earnestly looked at Purity and said: ¡°Purity, I have to tell you the truth. I feel that your¡­¡±


    Purity raised her head, and stubbornly replied: ¡°Meinan, actually, I too feel that your¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Sense of beauty is twisted!¡± The two yelled in unison loudly.


    Meinan brushed his hair, and pointed at a set of black clothes on the bed:


    ¡°Obviously this black and gold-lined uniform is the best. Why would you pick the white one? It¡¯s not for a patient in a hospital. White doesn¡¯t look majestic at all.¡±


    Purity clenched her fist and protested.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with white?! Even Purity¡¯s brother looks good in white. If Meinan likes it, he could wear gold blocks for all I care! Don¡¯t tell Liola-dage to wear that, it would destroy his aura!¡±


    ¡°Not being anal or anything, but¡­¡± Kaiser jumped from his sleeping posture with veins popping out of his head:


    ¡°Why the hell are you two yelling in someone else¡¯s room so early in the morning?! Why don¡¯t you go back to your own rooms and yell? Bastards! Don¡¯t you know today is a weekend? Why can¡¯t you let me sleep in?¡±


    Purity became timid, and Meinan also moved awkwardly. They both said, as if they had been wronged: ¡°We¡¯re just worrying about Liola¡¯s dates.¡±


    Kaiser sat up on his bed, and he hugged a soft pillow. With a head of bed hair and a weak face, Kaiser asked: ¡°Where¡¯s Liola?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s practicing Kung Fu on the roof.¡± They said in unison.


    Kaiser looked at the two sets of clothes on the bed. The black and gold-lined outfit wasn¡¯t as bad as Purity had put it. It was pure black, and there was an elegant magic circle adorned near the chest with golden linen. Along with long and traditional black boots, this set of clothes would actually match the mysteriousness of Liola very well.


    The white set consisted of a white, button-up shirt, an elegant, sleeveless silver vest, and a sepia trousers. On the side of the legs there was a gradient pattern that goes from light on the bottom to dark on top, and it matched well with the white boots.


    Kaiser thought quietly, when Liola gets back, he will make him take those clothes off so he can sell them, but on the surface, he seriously gave them a recommendation:


    ¡°This is too simple. Give Liola the black set, and give Silver Mask the white set; they fit perfectly well.¡±


    The two suddenly realized that it was the best way.


    During this time, Liola jumped in through the window. He looked at the clock on the wall, and it was 9:50am. Liola prepared to take a bath to wash away his sweat. He pulled out his drawer to take out a gray robe and change.


    ¡°Liola, wearing the school uniform to a date would be rude to a lady. Why don¡¯t you put on this black one?¡± Meinan quickly handed the black, gold-lined attire.


    Without even looking, Liola took the clothes and walked into the restroom. In about three minutes, Liola walked out with the black clothes. It fit quite well, as the tight-fitting clothes showed his long body, and the gold-lined magic circle accentuated Liola¡¯s mysterious nature.


    ¡°T-that looks good!¡± Purity¡¯s heart raced, she almost fainted from Liola¡¯s handsome features.


    ¡°Definitely looks magnificent.¡± Meinan said, admiring his own judgement.


    ¡®Crap! The boss seems to like this set of clothes, I¡¯m afraid that she won¡¯t let me go sell it!¡¯ Kaiser sighed. ¡®It¡¯s so hard making money!¡¯


    Liola wasn¡¯t the slightest bit interested in what he was wearing. All he did was grab Baolilong from the bed, who was wrapped up like a sushi roll, and calmly said to the other three people:


    ¡°I¡¯m going.¡±


    Kaiser and others nodded. But as Liola walked out, three of them immediately began to move. An Assassin¡¯s first date wasn¡¯t something you see every day, and how could they possibly not secretly follow out of curiosity?


    * * *


    The date participant, Liola, treated his date as a common thing. In fact, after hearing Kaiser¡¯s explanation, Liola finally understood that amusement parks were places where children played. Therefore, Liola automatically understood this as Jasmine wanting to take Baolilong out to play.


    As for Kaiser¡¯s long-winded explanation on male-female dates, Liola kept nodding his head, but in fact he didn¡¯t understand a bit of it.


    As soon as the gate opened, Liola could see Jasmine smiling and waiting outside.


    Unlike her usual Knight¡¯s uniform, Jasmine wore a ocean blue camisole, white shorts, and Roman sandals. She looked cute yet sensible.


    Although she couldn¡¯t compare to the naturally beautiful Lanski, nor the voluptuous Yasha, her straightforward yet playful nature made people feel very comfortable.


    ¡°Wow, Liola, you¡¯re really handsome.¡± Jasmine covered her chest hyperbolically, as if she couldn¡¯t take it anymore.


    Baolilong heard Jasmine¡¯s voice, and its sleepy eyes opened.


    With a nasal sound, it said:


    ¡°Meat, meat!¡±


    Jasmine discretely shook her head:


    ¡°Aiya, even the baby thought of me as the meat deliverer.¡±


    T/N: This carries a connotation that she¡¯s practically delivering her body to Liola.


    Liola heard, and frowned at Baolilong:


    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a glutton.¡±


    Baolilong lowered its head shamefully, and bent its mouth to pout.


    Jasmine kept saying ¡°so cute¡±. Jasmine smiled and retrieved a large hamburger from her backpack.


    The moment Baolilong smelled the food, it immediately abandoned papa and run straight into Jasmine¡¯s arms. It grabbed the hamburger and started taking large bites.


    Jasmine said as she smiled: ¡°I bought a fish one this time. I heard that children who eat more fish would become smarter.¡±


    ¡°The meat meat before tasted better.¡± Baolilong loudly announced. Though it said this, there was no way Baolilong was letting go of the hamburger in its mouth.


    ¡°Understood. Then I¡¯ll buy more beef for you for lunch.¡±


    Jasmine ran her loving hands through Baolilong¡¯s white, soft hair, and beckoned Liola to walk toward a streamlined, ocean-blue flying Maxun.


    When Jasmine was just about to step into the flying Maxun, she suddenly remembered that many guys didn¡¯t like to be picked up by girls. She hesitated and asked:


    ¡°Do you want to drive?¡±


    Liola shook his head. He had no clue how to drive a Maxun.


    Coincidentally, who knew Jasmine would be pleased by Liola¡¯s reply.


    Jasmine, who loved her car as much as she loved her own life, wasn¡¯t really willing to let someone else drive her beloved car.


    ¡®No male chauvinism, +20 points.¡¯ Jasmine happily started rating Liola. ¡®A good father, +10 points, super cute kid, +10 points, mature personality, another +10 points. Hehe, handsome and stylish, +10 more points.¡¯


    ¡®Not bad! At least he passes.¡¯ Jasmine had a slight headache when she remembered Lanski¡¯s reminder.


    * * *


    ¡°Jasmine, what do you like about that Sorcerer?¡± Lanski asked with curious eyes.


    Though each person has their own preference, Lanski couldn¡¯t understand.


    How can Jasmine be attracted to someone who had no strengths, not from a well-known family, no knowledge, and has practically nothing¡­


    Hmm, perhaps he was a bit handsome, but Lanski would stake her life believing Jasmine would not like Liola just because of his look. Besides, there were plenty others who were better looking than Liola.


    Jasmine thought of it for a bit and said: ¡°Because he¡¯s handsome?¡±


    Lanski was stunned, and then she understood Jasmine was just joking.


    She angrily punched Jasmine, and forced her to surrender the real explanation:


    ¡°Aiyo, I don¡¯t really know how to say it. I feel something special about him, and he seems to be a good father¡­¡±


    ¡°That is the real problem. He¡¯s been married!¡± Lanski was trying to defend her good friend.


    What¡¯s wrong with being married? The baby was so cute! Even her own baby might not be as cute.


    Jasmine thought as she drove the flying Maxun: ¡®If one day the baby calls me mom, I would faint from excitement!¡¯


    * * *


    Jasmine drove the flying Maxun to the most famous amusement park in Aklan. After she parked the car, she happily carried Baolilong and said, ¡°Baby look, we¡¯re here at the amusement park.¡±


    Baolilong, who had just swallowed the hamburger, looked at the park curiously. Then it turned and asked: ¡°Is there meat meat?¡±


    Jasmine laughed: ¡°Little glutton! Wait until lunch. I¡¯ll buy beef for you. But for now, let¡¯s go play.¡±


    Jasmine happily bought tickets, and then rushed towards different rides while carrying Baolilong¡­ Although she wasn¡¯t able to get into any.


    ¡°Miss, you have to be at least 120cm (3¡¯11¡±) to play this!¡±


    Jasmine place Baolilong against the ruler: 98cm (3¡¯2¡±).


    Jasmine blinked, and with a headache she asked the worker: ¡°Then is there anything someone who is 98cm can play?¡±


    Finally, Jasmine was able to take Baolilong and Liola only to teacup rides¡­


    Jasmine laughed awkwardly: ¡°Haha, I forgot that Baolilong is still young, so he can¡¯t go play those rides. Uh¡­ Liola, are you bored?¡±


    Seeing Liola¡¯s expressionless face, Jasmine¡¯s voice got lower and lower as she spoke.


    She screamed in her heart: ¡®Why must it be 120cm? That¡¯s practically discrimination against short people!¡¯


    Liola couldn¡¯t understand the point of sitting in a teacup at all, so he honestly nodded. Jasmine looked like she had just been hit by lightning, said in depression:


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go back early.¡±


    Downcast, Jasmine walked in front of Liola, but Liola glanced from the corner of his eyes, and he noticed there were people following them.


    According to the number of people and their strange appearances, it should be Kaiser and others. Liola stopped, and turned around to look at the three.


    * * *


    ¡°Hey, I think Liola found us.¡±


    Said Kaiser, who was wearing a fur cap, sunglasses, and a mask, said.


    Another man with a butterfly mask, top hat, and a black cloak quietly asked:


    ¡°What now? Should we go up and say that we¡¯re here to play in the amusement park too?¡±


    ¡°No. We could turn into third wheels.¡±


    A strange girl with a blonde wig and a coat full of red bowties said hurriedly.


    ¡°Is that going to make a difference? Looks to me like their date is going badly.¡± Kaiser already saw Jasmine¡¯s depressed look. He sighed for her.


    ¡®She¡¯d be able to date just about anyone, so why must she date an ice cube? She deserved to be frozen to death.¡¯


    Purity hurriedly added: ¡°Kaiser, do something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Kaiser, look: Liola already disappointed such a Lady. How ungentlemanly of him.¡±


    Meinan defended Jasmine.


    Kaiser rolled his eyes. ¡®Are you kidding me? I have to be Liola¡¯s love consultant?!¡¯


    However, the firmness in Purity¡¯s eyes made Kaiser realized he had no choice, otherwise he might not get those three meals a day.


    Kaiser bit the bullet and walked to Liola¡¯s side, and quietly said: ¡°You s.o.b., do you know how to date? Go grab her hand, and then go to a romantic restaurant. Sweet talk a bit, and then you can go to a hotel¡­¡±


    Meinan and Purity both covered Kaiser¡¯s dirty mouth, and then dragged away Kaiser, who was making muffled sounds. Then they said to Liola: ¡°Other than the last part, do as Kaiser said.¡±


    Liola stood stock-still, completely baffled, until Jasmine noticed and walked up to ask:


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Liola explained, and he hesitated before he said:


    ¡°Can we go to an romantic restaurant to eat?¡±


    Hearing this, Jasmine¡¯s depressed eyes once again glowed with rays of light. She grabbed Liola¡¯s arm and said:


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to a restaurant with a good ambience. I just happened to know one.¡±


    ¡®Romantic means good ambience?¡¯ Liola learnt something new.


    Baolilong dragged papa and asked: ¡°What¡¯s good ambience? Is there tasty meat meat?¡±


    After they had left the park, Jasmine drove like a hurricane on the way to the restaurant. She then quickly dragged Liola into the restaurant, and nervously asked the receptionist:


    ¡°Are there any seats?¡±


    The receptionist was shocked, and nodded at Jasmine, who was so happy that she was about to jump for joy.


    She followed the receptionist with a smile, and her footsteps were so quick, she looked like she was about to fly.


    Liola, on the other hand, was looking left and right, trying to understand the definition of good ambience.


    There were yellow crystal lights, white laced curtains, and the tables were covered with a light pink and beautiful cloth.


    Meinan would probably like this restaurant. Liola looked toward the door, and sure enough. There were three strangely dressed figures blocked outside by the receptionist.


    As Liola looked, Jasmine went up to him, grabbed his hand and asked: ¡°What are you looking at? Why don¡¯t you sit?¡±


    Thinking of what Kaiser said, Liola looked down at Jasmine¡¯s hand in his, which made Jasmine so diffident, she wanted to pull her hand back, but Liola grabbed ahold of it instead.


    Jasmine suddenly blushed, but Liola acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary and said: ¡°Nothing, let¡¯s sit.¡±


    ¡°Liola, what do you like?¡± Jasmine started chit-chatting, because she wanted to distract Liola, so he wouldn¡¯t see through her shyness.


    Liola thought about it and answered: ¡°Weapons.¡±


    ¡°Really? You¡¯re a Sorcerer but you like weapons?¡± Jasmine was a bit shocked.


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to a weapon exhibit next time¡­¡±


    * * *


    Kaiser and the others were standing outside of the variegated fences of the restaurant, peeking at the date within.


    Liola was chewing slowly, and occasionally answering Jasmine¡¯s questions. Baolilong was just finishing its sixth super jumbo steak, shocking the waitress who had delivered it.


    The three of them looked very happy.


    ¡°WHY? Why do I have to stand here eating bread and drinking water, while watching that guy eat his steak? This is so unfair~~¡±


    Kaiser yelled, and a loud growl came from his stomach. He could only watch the steak, and angrily tore off another piece of bread to chew. He then took another drink of water, and continued to yell:


    ¡°Unfair~~¡±


    * * *


    Liola was standing in front of the dorm to say his goodbyes to Jasmine. Liola was carrying Baolilong, who ate so much; its tummy had turned into a semi-sphere.


    Liola apologized: ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Baolilong ate too much.¡±


    After being in this world for some time now, Liola had slowly understood the value of money and the cost of living. He didn¡¯t think romantic restaurants would be so pricey, and it just so happened Baolilong really liked the food there, so it kept yelling for more and more food.


    Jasmine, too, had been busy talking to Liola to notice. It wasn¡¯t until when they received the bill, did Liola stare at the amount of money. The money on the bill was enough for Liola and others to eat for a month and then some.


    Jasmine, too, widened her eyes and stared at the check for quite some time, and then finally took out a card to pay. Her smile after did seem a bit forced. Liola felt deeply apologetic for that, and at the same time he thought he better make some money.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. But the baby really eats a lot. Is it normal to eat this much?¡±


    Jasmine worriedly looked at Baolilong¡¯s spherical tummy. She did blame herself too because she put all her attention talking to Liola.


    Liola actually didn¡¯t understand as well. How much does a Dragon have to eat before it gets full? With a helpless expression, indicating that he, himself did not know.


    Jasmine burst into laughter: ¡°It¡¯s rare to see an expression on your face, so this meal was worth it. Baby¡¯s papa, good night.¡±


    Jasmine stopped briefly, and her face slightly blushed. She then tipped her toes and suddenly kissed Liola briefly.


    While Liola was still stupefied, she smiled as she hurried back to the flying Maxun, sticking her tongue out at Liola playfully. Then, she started the flying Maxun back towards the School of Knights.


    Liola could still hear echoes of Jasmine¡¯s happy giggles even after she had left.


    Liola touched his lips lightly with his fingers, and he could still feel Jasmine¡¯s soft lips. Although Liola didn¡¯t understand the intent behind the kiss, Liola probably wouldn¡¯t reject her if she wants to kiss him again.


    Liola turned around and returned to the dorm.


    But before he had a chance to choose his room from the semi-transparent screen, Kaiser and others had already arrived at the door.


    Purity carried a set of white clothes on her arms, and she had a bright smile on her face, she said:


    ¡°Liola-dage is going to see the Princess now, right?¡±


    Kaiser snapped.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go in. You only have 3 minutes left to change and find Lanski in the School of Knight.¡±


    Liola nodded, and handed Baolilong, who was extremely drowsy after eating too much, to Kaiser.


    Liola took the clothes from Purity and walked into a corner to change. He didn¡¯t forget to put on the silver mask, and then he walked out, ready to pick up Lanski.


    ¡°Damn¡­ This can¡¯t be the same person, can it?¡± Kaiser said in shock.


    With his elegant white button-up shirt, sleeveless silver vest, sepia trousers, and white boots, Liola disguised as Silver Mask, looked like a Prince who would normally appear to be living in a luxurious Palace.


    ¡°I¡¯m not bringing Baolilong.¡± Liola stated calmly. Without turning his head, he walked out of the dorm, quickly disappearing in the direction to the School of Knight.


    ¡°Did that guy¡¯s attitude change too?¡± Kaiser felt something strange about Liola. There was something different between Liola when he has his mask on and his normal self.


    Liola had always given off the vibe not caring about anything, but this was a far cry than Silver Mask¡¯s cold, inviolable pride. It¡¯s no wonder that Jasmine and Lanski couldn¡¯t realize these two people are one and the same.


    Could the problem be the mask? Worry flashed through Kaiser¡¯s mind.


    ¡®Did Mizerui¡­ really give him an ordinary mask?¡¯


    * * *


    On the way to the Knight¡¯s dorm, a crowd gathered behind Silver Mask, and it caused quite a stir.


    The male Knights were angry but they weren¡¯t brave enough to provoke a Silver Knight, and the female Knights were screaming when they saw Silver Mask¡¯s long figure and his pride.


    Before long, Silver Mask was followed by a long line of people. When he finally arrived at the Knight¡¯s dorm¡¯s gate, he was surrounded by a full circle of Knights.


    Lanski nervously touched her skirt that reached her knees, hoping her simple yet elegant white dress would intoxicate Silver Mask like Jasmine said it would.


    Lanski reached out and pushed the button to open the door, and when the door slowly opened¡­


    Under the darkness of the night, Lanski¡¯s eyes could only see the silver moonlight reflected softly from an upright yet prideful body.


    Even though he was surrounded by many people, it didn¡¯t seem to affect Silver Mask at all. He even closed his eyes, adding a ray of ease along with his pride. This scene made the bystanders hush. They were afraid of breaking the picturesque scenery by making a noise.


    For the first time, Princess Lanski felt moved, seeing the man before her eyes actually waiting for her!


    In her eyes, the plain dorm had turned into the Dragon Continent Palace.


    Lanski elegantly walked down the stairs. At this time, Silver Mask opened his eyes. A head full of cream white hair greeted his eyes, and the familiar, beauty of Lanski¡¯s face, was even more beautiful than ever under the moonlight.


    Lanski shyly walked in front of Liola, and asked with a slight blush:


    ¡°So where are you taking me to dinner?¡±


    Liola was quiet for a moment, and then he said:


    ¡°Romantic restaurant.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ let¡¯s go then.¡± Lanski¡¯s face had turned into a deeper shade of red. She didn¡¯t think Silver Mask would directly take her to a romantic restaurant.


    Though they¡¯ve said they were going, they still stood at the same place. After a while, Lanski tried to remind Silver Mask: ¡°You can drive your Maxun here now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a Maxun.¡± Silver Mask answered honestly.


    Lanski was stunned for a moment, then she realized, and said with a smile: ¡°Are we riding the Sacred White Dragon then?¡±


    Liola thought about Baolilong¡¯s situation.


    Normally, its flight was already scary enough, and now it was so drowsy from eating too much. It was anyone¡¯s guess if it would fall out of the sky while flying.


    Silver Mask thought about this, and shook his head. He didn¡¯t want to fall a few hundred meters out of the sky just because he went to eat a meal.


    ¡°So¡­ How are we getting to the restaurant?¡± Lanski started to panic a little.


    This question gave Liola a headache too.


    He originally thought Lanski would be like Jasmine, and carry them both with a flying Maxun¡­ Liola suddenly remembered an even bigger question: would Lanski pay? He was a penniless person.


    Liola carefully examined Lanski¡¯s clothing, and noticed her clothes were simple, elegant¡­ But mostly importantly, it had no pockets to store a wallet or even a card.


    Seeing Lanski¡¯s curious eyes, the penny-less and car-less Liola was clueless as to how to solve the situation before him, so he had a staring contest with Lanski.


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s loud scream echoed around the area, and Liola finally sighed in relief. Kaiser was probably here to resolve his dilemma¡­ Right?


    ¡°Hey! Silver Mask, that bastard of a Dragon of yours suddenly went crazy.¡± Kaiser tried to catch his breath but still continued to yell:


    ¡°When it woke up and didn¡¯t see you, he threw a tantrum, and even the dorm has a huge hole now because of it.¡±


    Ordinarily, there was nothing unusual for a five year-old child to throw a tantrum. However, the heartless Kaiser threw Baolilong out of the room, so he wouldn¡¯t be bothered by the sight of the crying child, but it just happened that this child wasn¡¯t ordinary child, but a Dragon¡¯s embodiment.


    Baolilong, who got thrown out of the room, got so angry; it tried to turn into a ten-meter Dragon while inside the dorm.


    As a result, it hit its head hard against the metallic ceiling, which made it very dizzy. It then desperately rolled around in pain within the narrow dorm. But as it rolled, it hit even more walls, which made the pain even worse¡­


    Liola was quite shocked. He used telepathy to call Baolilong, and as soon as Baolilong heard papa, it immediately howled:


    ¡°My head hurts! Papa, where are you?¡±


    ¡°Baolilong, transform back.¡± Liola commanded.


    ¡°It hurts! Waahhh, papa~~¡± Baolilong cried like a little child (though it is a little child), rolling around the ground even more.


    Now, even Liola and Kaiser, who were at the Knight¡¯s dorm, far away from the Sorcerer¡¯s dorm, could hear the commotion. Some noises sounded like Baolilong¡¯s earthshaking turns, and some were the well-practiced sounds of Sorcerer students yelling to escape.


    Liola frowned, and turned to say to Lanski: ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t go today. I¡¯ll come find you another day.¡±


    After he finished, Liola raced back towards the Sorcerer¡¯s dorm alone, with Kaiser trailing and yelling something about waiting for him.


    Kaiser seemed to have remembered something, as he turned around to look at Lanski.


    Lanski was standing where she was; her face looked as if something had gone amiss. Lanski¡¯s lonesome outline made Kaiser pray in his heart, hoping that this ¡°standing up the Princess in front of crowd¡± thing wasn¡¯t going to cause even more trouble.

 Volume 3, 4 : Violet College

    Volume 3, Chapter 4 : Violet College


    Liola hurried back to his room and saw Baolilong¡¯s large body stuck in the hallway even though it was considerably wide for a person.


    Baolilong howled in pain while struggling desperately, and as a result, shook the entire dorm.


    Luckily the gigantic mecha dorm built by Barbalis was fairly strong and it wasn¡¯t immediately destroyed by Baolilong. However, if Baolilong continued to struggle and turn, it¡¯ll be hard to foresee the future.


    After not getting any response with several telepathic attempts, Liola yelled angrily:


    ¡°BAO LI LONG?! I told you to transform back!¡±


    Baolilong finally heard papa¡¯s voice. It stopped struggling, and the humongous Dragon body started to shrink, until finally, a five year old child laid face down in the hallway, still sobbing.


    Liola walked to Baolilong, and then grabbed it by its back.


    Liola frowned and asked: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why did you suddenly throw a tantrum?¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s large eyes squeezed out pearl-sized tear drops. It reached out its chubby hands, ran into Liola¡¯s arms and held on tight. Baolilong cried for a while, then murmured in Liola¡¯s arms:


    ¡°Baolilong had a dream. Mama doesn¡¯t move anymore, and papa was gone. Baolilong was the only one left.¡±


    ¡°Such a poor child, waahh.¡± Purity couldn¡¯t open the door until now. She poked out her head, and heard Baolilong¡¯s sad experience, then cried with him.


    ¡°Papa, you wouldn¡¯t go away too, would you?¡± Baolilong raised its head out of Liola¡¯s arms, and stared at Liola.


    ¡°No. Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡± Liola answered Baolilong directly.


    Baolilong nodded and held Liola tightly as it whispered: ¡°Baolilong won¡¯t let papa disappear again.¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage, how was your date with the Princess?¡± Purity asked curiously.


    Because Baolilong was in the hallway, they were unable to follow Liola. They even had to let Kaiser jump out the window to ask Liola for backup. All this made the fairy tale fanatic Purity upset.


    Liola simply shook his head, and then he grab the gray robe in order to change out of his luxurious clothes. Though the robe wasn¡¯t as pretty as what he had on, but it was loose and soft, thus very comfortable. This was the reason why Liola had gotten more and more used to wearing the robe.


    Liola had just changed when he saw that Kaiser, had come back as well. Seeing Liola walk out, Kaiser immediately started complaining and yelling:


    ¡°I¡¯m starving! Let¡¯s go to eat, and I¡¯m going to eat well. You¡¯re not allowed to give me bread again!¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Purity snapped. She took out her wallet, which had gotten a lot thinner, and thought that she would have to go ask her brother for money soon.


    * * *


    ¡°That was good.¡±


    Satisfied, Kaiser began rubbing his stomach, and started to walked back towards the Academy. He was followed by Purity, who looked like she was about to burst into tears.


    Who knew that as soon as they reached Academy gate, they¡¯d see fires everywhere, and the sound of battle and weapons clashing could be heard. Armors were flying through the air, and the Knights were riding on their mounts fighting each other.


    The whole situation was out of control. Even Purity and Meinan thought something was wrong. They ran to the window and stared at the chaos outside.


    ¡°Uh, if Mecha Fighters and Knights fought against each other, then it would be normal.¡± Meinan was completely puzzled and said:


    ¡°But now Knights are fighting each other and so are the Mecha Fighters. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Kaiser reminded him with a loud yell: ¡°Look closely. Some of the students are wearing different uniforms than ours!¡±


    Since Knight uniforms were universal in the world, the only thing different was their school badge. But since Liola and the others were too far away, they couldn¡¯t see it clearly, so they all looked at the Mecha Fighters.


    Aklan Mecha Fighters were wearing blue military uniforms, but about half of the students on Mechas were wearing a purple leather suit. They were obviously not from Aklan Academy.


    ¡°Ah! I know where these students are from.¡± Purity yelled: ¡°It¡¯s Violet Academy. Their uniforms are quite pretty. Purity had almost chose their academy for their uniforms.¡±


    ¡°Violet Academy¡­¡± Kaiser tried hard to rack his brain: ¡°The second best school in Aklan Empire. What are they doing here? Unless¡­ They want to take out Aklan Academy to become the best?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct!¡± A cold voice could be heard from behind.


    Everyone turned around, and a few Red and Green Knights were behind them. Though their uniforms were identical to Aklan Academy¡¯s, but there was a violet school badge on their chest. There were also two girls wearing long, light purple robes.


    ¡°Hey, guy in gray robe, you¡¯re a student from the Aklan School of Sorcery, right?¡± One of the Red Knights smiled in satisfaction.


    ¡°Such an ugly color. Good thing we didn¡¯t go to Aklan Academy.¡± The two girls laughed, making fun at the clothes Liola and others were wearing.


    The few Violet Academy students slowly walked toward Liola, and their eyes were flashing with malice. Liola didn¡¯t move, and watched their approach calmly.


    Kaiser was pulling his hair wondering which way he should escape so they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to him, and Purity ducked into Meinan¡¯s protective shield.


    The Violet Academy students looked like they were about to draw their weapons to attack.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Daylight hurriedly ran towards them, and yelled angrily at the Violet Academy students.


    The Knights saw the Blue lining of Daylight¡¯s uniform, and their face changed. They had no choice but to do what he said and stopped their approach, though their eyes were flashing with dissatisfaction.


    One of the Red Knights started to talk: ¡°We just want to duel with them.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Daylight angrily replied: ¡°If you want a duel, go find the Mecha Fighters or Knights, not the Sorcerers. As Knights, you shouldn¡¯t bully the weak.¡±


    ¡®Does that mean we¡¯re weak¡­ ?¡¯ Liola and others pouted and thought.


    ¡°Then we can duel with them, right? Sir Blue Knight?¡± The two girl Sorcerers looked at Daylight with fawning eyes, and tried to get closer and closer to him.


    Daylight frowned, and turned around to them and asked: ¡°Will you guys be okay?¡±


    Kaiser raised his eyebrow, and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If it¡¯s just a Sorcerer duel, then in worst case scenario we can sleep under Meinan¡¯s protective shield.¡±


    ¡°What? Then what about me?¡± Meinan¡¯s face turned pale. They can¡¯t be asking him to hold a shield all night long, right?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the dorm.¡± Liola said concisely. He had no plans in getting involved.


    Kaiser immediately nodded in agreement.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. There¡¯s nothing good about that dorm, except that it¡¯s practically indestructible. Looks like we can at least sleep well in the dorm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll escort you guys back.¡± Daylight said worriedly, and then glanced at the Violet Knights ferociously. The two girl Sorcerers ducked behind their Knights.


    ¡°Sir Daylight, you¡¯re just too good and far too kind.¡± Kaiser smiled flatteringly.


    Daylight said awkwardly: ¡°Let¡¯s go. I still need to come back to defend the Academy.¡±


    Kaiser continued his flattery: ¡°Sir Daylight is certainly extraordinarily knightly, virtuous, kind hearted¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry!¡±


    Daylight, who felt weird after listening to Kaiser¡¯s flattery, immediately interrupted him. Then, he summoned his Fire Dragon, Flames, let Liola and the others ride on it, and took off towards the Sorcerer dorm.


    Though many students were dueling in the air, but there was no Violet student who would be brave enough to provoke Daylight. A Blue Knight was considered to be the strongest among students, not to mention a Blue Dragon Knight.


    The faces of Mecha Fighters and Knights in the air changed as soon as they saw Daylight, and they hurriedly gave way, fearing they would run into Daylight.


    But of course, there are exceptions to every rule.


    When Daylight was not far from the School of Sorcery, a light blue Water Dragon blocked his path, with a Knight standing on top of it. That¡¯s right, just like Silver Mask, he was standing on the Dragon¡¯s back.


    The person had long dark purple hair reaching his hips, and a pair of cold black eyes. The blue-lined Black Knight uniform and the Violet on his chest had already proved his identity.


    Daylight¡¯s face remained calm, but his eyes were shining with anticipation for an impending battle.


    Kaiser worriedly pushed Daylight lightly. Daylight turned and looked at the squeaky wheels¡­ no, the Sorcerers to be escorted.


    [T/N: Idiom ¨C Squeaky wheel gets the oil. It means people who complain the most will get attention or what they want.]


    He said to the Water Dragon Knight: ¡°Wait until I escort these people back, then I will duel with you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all students, why do they need your escort!¡± The Water Dragon Knight coldly said: ¡°If they can¡¯t survive on the battlefield by themselves, they deserve to be eliminated.¡±


    ¡°They are Sorcerers.¡± Daylight frowned, disagree with the Water Dragon Knight.


    Another voice came out of nowhere and said ¡°So what you¡¯re trying to say is, Sorcerers are weaklings?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until then that they had noticed there was someone standing on air, covered in a cloak, staring at Liola and others in disdain.


    ¡°Levitation¡­ it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a Sorcerer who could do that.¡± Meinan said.


    The person in the air grunted mockingly: ¡°That¡¯s because Aklan Academy is full of degenerates. You can¡¯t even learn Levitation and you got accepted into the academy. Hmph, seems like Aklan Academy is the place where only garbage attends.¡±


    Purity protested in dissatisfaction: ¡°What you¡¯re saying is too rude! We all had a test of our abilities before we could get into the Academy. Right, Kaiser?!¡±


    Purity turned and looked at Kaiser, waiting for his reply.


    ¡°Mhm, right!¡± Kaiser answered earnestly, though in his mind he thought,


    ¡®There was a test of whether Liola and I could write our own name, and whether we know our gender.¡¯


    Purity turned to look at the Sorcerer in the air, and her face was covered with anger.


    Curious, Kaiser whispered to Meinan: ¡°Strange, since when did Purity became so brave?¡±


    ¡°Because Purity¡¯s older brother is teaching in Violet Academy. Purity really hates letting her brother hear anything bad about her.¡± Meinan whispered back.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why¡­¡± Kaiser realized.


    ¡°Little girl, how about a Sorcerer duel?¡± The person floating in air gave out a sinister laugh.


    When Purity heard him, and her long, black hair began to dance in the air. She even took off her large glasses. Determination flashed in her eyes. Even Daylight could sense Purity¡¯s change, and the surrounding tinkling magic.


    The Sorcerer in the air also had a slight change of expression. He seemed to be even more excited.


    He took off his cloak in one swoop, to show his real identity. Surprisingly, he looked identical to the Water Dragon Knight. The only difference was that his hair was short.


    ¡°How about a double duel then? You and that Blue Knight versus me and my brother.¡±


    The excited Sorcerer slowly landed on the water Dragon, and stood shoulder to shoulder next to the Water Dragon Knight.


    Purity and Daylight vs. Water Dragon Knight and floating Sorcerer, who would win?


    Kaiser held his forehead to think: ¡°Let me think. Either the Violet students beat Purity and Daylight, and then give us all a good beating, or Purity finally uses her ultimate, and the hundreds of people, including all of us, perish together.¡±


    ¡°Damn! No matter what we¡¯re screwed. No! We demand to change our Sorcerer. Meinan go take Purity¡¯s place.¡± Kaiser said firmly.


    Meinan desperately nodded. Though a duel was dangerous, but experiencing Purity¡¯s space magic was far more fatal.


    ¡°No!¡± Purity¡¯s hair grabbed Kaiser¡¯s neck like vines, and her eyes flashed with stubbornness, as if she¡¯s going to use her ultimate right now if they were to change Sorcerers.


    To prevent himself being teleport to Pluto or wherever, Kaiser immediately changed his mind:


    ¡°Then we demand to change Knights!¡±


    Daylight appeared to be hurt and asked: ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It goes without saying. If Silver Mask goes, he could finish those two before Purity even has a chance to do anything. This is the only way that Aklan and Violet won¡¯t both perish!¡± Kaiser yelled.


    Daylight was still doubtful, and skeptical of the a possibility that Purity could destroy both academies.


    ¡°Silver Mask, Lancelot¡¯s apprentice?¡± The Water Dragon Knight finally spoke, but his tone was still extremely cold.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! If you know what¡¯s good for you, you better do yourself a favor and butt off. Otherwise who knows when he will have a little ¡®chat¡¯ with you, then you would be in deep trouble.¡±


    By making use of the Paladin¡¯s name, Kaiser became more bold.


    ¡°Imposter.¡± The Water Dragon Knight said coldly.


    Kaiser widened his eyes, and even Liola, who seemed like he had nothing to do with this, raised his head to look at the Water Dragon Knight, unsure if the Knight had a lucky guess or if he really knew that Silver Mask wasn¡¯t Lancelot¡¯s apprentice.


    Without a change in his facial expression, Kaiser said: ¡°Imposter? Who are you calling imposter?¡±


    ¡°Lancelot has no apprentice.¡± The Water Dragon Knight got impatient and unsheathed his sword. He said with a deep voice: ¡°I don¡¯t care who you send. Let¡¯s duel.¡±


    Daylight curiously looked at Liola, as if he had something to ask.


    Kaiser saw this and he was afraid that perhaps Daylight had already discovered Liola¡¯s identity.


    When Daylight saw Liola covered in blood and locked in a cage, Liola probably hadn¡¯t transformed.


    This could be a mess.


    Kaiser immediately looked at Liola to see if he had any plans, but his expressionless face told Kaiser nothing.


    ¡®Maybe that guy is thinking nothing at all!¡¯ Kaiser thought.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait before we talk about it.¡± Kaiser had no choice but calmly negotiate with Daylight, whom nodded in agreement. Whatever Kaiser wanted to say, Daylight will have to wait.


    ¡°We send Daylight and Mei¡ª¡­¡±


    With Purity¡¯s terrifying gaze, and to prevent himself from taking a trip to Liola¡¯s world, Kaiser immediately corrected himself:


    ¡°¡­ Purity.¡±


    Daylight nodded, and asked the Fire Dragon land slowly on the ground to drop off Kaiser, Meinan, and Liola. Then he took Purity back into the air, and confronted the Water Dragon Knight.


    Both sides seemed to be extremely strong: the Water Dragon Knight and the levitating Sorcerer were obviously strong. But Daylight hadn¡¯t gotten his Blue Rank for nothing.


    Also, the immense magic emitting from Purity¡¯s body made her opponents feel like they were about to face their nemesis¡­ Though Kaiser and the others waited to see how it would turn out.


    ¡°Hurry! We should go as far as possible.¡± Before Kaiser had finished speaking, he was already more than ten meters away.


    ¡°What about Daylight?¡± Meinan nervously asked.


    ¡°What about him? I¡¯ll visit his grave every Memorial Day.¡± Kaiser stood at the entrance to the Sorcerer¡¯s dorm and yelled. He was so loud that even Daylight heard him and had a strange expression on his face.


    Liola slowly walked to Kaiser, then dragged Kaiser by his collar back to where Daylight and others were dueling.


    ¡°Hey, hey, what are you doing?! I don¡¯t care if you want to die but don¡¯t drag me along with you.¡±


    Kaiser desperately struggled using his hands, feet, and even mouth to hold onto the dorm¡¯s door frame. Unfortunately, the strength he has in his entire body didn¡¯t come close to the strength of one of the Assassin¡¯s finger. In conclusion, Liola dragged Kaiser with ease to die¡­ No, to the dueling ground.


    ¡°I need you to explain how the fight is going.¡± Liola¡¯s eyes seemed to be flashing with desire for a battle.


    Kaiser laid on the ground and muttered: ¡°If you have to promise me that I won¡¯t lose a single strand of hair, then I¡¯ll explain.¡±


    Liola nodded. After getting Liola¡¯s promise, Kaiser immediately jumped up and started giving a live coverage:


    ¡°A double duel is actually fairly common. Normally, two Knights or two Mecha Fighters were the common duo. But before technology was as advanced as it is now, a duo commonly consisted of a Knight and a Sorcerer, because the Knight¡¯s close-quarter combat and defense are both strong, and Sorcerer mainly handled ranged attack, healing, etc.¡±


    ¡°Am I responsible for ranged attacks?¡± Purity pointed at herself and asked Daylight.


    Daylight frowned: ¡°I¡¯ve never partnered with a Sorcerer¡­ Do you know Protective Shield? Fireball?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Purity answered honestly.


    ¡°Then what do you know?¡± Daylight asked straightforwardly.


    ¡°Teleport.¡± Purity thought about it, and realized only knew that.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Then don¡¯t do anything until the situation is dire.¡± Daylight said tactfully with an awkward expression.


    The Water Dragon Knight couldn¡¯t wait anymore; he yelled: ¡°Let the duel begin!¡± He took his long sword and charged, and the Sorcerer wasn¡¯t idle either, he shot a few ice bolts from his hands.


    Since his opponents suddenly attacked, Daylight didn¡¯t have time to respond, so he could only let his mount barely dodge the ice bolts.


    Just as Daylight pulled out his long pike, the Water Dragon Knight¡¯s long sword had already reached his eye brows. Daylight flustered to block the long sword, and took a few steps back, trying to get a stable footing.


    However, the Water Dragon Knight wouldn¡¯t give him that chance. With every step back Daylight took, the Water Dragon Knight pushed one step forward, which made Daylight remain a defensive stance and could not fight back.


    What¡¯s worse was that, the opposing Sorcerer was clearly not incompetent. He constantly threw ice bolts at Daylight¡¯s Fire Dragon, which made the Fire Dragon wail in pain as it tried to block the Water Dragon¡¯s claws. Daylight was already at a disadvantage at the start of the fight.


    ¡°Looks like they¡¯re going to lose for sure. If they had Meinan¡¯s protective shield, perhaps they would be at equal footing.¡± Kaiser raised his head to look, and said as if he had already predicted this outcome.


    ¡°Kaiser underestimates Purity too much.¡± Purity yelled from above in dissatisfaction. Her black hair then again began to fly, and her magic power made it impossible for her opponent to ignore her.


    ¡°No! Big boss, I didn¡¯t underestimate you. Please, I beg of you to stay behind Daylight. Don¡¯t do anything stupid!¡± Kaiser immediately yelled, fearing that Purity would use ¡®group teleportation¡¯ and God knows where they would end up.


    ¡°Hmmph!¡± Purity pouted, and slowly gather a black magic ball in her hands.


    Purity then yelled: ¡°Daylight, get down!¡±


    Daylight was shocked but still obeyed Purity, but as a result the Water Dragon Knight¡¯s long sword had scraped his arm.


    Purity screamed ¡°Your lives are mine!¡± and threw the ball as hard as she could.


    A ball of magic darker than night left her hand. The magic power within it made the opposing Sorcerer panic and yell:


    ¡°Brother, dodge! Don¡¯t touch that!¡±


    Hearing his older brother¡¯s warning, the Water Dragon Knight immediately rode the Water Dragon and back away from the black ball. He then carefully observed the trajectory of the ball, fearing that it would suddenly accelerate.


    A second passed by, then two, then three¡­ the black ball had only moved about 36 cm, and it floated like an air balloon. It wasn¡¯t even going in a straight line, and it would occasionally float towards Daylight.


    Everyone looked at the black ball with doubt. When the black ball floated to about 5-6 meters in front of the Water Dragon Knight, it completely stopped. Everyone waited for ten more seconds, and nothing happened.


    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± Purity laughed awkwardly: ¡°It looks like it failed.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s faces had a miniature seizure, and Daylight¡¯s face was especially rigid. However, Kaiser and Meinan sighed in relief. It was better for Purity¡¯s magic to do nothing, and they would never wish for her magic succeed.


    The Water Dragon Knight had an ugly look on his face.


    He said coldly: ¡°Is this the attitude Aklan Academy students duel with? Do you treat duels as games?¡±


    Daylight angrily yelled back: ¡°Then is suddenly attacking before your opponents are even ready something Knights should do?¡±


    The Water Dragon Knight laughed coldly, but just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, a huge black hole suddenly appeared in front of him.


    Before the Water Dragon Knight and his brother had the chance to scream, they were completely swallowed by the black hole. All they could see was nothing but falling deeper into darkness¡­ After swallowing the two people, the black hole burped and then disappeared into thin air.


    * * *


    For a long while, Daylight stared at empty place where the two people were standing. Then, He turned around and ask Purity:


    ¡°Where did they go?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Purity widened her eyes and answered honestly.


    ¡°Are their lives in danger?¡± Daylight seemed worried. Even if it were a duel, it wasn¡¯t necessary to kill them.


    ¡°Their lives aren¡¯t in danger, but they¡¯re probably going to be doing a bit of traveling.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s laughter at other people¡¯s misfortune got louder and louder. Things were going better than Kaiser had ever imagined.


    ¡°Daylight, behind you!¡± Liola suddenly warned.


    Liola felt there was some power rumbling behind Daylight and Purity.


    Daylight was stunned for a moment, then he immediately turned his head, but it was already too late.


    A huge Water Dragon suddenly appeared.


    With the Water Dragon Knight¡¯s spell, the Water Dragon spit out a large pillar of water towards Daylight and Purity, along with tens of ice bolts cast by the Sorcerer.


    Daylight had no time to dodge. All he could do was hold Purity in his arms and use his back to protect Purity from the magic spells.


    After ten large sounds of impact, the Fire Dragon could no longer hold up and fell out of the sky. When it landed, the earth itself rumbled, and the air around it was covered by dust. But the Water Dragon Knight and the Sorcerer weren¡¯t about to give up. A few more rays of magic appeared and headed towards the Fire Dragon.


    Liola grabbed Meinan and ran toward the Fire Dragon, and Meinan cooperatively started his own spell: ¡°Protective Shield!¡±


    All the rays of magic hit the shield, but the shield was completely unscathed.


    Meinan firmly maintained the protective shield so the Water Dragon Knight would not have another chance to attack Daylight and Purity.


    Liola turned around to determine their situation. The dust was slowly settling, and Purity¡¯s sobbing sounds could be heard faintly.


    Liola frowned. He saw Purity was under Daylight¡¯s body and was still conscious. She seemed to have only suffered minor injures. But Daylight, as a human meat shield, wasn¡¯t as lucky. His white Knight uniform had been almost torn completely, and his back was also covered in blood. Daylight was unconscious.


    Liola immediately held Daylight up. He placed one finger under Daylight¡¯s nose to check it he was still breathing. Then he grabbed Daylight to take him to a healing Maxus and patch up his wounds.


    ¡°Freeze! The duel isn¡¯t over.¡± The Sorcerer¡¯s continuous attacks failed to penetrate Meinan¡¯s protective shield, and got upset. Seeing Liola was about to take away the Blue Knight, he immediately tried to stop him.


    Liola answered with an expression on his face: ¡°He is already unconscious. You win.¡±


    ¡°This is a double duel. As long as one person stands, the duel must continue.¡± The Sorcerer¡¯s eyes were filled with malice.


    Liola sensed that the unconscious Daylight was still bleeding, and his body temperature seemed to be dropping. He couldn¡¯t wait any longer. So he turned and walked towards Purity, who curiously raised her head to look at Liola.


    Liola said: ¡°Close your eyes.¡±


    Though Purity was confused, she had never doubted anything Liola said. She obeyed and closed her eyes, and then felt numb in the back of her head.


    Purity fell over and fell unconscious just like Daylight. And what knocked Purity unconscious, was of course Liola¡¯s foot to her head.


    Liola turned and said to the Water Dragon Knight and Sorcerer.


    ¡°Both unconscious. You win.¡±


    Liola¡¯s cold silver eyes stared at them. They felt If they didn¡¯t stop now, they will be paying a heavy price.


    The Sorcerer looked at Liola up and down, then he asked: ¡°What¡¯s your name.¡±


    ¡°Liola.¡± Liola answered straightforwardly.


    ¡°Liola.¡± The Sorcerer repeated his name, confirming he had never heard his name. He then raised his head and said:


    ¡°I am Yiyu, and my brother¡¯s name is Yizhou. Tell your principal that the school ranking matches are about to begin, and we, the Violet Academy, were here to greet you first.¡±


    ¡°After the next ranking match, the Violet Academy will no longer be the second best!¡± Yizhou said coldly, as the Water Dragon underneath him gave out a roar.


    The Violet Academy students who were attacking Aklan Academy all stopped to look in the direction of the Water Dragon Knight. Yizhou gestured a command with his hands, and then flew away without looking back.


    * * *


    ¡°Academy ranking match?¡± Liola raised his head to ask Meinan, whom cluelessly shook his head, indicating that he didn¡¯t know either.


    ¡°What ranking match? How come I¡¯ve never heard of it?! But I say, a match like that probably has nothing to do with the School of Sorcery, right?¡± Kaiser said restlessly: ¡°No person would send Sorcerers to it, right?¡±


    But then everyone thought: ¡®Barbalis probably doesn¡¯t count as a person!¡¯


    Though all the students were angrily waiting for the principal to come out and explain this ranking match, but even with such large disturbances, the principal was nowhere to be seen. It wasn¡¯t until Liola tossed Daylight into a healing Maxun, and then kick down the principal¡¯s office doors with Kaiser, did they find the principal along with Blood Wolf.


    ¡°Liola? It¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re here. Have you decided to be a Dragon Prince yet? I¡¯m busy, you know, I can¡¯t wait all day everyday for your answer.¡±


    Blood Wolf was sitting in front of a game with his eyes staring at a screen. Both of his hands were holding a joystick. After glancing Liola with the corner of his eyes, he muttered and went back to his game.


    ¡°Liola, why was the Academy so noisy today? Did you guys cause some more trouble? I told you, I can¡¯t always go and fix your mess. As a principal, I¡¯m really quite busy.¡±


    Barbalis crossed his legs and sat on the sofa. His face was buried in some book entitled The Most Beautiful Magicians in History, and there was a cup of bubbling green liquid next to him.


    Liola felt something he couldn¡¯t comprehend. It was like anger but not exactly. It wasn¡¯t until Kaiser had explain it did Liola understand that he was dumbfounded.


    ¡°F¡ª you.¡± Kaiser swore as soon as he spoke, he also raised both his middle fingers and said:


    ¡°We were fighting for our lives outside, and what are you guys doing?! Playing games and looking at erotic magazines?!¡±


    ¡®Did you even move a finger?¡¯ Liola thought skeptically.


    ¡°I¡¯m using the most popular Maxun to research for new moves!¡± Blood Wolf immediately looked at Kaiser to explain.


    ¡°And I¡¯m researching the great history of magic.¡± Barbalis also put down his magazine and explained.


    ¡°Bullsh¡ª!¡± Kaiser mercilessly gave out more middle fingers. He then sat on the principal¡¯s seat, and acted like a principal yelling at his ¡®students¡¯:


    ¡°You¡¯re still playing?! Other schools already came here. They shat in your toilet and didn¡¯t flush, and just walked away.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Barbalis got angry: ¡°What kind of unhygienic guy would poop in my house without flushing? And he didn¡¯t even wipe his ass? What a disgusting person.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a metaphor!¡± Kaiser snapped: ¡°Hey, Barbalis, what is this Academy Ranking Match?¡±


    Hearing the match, Barbalis¡¯ face changed slightly, then he said awkwardly:


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s just a meeting between Academies where we exchange some ideas and learn from one another.¡±


    Kaiser turned the lamp on the desk towards Barbalis. The light made Barbalis dizzy.


    Kaiser said with a deafening voice:


    ¡°Barbalis, tell me the truth, otherwise all your beautiful magician girl¡¯s books, pictures, and even statues will all be turned into muscle men.¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t turn my beautiful magician girl into a muscle man! I¡¯ll tell you, I¡¯ll tell you anything!¡± Barbalis cried.


    Blood Wolf was speechless, and he felt regretful of the accident that lead him to meet Barbalis.


    ¡°Well¡­ Everyone had always been unhappy about Aklan Academy being the best. So the last time there was a meeting between the academies, they decided on a ranking match every three years. The academies would compete with each other, and became better because of it.¡± Barbalis said with and innocent look on his face.


    Kaiser coldly continued to inquire: ¡°When was this decided?¡±


    ¡°A year ago.¡± Barbalis looked even more innocent than before.


    Kaiser jumped over the desk and flew onto the sofa. He grabbed Barbalis¡¯ The Most Beautiful Magicians in History and tore it to shreds. Then, he pointed at Barbalis¡¯ nose and said exaggeratedly:


    ¡°You better tell me the rules now. Otherwise I¡¯ll announce this news to all the schools. I promise, the students who just fought with the Violet Academy would love to come to the principal¡¯s office and give you a piece of their mind!¡±


    ¡°Ah! My beautiful magician girl¡­¡± Barbalis knew he did something wrong. He howled as he grabbed the shreds from the ground, and explained as he did so:


    ¡°Every academy sends a group of five students, and they will be competing in elimination matches.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s all?¡± Kaiser narrowed his eyes to inquire.


    Barbalis desperately nodded. He had no choice. He fell asleep during the last meeting, and he hadn¡¯t heard anything else.


    Kaiser sat down, and cross his legs to think:


    ¡°Five people, who should we send then? Liola is a must, and Daylight isn¡¯t bad. Meinan¡¯s protective shield should be useful too. Hey, Barbalis, are there some useful students in the School of Mecha Fighters? If we don¡¯t send one from their school, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll never hear the end of it.¡±


    Barbalis looked uneasy: ¡°We probably have to send Jetter Motor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the guy controlled a rank-C mecha and was no better than someone controlling a rank-D mecha?¡± Kaiser snapped:


    ¡°We¡¯re better off sending one less person, at least he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold the rest back.¡±


    Barbalis looked uneasy again: ¡°I have no choice. If we don¡¯t send him, I would never hear the end of it from the Commerce Alliance. Liola can 1v5 them anyway, so it¡¯s not going to make a difference.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± Kaiser nodded. With Liola there, even if the other four people were all Jetters, they can¡¯t lose.


    Barbalis put his hand on Kaiser¡¯s shoulder, and said as a matter of fact: ¡°Then we¡¯ll send you as the last man!¡±


    Kaiser opened his mouth wide and stuttered: ¡°Wa-wa-wa-wa-why me? Wouldn¡¯t Jasmine or Lanski be much better?¡±


    Barbalis shook his head: ¡°This is something you don¡¯t understand. The battle between the academies in Aklan Empire will be full of trickery, deceit, and cheating. And who else is more contemptible than you? No one, right? So you have to go. And it¡¯s decided. I will draft a list of names for the council.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Kaiser still tried to protest.


    Barbalis turned and looked outside the window: ¡°Hmm, I hear that Mizerui will be back soon!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s shoulders collapsed: ¡°Fine. But I will only be responsible for tactics. Don¡¯t ask me to fight.¡±


    ¡°Liola will be there, there won¡¯t be one for you to fight with even if you wanted to.¡± Barbalis laughed loudly as he patted Kaiser¡¯s back.


    Kaiser had no choice but nod his head forcefully and agree.


    The silent Liola had another strange feeling. Blood Wolf, too, patted Liola¡¯s shoulder and sighed:


    ¡°This is called helplessness! Little bro, I¡¯m going to ask you again, are you not going to the Dragon Empire?¡±


    Liola finally gave Blood Wolf an assured answer: ¡°I¡¯m not going.¡±


    Blood Wolf was shocked at the unexpected answer, and he laughed loudly:


    ¡°Good for you, Liola. Now I can see the Dragon Emperor¡¯s shocked expression! But because of your decision, Lancelot probably won¡¯t have you as his apprentice. Honestly, being Lancelot¡¯s apprentice would be quite an injustice to you.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that!¡± Kaiser suddenly remembered something. He jumped up from the sofa and yelled:


    ¡°If we¡¯re entering Silver Mask into the match, there will be someone who would question Silver Mask¡¯s identity. It¡¯d be fine if he wasn¡¯t Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, but he¡¯s not even a Knight!¡±


    Upon hearing this, Blood Wolf laughed mysteriously: ¡°Who says Liola isn¡¯t a Knight?¡±

 Volume 3, 5 : Holy Knight

    Volume 3, Chapter 5 : Holy Knight


    Daylight had just climbed out of the healing Maxun when he noticed Silver Mask, Kaiser, Meinan, and Jetter, who had a distasteful expression on his face. They were all standing in front of the healing Maxun, staring at him.


    Daylight was baffled, so he asked as he walked towards everyone: ¡°Are you guys waiting for me?¡±


    ¡°Yup. We¡¯re waiting for you so we can be on our way.¡± Kaiser answered


    ¡°On our way?¡± Daylight was even more confused.


    ¡°There was suddenly an academy ranking match this year, so every academy will be sending a five-person team to the match.¡± Meinan explained the situation to Daylight.


    ¡°The old geezer Barbalis didn¡¯t realize the match was the day after those Violet students came to cause trouble, and that would be today. We¡¯re short on time, so we¡¯re here waiting for you so we can be on our way.¡± Kaiser snapped.


    ¡°Academy ranking match? Aklan Academy had been the best for years, why is there suddenly a ranking match?¡±


    Daylight suddenly felt heavy responsibility placed upon his shoulders. If they lost and it caused Aklan Academy¡¯s ranking to drop, wouldn¡¯t they suddenly be the sinners of Aklan Academy¡¯s history?


    ¡°Barbalis said, the other academies have joined forces against him.¡± Kaiser snapped and grunted:


    ¡°That damn old geezer, if I were in other academies, I would make him pay too!¡±


    Daylight looked at the quiet Silver Mask on the side, walked in front of him and asked:


    ¡°Silver Mask, are you a member of this team too?¡±


    Wearing the silver mask, Liola nodded at Daylight, whom seemed to have sighed in relief. As a defeated opponent, Daylight was quite clear of how strong Silver Mask was.


    Daylight calmed down and began to get excited for the battle: ¡°Let me go prepare for the trip then we¡¯ll go.¡±


    Kaiser pouted and took out a long pike ¡ª it was Daylight¡¯s weapon.


    Meinan opened a bag, inside were Silver Mask¡¯s white, silver-lined uniform, gray Sorcerer robe, and Daylight¡¯s blue-lined Knight¡¯s uniform. Liola didn¡¯t say anything, but his legs were wrapped by two Dragon tails: one was white, the other was red.


    Everything was ready, even the Eastern Wind.


    [T/N: The refers to the Battle of Red Cliff where two allied forces won a decisive victory because of the eastern wind, and it carried flame ships towards the enemy fleet.]


    Kaiser snapped again: ¡°The principal said, since we already have two Dragons, so we will have to ride the Dragons to the match, and therefore save on traveling fees.¡±


    Daylight nodded. As he walked out of the healing room, he asked his Fire Dragon, Flames, to transform outside via telepathy. Liola walked out with Daylight and also used telepathy, asking Baolilong become bigger.


    Before long, two giant Dragons stood tall on the plaza. Right after Daylight had gotten on Flames, Kaiser and Meinan too climbed up with him.


    Daylight curiously turned around and looked at them, then he looked at Silver Mask, who was standing alone on top of the white Dragon.


    ¡°One of you could go ride Silver Mask¡¯s Dragon.¡± Daylight reminded them.


    Meinan¡¯s face suddenly changed, then shook his head continuously. Kaiser said: ¡°No, thank you. We¡¯re not too terribly interested in things like 720 degree turns in mid air.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute, what about me?¡± Jetter, who had been silent, suddenly yelled anxiously.


    ¡°You?¡± Kaiser said coldly: ¡°I remember you are from the School of Mecha Fighters? Do the students there not have Mechas to use?¡±


    Jetter ground his teeth and said: ¡°My Mecha can¡¯t be used for long distance flights. I¡¯ve already used a flying Maxun to send it to the match!¡±


    Kaiser smiled sinisterly.


    Everyone who knew Kaiser would know that it was the same smile he puts on whenever he saw the misery of other people.


    Not only was his smile despicable, the sound he makes when he laughs would wanted to make the listeners punch him in the face:


    ¡°Then¡­ You go sit on Silver Mask¡¯s White Dragon. It¡¯s a Sacred White Dragon, and not something you would have a chance to ride whenever you want.¡±


    Jetter looked at Silver Mask hesitantly. Since Silver Mask had some conflicts with him, Jetter thought that if Silver Mask want to take revenge on him, wouldn¡¯t it be easy to give him a little push in mid air?


    As if he had read Jetter¡¯s mind, Kaiser lightly flung his fingers and said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If Silver Mask wanted to kill you, it wouldn¡¯t be much harder than stepping on an ant. He wouldn¡¯t take you up into the sky, and then push you off as if he was trying to announce to the world that he killed you.¡±


    Though Jetter was furious at the tone of Kaiser¡¯s voice, he couldn¡¯t refute Kaiser¡¯s statement. Besides, it was indeed a rare chance to ride on the Sacred White Dragon! So with a grudge against Silver Mask, and excitement with riding the Sacred White Dragon, Jetter stepped onto the Dragon and headed to the match.


    * * *


    Jetter didn¡¯t noticed at all why Kaiser and Meinan would rather ride on Daylight¡¯s Red Dragon instead of the Sacred White Dragon. But before long, he understood completely.


    With a child¡¯s heart, Baolilong wasn¡¯t at all interested in ¡®smooth flight¡¯. His favorite thing to do in the air was tumbling.


    Baolilong didn¡¯t like flying straight, but instead flying in the shape of an ¡®S¡¯ was his favorite. Flying into the path of a wave was also a common occurrence.


    Anyway, since it was rare for Baolilong to return to its true form nowadays, it would always play when it was back in Dragon form, often to the point where it forgets its master was riding on its back.


    Fortunately, Baolilong¡¯s master happened to be the best Assassin with a terrifying sense of balance, otherwise Baolilong probably would¡¯ve killed its master a countless number of times. (So in a sense, perhaps Lanski should be thankful to Liola?)


    ¡°Let me down! Let me down!¡±


    Jetter desperately screamed on the top of his lungs. Every now and then, Liola would grab him and ¡°fish¡± him back to prevent him from being shaken off of Baolilong, and falling out of the sky to his death.


    ¡°Silver Mask¡¯s balance is unbelievable. Is he really the same age as me?¡±


    Daylight curiously asked. But as he said so, he suddenly remembered that there was an even bigger question that needed answering.


    Daylight turned and looked at Kaiser, then asked skeptically:


    ¡°Kaiser, is Silver Mask really the Paladin¡¯s apprentice? Why was that Violet Academy¡¯s Water Dragon Knight so sure that he isn¡¯t?¡±


    Kaiser, who was originally laughing his head off at Jetter, heard Daylight¡¯s question and almost choked on his own saliva. After coughing for a long while¡­ Actually, he was using the time to desperately think of an excuse. Finally, under Daylight¡¯s gaze, Kaiser bit the bullet and said:


    ¡°Well, you already know, Liola is Silver Mask.¡±


    Daylight nodded. When Silver Mask was in danger, Daylight looked for Silver Mask, but instead saw Liola with a gray Sorcerer robe and a white-haired, pink-eyed child.


    ¡°He¡¯s in a disguise because¡­¡± Kaiser showed a forced smile and continued, ¡°Because his master, the Paladin, had told him so. As for why¡­ well, maybe¡­¡±


    ¡°Because the Paladin didn¡¯t want Liola to become arrogant.¡± Meinan quietly continued where Kaiser had left off.


    Daylight¡¯s gaze was now focused on Meinan.


    ¡°If everyone knew Liola was the Paladin¡¯s apprentice, then their attitudes to him would be far different.¡± Meinan kept his calm and continued,


    ¡°In order to not let Liola be intoxicated by pretentious fame, the Paladin forbid Liola to announce himself as his apprentice, and he himself never said he has an apprentice, so the Water Dragon Knight said the Paladin has no apprentice.¡±


    Daylight finally understood what happened, and he wasn¡¯t at all suspicious of what Meinan had said.


    Daylight continued:


    ¡°Whenever the principal needed Liola¡¯s help, Liola would disguise himself as Silver Mask to help the principal. So that¡¯s why. The Paladin¡¯s thoughtfulness is really admirable, and Liola is certainly worthy to be his apprentice. Liola even entered the School of Sorcery, and he didn¡¯t disobey his master¡¯s order even if Knights with lower rank than him would insult him.¡±


    Daylight nodded in satisfaction, and he was no longer skeptical of Liola¡¯s identity. He even secretly reminded himself, never leak Liola¡¯s secret identity, so the Paladin¡¯s thoughtfulness wouldn¡¯t go to waste.


    Though the dangerous situation had been averted, Kaiser curiously looked at Meinan, who was making a ¡®V¡¯ sign.


    ¡®Since when did this guy learn to lie?¡¯ Had he not been certain that Liola was definitely not Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, even Kaiser would¡¯ve been fooled by Meinan¡¯s explanation.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Daylight pointed at a place where loud cheers could be heard.


    It was a circular arena. It was a place only used for special events in the Empire, but now it was used for the academy ranking matches.


    Daylight looked at Liola and pointed in the direction of the arena. Liola nodded, and soon both directed their Dragons toward the arena.


    Two Dragons appearing in the air on top of the arena made the original cheers silent. Thousands of students in the circular arena widened their eyes to look up, and even the teams in the center of the arena looked up at their opponents.


    Having two Dragon Knights indicated significant power, but it was not uncommon, as there were quite a few Dragons on the side.


    What was important was the Dragon Knights¡¯ ranks.


    The White and Fire Dragons slowly landed, and the administrative staff immediately walked up to Liola and the others. After having seen the school badge on their chest, he immediately raised his microphone to announce:


    ¡°Aklan Academy has arrived!¡±


    The arena immediately started to roar. Being currently ranked first, Aklan Academy was commonly regarded as the biggest opponent. Everyone seemed to be surveying the five Aklan Academy students.


    ¡°Two Dragon Knights, my god! They even have a rank silver Knight? How is that possible? Silver Knights are usually instructors!¡± One of the students screamed.


    ¡°One Mecha Fighter student. Isn¡¯t that Jetter? Ahaha!¡± Participants from other academies exploded with laughter, because Jetter had fallen off as soon as the White Dragon landed. And then, with foam around his mouth, he was unconscious and was carried off by the medical staff.


    ¡°Two Sorcerer students¡­¡± People who were examining the representatives had gotten quiet when they saw Kaiser and Meinan, and they were confused.


    Ordinarily, very few principals would send Sorcery students. Out of the tens of teams present, only two of which had Sorcerers. Violet Academy had only sent one Sorcerer, but Aklan Academy sent two.


    ¡°Come here quick, you¡¯re the only ones not in position.¡± The administrative staff beckoned the students from Aklan Academy.


    Daylight looked at Liola, and reminded him: ¡°Silver Mask, your rank is the highest. You should walk in front of us.¡±


    After Liola asked Baolilong to return to a meter-tall small Dragon, he walked in front of his companions, and followed the staff to the center of the arena. There were already more than ten teams of participants standing there, and everyone settled their gazes on Liola.


    Though Liola didn¡¯t care for their stares, he wondered if he had done something wrong. Why else would everyone be staring at him?


    Actually, Liola hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. But he was wearing a white uniform, and he walked very calmly.


    His eyes were sharp, and he mimicked a Knight¡¯s pride perfectly. His demeanor was exactly of a Silver Knight. But the reason why all the students were staring at Liola, was because of his rank.


    There had never been a Silver Knight ranked among students!


    Though every academy had a couple of Blue Knights here and there, no one had ever reached rank-silver while they were still a student.


    The abysmal gap between Blue and Silver rank was something that many Knights couldn¡¯t cross in their lifetime. Even instructors in academies were not all rank-silver. The majority of them were still Blue ranked.


    ¡°Your position is here. Please wait.¡± The staff courteously asked Liola to stop. His identity as a Silver Knight made even the staff cautious.


    ¡°If I knew this before hand I would¡¯ve asked Barbalis to lend me a Silver Knight uniform, so they wouldn¡¯t treat me as if I¡¯m transparent.¡± Kaiser quietly complained:


    ¡°No, I should just get a Gold ranked uniform.¡±


    ¡°Then every Knight would have their swords on your neck. There are only ten Gold Knights in the world, and they¡¯re all very famous.¡± Daylight advised with good intentions.


    ¡°And Kaiser, no one is treating you as a transparent person.¡± Meinan was holding an eyelash brush, and looked in the mirror to raise his lashes even more:


    ¡°There are more than ten Knights, lots of Mecha Fighters, but only three Sorcerers! I can safely say that we are the most eye-catching ones. Why don¡¯t you straighten up your messy hair? You can use my hairbrush.¡±


    Kaiser looked at the brush Meinan handed over, and he did not bother to hide his disgust:


    ¡°Get it away from me! I¡¯d rather be bald than brush my hair with a pink brush with a butterfly pattern on it!¡±


    Meinan shrugged and took the brush back. He then started meticulously brushing his hair, even though it looked straight and neat.


    Seeing every academy had a different badge, Liola lowered his head for the first time and looked at his own chest, at the badge he temporarily took off from his Sorcery robe and put on his Knight uniform.


    For the first time, Liola realized the Aklan Academy¡¯s badge was a pentacle. Liola raised his head to look beside him. Those students were wearing a violet on their chest. He then looked up and saw a familiar face, because it was the person who came to Aklan Academy yesterday to provoke them and defeat Daylight and Purity ¡ª Yizhou.


    Yuzhou had a distasteful expression. He glanced at Liola, and his voice was as cold as yesterday: ¡°I will defeat you, you fake Silver Knight and expose your lies.¡±


    The staff saw that every academy had arrived, so he raised his mic again:


    ¡°All 15 participating academies have arrived. Then allow me to introduce this ranking match¡¯s judges. The first is the Silver Knight, Feir.¡±


    A man with black hair, black eyes, and wearing white, silver-lined Knight uniform stood up on the stage. He had a warm smile, and it made people feel refreshed.


    Feir nodded lightly, and said: ¡°I hope that everyone can compete in this match fair and square. Long live chivalry!¡±


    Feir put his right fist on his left chest, and performed a Knight salute to everyone. All the Knights returned the salute, even Liola had learned to do so.


    Feir looked curiously at Liola before he sat down.


    ¡°Feir is Purity¡¯s older brother. His full name is King Feir.¡± Meinan whispered in Kaiser¡¯s ears, which made Kaiser¡¯s jaw drop.


    [T/N: In Chinese customs, last name is placed in front of the first name.]


    Because of his sharp hearing, Liola heard this information too. So the Knight uniform Liola took from Purity belonged to the same Feir before him?


    ¡°Hey! Purity¡¯s last name isn¡¯t really King, is it?¡± Kaiser was rather curious.


    ¡°Yes. Her last name is King, and her first name is Purity.¡± Meinan said as a matter-of-fact.


    [T/N: Purity¡¯s original name is Qing Qing]


    Kaiser showed a strange expression: ¡°Then is your last name Mei and first name Nan? Daylight, is your last name Day and your first name Light? Haha, Liola would be even more strange. Could his last name be Li and first name be Ola?¡±


    Daylight answered seriously: ¡°It¡¯s true. My last name is Day and my given name is Light.¡±


    Meinan raised his head from looking at the mirror, and rolled his eyes at Kaiser: ¡°My name is Meinan Glory, not Mei Nan.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a last name.¡± Liola replied to Kaiser, whom awkwardly scratched his face upon hearing.


    While Kaiser and others were discussing names, the staff had introduced a few Mecha Association¡¯s Honorable Advisors, and a representative from the Sorcerer Association. After the judges had greeted all the aforementioned attendees, the staff saw that everything was just about in order, so he spoke again:


    ¡°Now I announce that the First Annual Academy Ranking Match begins! First¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    A voice had interrupted the staff¡¯s announcement. Everyone looked at the person who spoke. It was a person in the Violet Academy, and he was wearing a purple Sorcerer robe.


    It was the person who came yesterday to provoke Aklan Academy, and the Water Dragon Knight¡¯s elder brother ¡ª Yiyu.


    ¡°There is a Silver Knight among students. Doesn¡¯t anyone suspect something?¡± Yiyu smiled maliciously.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze immediately gathered on Liola; their eyes were indeed filled with suspicion.


    Yiyu from Violet Academy walked out of his team, and said loudly to the judges on the stage:


    ¡°This Silver Knight not only wearing a mask and call himself Silver Mask, he even claims to be the Paladin Lancelot¡¯s apprentice. I hereby proclaim, this person is most likely lying. He¡¯s definitely not Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, and he¡¯s probably not even a Silver Knight!¡±


    This speech caused the stadium to rumble as if there was a bomb. Everyone within the arena, and probably everyone on the Aklan Continent, were already suspicious of this Lancelot¡¯s apprentice appearing out of no where. But because they were intimidated of his silver rank, no one opened their mouth to openly question his identity. Now that someone had spearheaded questioned him, everyone¡¯s suspicions had surfaced.


    Standing at the epicenter, Liola still remained calm. Fortunately, Kaiser had already predicted something like this would happen.


    Facing everyone suspicions, Liola did not say a word, but instead walked towards the stage. As he walked step by step, the crowd had slowly quiet down. Finally, Liola was in front of Feir, and everyone was quietly watching how this would progress.


    Feir¡¯s face was still filled with warm smile, and he curiously looked at what Silver Mask would do.


    Liola then took out a silver, metal card from his pocket, and placed it in front of Feir. He said: ¡°Please don¡¯t say my real name.¡±


    Feir took the card he was most familiar with, because it was given out by the Knight Association to prove a Knight¡¯s identity. The silver color represented the Silver Knight¡¯s identity.


    The small card had the Knight¡¯s name and rank, a picture of the Knight, and a Holy Sword Emblem representing the Knight Association.


    Feir took out his card as well. When two authentic Knight card touch, the emblem will shine with a golden color. This was the best way Knights could confirm each other¡¯s identity. Feir lightly touched the two cards, and the sword emblems on both cards did indeed glow.


    ¡°Your Knight card is authentic, but I still need to confirm if the picture is really yours.¡± Feir said as he handed the Knight card back to Silver Mask.


    Liola nodded. With his back to everyone, he quickly took off his mask and then immediately put it back. Though it was a short time, but Feir had already seen his face clearly. He nodded and said:


    ¡°You really are a Silver Knight, that I can promise. But I don¡¯t know if you are the Paladin Lancelot¡¯s apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Whether I¡¯m the Paladin¡¯s apprentice has nothing to do with this match.¡± Liola hadn¡¯t planned on explaining any further.


    ¡°But this has to do with your code of honor. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to give any explanation?¡± Feir asked somewhat curiously.


    Liola¡¯s face sank, and he was unsure how to respond to anything regarding to his code of honor.


    At this time, Daylight, who had been anxious for Liola, couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. He quickly ran up to the stage, and his serious face was filled with determination. He first saluted Feir, then said:


    ¡°Sir Feir, Silver Mask has his reasons for not explaining, and I can promise you on my honor that Silver Mask is not lying.¡±


    ¡°Crap! Somebody¡¯s honor was just destroyed in the hands of Liola.¡± Kaiser murmured. Meinan, the only one who heard the murmurs, had a helpless expression.


    ¡°You¡¯re on the same team as Silver Mask. You would obviously say he¡¯s not lying.¡± Seeing the favors were tilting in Silver Mask¡¯s direction, Yiyu hurriedly yelled.


    Daylight¡¯s face sank, and turned around to say solemnly to that Sorcerer: ¡°I¡¯ve already sworn on my honor. If you still insist that I¡¯m lying, then I must duel with you to protect my honor.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already dueled, and if I remember correctly, you¡¯ve lost to us yesterday.¡± Yiyu smiled.


    Without giving up at all, Daylight openly admitted: ¡°Yesterday I did lose. But to protect my honor, I will give it my best today.¡±


    Unable to make Daylight feel embarrassed, Yiyu was obviously unhappy. He narrowed his eyes and started announcing:


    ¡°My brother had met Sir Lancelot before, and the Paladin himself said he had no plans to have any apprentices. This was only five years ago, so how could he suddenly have a Silver-ranked Knight apprentice. Do you think this is possible?¡±


    After his speech, everyone had gotten quiet again. Everyone¡¯s gaze was back on Liola.


    ¡°Oh, so, you wanted to be Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, but in the end you got rejected. No wonder you¡¯re acting like we owe you a ton of money.¡± Kaiser looked up and down at the Water Dragon Knight, and he was laughing sinisterly.


    Everyone seemed to thought about what Kaiser said, and what Yiyu had announced, then burst out laughing.


    Yizhou¡¯s face had turned colder, and his freezing gaze was on Liola. He said word by word: ¡°The Paladin would never have you as an apprentice!¡±


    Seeing the doubtful voices in the arena was increasing, things were getting out of hand. Liola had no way of fixing this. The only person who could complete his lies, Blood Wolf, was nowhere to be seen after giving him the Knight card last night. (Strange, why does Blood Wolf not care about his honor?)


    When Kaiser was completely helpless, a crisp neigh was heard from the sky. When everyone raised their head to look at the sky, their jaws dropped in disbelief. Even the Silver Knight, Feir, immediately stood up, and performed a Knight salute.


    A snow white unicorn was snorting amidst the blue skies, and on it there was a man in White Knight uniform. His long brown hair was tied into a ponytail, and his sky-blue eyes seemed to be searching among the crowds. As soon as he saw Liola, Lancelot slightly frowned, and commanded the unicorn to land on the stage, where Liola was standing.


    Lancelot got off the unicorn, and walked directly towards Liola. He didn¡¯t not look at anyone else, and he only waved his hand briefly at Feir¡¯s salute. Lancelot walked to Liola, and curiously looked at Liola. His face sank and he said solemnly:


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to salute?¡±


    Though Liola was stunned at the situation, but he still put his right fist on his left chest out of reflex to salute Lancelot.


    ¡°Wait for me on the unicorn.¡± Lancelot sounded like he was scolding his own child. His tone was strict and as if it can¡¯t be defied.


    Hearing a command tone, Liola instead felt strangely familiar. His body practically obeyed Lancelot without his control. It wasn¡¯t until he had gotten on the unicorn did Liola remember that Lancelot wasn¡¯t the Leader, and he didn¡¯t need to obey his orders.


    Though Liola thought this way, his body still obeyed the order and he stayed on the unicorn without moving. Confused, Baolilong, who was in a meter-long Dragon form, bit the corner of Liola¡¯s pants.


    Liola lowered his head to look at Baolilong. After thinking about it carefully, he used telepathy to tell Baolilong.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. You stay here and help Kaiser and others.¡±


    On Baolilong¡¯s long Dragon face, two cheeks puffed up, and he grunted in dissatisfaction. But it obeyed Liola¡¯s orders, and walked back to Kaiser. Baolilong frequently turned around to look at Liola, hoping Liola would change his mind and allow itself to remain by his side.


    Lancelot now finally looked directly at the judges on the stage. He said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have to take him away. I will try my best to bring him back before the match starts.¡±


    No one dared to say anything. Even if Liola evaporated from the world, no one would say anything bad about the Paladin. Lancelot knew this very well, and it was just a formality for him to give an excuse to the judges. He then walked back and rode the unicorn, then took his apprentice and flew away.


    * * *


    When everyone was in shock, Kaiser suddenly burst out a cry: ¡°My god! He took away my trump card!¡±


    ¡®But, why did the Paladin take Silver Mask away?¡¯ Meinan was puzzled as he thought about it.

 Volume 3, 6 : Seal

    Volume 3, Chapter 6 : Seal


    Liola quietly sat on the unicorn, and he did not speak a word. Instead, Lancelot, who was sitting in the front, curiously opened his mouth first:


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me what¡¯s going on?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until then that Liola spoke.


    ¡°Did Blood Wolf ask you to come?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and no. Blood Wolf did indeed ask me to come. But even if he hadn¡¯t say anything, I was planning on having a talk with you anyway. Why don¡¯t you go to the Dragon Empire? I heard Miluo had already caused you some trouble, why not seek protection from the Dragon Empire?¡±


    Lancelot asked a multiple questions in one go.


    Liola was quiet for a while, and then said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s reply, but didn¡¯t considered it to be a real answer, Lancelot smiled:


    ¡°You are just like how Blood Wolf described: a lost and indifferent boy, not to mention very stubborn.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t care for this comment, but instead he stared blankly at the passing earth below. Before long, Lancelot guided the unicorn to land on an uninhabited plain.


    After jumping off the unicorn, he observed his surroundings, then nodded in satisfaction. He turned and said to Liola, who was standing next to the unicorn:


    ¡°Take off your mask. As your master, I still don¡¯t even know what my apprentice looks like.¡±


    Liola obeyed and took off the silver mask, which showed his elegant face. Lancelot looked at the mask and said after a moment of silence:


    ¡°Where did you get this mask? It actually changed your eye color.¡±


    ¡°Mizerui gave it to me.¡±


    ¡°Mizerui¡­ His things were always a bit strange.¡± Lancelot seemed a bit skeptical, but he wasn¡¯t going to comment on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s friend, Mizerui.


    The straightforward Lancelot then continued to get to the main reason why he came: ¡°Blood Wolf said, you wanted to learn healing magic?¡±


    Hearing about healing magic, Liola¡¯s interest was finally aroused. He nodded and asked,


    ¡°You can teach me healing magic?¡±


    ¡°The most famous attribute of being a Holy Knight is healing magic.¡± Lancelot said as a matter-of-fact.


    But then he continued solemnly: ¡°If it¡¯s healing magic, I can teach you, because Blood Wolf had specifically asked me to do so. As for other abilities, I would never teach them to an Assassin. Even though you¡¯ve promised Princess Anise you won¡¯t kill again, I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    Seeing Lancelot doubt his promise to Anise, Liola¡¯s mind was started to be a bit discontented, and his attitude towards Lancelot got colder. No one noticed the subtle change, at least Lancelot didn¡¯t. Lancelot then proceeded to fulfil his promise to Blood Wolf.


    ¡°Blood Wolf told me that your main problem is not being able to feel magic element; is that right?¡± Lancelot didn¡¯t beat around the bush.


    Liola nodded.


    Lancelot told him to watch, then he took out his snow white sword, and lightly cut the palm of his hand. Bright red blood instantly poured out, but Lancelot closed his eyes to concentrate and chanted a few lines of a spell.


    LIola¡¯s wounded palm started to emit white light, and the blood seemed to have slowed down, until finally there was no blood at all. Lancelot took out a handkerchief and wiped away the blood stains, and there wasn¡¯t even a scar left on his palm.


    Liola slightly frowned. When Lancelot was healing, he did indeed feel some sort of energy concentrating in Lancelot¡¯s hand. Could that be the supposed magic element? Liola had a blurred idea about this element, but it wasn¡¯t clear enough to him to control such special energy.


    Liola took Broken Silver out of his boots. After turning the stick into a dagger, Liola took Broken Silver and cut a long wound on his arm, then lifted for Lancelot to heal.


    At first, Lancelot looked at Liola¡¯s unique weapon curiously, Broken Silver. When Liola lifted his arm, Lancelot placed his hand over Liola¡¯s wound. A warm white light emitted from Lancelot¡¯s palm, and Liola felt at the energy on his wound. The energy slowly sank into his skin, and it repaired his tissue slowly, until the wound was nowhere to be found.


    Liola knitted his eyebrows, trying to remember the feeling and attempted to control that feeling.


    Lancelot was also trying to help: ¡°Put out your palm, look at it, and try to remember that feeling¡±, he reminded.


    Liola did so, and his silver eyes concentrated on his palm. For a moment, he even seemed to forget an Assassin¡¯s awareness to the surrounding. The only thing in Liola¡¯s eyes and mind was his own palm.


    Slowly, Liola felt a familiar energy, and there was a warmth in his palm that extended to his heart. Liola felt excited and a sense of achievement, and even his face began to smile.


    Lancelot suddenly put his hand on Liola¡¯s forehead. Liola curiously raised his eyes to look at Lancelot, but Lancelot yelled: ¡°Concentrate!¡±


    Liola obeyed, and focused all his attention back to his palm. The warmth in his hand felt more and more intense, until it finally began to emit a faint white glow.


    Liola immediately bit a finger on his other hand, and then touched the wounded finger against the light. Liola immediately saw his wound was slowly recovering.


    He really did learn healing magic!


    ¡°Congratulations on learning healing magic. Now let¡¯s experience another unique skill of the Holy Knight.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s hand remained on Liola¡¯s forehead. A pair of blue eyes looked absolutely selfless, even brutally altruistic.


    Though Liola had started worrying about Lancelot¡¯s gaze, but there was no way that the Paladin Lancelot would hurt him, right?


    With that thought, Liola didn¡¯t do anything, just quietly sustained the heavy pressure on his forehead. But even with Liola¡¯s endurance, his expression was still reflective of how much pain he felt.


    Finally, Liola could no longer hold it, his hands held Lancelot¡¯s arm, trying to push away this source of pain.


    But Liola suddenly noticed, not only did Lancelot not let go, his fingers held on even tighter to Liola¡¯s head, and the pressure was getting strong.


    Liola almost yelled out in pain, but he held back, instead he could only squeeze these words out between his teeth: ¡°Lancelot?¡±


    ¡°Seal is magic unique to Holy Knights. We don¡¯t like to kill, and sealing can make even the most dangerous enemies powerless to harm others.¡± Lancelot said calmly and justly,


    ¡°You¡¯re too dangerous, Liola. Since you don¡¯t want to join the Dragon Emperor¡¯s side, he agreed to use this method to stop you from causing any more harm to this world.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t cause any harm!¡± Unfortunately Lancelot didn¡¯t stop.


    Liola could only helplessly watch as hundreds of white, transparent chains came out of Lancelot¡¯s hands, and the chains wrapped themselves around Liola¡¯s body. Wherever the chains touched, Liola could feel his powers being drained away, and even his mind began to drift off to unconsciousness.


    Before Liola lost consciousness, he faintly hear Lancelot say: ¡°I did not seal your magic, so you can still follow your wish on becoming a healer. Your wishes are good, both for you and this world.¡±


    The chains slowly sank into Liola¡¯s body, and the intense pain finally took away Liola¡¯s consciousness and he fell the the ground. When the last chain appeared on his body, a few strange golden pattern slowly surfaced on Liola¡¯s skin, and they looked like ropes wrapping Liola.


    Lancelot quietly looked at the unconscious Liola on the ground, and calmly said:


    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, but I can¡¯t let strong Assassin, such as yourself, roam in this world.¡±


    Lancelot dragged Liola back onto the unicorn. He also took the silver mask hanging from Liola¡¯s waist. He frowned when he felt that it had some form of magical energy, but he had no way of ascertaining what magic Mizerui put on it. Lancelot clenched his hand, and the mask in his hand broke into several pieces. He threw away the pieces, then rode the unicorn back towards the arena.


    * * *


    ¡°OMG!¡± Kaiser paced back and forth in the resting room, and eventually pulled his hair and yelled towards the sky,


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go! Without Liola, I will never participate in the match! Don¡¯t kid me, they have five people and we have three. These kinds of disadvantageous matches, it¡¯s as if you¡¯re asking me to commit suicide!¡±


    Meinan kindly reminded: ¡°Though Jetter is still in the infirmary, but he should be able to join us for the match. So we have four people.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kaiser pointed his finger and solemnly explained,


    ¡°You think Jetter counts as a person? It would be nice if he doesn¡¯t hold us back and turn the strength of us three into two and a half, and you even expect him to count as a fourth?¡±


    The current situation made even Daylight knit his brow. A Knight and two Sorcerer facing teams with numerous Knights and Mechas would be quite difficult.


    ¡°And Baolilong!¡± Baolilong, who had turned back into a child¡¯s form, sat naked on the side, chewed beef jerky, and protested.


    Three of them looked at Baolilong, whose mouth was full of meat. Kaiser snapped,


    ¡°We¡¯re talking about the number of ¡®people¡¯. If someday you reincarnate to a human, talk to me then! And, turn back into a Dragon. You¡¯re useless as a five year old child.¡±


    Baolilong angrily growled at Kaiser, and then slowly turned into a White Dragon. As it tried to use its claw to try to tear the beef jerky, Baolilong complained: ¡°Claw claw is hard to eat beef jerky with.¡±


    ¡°I hope Silver Mask comes back in time.¡± Daylight sighed. He felt pressured: if the Aklan Academy loses its first place title in his hands, then he wouldn¡¯t know where to hide his shame.


    Even when everyone had their eyebrows knitted, they still couldn¡¯t come up with a plan. Just then, the PA system rang:


    ¡°The Academy Ranking Matches will now begin. All academies, please get into your positions.¡±


    Though Daylight seemed down, he still stood up. Even if the chance of winning was miniscule, he will do his best.


    Meinan hurriedly took his brush and mirror to fix up his appearance, fearing some strands of his hair would be out of place during the match.


    Kaiser desperately tried to crawl under the sofa, and didn¡¯t want to get out. Meanwhile, Baolilong swallowed the bag of jerky, then it bit Kaiser¡¯s pants, dragging him out of the sofa.


    ¡°Principal Barbalis will come watch this match. If he doesn¡¯t see you in the match, then Mizerui¡­¡± Once more Meinan tried to kindly advise Kaiser to get out.


    Hearing Mizerui¡¯s name, Kaiser¡¯s face sank.


    He thought, ¡®Academy student vs. Mizerui¡­ It was a no brainer.¡¯


    Even if tens of students were to combine their power, it can¡¯t possibly be higher than the rank-X criminal.


    Kaiser helplessly and reluctantly crawled out of the sofa, then followed Daylight and Meinan towards the match. He walked slower and slower, falling further behind with every other step he takes. Finally, Meinan couldn¡¯t take it any more, so he forcefully dragged Kaiser.


    * * *


    The three finally arrived at the arena. The circular arena was surrounded by rows of seats for the audiences, and in the center was a field used for the matches. Only a cylindrical, transparent shield separated the two.


    Another academy had already been waiting in the center, and in their team, there were two Knights and three Mechas. The Knights were a Blue Holy Knight, and the other was a Red Dragon Knight. The three Mechas consisted of two D rank ones and a rank C.


    ¡°Ah~~ My stomach hurts. I can¡¯t hold it any more. I have to go to the infirmary.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly crouched, held his stomach, and yelled in pain. He then walked towards the infirmary. He was walking with so much force that he was dragging Baolilong along, who was holding onto his pants. Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Mizerui!¡± Meinan, and even Daylight, said in unison.


    With a long face, Kaiser turned around, then looked left and right to see if Barbalis was really there. Unfortunately, he really was.


    With two lines of tears running down his face, Kaiser saw that in the VIP section Barbalis was waving a flag with Aklan Academy¡¯s pentacle symbol.


    He also saw Lanski, who looked disappointed because she didn¡¯t see Silver Mask, sitting beside Barbalis.


    Jasmine, too, was there and searching for Liola. Of course, twenty-something Sorcerer students also came. Their only instructors were here, what else could they do except follow him?


    Purity, however, happily ran towards Feir, and she seemed to have a spoiled demeanor. Though Feir seemed a little embarrassed, but he couldn¡¯t hide his intention to spoil his little sister. He happily stroke Purity¡¯s head.


    Since his life was the most important, Kaiser started to think of a way to prevent himself from dying in the arena:


    ¡°Daylight, of course you are our main offense. I¡¯ll provide cover for you. Meinan your responsibility is the biggest. You¡¯re responsible for my safety! If something happens to me, I will come back to haunt you!¡± Kaiser stared at Meinan.


    Meinan and Daylight both nodded, and then started walk towards the center.


    To Daylight, under the current situation, he would have to fight five people on his own. But since the prestige of Aklan Academy was on his shoulders, Daylight would never give up no matter what!


    ¡°What about Baolilong?¡± Baolilong opened its big pink eyes and asked.


    ¡°You? Are you hungry?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes narrowed as he laughed, as if he was an evil merchant.


    Baolilong desperately nodded, since a bag of jerky would never fill a Dragon¡¯s stomach. Kaiser looked at his opponent and said:


    ¡°You see those people over there? They are all edible!¡±


    ¡°Really? But papa said I can¡¯t eat people.¡± Baolilong struggled between wanting to eat them and the fear of being yelled.


    ¡°No! You heard it wrong. Your papa meant you can¡¯t kill people.¡± Kaiser tried to trick a little kid:


    ¡°So you could tear off a few pieces of meat to eat. This way, you won¡¯t breach what your dad said, and you can win the match, not to mention saving the money for your next meal. Three birds with one stone! Your papa would be so happy.¡±


    Baolilong happily nodded, and looked at the mouth-watering group of meat meat!


    Kaiser was very satisfied. There was another force joining him. When Baolilong is hungry, its destructive powers was quite impressive.


    Then the broadcast rang again,


    ¡°Because contestant Silver Mask was taken away, and contestant Jetter is in poor health, therefore unable to participate, the council has decided that Aklan Academy may attend this match with less contestants than intended.¡±


    ¡°JETTER?!¡± Veins appeared on Kaiser¡¯s forehead: ¡°This worthless bastard ran way on the spot?!¡±


    Had it not been Barbalis¡¯ threat of expelling him to face Mizerui, there would probably be only two people left in the arena. Three black lines appeared on Daylight and Meinan¡¯s face when they heard Kaiser¡¯s accusation of how Jetter deserted them and how he has no loyalty.


    Kaiser kept cursing at Jetter, but his hands did not remain idle. He took out an arm-length energy gun.


    After turning it on, he carefully put his finger on the trigger. Daylight also took out his long pike, and flew into the sky riding his Fire Dragon. He worriedly turned around to ask Kaiser and Meinan:


    ¡°Are you sure you will be okay? If it¡¯s too dangerous, just forfeit!¡± But he himself would never give up.


    The opponent probably heard what Daylight said. The opposing blue Knight coldly interrupted:


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not interested in bullying the weak. As long as we beat you, this match will be over.¡±


    Daylight¡¯s face sank. Even though he¡¯s the strongest among the students of Aklan Academy, it¡¯s still not possible for him to defeat two Knights and three Mechas by himself.


    Daylight took a deep breath: even if he had no chance of winning, he still had to try his best. His Fire Dragon slowly ascended into the air. The opposing Holy Knight also called forth a large vulture, and rode it into the sky. The Red Knight, too, called forth a Green Dragon and followed.


    What was worse was, even the three Mechas were aerial. In the air, Daylight was completely surrounded. His opponents looked anxious to tear him into pieces as soon as the sound of the whistle signaling the start of the match.


    Feir walked into a protective shield to watch the match from a close range. With his command, the match finally began.


    The two Knights and three Mechas all rushed towards Daylight like tigers pouncing on a prey.


    Under the circumstances, Daylight had no choice but to fly around, trying to shake them off while dodging the cannon fire from the Mechas.


    The opponents weren¡¯t idiots. While three Mechas were chasing Daylight, one of the Knights flew high into the air while the other flew low, which restricted Daylight¡¯s movement to the area between the two Knights, so he could only fly in circles with the three Mechas.


    The limited space finally forced Daylight to stop running when a Mecha flew in the opposite direction and stopped in front of him, which blocked his way.


    Seeing the dire situation, Baolilong planned to turn into a big Dragon to eat¡­ No, to help its friends. But strangely enough, Kaiser stopped it by putting his hand on Baolilong¡¯s head.


    Baolilong looked at Kaiser with its curious pink eyes, but Kaiser let out a sinister laugh: ¡°Don¡¯t move. I have a plan.¡±


    ¡°Flames, Fireball.¡±


    Daylight hurriedly commanded Flames to use Fireball to blow away the obstacle ahead.


    Flames spitted out two fiery fireballs aimed towards the Mecha. Of course, the two cannons on the shoulder of that human-shaped Mecha aren¡¯t for decoration. With two boom sounds, two shots of laser cannon accurately intercepted the two Fireballs.


    Daylight had already flown in front of the Mecha. With no other options, Daylight weiled his long pike forward, which collided with the lightsabre in the Mecha¡¯s hand, and the collision gengerated many sparks.


    Under the tremendous force of the Mecha, Daylight¡¯s body began to glow with a blue aura, with its edge dotted with silver lights.


    Daylight forcefully swung his pike and pushed away the lightsabre. As he continued to attack, the Mechas behind him were also catching up. Feeling the danger behind him, Daylight stopped attacking and made Flames dodge to the side to avoid the eagle-shaped and angel-shaped Mechas.


    However, the human-shaped Mecha swung its lightsabre at Daylight again.


    Daylight hurriedly used his pike to block the lightsabre, and the fire Dragon Flames also screeched while using its claws to deflect the eagle-shaped Mecha¡¯s giant wings.


    The angel-shaped Mecha circled around Flames back and used its hands to hold Flames¡¯ wings. Flames howled in pain, but could not attack the enemy behind it with its claws.


    Daylight heard his buddy¡¯s howl, and his fighting spirit rose. His long pike broke the human-shaped Mecha¡¯s lightsabre, and at the same time punctured a hole in the Mecha¡¯s shoulder.


    When Daylight turned around to deal with the angel-shaped Mecha behind him, two swords already swung down on him. Daylight turned his body on the side, and one sword torn the clothes on his chest while the other left a trail of blood on his back.


    Daylight spun his long pike around, and deflected the two swords. But Daylight was already closely surrounded by his five opponents. So he fought on with the weapon in his hand. Though he could block the major attacks, but he couldn¡¯t avoid being wounded left and right by smaller attacks.


    ¡°Daylight! Come take a breather in the protective shield.¡± Kaiser yelled beneath him.


    Daylight looked down and saw Meinan¡¯s hands glowing with magical lights. Daylight had heard rumors of how strong Meinan¡¯s shields were. He thought about his situation: if he continued like this, he would either run out of strength, or fall to the ground due to wounds.


    Daylight rammed towards the eagle-shaped Mecha, which had the lowest defense of the five, and rushed out of the circle. He flew directly towards Kaiser and Meinan, and magic and missiles flew by him as the Knights and Mechas followed him.


    ¡°Kaiser, if I have to make a shield large enough for Flames, then the strength would be greatly reduced.¡± Meinan said with difficulty.


    ¡°Drop the shields now, and put it up when I say so. And just put up enough strength to block a few pieces of sheet metal.¡±


    Kaiser, who always wielded one-handed pistols, held a bazooka with both hands, and aimed it at the approaching Daylight. Kaiser started chanting some magical incantation, but even Meinan couldn¡¯t understand what that spell was. The bazooka¡¯s barrel started to emit a blinding white light.


    Daylight quickly flew towards Kaiser while sustaining many attacks on his back. When he was about ten meters from Kaiser, the bazooka exploded with a white light.


    The light blinded Daylight and Flames, and all Daylight could feel was a wave of heat passing from the side of his face, followed by a series of explosions behind him.


    With Flames losing its sight, it didn¡¯t have a chance to stop, and it rammed directly into the ground. Meinan hurriedly jumped a few steps to the side, and therefore didn¡¯t become a meat pancake.


    Kaiser immediately yelled, ¡°Meinan, shields now!¡±


    Meinan had already prepped the magic in his hands. As soon as he raised his hands, a firm protective shield appeared on top of the three of them.


    It wasn¡¯t until then that Meinan realized the danger heading towards him: the three Mechas and a Green Dragon were falling directly on top of them, not to mention it was accompanied by various explosions!


    Meinan immediately put more magical power into the shields and instantly increasing the shield¡¯s strength, so Kaiser¡¯s supposed metal sheet won¡¯t breach the shield.


    With a few loud explosions, the ground shook.


    Meinan used all his magic, to the point where veins popped out of his forehead, and was finally able to maintain the giant shield.


    Daylight¡¯s sight returned and he curiously looked around the arena to examine the situation.


    The three Mechas who rammed into the shield and had been broken down into pieces of junk. The three Mecha Fighter students had to use their emergency escape pods to save their lives, laid on the ground with pale faces.


    The Red Knight¡¯s situation was far worse: the Green Dragon¡¯s wings looked like they were broken. If one looked closely, they¡¯d notice a giant, burnt hole on the Dragon¡¯s head, oozing with blood.


    As a judge, Feir had seen the whole thing and he murmured quietly: ¡°Asking his own teammate to fly towards him, and therefore making his five opponents fly in a straight line. Then he used an impressive piercing magic, in which fell one swoop and went through four opponents. My god, this is unbelievable.¡±


    Aklan Academy¡¯s only opponent left was a blue Holy Knight, who was flying in the sky with a pale face. Had he not been coincidentally too far away from Kaiser¡¯s missile trajectory, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been much better off than the Red Knight in his team.


    Feir hurriedly called a time-out, and asked the medics to take away the heavily injured Green Dragon and its master to the infirmary.


    Feir walked up to the three Mecha Fighter students, who were still trapped within their escape pods, and asked:


    ¡°You three are also injured. Are you going to the infirmary, or do you want to continue the battle?¡±


    The three Mecha Fighters looked at each other awkwardly. Without even half a Mecha, their strength on the battlefield was miniscule. To stay in the match would be like a prey walking into a slaughter house.


    The three lowered their heads and said, ¡°We surrender.¡±


    The tables had suddenly turned. The match turned from a 5v3 to a 1v3. The Blue Holy Knight could only stare at his three opponents, and he feared for his life when he saw Kaiser¡¯s eyes.


    Kaiser purposely blew the barrel of his gun, then turned to Daylight and said in disdain:


    ¡°I¡¯ve already taken care of four of them for ya¡¯. Now the last one is your responsibility. Hmph, if you can¡¯t even take care of him, then you should really just go back to being a Green rank, and be a green head instead.¡±


    Daylight¡¯s body was full of scratches and wounds, and his Fire Dragon was also bleeding. Despite this, Flames let out a mighty Dragon roar.


    Daylight smiled and hopped onto Flames. Before he left, he threw a line towards Kaiser:


    ¡°No problem! If I really lose, then I¡¯m willing to de-rank myself to Green.¡±

 Volume 3, 7 : Worthy of Consideration as a Godly Healer

    Volume 3, Chapter 7 : Worthy of Consideration as a Godly Healer


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Kaiser has such an amazing hidden skill.¡±


    Daylight reflected on what had happened during the match. Daylight watched the playback of the match and kept praising Kaiser¡¯s tactics and magic.


    Of course, Kaiser, who didn¡¯t even know what modesty was, had gotten so prideful that even his butt was in the air. He held his head high, and was practically dancing while walking. He laughed wildly and said:


    ¡°Hahaha, of course. I¡¯m the strongest. I just don¡¯t want to show it off usually, haha.¡±


    Meinan however, was skeptical, and he wondered if he just barely escaped the fate of being blown up himself.


    What was more worrying was that, if Liola doesn¡¯t come back, Kaiser would have to use the white bomb of his again and again. If that was the case, then how many more lives would he or Daylight have to risk against Kaiser¡¯s bomb?


    Meinan didn¡¯t forget when Kaiser said his bomb doesn¡¯t always work, and there are consequences of failing the spell.


    ¡°But, is this Liola guy, is he not ever going to ever come back?¡± Kaiser complained in dissatisfaction. At the same time he admitted unhappily:


    ¡°This skill¡­ I can only use it once every three days.¡±


    ¡°Let me go look at the match schedule.¡± Daylight knitted his eyebrows.


    He had originally thought that his team suddenly had an extra able body, but now he knew Kaiser was only be useful once every three days.


    Kaiser realized they had arrived at the lounge prepared for Aklan Academy, he immediately kicked the door open. As soon as the door opened, they saw a person in gray robed sitting cross-legged.


    Kaiser affectionately yelled and ran up to him: ¡°Liola, I miss you so much!¡±


    Liola was suddenly hugged by Kaiser, and at the same time he was shocked, because he didn¡¯t notice Kaisers and others until then.


    Kaiser was also shocked, because he thought Liola should have noticed them long ago, and he would¡¯ve shadow-stepped out of his hug as usual. However, Liola was so shocked, even his body trembled a little.


    Daylight didn¡¯t realize anything out of the ordinary, so he sighed in relief:


    ¡°Silver Mask, you¡¯re finally back. We had a rather close match just now, but we don¡¯t know how we¡¯re going to fight the next match.¡±


    Kaiser realized there was something wrong, and he immediately examined Liola: he looked complete. There wasn¡¯t a finger or leg missing, nor were there any scars or wounds.


    Kaiser glanced at the only exposed skin Liola had: his palm, and then the expression on his face suddenly changed. On Liola¡¯s hand, there was something like a tattoo shaped like a golden lock.


    Kaiser crudely grabbed Liola¡¯s hand, and started examining the spell on the lock.


    Kaiser¡¯s heart sank as he looked. From what Kaiser knew of magic, the lock was definitely some sort of seal. There were only very few Sorcerers who knew anything about seal. Mizerui and Barbalis would probably not do something like this (because they haven¡¯t played enough), and Liola wouldn¡¯t do anything that would force them to use that spell on him. The caster must put their hand on the person to be sealed, and their magic must go through their entire body. As long as it¡¯s interrupted in anyway, the seal would be incomplete.


    Kaiser thought about it and asked skeptically, ¡°Did¡­ Lancelot do this?¡±


    Liola nodded. Lancelot threw him in the lounge and warned him that the seal was flawless, any attempt to unseal could cost him his life. He then turned away and left.


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank, and Meinan curiously walked up to Liola and also examined Liola¡¯s hand. Meinan, too, was in shock. Daylight was also curious, so he walked up as well to look at Liola¡¯s ¡°tattoo¡±, but he didn¡¯t see anything unusual.


    Magic like seals were very difficult for a Holy Knight. Ordinarily, even among Holy Knights, not many people would try to learn it.


    Daylight, who spent all his time studying fighting techniques, did not excel in magic, and he only barely brushed up on healing magic, so seals was something he had no knowledge of, and naturally he didn¡¯t recognize it.


    ¡°What did Sir Lancelot do?¡± Daylight curiously, and he couldn¡¯t understand Kaiser¡¯s and Meinan¡¯s depressed expressions. To him, the Paladin was Liola¡¯s master, and he would never do anything to harm Liola.


    ¡°He sealed Liola¡¯s Kung Fu skills.¡± Meinan said with difficulty.


    Daylight was stunned. He didn¡¯t think much about Lancelot¡¯s intent in doing so, but Liola being sealed was practically an unexpected disaster.


    What will they do about the following matches? Kaiser can¡¯t use the same skill for another three days, and even if their match is three days later, Kaiser¡¯s success largely depended on the fact that their opponent didn¡¯t know of his power and underestimated Sorcerers.


    It would be definitely impossible to achieve the same kind of result the next time around, and it would be lucky if they can even defeat one opponent with it.


    What are they going to do about the other four then? Let Daylight handle all of them?


    Daylight couldn¡¯t help but admit. Normally, 1v4 wouldn¡¯t be a huge problem for him, but this time, all his opponents were top students from every academy! Daylight was confident he could 1v2, but winning in a 1v4 situation would be a fantasy.


    ¡°Why did Sir Lancelot seal his own apprentice¡¯s Kung Fu?¡± Daylight was puzzled.


    Kaiser¡¯s face was filled with depression, and he didn¡¯t want to bother lying to Daylight.


    Meinan forcefully put on a smile and said, ¡°Perhaps the Paladin didn¡¯t want his apprentice to participate in the matches?¡±


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what it is.¡± Daylight suddenly realized,


    ¡°Lancelot felt it would be unfair to other academies if Liola participated in this match, right? So that¡¯s what it is. Sir Lancelot is right, we definitely shouldn¡¯t rely solely on Liola¡¯s abilities.¡±


    ¡®Can you be any easier to trick¡­?¡¯ Black lines appeared on Kaiser and Meinan¡¯s faces.


    Unlike Kaiser and others who were worried about the match, confusion filled Liola¡¯s mind. On one hand he was happy he was finally learned healing magic, but on another he was irritated by the fact that he lost all Kung Fu.


    Liola didn¡¯t know if he should be thankful that Lancelot taught him healing magic, or if he should be furious for sealing his Kung Fu out of distrust.


    ¡®Learned healing magic, but lost all Kung Fu, could this be a turning point? Was this a destiny planned by Anise to make him be a healer?¡¯ Liola thought.


    Having lost his Kung Fu, Liola had really became a Sorcerer who could focus on healing.


    Barbalis and Mizerui would probably lose their interest in him, and Liola wouldn¡¯t need to be Silver Mask anymore, especially since the Silver Mask was destroyed by Lancelot.


    No longer possessing unparalleled Kung Fu, and no longer an Assassin, Liola looked at his palm, and collected the magic element in his hand.


    As a faint white light began to glow in his palm, Liola felt a special feeling of warmth unique to healing magic in his heart. For the first time, the Assassin¡¯s heart was filled with an unspeakable calmness.


    Kaiser lowered his body, with his face as close as possible to Liola¡¯s hand. A pair of blue eyes gazed upon the candlelight-like light.


    With a long face, Kaiser said, ¡°I have never seen such a miniscule healing magic.¡±


    Liola was not discouraged by Kaiser¡¯s attack, instead he said calmly and firmly, ¡°I will get better.¡±


    The door was suddenly kicked open. Purity¡¯s voice echoed in the small lounge,


    ¡°Kaiser, you were great! You actually defeated four opponents! Even my brother says you¡¯re strong.¡±


    ¡°Purity, please be gentle while opening the doors.¡± Feir said softly yet helplessly as he walked into the room behind Purity.


    Daylight immediately placed his right fist on his chest and performed a Knight salute. Feir returned his salute with a smile. Then looked at Kaiser and Meinan, and nodded his head admiringly.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to find Sorcerers who possess true strengths nowadays. Aklan Academy really deserves its name as the best academy. Two strong Knights as a main offense, plus Kaiser¡¯s long range attack, and Meinan¡¯s strong protective shield; this group composition is almost perfect.¡±


    Feir praised leisurely, but since he knew about his school¡¯s team, he laughed bitterly, ¡°If your Mecha Fighter is as strong as the rest of you, then it would be a flawless team.¡±


    Unfortunately, the situation with the team was more like this: they practically have no Mecha Fighter, one main Knight had been sealed, and the long range attack can¡¯t be used again for another three days.


    Kaiser had a big headache and held his forehead while trying to come up with ways to strengthen his team.


    Kaiser tried to ask: ¡°Feir, could we swap a person? You know, Silver Mask was taken away by the Paladin, and we don¡¯t know when he will be back.¡±


    Feir turned around, and kindly reminded, ¡°Did your principal not tell you? You can send in backup students.¡±


    ¡®Principal? Do we even have a principal?¡¯ Kaiser thought as he grounded his teeth.


    Daylight, who also had a headache thinking about the strength of his team, hurriedly said, ¡°Then we want to send in our backup.¡±


    Feir took out a small Maxun from his pocket. After tapping the screen a couple of times, he said after a moment of silence,


    ¡°Aklan Academy¡¯s back up is¡­ Purity.¡±


    ¡°WHAT!?¡± Purity screamed.


    Daylight¡¯s face, who had first-hand experience of Purity¡¯s magic, was completely drained of color.


    Kaiser murmured, ¡°It¡¯s over! OVER! Every academy in the Continent of Aklan is about to be extinct.¡±


    ¡°Umm, you will have to decide now if you would like to switch candidates.¡±


    Feir scratched his ear, then reminded everyone, ¡°Your next match starts in an hour.¡±


    ¡®WHAT?!¡¯


    Everyone widened their eyes and yelled in their heart. Only Liola sat unaffected on the couch, while looking intently at the small healing magic light on his palm.


    * * *


    With five opponents, having one more person would be more favorable. Everyone concluded, and therefore dragged Jetter forcefully out of the infirmary.


    As he was dragging the howling Jetter, Kaiser laughed sinisterly:


    ¡°Hehehe, how can we let you lie comfortably in the infirmary? With you there, at least when there¡¯s a fatal attack we can push someone out as a meat shield.¡±


    Jetter¡¯s expression turned for worse, but the Blue Knight, Daylight yelled:


    ¡°As a part of Aklan Academy, you have the responsibility to maintain Aklan Academy¡¯s honor, not to mention you were one of the chosen candidates, how can you back away now?¡±


    Jetter had a long face and stared at the new rank C Mecha his dad in the Commerce Alliance had specially prepared for him. Most of the Mechas came from the Commerce Alliance, and since this particular Mecha was specially prepared, it was definitely a high quality Mecha.


    Purity saw the Mecha, and looked at it fondly. She touched it with her two hands as if they were her precious jewel, and she couldn¡¯t take her hands off for a long time.


    ¡°Such a thin angel-shaped Mecha. It looks like it would break if I just touch it.¡± Kaiser frowned and complained.


    But Purity turned and yell:


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that! This Mecha is very, very good!


    Though Angel Mechas aren¡¯t uncommon, but look, this Mecha is white as snow throughout. This isn¡¯t just for aesthetic purposes: this white coating is the newest and best magic resistant paint.


    The wings on the back of the angel is made out of the strongest metal but still it looked like feathers.


    Every single piece of feather has an extremely sharp edge. If your enemy decides to attack from the back, then they would make a grave mistake.¡±


    Purity seemed intoxicated as she touched the giant bow in the angel¡¯s hand, and then spoke as if she were daydreaming:


    ¡°Look at this long-ranged bow. It of course uses the inexhaustible supply of energy arrows. Also, the giant bow has two sharp horns on both sides, so that it can also be used in close combat. This Mecha may very well be the best among C rank Mechas.¡±


    Daylight gasped in admiration as he listened to the explanation, Meinan scratched his face; Kaiser had a curious expression and he narrowed his eyes as he stared at Purity.


    ¡°This is the Commerce Alliance¡¯s newest Mecha and it isn¡¯t for sale yet. It¡¯s called White-Winged Angel, and it¡¯s mother¡¯s newest invention.¡± Feir laughed and said to Purity.


    ¡°Mother¡¯s newest invention¡±? Kaiser and Daylight were both in shock. What could Feir mean by¡­?


    Purity yelled as she tried to stop her brother, but she was too late. Purity lowered her head to avoid eye contact with Kaiser and Daylight.


    Meinan laughed, and explained on behalf of Purity: ¡°Commerce Alliance has three leaders. The one responsible for battle training is the Yellow commander; the one responsible for administration is the Green commander, who is also Jetter¡¯s father; last but not least, the one responsible for invention is the Red commander, who is Sir Feir and Purity¡¯s mother.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped: ¡°P-Purity is the daughter of one of the three leaders of Commerce Alliance?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why else do you think Jetter likes to bully Purity? Because the three leaders always liked to be compared with one another.¡±


    Meinan glanced at Jetter in disdain, who was trembling in fear.


    ¡°Purity, are you sure you don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Feir asked with hesitation.


    Purity interrupted him before he could finish: ¡°No!¡±


    Just as Kaiser was about to ask what that was all about, their opponents were already standing in the arena, waiting for them impatiently.


    Feir laughed to apologize to them, and then walked to the edge of the arena. He announced that the match was about to begin, so the candidates should get ready.


    Kaiser didn¡¯t look at their team composition until now, and he almost burst out crying. The opponents consisted of three Knights: two of which were Blue, and one Red Dragon Knight; they also had two Mecha Fighters: one was cannon-shaped, and the other was human-shaped.


    ¡°Meinan, if you let that cannon hit me, I will really haunt you when I turn into a ghost.¡± Kaiser placed both his hands heavily on Meinan¡¯s shoulders and warned him solemnly.


    ¡®Considering how close we¡¯re standing, if you really get hit by the cannon and become a ghost, then I¡¯m probably floating in the air without my feet too.¡¯ Meinan thought.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you get into the Mecha?¡± Purity hurried the shivering Jetter.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to. Didn¡¯t you see? They have two Blue Knights, one Dragon Knight, and two Mechas.¡±


    Jetter screamed, and when Daylight was observing the opponents, Jetter took the opportunity to fumbled out of the arena. He even left behind the rank C Angel Mecha, and ignored all of Purity¡¯s screams behind him.


    Purity worriedly turned around to ask others, ¡°What do we do now? Jetter ran away.¡±


    Humiliating laughter came from the opposing team, and Daylight¡¯s face was filled with rage.


    Kaiser, however, raised his eyebrows and said: ¡°You think we didn¡¯t expected him not to run, did you? The reason we brought him isn¡¯t because of himself, but what he brought to us.¡±


    Kaiser patted the Angel Mecha, and said while laughing: ¡°At least I should know how to shoot arrows, all thanks to that stupid stunt Barbalis tried to pull last time.¡±


    As he finished talking, Kaiser climbed the ladder towards the cockpit, but realized his shirt was being pulled. Kaiser turned around, and saw Purity pulling him with hesitation on her face.


    Kaiser asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Your brother is confirming if we¡¯re ready to begin, so why are you stopping me from going inside the cockpit? I hope you¡¯re not thinking I can still use that white bomb skill.¡±


    Purity took a deep breath, and then said firmly, ¡°I¡¯ll control it.¡±


    Kaiser and Daylight were both stunned, but Meinan sighed in relief and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally willing to control a Mecha. Don¡¯t worry, Kaiser and Daylight, Purity grew up with Mechas.¡±


    Kaiser hesitated, but he still climbed down.


    Letting Purity control a Mecha would be far safer than letting her use her magic, but the real reason Kaiser let her control the Mecha, other than what Meinan said, was the proud expression on Feir¡¯s face when Purity asked if she could control the Mecha.


    Purity proficiently climbed up the Mecha. The cockpit of the Angel Mecha was at its chest.


    Purity glanced at the control panel and she immediately understood how to use the Mecha. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have time to review the manual, and some of the more difficult maneuvers could only be used if she reviewed the manual fully.


    But she knew enough. Purity placed her hands on both control sticks, and turned the sticks inward, then forward. The Angel Mecha was finally started, and changed its stance from kneeling on one knee to standing up straight, which made it seem tall and imposing.


    Daylight rode the Fire Dragon into the sky, Meinan concentrated magic on his hand, and prepared to call forth a protective shield at any time.


    Kaiser was murmuring something about how he couldn¡¯t believe that a coward like Purity would have such a background in Mecha piloting.


    Kaiser pulled out a huge gun from its container. He flipped a switch, then lazily said: ¡°I can¡¯t use white bomb anymore, but that doesn¡¯t stop me from using normal fireballs.¡±


    And a fierce battle started!


    * * *


    Although Liola had lost his Kung Fu, he still couldn¡¯t help himself but watch Kaiser¡¯s battle. At the same time, he was worried that if Kaiser and others lost, Barbalis would come up with something else to cause them harm, and he wouldn¡¯t have his God-like Kung Fu to prevent Barbalis¡¯ ridiculous plans.


    Liola held Baolilong in his hands, and walked from the lounge to the arena. He arrived right as the match started. What shocked Liola most was the fact that Purity was piloting a Mecha, and she was doing a very good job at it.


    The Angel Mecha continuously fired arrows, and it often shot three energy arrows at once, not to mention they were extremely accurate.


    Daylight, who was engulfed in close-quarter combat, was initially surprised and scared by the arrows, finally noticed the arrows were not shot blindly, and they often rescued him from being surrounded by enemies.


    Daylight was relieved and focused only on his enemies, and left all the sneak attacks to Purity.


    Kaiser¡¯s gun was not very effective on the opponent¡¯s Mechas.


    Shameless as always, Kaiser often stayed within Meinan¡¯s protective shield, but that¡¯s not the most contemptible part. Kaiser would walk back and forth while observing the on-going battle.


    When the opportunity was ripe, Kaiser would order Meinan to cancel his protective shield, then he used a fireball to accurately hit the only Dragon on the opposing team. The target was the Dragon¡¯s weakest point: eyes.


    The Dragon howled in pain, and when it glared at Kaiser with its other eye, Kaiser shot a second fireball, injuring the other eye. After which, he would then ordered Meinan to cast the protective shield again.


    Though the Red Dragon Knight hurriedly ask his Dragon to stop, the Dragon ignored its master¡¯s orders and howled in pain. It also wanted to crush the person who blinded it into a pancake.


    Fortunately, Meinan¡¯s protective shield was certified by the Black Dragon King Miluo. The Dragon rammed the shield with its head, spun in place because of dizziness, then fell to the ground.


    First KO of the match. Kaiser made a V sign towards the Aklan Academy section next to the VIPs.


    Twenty or so Sorcery students jumped up for joy, even Barbalis wasn¡¯t as excited as his students. They were all touched, because a Sorcerer actually used a traditional fireball to defeat a Dragon Knight¡¯s Dragon!


    Purity finally figured out one of the difficult maneuvers: Thirteen Angelic Arrows!


    The Angel Mecha concentrated all of its strength into pulling the giant bow back, and thirteen energy arrows materialized on the bowstring. Then they were all shot out at once.


    All arrows hit the bulky and giant cannon Mecha, and thirteen explosions later, even the cannon Mecha with the highest defense could no longer hold up. All the students used the emergency escape, and the cannon Mecha exploded, announcing the match¡¯s second KO.


    Seeing Kaiser and Purity both beat an enemy by themselves, Daylight picked up his pace, and started an intense counter-attack against the two Knights.


    For a while, the two Blue Knights were both being pushed back by Daylight.


    With Purity and Kaiser¡¯s combined efforts, another Mecha was destroyed, and its controllers escaped in a disorderly manner. Both Blue Knights were now trying to catch their breath, saw their hopeless situation.


    After looking at each other¡­


    ¡°We give up.¡±


    Daylight, who was covered in sweat, showed a victorious smile, and cheered on top of the Fire Dragon loudly.


    The Aklan Academy students among the audience began to cheer loudly.


    The Knights, Mecha Fighters, and Sorcerers all hugged each other as they cheered. They were all proud of the strength the students from their school displayed.


    (Though after they realized that the students they hugged were from other schools, they all let go, and then booed at each other.)


    The Aklan Knight instructor, who secretly came to watch, said proudly,


    ¡°Look, our School of Knights is the best. One Blue Knight actually won against a siege from two Blue Knights.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Without that Angel Mecha, your Knight would¡¯ve lost eventually.¡± The Aklan Mecha Fighter instructor, who also secretly came to watch, replied jauntily.


    ¡°Hahahahaha, the first match was won by our Kaiser and Meinan, and the Angel Mecha¡¯s controller is our Purity. Thus, the School of Sorcery is obviously the best. I do indeed teach really well, hahaha.¡±


    Barbalis jumped onto the table at the VIP section and gave out a mighty yell.


    The pentacle flag in his hand was already replaced by the School of Sorcery emblem: a jeweled staff.


    ¡°Our Daylight is the best¡­¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, even if she¡¯s from School of Sorcery, she was piloting a Mecha¡­¡±


    ¡°Long live the Sorcerers!¡±


    Although the scandal of Aklan Academy instructors fighting each other would spread faster than the news of the victory of Kaiser and his companions, but their victory remains unchanged.


    For the first time, the three Schools actually joined forces and defeated their enemy!

 Volume 3, 8 : Forbidden Black Rose

    Volume 3, Chapter 8 : Forbidden Black Rose


    Liola faintly smiled with satisfaction. He looked at Kaiser and others, and was amazed by their strength. Even without him, Kaiser and others could protect themselves. Liola turned around to walk back to the lounge, and continuing exercising his little healing magic. Perhaps one day, he could be the fifth member of the team as a healer.


    Liola sat down, and practiced his healing magic. Baolilong sat wide-eyed in his arms, and looked at the little white light in papa¡¯s palm. It could not understand what was going on so it asked:


    ¡°Papa, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m learning magic.¡± Liola answered simply, but his attention was still concentrated on the light in his palm.


    ¡°Magic!¡±


    Baolilong suddenly yelled, and interrupted Liola¡¯s concentration.


    Liola was slightly angry when he saw the white light disappear, then he said to Baolilong:


    ¡°Quiet, don¡¯t disturb me.¡±


    Not only did Baolilong not quiet down, it anxiously said:


    ¡°Papa knows magic, so hurry and learn Dragon magic with Baolilong. Otherwise bad guys will take papa away, and Baolilong won¡¯t be able to see papa anymore.¡±


    Liola looked at Baolilong skeptically, and couldn¡¯t understand what it was saying.


    Dragon magic? He seemed to have heard about it before, but Liola didn¡¯t know what it meant. Besides, why did Baolilong worry that someone might take him away? It was unlike anything Baolilong usually says.


    ¡°Who would take me away?¡± Liola looked at Baolilong with doubt.


    ¡°Purple bad guys.¡± The expression on Baolilong¡¯s little face was completely serious, but the things it said confused Liola.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no one will take me away.¡± Liola laughed, thinking Baolilong was afraid because it had lost its parents before.


    Worry filled Baolilong¡¯s little face, and its little chubby legs paced it back and forth around the room, as if it was concerned about something. Liola didn¡¯t really mind what it said, for he had planned to become a Sorcerer. Whether or not he learned Dragon magic meant nothing to Liola at this point.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong suddenly jumped into Liola¡¯s arm, and the yell interrupted Liola¡¯s healing light again.


    Liola impatiently looked at Baolilong, and while it was a bit timid, Baolilong said without backing down:


    ¡°Papa, didn¡¯t Yaya say something, Six something Sins are going to kill Papa? If Papa doesn¡¯t learn Dragon magic, how would you beat the bad guys?¡±


    [T/N: Yaya is what Baolilong calls Yasha since it can¡¯t pronounce her name properly.]


    The expression on Liola¡¯s face suddenly harden as he finally remembered what Yasha had told him about the Six Forbidden Sins. If they really are trying to kill him, then he definitely can¡¯t protect himself now that he lost all of his Kung Fu.


    Liola wondered, would Kaiser and others be willing to risk their lives to protect him?


    ¡®Even if Kaiser and others were willing, could they really handle six Assassins?¡¯ Liola¡¯s heart sank as he thought about it.


    Though Kaiser and others were strong, but only under the condition that their opponents were students like themselves. If real strength were measured, the combined power of Kaiser and others probably wouldn¡¯t be one tenth of Lancelot, Blood Wolf, or Miluo.


    It would probably be better for them not to protect him, because if they do¡­ at least Daylight and Purity would probably do something instead of watching him die, Liola thought, then they would probably be killed by the Assassins together along with him.


    Liola raised his right hand, and a dim white light appeared on his palm.


    After Liola enjoyed a brief calmness from the light, he extinguished the healing magic, then he crossed his leg in order to try and manipulate his Ki to get rid of Lancelot¡¯s seal.


    Although the Ki that used to fill his body was now completely gone, Liola believed the Ki in his body was only temporarily suppressed by Lancelot¡¯s power, instead of completely being gone.


    Liola was still able to observe the powers within his body, and find where Lancelot¡¯s seal was. This wasn¡¯t difficult, judging from the fact Lancelot casted the seal on top of his forehead, the seal must be somewhere near there.


    Liola¡¯s consciousness wandered around his body, and indeed found a strong, white power in his forehead.


    After circling around the white power and observing it, Liola decided to attack. His consciousness started resisting the white seal on his head, attempting to awake his suppressed Ki. Finally, after a strong impact, the white seal seemed to have shaken a bit, but Liola almost fainted from the accompanying sharp pain.


    Liola couldn¡¯t help but end the introspection, and his head with his hands for quite some time due to the pain. The will of an Assassin helped Liola sustain the pain, and he started introspection again. The seal from before seemed to have broken off a bit, and Liola thought this was the best chance to launch another attack, which may release Lancelot¡¯s seal.


    Liola again, focused his consciousness on his forehead. Gathering all the strength it possibly could, and putting everything in a final attack against the seal. His consciousness rammed against the seal, and a pain much sharper than before sped through Liola¡¯s body like a bolt of electricity. Seizures happened throughout the Assassin¡¯s body, and Liola¡¯s mind finally went blank as he sank into unconsciousness.


    ¡°Papa?¡± Baolilong¡¯s crying sounds could be heard vaguely from far, far away¡­


    * * *


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here to find me, Liola.¡±


    Anise didn¡¯t even turn around, and continued playing guqin, but the music seemed to be filled with sadness and solitude?


    This was far different from Anise¡¯s usual happy self, could Anise be holding a grudge against him because he caused her death?


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Sit down, Liola.¡± Anise still didn¡¯t turn around, so Liola could only see the golden long hair.


    He obeyed and sat down. Anise played a few more notes as she said perplexedly:


    ¡°I¡¯ve been having a strange dream. I dreamt of a being I¡¯ve never seen before, it was beautiful yet very sad. It was pure white and very large. She even knows how to talk, but I don¡¯t remember what she said, and the only thing I remember was the dream was very sad.¡±


    After saying all this, Anise seemed to have thought what she was said was ridiculous, and she laughed lightly.


    She turned around with her usual smile: ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about it anymore. Liola, have you finally decided you don¡¯t want to be an Assassin anymore?¡±


    Liola was stunned. Didn¡¯t he already promise Anise before her death?


    But Liola couldn¡¯t ask the question in his head. He involuntarily shook his head, then used an unfamiliar heartless voice to say,


    ¡°I¡¯m here to kill you, Anise. The leader had ordered me to do so, if you can¡¯t be used by him, then you must die.¡±


    Anise was stunned, but she did not seem afraid, instead she asked curiously, ¡°Then are you going to kill me, Liola?¡±


    No! I can¡¯t possibly kill you! Liola yelled in his heart.


    Liola didn¡¯t understand that he wasn¡¯t seeing Anise, but rather things of the past. His head involuntarily nodded as his past Assassin self did.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Anise seemed a bit sad, and took off the Dragon cross necklace from her neck.


    Without fearing Liola, the Assassin coming to kill her, Anise held the necklace and, with her body against Liola¡¯s, placed the Dragon necklace on the Assassin¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Liola, close your eyes and carefully feel this necklace, and a place will appear in your mind. Do you know where that is?¡± Anise acted as if she didn¡¯t know that the Assassin before her was about to take her life, and instead asked the Assassin questions.


    The Assassin really did close his eyes, and then opened its eyes to say, ¡°Duanchang Cliff.¡±


    Anise clapped her hands together, and said happily,


    ¡°That¡¯s great. You know, Liola, this necklace had always called me to Duanchang Cliff, and I have a feeling if I go there, then I probably won¡¯t ever see you again, so I¡¯ve always been waiting for you.¡±


    The otherwise heartless Assassin¡¯s heart was shaken, and he felt he was traveling back in time.


    He went back to the forest, and heard Anise¡¯s chattering. Anise was the only person who posed no danger to him whatsoever, the absolute only one, but the Assassin had to kill this only person who wouldn¡¯t harm him.


    ¡°Once I¡¯m dead, Liola, and if you don¡¯t want to kill anymore, no one would help you anymore.¡±


    Anise looked at Liola worriedly. Her eyes was filled with sincerity and tenderness:


    ¡°When that happens, then do as the necklace says. Go to the Duanchang Cliff. I believe this necklace will definitely help you.¡±


    ¡°Also, Liola.¡±


    Anise¡¯s hand touched the Assassin¡¯s rigid face lightly. The Assassin didn¡¯t feel a pair of soft hands, but instead, a pair of calloused hands burnt by utensils used to cook medicine.


    Anise¡¯s soft voice said in a calming manner,


    ¡°Liola, every person¡¯s life has an irreplaceable, important purpose. You have to promise me, if and when you¡¯re no longer an Assassin, then you will go find yours, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    A crying and screaming voice echoed within the small lounge, and its tone was filled with terror and fear.


    Liola¡¯s eyes suddenly opened, but Anise¡¯s voice still echoed in his head, which made Liola unclear of his current situation.


    With extreme lightheadedness, Liola looked for Baolilong, but as soon as it saw Baolilong, Liola woke up in surprise.


    Baolilong¡¯s body was covered in blood, but it was still using its body to block the enemy, and constantly spitting out electric bolts to attack the enemy; however, the enemy easily evaded all its attacks with laughter and ridicule.


    Liola got up, and finally had a clear look at the person Baolilong was blocking. It was a woman in a black evening dress. She had black hair, black eyes, and wore a black mask, which had some rose patterns adorned on it. Black roses also were found in many places on her dress, and her hands held a whip made out of brambles, which had quite a few black roses painted with Baolilong¡¯s blue blood.


    There were many black rose petals surrounding Baolilong.


    The rose petals were dancing around as if they were alive. Although it looked pretty, it was very deadly. Whenever a petal touched Baolilong¡¯s tiny body, a trail of blood resulted in where it touched.


    Baolilong¡¯s originally chubby and white body now was appalling: blue blood were dripping from countless wounds, and its clothes were already torn into shreds.


    But Baolilong didn¡¯t have any sign of backing off. It firmly stood in front of its papa, and continued to use electric bolts to stop the black rose woman.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Liola reached his hands out to Baolilong; as a result, his hands were cut in many places by the petals. Liola didn¡¯t care, he took Baolilong in his arms, letting the petals to cut his skin as they would.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Liola ignored the red blood oozing out of his body, and asked calmly.


    The black rose woman waved her hand in a flirty manner, and the petals cutting into Liola¡¯s skin flew back towards her body. It continued to dance around her without doing her any harm.


    The woman held a whip provocatively, then coiled it around Liola¡¯s neck. With a slight grunt from Liola, a trail of blood appeared on his neck.


    ¡°I am Black Rose, one of the Six Forbidden Sins.¡±


    Black Rose looked at Liola¡¯s bloodstain on his neck with satisfaction. In juxtaposition to his white skin as it presented some twisted sense of beauty to her.


    ¡°Assassin from The Flowers?¡± Liola¡¯s heart sank deeply.


    He couldn¡¯t believe how fast an Assassin came to attack him right after he lost his Kung Fu. Liola used a part of his consciousness to quickly perform an introspection. He tried to find out if the impact before released the seal, and he thought it was best to use questions to delay the Assassin.


    ¡°Correct. Little brother is quite clever.¡± Black Rose laughed charmingly as she looked up and down at Liola with a sinister smile:


    ¡°And quite good-looking too. You would make satisfactory prey for sister Black Rose.¡±


    While he was still trying to suppress the pain, Liola couldn¡¯t ascertain whether he released the seal, so all he could do was attempt to call for his Ki, while using questions to delay Black Rose¡¯s fatal blow:


    ¡°Who hired you to kill me?¡±


    Black Rose laughed ominously, and the dancing petals fly towards Liola once again.


    Liola crouched and held Baolilong, using his body to block the petals. Liola¡¯s sweat from his face dripped onto Baolilong, who couldn¡¯t do anything except weep and seeing its papa bleeding all over its body.


    ¡®The seal was not broken!¡¯


    Liola felt that he couldn¡¯t start a single bit of Ki.


    ¡®This is bad.¡¯


    Liola used the corner of his eye to look at the entrance to the lounge, hoping Kaiser and others would be back, then perhaps they can delay the Assassin for him and Baolilong to escape. Not to mention that the best people from Aklan Academy and even its instructors were all there, and they should be able to defeat this Assassin.


    ¡°Hm, little brother, don¡¯t look anymore. Sister Black Rose already surrounded the lounge with an enchantment. No one outside can come in at all.¡±


    Black Rose giggled as she used the whip to hit Liola¡¯s shoulder.


    Liola¡¯s heart sank. With his powers sealed, Liola couldn¡¯t tell if what Black Rose said was true, but it probably was. Otherwise, Baolilong¡¯s Dragon roar would have been heard by now.


    Liola felt helpless, and he lowered his head to look at Baolilong.


    ¡°Who wants me dead?¡±


    Liola raised his head to ask. If it were Miluo, then it would be great, because Miluo can¡¯t possibly kill his own offspring, and Baolilong wouldn¡¯t have be buried with him.


    Black Rose said nonchalantly,


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I kill you because a dead man can¡¯t spill the employer¡¯s secrets. But, little brother, you might be disappointed when you hear the name. Ordinarily, employers don¡¯t like to use their real name.¡±


    ¡°The employer is Miluo.¡±


    Liola actually felt a sense of relief, ¡°Then you can¡¯t harm Baolilong. He¡¯s your employer¡¯s son.¡±


    Black Rose swung her whip, and brambles wrapped around Liola¡¯s neck, and the sharp thorns sank into Liola¡¯s skin.


    Black Rose pulled Liola towards her, and said as Liola painfully tried to pull the brambles off his neck to prevent himself from suffocating,


    ¡°Too bad, little brother, the order sister Black Rose received was, sending you and the child next to you to hell.¡±


    ¡°But since you¡¯re so good looking, sister Black Rose won¡¯t let you die in such a horrid manner. Even though most of my prey are normally killed by suffocation.¡±


    Black Rose loosen her whip, which allowed Liola to breathe again, and he was no longer in danger of suffocating.


    Liola coughed in pain. Baolilong¡¯s sharp Dragon teeth began to appear, and its body began to slowly grew.


    Fierceness flashed in Black Rose¡¯s eyes, and her whip was suddenly wrapped around Baolilong¡¯s growing body, and then squeezed tightly. Baolilong yelled in pain because it couldn¡¯t get any larger.


    Black Rose kicked Baolilong to the side in disgust, then used her hand with black nail polish and held Liola¡¯s chin, and pulled his face up close to her face.


    Black Rose laughed viciously in satisfaction: ¡°Sister Black Rose has a poison that will let you die slowly, and your corpse will never decay. It would look like you¡¯re just sleeping. Then sister will take you back and put you in sister¡¯s collection. It will be great!¡±


    ¡°Let Baolilong go. He¡¯s your employer¡¯s son.¡±


    Liola completely ignored Black Rose¡¯s evil words, and used the corner of his eye to check on Baolilong.


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    Black Rose ignored Liola¡¯s request. Many thorns suddenly came out of the ground, and was wrapped around Liola¡¯s body, which completely immobilized Liola. Then, Black Rose took out a black rose used as a hairpin. The root of rose was actually a metal spike, with its tip shining a strange, green light. Black Rose took the spike, and slowly jabbed Liola¡¯s shoulder with it.


    Liola hopelessly looked at Black Rose as she did so, and used telepathy to say to the screaming Baolilong,


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Haha, Kaiser, I knew sending you was the best decision, and letting Purity be the backup was the best choice known to men. I, Barbalis, am indeed the wisest principal, ahaha.¡±


    Barbalis laughed loudly, with his hands on Kaiser and Purity¡¯s shoulders.


    Kaiser wasn¡¯t interested in commenting on the most hilarious lie in history, instead he asked Purity curiously:


    ¡°Hey, since you¡¯re the Commerce Alliance leader¡¯s daughter, and you can control Mechas so well, why the hell aren¡¯t you in School of Mecha Fighters? What are you doing in the School of Sorcery?¡±


    Everyone was all ears. Feir laughed in a helpless and bitter manner, while Purity pouted,


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna be a Mecha Fighter. Purity is a fair maiden, so of course a weak Sorceress is a good choice. Besides, in Knight¡¯s Glory and Honor, Knights either fall in love with Princesses, or the beautiful Sorceress in their teams. Purity can¡¯t be a princess, so becoming a Sorceress is the only remaining choice.¡±


    Cold sweat ran down everyone¡¯s face; this reason was a very¡­ ¡°Purity-like¡± reason.


    ¡°Nevertheless, Sir Lancelot¡¯s decision was indeed correct.¡± Daylight said with excitement,


    ¡°If Silver Mask was here, we would rely too much on his power. Even though we would still win, we definitely wouldn¡¯t have the perfect result from our cooperation.¡±


    Kaiser pouted, ¡°I¡¯d rather have Silver Mask come with us, then I could at least bring a teapot and drink tea with Meinan during the match.¡±


    ¡°I think it takes less time for Silver Mask to beat down the enemies than for us to boil water.¡± Meinan carefully estimated.


    Everyone nodded, it was correct after all¡­


    Barbalis¡¯ thought was suddenly interrupted, and a solemn yet heavy expression appeared on his face. He knitted his eyebrows, and quietly yelled, ¡°Crap!¡±


    Barbalis hurriedly ran to the entrance to the lounge, and his face suddenly changed as he started chanting an incantation.


    Kaiser and others curiously followed, but they only saw an empty lounge. Everyone thought Barbalis had gone crazy again, but with his incantation getting louder and louder, the magic powers in the surrounding space began to shake, and the space near the door began to twist, and then it looked like a crack appeared in the dimension.


    ¡°¡­ Break!¡± Barbalis angrily roared, and a huge crack appeared on the door, showing what was really happening.


    Everyone took a deep breath: the tiny lounge was covered with blue and red blood. Baolilong gave out an earth-shaking Dragon roar, but it was tightly wrapped by a whip, and sat immobilized in a corner.


    Liola¡¯s situation was worse, a woman in an evening dress had one of her hands on his face, and the other hand trying to carry him. Judging from Liola¡¯s powerless hands, he was either unconscious or worse, dead!


    Without any hesitation, Barbalis waved his hand, and ten silver strings shot out of his palm. They wrapped around Liola¡¯s body, preventing the woman in black from taking Liola away.


    At the same time, Silver Knight Feir also unsheathed his sword without hesitation and ran towards the woman, not letting her have any opportunity to harm the person she was carrying, whether he was dead or alive.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± A distortion appeared on her evil face, and she looked incredibly ugly.


    She looked at Barbalis, and decided to leave. A dense cloud of black rose petals surrounded her, making it impossible for Feir to get close.


    Finally, the rose petals faded, and the Forbidden Sin, Black Rose was nowhere to be found.


    Without the brambles holding him, Liola fell to the ground. Baolilong, who finally escaped from the whip, cried as it ran towards papa. Kaiser and the others also quickly ran up to determine Liola¡¯s situation.


    Kaiser hurriedly turned Liola¡¯s body over. They saw that Liola¡¯s eyes were closed, and his face was calm. it was as if he was sleeping.


    Kaiser nervously put his finger on Liola¡¯s nostrils, and everyone anxiously awaited for Kaiser¡¯s response.


    ¡°H-he¡¯s not breathing!¡± Kaiser said with a trembling voice.

 Volume 4, 1 : Running away from home

    Volume 4, Chapter 1 : Running away from home


    ¡°He¡¯s not breathing?¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s announcement, everyone seemed to be deep in thought while staring at the ground in shock, looking at Lioa who seemed to be sleeping.


    Only Barbalis forcefully pushed Kaiser aside, and grabbed Liola¡¯s wrist to test his pulse. As Barbalis¡¯ expression became and worse, everyone¡¯s heart sank more and more.


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive.¡±


    That sentence relaxed everyone¡¯s emotions a bit. Although Barbalis said that, his expression didn¡¯t improve. After he felt Liola¡¯s pulse, Barbalis sank back in desperate thoughts:


    ¡°Strange, strange! Liola¡¯s wounds aren¡¯t very severe, but why is his pulse getting weaker and weaker? If this continues, Liola will die in about ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?!¡± Purity screamed from the top of her lungs, then she knelt down and shook Liola¡¯s body, but there was no response from Liola.


    Purity suddenly started bawling, as she yelled at the same time: ¡°Liola-dage please wake up!¡±


    Baolilong also laid on top of Liola¡¯s body. Since it had telepathic connection with Liola, it didn¡¯t need to check his pulse or breath to know Liola¡¯s life was already hanging by a thread.


    Baolilong couldn¡¯t do anything except do what exactly what Purity did: desperately shaking Liola¡¯s body while crying: ¡°Papa, papa wake up! Papa said papa won¡¯t leave Baolilong! Papa can¡¯t lie!¡±


    ¡°If I knew this would happen I would have learned healing magic, at least it might be of some help to Liola.¡± Daylight lowered his head sadly, regretting not learning healing magic.


    Kaiser looked at Liola in shock, and murmured in disbelief: ¡°I always thought that this guy would never die. How can the best Assassin die so easily?¡±


    Everyone in the room was either stunned or crying, and no one could think of a way to save him. Only the Silver Knight Feir kept his calm.


    Feir pulled away Purity and Baolilong, but Baolilong threatened Feir by showing its white teeth because it didn¡¯t want to leave papa. Feir yelled,


    ¡°Back off! Don¡¯t hinder me from saving him!¡±


    Purity hesitated, then grabbed Baolilong and backed away from Liola¡¯s body and yelled,


    ¡°Purity almost forgot, brother is a Holy Knight, and he excels at healing magic!¡±


    Feir raised his hand, and a bright light shone on his palm. With a solemn face, Feir put his palm on Liola¡¯s chest near his heart. A few rays of light shot into Liola¡¯s body. Feir closed his eyes, concentrating on analyzing what was endangering Liola¡¯s life.


    As time slowly passed by, everyone anxiously stared at Feir¡¯s face. According to Barbalis¡¯ estimate, Liola had only about ten minutes left to live, which was 7-8 minutes ago.


    Feir still had his eyes shut, and what was worse was Feir¡¯s face began to look worse and worse. He was turning pale and sweat ran down his face.


    Finally, a strong light exploded from Feir¡¯s body, and everyone was forced to either look away or close their eyes.


    After the light had faded away, everyone slowly opened their eyes but immediately closed it again. They were afraid to be witnesses of Liola¡¯s death.


    Feir turned around and found everyone covering their eyes, then he laughed and said, ¡°Open your eyes, this big boy is still alive.¡±


    Everyone hurriedly open their eyes to see Liola¡¯s condition. Although Liola was still not moving, but they could see his chest slowly rising and falling, unlike the rock-like body he had before.


    Baolilong, who was throwing a tantrum in Purity¡¯s arms, finally calmed down, but tears covered its face, and yelled, ¡°Papa won¡¯t die, but, but, papa still isn¡¯t well.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any other way.¡± Feir seemed to be weak after completing his spell. He said helplessly,


    ¡°This boy has been poisoned by something very potent. My abilities can only temporarily suppress the venom, but I can¡¯t get rid of it. I¡¯m afraid that you will have to find someone stronger than me to do so. Also, healing Maxun will probably be ineffective on this poison, so it probably won¡¯t do him any good. I suggest that you find a Sorcerer or a stronger Holy Knight.¡±


    ¡®Lancelot!¡¯


    Everyone¡¯s heart screamed his name. A stronger Holy Knight than Silver Knight Feir, could there be any better choice than Lancelot? However he was the very same person who sealed Liola¡¯s Kung Fu, and the one who ultimately caused Liola his current predicament. So¡­ what should they do?


    ¡°Let¡¯s find Lancelot. Rumor says, he¡¯s very righteous. If he knew that Liola¡¯s current state is his fault, he should do something about it.¡±


    Kaiser was a bit unsure, but he still made the suggestion. A better healer was impossible to find, and a stronger Holy Knight aren¡¯t found just anywhere. Even if they were to find one, no one knows if they could cure the poison. The best way they had now was to find Lancelot, who should still be somewhere in the Aklan Continent.


    ¡°Lancelot, you said? He doesn¡¯t like talking with Sorcerers. Such bad timing, Blood Wolf already went back to the Dragon Continent. Hmm, I guess we have no choice. I¡¯ll contact Blood Wolf first and tell ask to contact Lancelot.¡± Barbalis knitted his eyebrows.


    Kaiser held his own principal by the collar, gritted his teeth and said: ¡°Hurry and contact Blood Wolf!¡±


    Barbalis seemed shocked.


    Barbalis murmured something about it being troublesome. He then took out a communication device and walked to the other side of the room to talk to Blood Wolf.


    Everyone¡¯s heart finally calmed down, and the funeral-like tension in the atmosphere also relaxed. However, Kaiser still had his eyebrows knitted while looking at the Assassin¡¯s pale face.


    ¡°Purity, what is your relationship to this young man? Why do you care about him so much? Can it be that¡­¡±


    Feir tried to catch his breath while questioning his baby sister. His eyes seemed to be filled with desire to protect her.


    ¡°Brother what are you thinking? Liola-dage already has two¡­ no, three pretty female admirers.¡± Purity immediately clarified to stop her brother from thinking too much.


    ¡°Three?¡± Feir raised his eyebrows, then turned around to examine the unconscious Liola.


    He said, ¡°Decent looks, respectable rank, but I don¡¯t know what his character is like. And why is he wearing a Sorcerer¡¯s robe?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a Sorcerer robe?¡± Purity said and pouted.


    Feir immediately realized he said something wrong, and hurriedly shook his head.


    As a Knight, Feir did look down on Sorcerers a little, but since his precious sister was a Sorcerer, Feir had to keep it to himself. It was only because at that moment, he saw Liola¡¯s Sorcerer robe, and carelessly said his thoughts out loud.


    ¡°What did you say? This would be fun!¡±


    Barbalis suddenly screamed from the corner.


    Everyone turned and looked, and they saw an old geezer with a Sorcerer robe dancing in the corner, with a ¡°Kaiser-style¡± sinister smile on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s going to be fun?¡± Kaiser¡¯s expressionless face suddenly appeared in front of Barbalis¡¯ eyes. Barbalis froze, and then coughed purposely.


    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± Barbalis wanted to vaguely brush off his earlier comment, but many people gave him the death stare.


    Purity took off her glasses, and her hair began to fly in the air, Daylight¡¯s face also began to sink because he was worried about Liola.


    Looking at the others, Barbalis bit the bullet and explained:


    ¡°Just something minor. Blood Wolf said Mizerui somehow got hold of the news of Lancelot sealed Liola¡¯s Kung Fu. He got really angry and rushed to the Aklan Continent. I heard he¡¯s going to settle the score with Lancelot.¡±


    It was Kaiser¡¯s turn to dance, and showing a ¡°Kaiser-style¡± sinister smile. He then burst out laughing:


    ¡°This is great! If these two have a duel to the death, then die together for love, we would be free!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, that¡¯s not what ¡®dying for love¡¯ means. Dying for love requires a gentleman and a beautiful lady, experiencing the hardships of love together, then finally spending eternity with each other in heaven.¡±


    Meinan had a longing expression on his face, and it suddenly changed to disgust. ¡°Without a beautiful lady, it can¡¯t be called dying for love.¡±


    ¡°And Kaiser, if Lancelot dies with Mizerui, then isn¡¯t Liola-dage going to die too? No! Purity doesn¡¯t want Liola-dage to die!¡± Purity started crying again.


    Feir immediately tried to comfort Purity while Barbalis and Kaiser started a duet together.


    Fortunately, Daylight seriously thought about Liola¡¯s life being in danger. He solemnly said to Barbalis,


    ¡°Principal, we must hurry and, before Mizerui gets back, find Lancelot first, so we can save Liola¡¯s life, and at the same time, prevent an unreasonable duel from occurring.¡±


    Barbalis, who was about to have a dancing duet with Kaiser, heard such the serious speech, his body froze mid-air, and immediately turned around. With his face sported a ¡®I¡¯m very serious¡¯ expression, and said:


    ¡°Good point. Let¡¯s find Lancelot quickly. From what Blood Wolf said, although Lancelot sealed Liola¡¯s Kung Fu, he has not returned to Dragon Continent. Instead he planned on staying with the Aklan Continent¡¯s Knights Association for a while, so he could observe Liola.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more likely that you¡¯re afraid of missing the show.¡± Kaiser instantly saw past Barbalis¡¯ words.


    Barbalis coughed a couple of times, ignored Kaiser, and shamelessly said to Feir,


    ¡°So please, do us a favor and go to the Knights Association to locate Lancelot.¡±


    Feir considered it for a moment, and with his sister Purity on his side with puppy eyes, Feir had no choice but to nod in agreement.


    He asked curiously, ¡°Why did Sir Lancelot seal his own apprentice? And who was the enemy just now?¡±


    Everyone froze, because they remembered Feir didn¡¯t know anything about the situation between Lancelot and Liola.


    Feir saw everyone¡¯s frozen and embarrassed expressions, and after glancing at everyone, he settled his gaze on his own sister.


    His warm but curious eyes made Purity lower her head, because she couldn¡¯t dare tell the truth, and at the same time she felt guilty lying to her most admired person, her brother.


    ¡°This is between me and my master. Please don¡¯t ask.¡±


    Liola¡¯s voice was calm and indifferent like usual.


    Everyone¡¯s attention was returned to Liola. The Assassin was no longer lying on the ground, but he looked labored as he propped himself up.


    Seeing Liola had woken up, everyone relaxed, especially Baolilong, who desperately hugged its papa, as if in doing so, Liola wouldn¡¯t faint again.


    Feir hesitated a bit, and scratched his face as if he has done something wrong. He then said,


    ¡°Well then, Sir Silver Mask, I have the duty to tell you that the poison in your body is only temporarily suppressed. It must be re-suppressed periodically, otherwise the poison would come back, and your life will be in danger.¡±


    Liola¡¯s silver eyes held their gaze at Feir, and Feir felt a spinal shiver from such an icy gaze.


    Liola nodded lightly and said, ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Kaiser pulled his hair depressedly,


    ¡°Liola¡¯s Kung Fu was sealed, and now he¡¯s poisoned. There are also six Assassins and a Black Dragon trying kill you. If you can live through this, it would be a real miracle.¡±


    ¡°Whatever!¡± Kaiser carelessly jumped up, put his hands on his hips and said to Liola,


    ¡°You stay with Barbalis, let him protect you. As for the poison in your body¡­ we have Feir who can suppress it, so in the short term it¡¯s not a big deal. After the ranking matches, we will come solve your troublesome problems.¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ expression changed, but with Kaiser¡¯s threatening look, he immediately swallowed his protest.


    What was strange was, even Barbalis himself didn¡¯t understand why he was afraid of a nameless little runt. But something in his heart kept telling him, no matter whom he messed with, even if it was the King of Dragons, Miluo, he shouldn¡¯t mess with a scumbag full of evil ideas, especially when that scumbag was Kaiser.


    Feir, on the other hand, of course had no idea Kaiser was a scumbag not to be messed with. His precious baby sister kept tugging his shirt, and also using the ¡®teary eyes¡¯ technique to attack him.


    Feir felt helpless, so he nodded, agreeing to be a poison-suppressing Maxun.


    Liola remained quiet. For him, who originally didn¡¯t care about anything, after hearing what Kaiser said, he suddenly felt he now played a role he had could never imagine.


    A burden. A burden who attracted Assassins.


    Liola involuntarily held Baolilong tightly in his arms, remembering the scene where Baolilong¡¯s body was covered in blood, and almost died because of him.


    Liola¡¯s eyes darkened, and he said lightly, ¡°Perhaps it would be better if I leave.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡±


    Meinan suddenly yelled angrily. Everyone weren¡¯t startled by what Liola said, but by Meinan¡¯s scream.


    Meinan forcefully grabbed Liola¡¯s shoulders, and continued to yell,


    ¡°Do you even know what your current situation is? You¡¯ve already experienced the power of one of the six best Assassins, and you think you can handle it with your sealed Kung Fu? If you leave, you¡¯ll definitely die. If you die, have you thought about what Baolilong would do? Or how upset anyone who ever cared about you, would be?¡±


    Liola was speechless for a moment. He then turned his head, trying to escape Meinan¡¯s interrogation, and said lightly, ¡°We don¡¯t know each other very well. You will forget me in time.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s response, everyone¡¯s face sank a bit. Without hesitation, Meinan swung his fist at the Assassin.


    Liola looked at Meinan blankly. Though Liola could have dodged it, he didn¡¯t move a muscle, and was hit by Meinan¡¯s fist. Blood dripped from the Assassin¡¯s mouth, but he still did not turn his head to face the angry Meinan.


    With a long face, Kaiser opened his mouth to remind Meinan, ¡°Meinan¡­ your hand is spurting out blood.¡±


    Meinan¡¯s face twitched, held his right hand and yelled in pain.


    Without a bit of compassion, Kaiser forcefully pushed Meinan to the side. With his hands on his hips, Kaiser narrowed his eyes, and looked condescendingly at the Assassin,


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you¡¯re thinking, you better stay right where Barbalis is, and you aren¡¯t allowed to take even a step away from him!¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes darkened, and slightly nodded at Kaiser. Kaiser didn¡¯t feel a sense of security from the promise he acquired.


    Kaiser stared at the Assassin¡¯s darkened eyes, through his eyes, he tried to figure out, what the Assassin was thinking, hoping Liola wouldn¡¯t do something to get himself killed¡­ Kaiser frowned, he could only rely on Barbalis to prevent that from happening, and this made Kaiser very uneasy.


    ¡®Would I¡­ bring harm to others?¡¯


    * * *


    Though Liola¡¯s eyes were watching Kaiser and others in the arena, the situation about the matches never reached his head. The thought of others getting hurt because of him echoed in his mind.


    Liola once again held on Baolilong tightly. He happened to touch the wound on Baolilong¡¯s body caused by Black Rose, and Baolilong growled slightly from the pain.


    Liola, who had been daydreaming, was brought back to reality by the growl, and looked at Baolilong. Blue colored blood was dripping out of Baolilong¡¯s sleeve.


    Liola was shocked. He lifted Baolilong¡¯s yellow kid-size shirt, realizing Baolilong was covered in wounds, and nobody healed him. Some of the wounds were still bleeding. A five year old¡¯s body that was covered with wounds and blood was a tragic scene to watch.


    ¡°No one healed you?¡± Liola was shocked again.


    Baolilong lifted its chubby hand, stuck out its little pink tongue and licked the wound, then said,


    ¡°Baolilong needs to protect papa, so no healing needed. Baolilong can just lick it and it won¡¯t hurt anymore.¡±


    Liola frowned, and reached out his hand on a wound on Baolilong¡¯s arm. He concentrated and cast his healing magic. Weak white lights appeared from Liola¡¯s hand; it was far from the healing light of Lancelot or Feir.


    After Liola earnestly used his healing magic for a long while, he took his hand off Baolilong¡¯s arm, but the white and chubby arm still had a terrifying, bleeding wound, and nothing seemed to have changed.


    Liola was stupefied as he continued looking at the wound. He wasn¡¯t able to treat a simple wound, and thus his heart was filled with frustration. He didn¡¯t know what he had to do to improve his healing magic.


    ¡°Papa, look, Kaiser is being lazy again.¡±


    Baolilong had gotten excited over the match, and it even climbed onto a table and yelled towards the center of the arena. It was so loud even Kaiser glanced at it during the match, and the crowd around Liola also threw their gazes in his direction.


    Many people seemed to have yelled ¡®so cute¡¯, and the so-called ¡®bodyguard¡¯, Barbalis, seemed extremely alarmed. He immediately quietly said to Liola,


    ¡°Before anyone notices, take Baolilong to get its wounds healed, and don¡¯t let anyone find out that his blood is blue.¡±


    Liola nodded. He didn¡¯t want to see Baolilong¡¯s body covered in wounds. He picked up Baolilong and headed towards the infirmary.


    As for the match, Liola felt he did nothing for Kaiser and the other by just being there, so it made no difference whether or not he was present.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Barbalis nervously grabbed ahold of Liola, ¡°Wait a bit, let me watch this match first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go by myself.¡± Liola said expressionlessly.


    Barbalis seemed like he wanted to let Liola go by himself. But as soon as he remembered somebody¡¯s warning, Barbalis struggled a bit and said,


    ¡°But¡­ Kaiser and Purity said I have to protect you, otherwise I¡¯ll get a ¡®black hole¡¯ as a present.¡±


    Although Liola was skeptical of Barbalis being afraid of Kaiser and Purity, Liola was able to find an excuse for Barbalis, ¡°The road there is very crowded; I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Well, you have a point. The infirmary is not far from here, and it¡¯s filled with injured students. An Assassin wouldn¡¯t dare to go there, right?¡± Barbalis muttered, but when he saw Purity piloting the Angel Mecha and shot down the opposing Mecha, Barbalis immediately jumped up and waved the School of Sorcery flag wildly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going.¡± Said Liola, but he didn¡¯t care whether Barbalis heard him.


    He took Baolilong and walked towards the infirmary. Before he left, however, Liola stopped for a moment to turn around and watched everyone doing their best in the fight.


    Daylight always faced his opponents seriously and his will to fight was inextinguishable. Purity¡¯s superb control of the Mecha allowed Liola to realize the power of Mechas.


    Meinan always had out his protective shield at the right time to protect his teammates. Kaiser¡­ even though he was just sitting next to Meinan since the start of the match, Liola knew Kaiser¡¯s gun was already switched on and his finger had always been on the trigger. If Daylight or Purity were to be in any danger, then there will be many fireballs to rescue them.


    Those people worked together really well! Liola suddenly noticed he was actually a little jealous. At the same time, he realized, perhaps they don¡¯t need him at all¡­


    Kaiser, who was just hanging out in the arena, turned to look at Liola, and smiled with his teeth showing while holding up two fingers forming a victory sign. Seeing Kaiser¡¯s action, Liola actually smiled. After he nodded slightly at Kaiser, he carried Baolilong and turned around to leave.


    * * *


    ¡°What is up with that guy?¡± Kaiser got goose bumps from that smile. For the first time, he saw the Assassin wearing such a warm smile, but Kaiser¡¯s heart was full of skepticism. He felt Liola¡¯s smile seemed to imply something¡­


    ¡°Aiya!¡±


    Shocked, Meinan looked at the two streams of blood coming out of Kaiser¡¯s head, and stuttered to apologize:


    ¡°K-Kaiser, s-sorry, I thought you would¡¯ve been able to dodge that Mecha scrap¡­¡±


    Kaiser laid on the ground helplessly, and then murmured, ¡°So Liola¡¯s smile was a cursed smile.¡±


    * * *


    Liola, who was long gone by now, didn¡¯t know that he had cursed Kaiser. He held Baolilong tightly, and rushed to the infirmary. Baolilong said curiously,


    ¡°Papa, Kaiser hasn¡¯t finished his match. Baolilong wants to watch.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take care of your wounds first.¡± LIola said simply. He hesitated for a moment and asked, ¡°Baolilong, is there a way to sever our telepathy?¡±


    Baolilong had puzzled expression while looking at Liola. It pouted and said, ¡°Papa doesn¡¯t want to talk to Baolilong anymore?¡±


    Liola was a bit speechless, ¡°I¡¯m just curious.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Baolilong answered naively, ¡°If papa wraps something on the scale on your arm, then Baolilong won¡¯t be able to talk to papa anymore.¡±


    Liola nodded. He raised his head to look at a wide open door, and on the side of the frame had the word ¡°Infirmary¡± written on it.


    The whole room was incredibly noisy, and many injured people were walking in and out of it, not to mention the ground was spotted with blood.


    The room was filled with injured students lying on beds, and their moans of pain were endless. The ten or so healing Maxuns were also filled with students with varying degrees of injuries.


    The ones who only had minor injuries were practically dragged out the moment they went into the Maxun, so other students can continue to use them.


    The socially awkward Liola stood at the door, and he was occasionally pushed around by people rushing in and out of the infirmary.


    Liola tried to go in, but he often stepped on the patients who were sitting around on the ground. With curses coming from the patients, Liola backed up to the door. He helplessly stood at the door, but he was very worried about Baolilong¡¯s wounds.


    ¡°Baby¡¯s papa?¡±


    Jasmine was in the infirmary taking care of the patients on the ground. She prioritized healing Maxun usage to people who had more severe injuries, and helped bandage wounds of those who had less severe wounds.


    While Jasmine was really busy, she noticed a familiar person carrying an equally familiar baby, and stood clumsily at the door. The familiar expressionless face however, was replaced with a helpless expression.


    Liola heard the familiar voice, and turned his head to look in Jasmine¡¯s direction. With a few steps, she was in front of Liola, then took Baolilong from his arms. She kissed Baolilong¡¯s chubby face a few times, then blinked happily as she asked,


    ¡°Liola, are you here to look for me?¡±


    Seeing Liola honestly shook his head, Jasmine sighed exaggeratedly, ¡°I knew you¡¯re not! Fine, are you hurt? Seeing you could still walk here, it¡¯s probably not serious, is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not hurt, but Baolilong is.¡± Liola answered directly.


    Jasmine looked at Baolilong in shock, and realized Baolilong¡¯s two chubby arms had some scratches.


    Jasmine immediately took Baolilong and rushed towards the healing Maxun, and many complaints were heard along the way: ¡°Aiya, my head¡±, ¡°Hand! My Hand!¡±, ¡°Ah, my, my¡­¡±


    Jasmine kicked some poor guy with a broken bone out of the healing Maxun he was using, then she carefully placed Baolilong in it. After pressing the healing button, Jasmine sighed in relief, then walked back to Liola. She asked with a somewhat accusing tone,


    ¡°Why does the baby have so many wounds? As the baby¡¯s papa, you should take care of him, how could you let him get hurt so badly?¡±


    Liola couldn¡¯t explain the truth to Jasmine, so he could only offer silence in response. Liola raised his head and look at Baolilong tenderly.


    Baolilong who was swimming playfully within the healing Maxun, occasionally even placed its little face against the glass and waved towards Liola. Seeing Baolilong, Liola could finally relax a bit.


    ¡°How did the cute little child get hurt? You better tell me the truth!¡±


    Lanski, who had saw Jasmine running towards Liola, finished bandaging the patients she was tending, then hurried over. Because she was worried about the situation with the child, Lanski used her most severe tone. She stared at Liola, wondering if this was the result of physical abuse.


    ¡°Lanski?¡± Jasmine was surprised, she had never imagine Lanski would talk with such a tone.


    Liola turned his face slightly, trying to avoid Lanski¡¯s accusing face, because it reminded him too much of the past; he replied, with a tone of self-blame, ¡°Because of me.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would be at least a good father, but how could you be so heartless to let your child get hurt? You don¡¯t deserve to be his father!¡±


    Lanski yelled loudly in disbelief, and at the same time pushed Liola. It almost caused Liola to fall to the ground since his Kung Fu was sealed.


    Jasmine hurried to hold onto Liola, and anxiously said to Lanski,


    ¡°Lanski, I think there must be a misunderstanding. Liola really loves Baolilong, that I can atest to.¡±


    Lanski looked at Liola with a livid face. In her heart, she didn¡¯t believe this incompetent Sorcerer at all, so why would Jasmine stubbornly believe everything he said?


    Lanski couldn¡¯t agree with her friend¡¯s bias, and she was still worried about Baolilong. She glanced Liola in dissatisfaction, then walked in front of the healing Maxun where Baolilong was in. Her thin and long fingers pressed on the screen, trying to find out how bad Baolilong¡¯s wounds were.


    Lanski was stupefied, then she looked in complete disbelief at the words on the screen, and she murmured it repeatedly,


    ¡°Serious injuries? SERIOUS INJURIES?! How can a five year old end up with serious injuries?¡±


    Hearing what Lanski said, Jasmine, too, was shocked. She rushed to the healing Maxun, and the words ¡°severe injuries¡± on the screen heavily imprinted on Jasmine¡¯s heart.


    Jasmine panicked and raised her head to see how Baolilong was doing¡­ ¡°Ahhh! Baby why did you put your face on the glass, scared me to death!¡±


    Baolilong had its face pushed up against the glass, and its look was completely distorted. Seeing Jasmine holding her chest because she was scared by it, Baolilong happily laughed, then continued to swim around in a complete happy-go-lucky mood.


    Jasmine sported a strange expression. She raised her head to look at the hyper Baolilong, then lowered her head again to see the words ¡°serious injuries¡± on the screen; she had no way of connecting these two things together.


    Puzzled, Jasmine scratched her face, began to wonder if the Maxun was broken, or if Baolilong was broken¡­ No, or because Baolilong had unimaginable ability to endure pain.


    However, Lanski wasn¡¯t as optimistic as Jasmine. Seeing that Baolilong had suffered serious injuries, Lanski felt absolutely enraged.


    She hit the screen excessively, then coldly said to Liola, ¡°I don¡¯t know how you could be so ruthless and let your baby suffer such severe wounds. Unless you repent, Jasmine and I will not be returning your baby.¡±


    Liola wanted to answer Lanski, and promise her that he won¡¯t let Baolilong get hurt again, but then he remembered he had lost all of his Kung Fu, and it would be impossible for him to fulfill the promise.


    Liola closed his open mouth, but his guilt and helpless look made Lanski even more furious. She said ruthlessly, ¡°Jasmine and I will take good care of the baby, and you should take some time to reflect on what you¡¯ve done. When you are responsible enough, then come back for your baby.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha, definitely a student from Aklan Academy; he¡¯s actually an irresponsible little papa.¡±


    Yiyu held onto the door frame, and he laughed with ridicule. On his side, of course, was the Yizhou with a cold face. Yiyu took one look at Lanski, and his eyes shone. He kept checking out Lanski¡¯s exquisite body and beautiful face, which made the furious Lanski even more enraged.


    The Water Dragon Knight Yizhou, however, held his gaze on Liola, and he felt Liola seemed different from the last time they met. But after careful examination, there didn¡¯t seem to be much difference. Yizhou frowned and said,


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost your threatening atmosphere.¡±


    Liola was a little shocked, he didn¡¯t think the Knight would notice the difference in him. Of course, Liola would never tell the stranger, Yizhou, what had happened. He deliberately turned his head as a response.


    ¡°Garbage!¡± Yiyu lightly grunted.


    Jasmine finally couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, she could no longer stand other people belittling Liola. Her anger exploded, and her thin sword unsheathed. Jasmine stood in front of Liola with a protective stance, and said,


    ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to call him that. Liola has his merits.¡±


    Before Yiyu responded, Lanski first yelled in disbelief to her good friend, ¡°Jasmine! How could you still protecting this Sorcerer? Did you not see how he beat his baby to point of serious injuries?¡±


    Jasmine heard Lanski, and her heart, too, was very anxious. Although Jasmine would never believe that Baolilong¡¯s injuries were from Liola¡¯s own hands, but without knowing the truth, she had no way of explaining to Lanski. She looked at Liola behind her, as if she was calling for help, and said anxiously,


    ¡°Liola, hurry and explain to everyone how the baby got those wounds.¡±


    Lanski still had an angry look, and her distrustful eyes stared at Liola. But for the sake of her good friend Jasmine, Lanski also quietly awaited Liola¡¯s explanation.


    Explain? How could he explain? As soon as he explains, how could the identity of Silver Mask remain a secret? He wanted to explain but he couldn¡¯t. His heart felt as if a bucket full of lemon juice had been poured over it, and he had nowhere to vent the sourness and pain.


    Seeing Liola¡¯s mood had gotten worse, and good friend Jasmine tugging her clothes, Lanski softened a bit.


    She used a somewhat kinder tone to advise him, ¡°Liola, don¡¯t go down the wrong path. Think about what¡¯s best for the baby. Look, that baby in the Maxun is so cute and he¡¯s so fond of you, could you bear the thought of him getting hurt again?¡±


    Liola raised his head and looked at the happy face of Baolilong swimming around in the Maxun, but in his mind, the scene of the Assassin tossing Baolilong in the corner like a rug surfaced again. As a habit, Liola looked at Anise¡¯s face and asked,


    ¡°Do you think I was wrong? I shouldn¡¯t be here, I am a burden to Baolilong, and perhaps to many others as well.¡±


    Lanski was baffled by Liola¡¯s questions, and it didn¡¯t sound like it was a declaration of repentance.


    Lanski responded only to the first sentence that she understood, ¡°Of course you were wrong. If you know you¡¯re wrong, then correct it as soon as possible, and make up for what you¡¯ve done. Don¡¯t make the same mistakes again.¡±


    Liola felt Anise lecturing him about what¡¯s right and what¡¯s wrong. As usual, Liola nodded, without ever doubting what Anise says.


    Liola walked in front of the healing Maxun, and put his hand on the transparent glass. Baolilong, too, playfully put its little chubby hand on the glass, and the only thing separated between its hand and Liola¡¯s big hand was a sheet of glass.


    ¡®Baolilong, you have to obediently stay with Jasmine.¡¯ Liola used telepathy to tell Baolilong.


    ¡®Why? Where does papa have to go again?¡¯ Baolilong pouted with its little mouth. Its entire little body was pressed against the glass, wanting to squeeze through the glass to run into Liola¡¯s arms.


    ¡®Stay by Jasmine¡¯s side.¡¯ Liola threw those words to Baolilong. Ignoring Baolilong¡¯s angry kicks on the healing Maxun, Liola turned around and walked alone out of the infirmary.


    ¡°Wait, Liola!¡± Jasmine hurried to try and stop Liola. She would never believe Liola would hit Baolilong.


    ¡®Why wouldn¡¯t he explain? Liola seemed a little strange today, as if he was sad?¡¯


    Jasmine thought to herself, something must have happened, so she can¡¯t just let Liola leave like this.


    Hearing Jasmine calling him, Liola slowed his step, and he tilted his head to say, ¡°Please take care of Baolilong.¡±


    Everything Jasmine wanted to ask was stuck in her throat, so all she did was stare as Liola¡¯s lonely figure walking out infirmary.


    The splashing sounds from behind them made Jasmine and Lanski turn around to take care of Baolilong, who was swimming wildly in the Maxun and desperately knocking on the glass, trying to break itself free so it could run to Liola.


    Jasmine tried to use calm words to comfort Baolilong, but even she couldn¡¯t help herself from turning her head to look, but the door to the infirmary no longer had any trace of the silver-eyed man.


    ¡®Baby¡¯s papa, why does the feeling of sadness surround you?¡¯ Jasmine asked in her heart.


    * * *


    No longer a burden to anyone. Liola walked out of the arena where the ranking matches were, and coincidentally heard Feir¡¯s announcement of Aklan Academy¡¯s victory.


    Liola imagined Kaiser¡¯s exaggerated smile, Meinan¡¯s bitter look, and Purity blushingly accept various compliments. Though Liola didn¡¯t know Daylight well, he knew Daylight will always be spirited.


    Liola had already decided he can never let these four people and Baolilong be endangered ever again as a result of Assassins trying to kill him.


    Liola thought about Baolilong, and tore off a piece of cloth from his robe. He rolled up his left sleeve, and it revealed a scale of a White Dragon. Liola wrapped a cloth tightly on the scale, so Baolilong wouldn¡¯t have the slightest chance of sensing where he was.


    Seeing the deserted roads, Lioa turned around to take one last look at the crowded arena, ¡°Good bye, everyone.¡±


    * * *


    A right hand with long fingers slowly picked up a fragment with silver lights from the ground, then placed it onto the left palm.


    There were already several fragments on the palm, and they were arranged so the original shape could be seen clearly ¡ª it was a silver mask.


    The man wearing a black and white Sorcerer robe finally retrieved all the fragments from the ground.


    He pushed up the gold-framed glasses. The glare from the glasses made it impossible to see his eyes, but his mouth was formed into a slight smile. A few lines of incantation escaped from the man¡¯s mouth, and the incantation formed a silver light which landed onto the fragments on his palm, repairing the cracks between fragments. A fully intact silver mask quietly laid on the man¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Lancelot, how dare you to touch my things, and my toy. That¡¯s very dangerous.¡± The man with gold-framed glasses smiled brighter and brighter, showing his long and sharp canine teeth. He looked like a gold-haired fox poised

 Volume 4, 2 : The Dark Street

    Volume 4, Chapter 2 : The Dark Street


    ¡°How could you let Liola wander off by himself? Didn¡¯t I tell you to look after him?¡±


    Kaiser grabbed his principal by the collar and yelled with raised eyebrows and widened eyes.


    The three people whose presence caused Kaiser¡¯s arrogance, were also standing behind him with long faces.


    If Barbalis couldn¡¯t give them Liola, or if he gave them Liola¡¯s corpse, Barbalis could very well become the first principal ever killed by his own students in the history of Aklan Academy.


    ¡°He just took Baolilong to the infirmary, and I told him to go by himself only because I was cheering you guys on. The infirmary is so close, and the path there is very crowded, nothing could go wrong! Liola is definitely waiting inside the infirmary until Baolilong¡¯s wounds are healed.¡±


    Barbalis screamed on the top of his lungs for being treated unjustly.


    ¡°Yeah, Kaiser, the infirmary is really close. Liola-dage should be fine.¡± Purity quickly tried to calm Kaiser, and at the same time, she felt Kaiser had gone a little overboard.


    Kaiser angrily let go of Barbalis¡¯ collar, and with a gloomy face, he said,


    ¡°If Liola isn¡¯t in the infirmary, then you better be prepared to surrender your neck to Daylight¡¯s sword.¡±


    Meinan frowned, ¡°Kaiser, did you also feel there¡¯s something strange with Liola? I¡¯m worried h-he might leave without saying goodbye¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop. We¡¯ll know when we get to the infirmary.¡±


    Kaiser answered impatiently. His face clearly show his insecurities. Even Purity and Daylight seemed to be infected by Kaiser¡¯s face, and they all hurried towards the infirmary. Barbalis¡¯ face, however, displayed a moment of hesitation.


    However, before they got to the infirmary, Jasmine and the guilt-ridden Lanski were already carrying Baolilong towards Kaiser and others.


    Jasmine anxiously rushed towards them, and as soon as they arived, she asked, ¡°Have you seen Liola?¡±


    Kaiser and three others, along with the now pale-faced Barbalis, moved their gazes to Baolilong.


    All ten eyes staring at the ¡°should-be-next-to-Liola¡± Baolilong.


    Kaiser took several deep breaths before he gritted his teeth before asking, ¡°Baolilong! Where the hell is your dad?¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s big eyes were already watery. After hearing Kaiser¡¯s inquisition, large drops of tears immediately fell out of its eyes, ¡°Waah, papa is gone, gone. Baolilong can¡¯t find papa!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s angry face sank. He raised his head to look at Jasmine and Lanski, and became suspicious of the uneasy looks on their faces.


    ¡®Looks like Liola¡¯s disappearance had something to do with these two.¡¯


    Kaiser coldly questioned them, ¡°What happened? Liola wouldn¡¯t go missing for no reason.¡±


    Jasmine anxiously looked towards Lanski, who said with guilt,


    ¡°Sorry, it was my fault. I thought the wounds on Baolilong¡¯s body was the result of Liola¡¯s physical abuse, so I blamed everything on him.¡±


    ¡°Papa would never hit Baolilong.¡± Baolilong loudly protested, which made Lanski¡¯s lower her head even more with guilt.


    Kaiser frowned.


    ¡®Would Liola go be missing just because someone blamed him? An Assassin shouldn¡¯t be as childish as that, there should be something else¡­¡¯


    Could it be what he had thought before? Kaiser hesitated, then turned around to ask the others, ¡°Hey, do you think that Liola might not want to be a burden to us, and therefore ran away from home?¡±


    The other three¡¯s expression suddenly changed. Purity sat on top of the Mecha and said, ¡°That¡¯s definitely it. I felt that, ever since Liola-dage woke up, something had always bothered him.¡±


    Kaiser hit his own head and said, ¡°Damn! The meaning of that smile of his was good bye.¡±


    Barbalis gulped, and lifted his long robe as he tried to tip-toe his way to another continent.


    Unfortunately, even with his back to Barbalis, Kaiser pointed his index finger, and Purity¡¯s Angel Mecha raised its giant bow, and the giant arrow pointed at Barbalis¡¯ little head. If the arrow was released, Barbalis would definitely not die from an arrow through his body, but rather from a headshot.


    Kaiser¡¯s devil-like voice echoed,


    ¡°MR PRINCIPAL, please use all your money, time, patience, and whatever other powers you have to look for Liola, otherwise, be careful for those two things of yours!¡±


    Although Purity blushed, the Mecha¡¯s giant bow was not ambiguous, and it slowly moved downward from Barbalis¡¯ head.


    ¡°No! I still don¡¯t have a Barbalis Jr. I¡¯ll go look, right now!¡± Barbalis sank in bitter contemplation, trying to think where he should start looking for Liola.


    * * *


    If he doesn¡¯t go far, then Kaiser and others would probably easily find him. If he was to be found, then he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to leave so easily next time.


    However, he stayed with Kaiser and the others, wouldn¡¯t their fate end up identical to Anise¡¯s? Having her dreams taken away because of him, then becoming a cold corpse?


    Remembering the scene of Anise closing her eyes for all eternity, Liola felt a sharp pain in his heart.


    He could not stop his footsteps, and he walked towards a darker and quieter street, as if it¡¯s where he really belonged.


    The crowded streets Liola had passed by gradually became less and less populated, and the tall buildings reaching high up into the clouds were no where to be seen. There were only some old buildings scattered about, and a few homeless guys lying on the ground, looking at Liola walking around with his elegant robe with envy and malice.


    Liola realized the hostile glares directed at him. Although he lost his Kung Fu, his experience of being an Assassin for many years, his instincts remained, as well as his dexterity. Though Liola knew he couldn¡¯t handle professional Assassins, a few homeless guys shouldn¡¯t pose a problem.


    Perhaps ten of them would be a problem.


    Liola stopped his tracks, when he saw more than ten hobos congregating in front of him, and greed was flashed in their eyes. Their intention was obvious.


    Liola said to the person leading the pack, ¡°I don¡¯t have money.¡±


    The guy in front who wore a dirty vest laughed and revealed his stained teeth,


    ¡°Says who? You¡¯re worth a lot of money, little lost lamb. If we take you a part, your organs would be worth quite a sum, and it would be enough for me and my fellow friends to eat several meals.¡±


    All of them let out a sinister laugh. A few of them even started drooling at the thought of food, and they all started to close in on Liola.


    Hearing what the man said, Liola knew this ordeal couldn¡¯t be resolved peacefully. He lowered his body and pulled out Broken Silver, but Liola still didn¡¯t unsheath the dagger, so he wouldn¡¯t accidentally kill someone.


    ¡°This is great. How many more meals do you think we can get out of that thing?¡± Greed continued to flash in the leader¡¯s eyes, and he beckoned the people behind him,


    ¡°Go! Tomorrow¡¯s meal is in front of your eyes.¡±


    Before the man finished his sentence, the hobos were already holding weapons and charged at Liola.


    Even with ten people running towards him, Liola¡¯s face was calm as usual, but in his heart, he knew he couldn¡¯t get away completely unscathed.


    Being in the Assassin industry for more than ten years, Liola knew at the very least that he wouldn¡¯t end up having his organs sold.


    Liola tightened his muscles, and ran toward the hobos with Broken Silver.


    Though his speed was incomparable to what it was before, but to an ordinary person, Liola was agile enough.


    A few of the hobos who charged in first were hit by Liola a few times and fell to the ground. However, because Liola¡¯s couldn¡¯t hit as hard as before, they weren¡¯t knocked unconscious or break any bones, but the hits were hard enough for them to be moaning in pain on the ground for quite a while.


    But the following fight would not be so easy.


    More than ten other people were waving their weapons around. Even though Liola could see or sensed their attacks, his body didn¡¯t have the ability to dodge them, so he took several hits.


    Thanks to his Assassin¡¯s training, he was able to endure pain, and not a single noise escaped his mouth.


    At the same time, to prevent getting hurt further, Liola hurried to try to take and care of his enemies. All of his hits efficiently landed on the back of his enemies¡¯ heads. For the ones he missed, Liola would immediately add a few more hits, though on some occasions he received a blow because of his mistakes.


    ¡°Little runt, stop struggling!¡±


    Seeing his men falling down one by one, the leader yelled angrily, and swung his wooden spiked club towards Liola¡¯s face.


    Liola agilely dodged his attack, but he couldn¡¯t escape the man¡¯s knee, which landed heavily on his stomach. Liola held his stance despite the pain, and used Broken Silver to hit the man¡¯s chin.


    After a street fight, tens of homeless guys were moaning on the ground, and their leader was unconscious.


    The only person left standing, was the man with the gray Sorcerer robe, with his right hand holding on to Broken Silver, and left holding his stomach. Liola¡¯s calm yet pale face was covered in sweat.


    Clap, clap


    A faint clap came from a shaded wall and Liola held tighter onto Broken Silver.


    He knew since a while back that someone was observing at him, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Liola looked in the corner, and warned the onlooker with his eyes.


    ¡°Quite amazing skills you have.¡±


    A man with a deep voice complimented Liola, at the same time, a middle-aged man wearing a suit walked out of the dark corner. He had a square face, greasy but neat short black hair, and a pair of dark sunglasses.


    He looked quite dignified.


    Liola looked at the man without letting his guard down. Without the support of his Ki, Liola felt somewhat tired after finishing earlier brawl.


    Without knowing the man¡¯s intent, Liola picked himself up and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    The middle-aged man smiled, ¡°Please allow me to introduce myself, I¡¯m the Dark Street¡¯s Barker, and one of the hosts for the Dark Arena.¡±


    Liola nodded with no expression on his face; the Assassin asked again patiently, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Ah! You are a straightforward man.¡± Barker placed his arms to his side, and understood Liola didn¡¯t like beating around the bush, so he explained plainly,


    ¡°Since I am a host of Dark Arena, I come out often to find new competitors. Would you be interested in fighting in the arena?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola immediately answer, and turned to leave.


    Though he had seen all types of people, Barker didn¡¯t expect this man to be so apathetic that he would reject him without even asking what Dark Arena was.


    Barker thought, ¡®The competitors in my arena were mostly either dead or severely wounded, so if I don¡¯t find another contestant, the Dark Arena wouldn¡¯t be able to go on.¡¯


    Barker hurried in his footsteps, and blocked Liola¡¯s path.


    A pair of cold, silver eyes stared at Barker, which made sent a chill down his spine.


    Thinking about opening match which was scheduled just in a few days, Barker bit the bullet and continued to block Liola¡¯s path with a smile,


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you think about it? If you win, I¡¯ll share the profit with you, 50 50.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t even bother to respond. He took a step aside, trying to walk around Barker.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Barker gritted his teeth, ¡°30 70, 70 for you. If you win the first match, you get 10 grand, second for 20 grand, third for 40 grand. If you win the whole thing, then the 10 million prize money is all yours.¡±


    Liola stopped his footsteps, and the thought of making money flashed in his mind. He needed a lot of money to feed that chowhound Baolilong¡­


    No! He no longer need to feed Baolilong. Liola shook his head, trying to shake away the image of Baolilong eating meat in his head.


    Barker saw Liola¡¯s hesitation, and was happy for a brief moment. Then, he saw Liola shook his head, and his face sank again.


    He had been the king of the Dark Street for more than ten years and he had ten bodyguards in front and behind him. If it weren¡¯t for the trouble he was having with the arena, and had to personally scout for good competitors, this little runt wouldn¡¯t even have the pleasure of seeing him, so how can this little runt belittle him so much?


    Barker couldn¡¯t swallow the idea of someone scorning him. He yelled, ¡°Little runt, if you aren¡¯t coming with me willingly, then don¡¯t blame me for using force!¡±


    What was strange was that, with Barker¡¯s yell, two large men wearing sunglasses jumped out onto the empty street.


    Both men had two black and shiny guns on both of their legs, with alarming looks.


    Seeing the guns, Liola¡¯s eyes flashed. He calmly calculated in his mind, and deduced he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to win against guns with his current speed, and if he tried to run, the chance of him being escaping was probably 50 50?


    At the exact same moment when Liola took one step back, a shot was fired. Liola turned his head to look, and smoke appeared on the ground not far behind his ankle.


    Barker laughed coldly, ¡°My bodyguards are the sharpest shooters of the Dark Street, wanna run? You better ask permission from their guns first.¡±


    Liola ignored Barker¡¯s threat, and his silver eyes looked onto the bodyguards with the gun. The one on the left looked younger, and it looked like he was the one who fired, but the middle-aged man still had his gun firmly in his holster.


    Liola¡¯s heart was shaken a little, it appeared the two men work rather well together. Without a word being said, they decided who would open fire to prevent him from escaping.


    Looks like the success rate of him escaping dropped to 30 percent, and he probably receive a couple of bullet wounds as he tries to escape.


    Though Liola¡¯s face remained expressionless, he let out a sigh in his heart. He decided to negotiate with Barker. He looked at him, and clearly stated his biggest principle,


    ¡°I can¡¯t kill anyone.¡±


    Barker was first shocked, and then he understood that the runt was giving him a compromise.


    Thinking he finally found a competitor for his arena, Barker couldn¡¯t contain his smile, and his threatening tone of voice was completely gone.


    Barker placed his hands on Liola¡¯s shoulders as if they were old drinking buddies and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my friend. I was afraid you would kill the other competitors, then I¡¯d have to compensate them with money.¡±


    Liola thought about it of it for a while, and the desire to make money was still there. Besides¡­ he didn¡¯t know where else to go. If he continued to wander aimlessly, he would eventually be found by Kaiser and others.


    After some consideration, Liola finally nodded in acceptance to Barker¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°Great, I knew you would come around. Bro, I still don¡¯t know what your name is?¡±


    Barker laughed loudly, and the young bodyguard behind him returned his gun to its holster. The two men backed into the corner, disappearing into the shadows.


    ¡°Liola.¡±


    Barker nodded and waved at Liola, then walked towards a dark alley.


    Liola followed without any hesitation, since to him, walking in the darkness was like walking at home.


    Barker, who was walking in the front, quietly thought it was quite strange, and at the same time started guessing Liola¡¯s identity. The gray robe on Liola¡¯s body puzzled Barker. He would never believe the agile Liola was a Sorcerer.


    Walking in the dirty and narrow alley, Liola felt a sense of nostalgia, as if he had gone back to the time before he met Anise, living the shameful Assassin life.


    Liola amused himself with the thought of him being better suited in living in the dark places, and he could caused much less trouble an Assassin than if he was with Kaiser and others.


    After walking for a long time, a light shone through the dark alley ¡ª the exit was before them. Barker turned around and introduced the street to the ¡°outsider¡± Liola with pride.


    ¡°This is the Dark Street, a dark place where even the Aklan government has no control over, and it¡¯s also degenerated, dirty, and trashy street to outsiders.¡±


    Liola raised his head to look in the street Barker spoke of.


    The dark alley even did not make the Assassin raise a brow, but he frowned upon the colorful and dazzling street.


    At the time, the so-called degenerated street was full of strange people, both men and women. There were hot girls wearing revealing clothes, and bucktoothed merchants covered in gold.


    There were also some guys wearing a hat and cloak, with their hat lowered enough to cover their entire faces.


    The surrounding buildings did fit the ¡°dirty¡± description. Though the lights on the signboard were blinding, but the strange thing was, the buildings didn¡¯t match the signs at all.


    Behind the beautiful signboards were often old, damaged, and sometimes looked like they were about to collapse.


    Judging from the dripping wet clothes hanging out from the windows, there were still people living inside.


    Occasionally, there were a few children wearing torn clothes pouring water down from their balcony, and people underneath would cursed at them.


    Despite the fact that the buildings looked like they were about to come crashing down, the bypassing crowds didn¡¯t seem to care. They casually walked in and out of shops, try to purchasing all sorts of strange goods from ruin-like buildings.


    The entire Dark Street looked like ancient ruins converted into a shopping center.


    Modern and tall buildings can only be found in the distant, and they looked elegant as opposed to the surrounding buildings. This scenery created a striking contrast between the background setting of the Dark Street and its surroundings.


    At least Barbalis had better taste. Liola thought about the academy¡¯s laughing gate, no! School gate.


    [T/N: ¡®Laughing Gate¡¯ sounds identical to ¡®School Gate¡¯ in Chinese]


    Seeing Liola¡¯s expressionless face, Barker, who was hoping to see Liola¡¯s shocked or amazed expression, was disappointed. Nevertheless, he gathering himself together by reminding himself that this outsider has not seen the Dark Street¡¯s most essential establishment ¡ª the Dark Arena.


    ¡®Wait til he sees the Dark Arena, he definitely won¡¯t be able to hold his calm exterior.¡¯ Barker stomped his feet forcefully, and at the same time hurried his new competitor,


    ¡°Hurry! We¡¯re going to go have a look at your new workplace.¡±


    Liola stopped his wandering eyes, and followed Barker calmly. The Assassin¡¯s sharp sense noticed Barker¡¯s two bodyguards were closely following them, but moved from one shadow area to the next, and most people wouldn¡¯t even sense their existence.


    The two men were strong bodyguards, Liola judged determined. With his current ability, he could possibly beat the young one, but the middle-aged one seemed to be far stronger.


    These two people were strong, in the eyes of a normal person. If Liola wasn¡¯t sealed, their combined strength¡­ would pale many levels in comparison to his.


    Thinking of the two bodyguards, an idea dawned on Liola, and he asked,


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask bodyguards to be competitors? They¡¯re not weaker than me.¡±


    Barker sported a solemn expression.


    ¡°Little runt, Dark Street isn¡¯t a playground. If you¡¯re not careful you could lose your life at any moment. I would never let my two bodyguards leave me even for a few matches in the arena.¡±


    Liola nodded. His calmly footsteps stopped, and his silver eyes looked at the giant, pyramid-shaped building with curiosity. Having never seen anything similar to it, Liola examined the strange triangular object.


    Barker looked proud. The pyramid in front of them was the pride of everyone in the Dark Street, and the spiritual icon of all the outlaws of Dark Street.


    In the gloomy Dark Arena, there was only one kind of people: gamblers ¡ª spectators gambling money and competitors gambling money with lives.

 Volume 4, 3 : Sacrifice

    Volume 4, Chapter 3 : Sacrifice


    ¡°What the¡­¡±


    Barker looked at Liola satisfactorily as Liola¡¯s eyes gazed on the pyramid. Barker was waiting for the outsider to say some words of praise and exclamation.


    Liola stared at the pyramid-shaped Dark Arena. Despite being used to seeing strange buildings, He had only one question in mind, which he asked directly, ¡°What is an arena?¡±


    Barker was stupefied. The older bodyguard widened his eyes, and the young one practically slipped. Barker had a blank expression, ¡°Y-you don¡¯t know what arena is?¡±


    Liola nodded a couple of times.


    Barker¡¯s otherwise solemn face seemed to be amused, then he waved to Liola. They walked to the entrance to the Dark Arena, which already had countless excited people lined up to buy the ridiculously high-priced ticket to get in.


    A buff man who tried to cut in line, was surrounded by the crowds and beaten up. People who were bored from standing in line became onlookers, and cheered as the fight went on.


    Barker raised his eyebrows, and walked around the chaos headed directly to the door as if fights were a natural occurrence.


    However someone was so confused because of the fight, he thought that Barker was trying to cut in line as well, so he reached his hand to grab Barker¡¯s collar.


    Unfortunately, after a sound of a gunshot, the scene fell completely silent, and the guy who didn¡¯t know any better, lost a hand that tried to grab someone¡¯s collar.


    Barker pulled the collar of his clean suit, and glanced coldly at the guy rolling on the ground holding his arm.


    With the terrified eyes of the onlookers, Barker majestically stepped into the Dark Arena Pyramid, and a few attendants hurried to him to welcome him. There were people who took his jacket, and someone brought a pail of water for Barker wash his hands in. The attendants didn¡¯t dare to neglect Liola and the two bodyguards either, so they hurried to offer them pails of water as well.


    Liola looked from the corner of his eyes, and saw Barker placing his hands inside the pail, so Liola did the same thing.


    ¡°Do you want to rest, or do you want to go check out the arena?¡± Barker courteously asked for Liola¡¯s wish.


    Liola hesitated.


    Though he was curious about the arena, his body continuously warned him with signs of exhaustion and soreness.


    Liola lowered his head to look at the bruises and dried blood, thought it was best for him to get healed now that he no longer has his immense Ki to use as shields.


    Liola opened his mouth to request, ¡°I want to treat my wounds first.¡±


    Barker nodded, indicating his agreement, ¡°Bring my new competitor to the room we have prepared.¡±


    The attendant respectfully agreed.


    Barker laughed and said to Liola, ¡°You go treat your wounds first, and rest well for a few days. You will fight in the arena for me in a couple of days. Don¡¯t worry, that guy definitely not a match for you.¡±


    Liola nodded, and walked away with the attendants.


    As soon as Barker saw Liola turned into a corner, his warm smile immediately vanished. Seeing that the hallway was clear, Barker murmured to himself,


    ¡°Finally found a sacrifice. I almost thought the first match I¡¯m responsible for would not go according to plan.¡±


    The older bodyguard who had remained quiet all this time finally opened his mouth, ¡°He¡¯s strong, and the match will be exciting.¡±


    The young bodyguard remained quiet. As he thought about the nauseating match in the Dark Arena, and with Liola¡¯s face looking younger than his own, the young bodyguard felt sorry for Liola.


    The older bodyguard looked at his apprentice¡¯s eyes, and said casually, ¡°Perhaps he¡¯ll be the first ¡®sacrifice¡¯ to actually win a match.¡±


    Hearing his master say so, the young bodyguard thought about the silver light dancing in the crowd of homeless guys, and Liola¡¯s fluent movements. He nodded, ¡°Maybe he¡¯ll win.¡±


    Barker laughed in disdain, ¡°Win? He better enjoy his last three days.¡±


    Liola, who had already walked away with the attendant, had no idea he had become a sacrifice.


    * * *


    Liola followed the attendant to the elevator, and walked to an elegant door. The attendant respectfully opened the door, allowing Liola to enter his room.


    Liola was a little shocked as he surveyed the place. Everything that should and could be in a suite was there.


    The moment Liola entered the room, there was a gorgeous living room. It had a pricey and soft leather sofa, and the ground was covered with white carpet. One of the walls had a large sliding door installed, allowing Liola to watch the beautiful scenery outside.


    ¡°Please rest for a bit, and a maid will come serve you immediately.¡± The attendant bowed towards Liola, and closed the door.


    Liola frowned. He thought the room assigned to him was too elegant to the point of exaggeration. He was certain these types of room were reserved for important guests, and not for mere a competitor such as himself. He didn¡¯t believe Barker valued him so much having only just met him.


    ¡°Did I just run into more trouble?¡± Liola thought with a headache.


    At this time, there was a knock on the door.


    After Liola had said ¡°come in¡±, a middle-aged cougar looking woman waved a feather fan, and led a group of women with varying styles of clothes into the room. Every woman looked fairly pretty. All of them showed Liola their most beautiful side and stare at Liola, which made him even more confused, unaware his current situation.


    The middle-aged woman flirtatiously laughed, ¡°Aiya, the guest this time looks so good, even I want to serve you.¡±


    The all women stared at Liola¡¯s delicate face. A few of them looked at Liola with flirtatious eyes while smiling to try to show their interest.


    Liola frowned. The cougar woman who could read people clearly, understood Liola didn¡¯t like to be checked out.


    She immediately asked the girls to settle down, then turned her head to Liola,


    ¡°Honored guest, I¡¯m the leader of these maids, and I¡¯m bringing them to you, so you choose. I promise to you that every maid under me are definitely the prettiest, best tempered, and good with their hands and feet. You can pick whomever you want, and she will serve you.¡±


    Liola finally understood what these maids were. Without even looking at the group of beautiful women, Liola casually said, ¡°Anyone would do.¡±


    Liola then he walked towards the sliding door, surprised to he was able to see the stadium where Kaiser and others were. Though it only looked like a small circle, it was enough to garner Liola¡¯s interest, so he stood at the sliding doors without moving.


    Hearing Liola¡¯s response, the cougar woman¡¯s smile froze.


    ¡®How could there be a man who isn¡¯t even a bit interested in her daughters! What a joke.¡¯


    In the Dark Street, she was known as the Mama Sang who had no ordinary girl under her. If someone wasn¡¯t an important guest, they wouldn¡¯t be able to touch her daughters!


    [T/N, the middle-aged woman would be like a pimp, and the maids would be prostitutes; in China, it was common for the pimp to call the prostitutes her ¡°daughters¡±]


    ¡°Aiya, guest, are you sure you don¡¯t want to pick carefully? Every baby under me is extraordinarily beautiful, and very obedient. You can do anything you want.¡±


    Mama Sang smiled with her teeth showing, and blinked suggestively at Liola. Unfortunately, even though Mama Sang blinked so much that her eyes were close to having spasm and smiled so much that her facial muscles hurts, Liola was still deep in thought, and completely ignored anything she said.


    Seeing a person so young, Mama Sang thought he wouldn¡¯t be as picky as her older guests. She hit her palm with her feather fan, and yelled irritably at her daughters,


    ¡°What are you all still doing here? The guest isn¡¯t satisfied with you! Go away, and tell my Seven Fairies to come here!¡±


    The women felt cheated and left, and a few of them turned around to peek at Liola, with disappointment all over their faces.


    Mama Sang anxiously paced at the door, waving her feather fan repeatedly as she waited for the arrival for her trump card.


    Liola was still standing next to the sliding doors, looking at the small stadium, thinking of things like ¡®Are Kaiser and others still fighting in a match?¡¯ or ¡®Did Baolilong obediently stay with Jasmine?¡¯


    They wouldn¡¯t abandon the match to look for him, right? Liola felt uneasy, but then tried to comfort himself: no, they won¡¯t, even if they try looking for him, and if they fail to find him within a couple of days, they would probably give up.


    After all, they had only known him for a couple of months, and Daylight only knew him for a few days. There¡¯s no reason for them to be very worried about him¡­


    Liola suddenly touched his face, remembering Meinan¡¯s punch.


    ¡°Dear guest, guest¡­ Bastard! Turn around!¡± Mama Sang called Liola more than ten times, but Liola didn¡¯t give even a slightest of response. She finally lost her temper and released her lion roar.


    ¡°Mama Sang?¡± The Seven Fairies were in shock, seeing Mama Sang being so discourteous to a guest. She was at the point where her make up was practically falling off her face piece by piece, and her fake eyelashes were half hanging on her eyelids.


    Liola turned around, and stared blankly, ¡°Something¡¯s up?¡±


    Mama Sang¡¯s angry face froze, and she forcefully twisted her ferocious face into a smile. Along with her make up falling off due to her facial muscles moving too much, she looked almost like ¡°Flowery¡±; even Liola, whose heart was like still water, twitched his face a little after seeing such terrifying face.


    [T/N: ¡°Flowery¡± was a common female name. Literally ¡°like flower¡±. Its current usage was popularized by Stephen Chow in one of his movies, in which a character with this name was played by a cross-dressing man with terrifying looks and manners (often seen picking his nose)].


    ¡°Ohaha.¡± After a moment of Mama Sang¡¯s awkward laugh, ¡°Guest, you are quite the insightful one. Those few lowly girls weren¡¯t good enough for you, then why don¡¯t you take a look at my seven precious daughters and see if any of them fit your taste better?¡±


    Liola glanced at the seven girls expressionlessly. He thought, didn¡¯t he just say anyone would do? Liola was a bit baffled, which ever girl it was didn¡¯t matter to him, so Liola gave the same answer as before, ¡°Anyone would do.¡±


    Crack!


    Mama Sang¡¯s feather fan was swiftly broken into two. The smile on her face froze, the veins on her forehead popped. Her whole face started twitching, and her mouth seemed to be forming the words ¡°you son of a¡ª¡±¡­


    ¡°Go find your eldest sister.¡±


    Mama Sang finally got a hold of her mouth. Spitting these words out seemed to be more tiresome to her than running a marathon.


    Mama Sang gasped for air, and the Seven Fairies finally seemed to have relaxed a bit. They then realized Mama Sang actually told them to find their eldest sister?


    ¡°Is that really necessary, Mama Sang?¡±


    ¡°Stop nagging! Bring the girl here, tell her it was my idea.¡± Mama Sang angrily yelled at the daughters. At this point, she would do anything just to see this guy enthralled by one of her girls, and let him know every daughter trained by Mama Sang would be an exquisite beauty.


    In fact, each of the Seven Fairies were indeed beautiful, some were dignified, some charming, and some cute¡­ Unfortunately, they ran into an unprecedented Iceberg.


    Technically speaking, Liola had seen his share of beauties: his apprentice was Yasha, the prettiest female Assassin in the organization. He later ran into the beautiful, warm, and the godliest healer Anise.


    Liola even went so far as standing up the Dragon Empire¡¯s princess Lanski, who was famous for her incredible beauty.


    To Liola, Mama Sang¡¯s seven girls left no impression other than simply a few ¡°female humans¡±.


    ¡°Mama Sang, were you looking for me?¡±


    A soft, girly voice called out, and a pair of snow-white hands wearing jade bracelets opened the door. Then, half of an immaculate and beautiful face appeared from the half-opened door. Her eyebrows curved like the moon, and her eyes sparkled like the stars, even the corner of her eye looked gentle and lovely. Strands of her dark-as-night hair playfully hanged beside her cheek, and in contrast made her face seem even whiter.


    ¡°Meiji.¡± Mama Sang¡¯s heart felt anxious. Meiji was the best daughter under her; she had countless fans, and even Mama Sang wouldn¡¯t dare to force her to serve a guest she didn¡¯t like.


    ¡°I heard my sisters say that our guest is really picky?¡±


    Meiji said as she laid her eyes on the man by the sliding door. Upon seeing him, Meiji finally understood why her sisters told her she must have a look at him.


    Growing up in the Dark Street, Meiji had seen countless men in her life: old, young, fat, thin, ugly, handsome, etc. No matter what kind of person they were, in her eyes, there were only two kinds: rich and poor. Facial features was never something she cared about. Besides, in her experience, the handsome men were often penniless.


    But she had never seen such clean and pretty man. Though his face wasn¡¯t technically handsome, but it was clean and pleasant to look at, and even his temperament seemed clean. His whole person felt like a pail of clean water.


    Originally she was only here because her sisters asked her so, but after looking, Meiji couldn¡¯t help but walk into the room, wanting to extend her hand into this pail of water, and see if she could cause a ripple through his otherwise calm face.


    ¡°Meiji, are you interested in serving this guest?¡±


    Mama Sang was satisfied when she saw that Meiji seemed to be intrigued by the guest, otherwise she really had no idea how she would get Meiji to agree.


    At this time, Mama Sang turned to look at Liola. She didn¡¯t believe for a second that Liola could remain still in the face of Meiji¡¯s beauty. And surely enough, Liola did look at Meiji. Though he remained expressionless, but he was indeed looking at her. Mama Sang opened her mouth and screamed in her heart, ¡°Lucky me!¡±


    But honestly, in reality our protagonist Liola was just thinking, ¡®Do all maids wear these kinds of silk nightgowns to mop the floor?¡¯


    ¡°Mama Sang.¡± Meiji smiled lightly, and she seemed even more girly and beautiful. Her pink lips opened slightly, ¡°I¡¯ll serve this guest.¡±


    ¡°Ohehe, then he¡¯s yours, Meiji.¡± Mama Sang narrowed her eyes, and waved her broken-in-two feather fan. She swayed her hips from side to side as she walked out of the room, and still manage to throw a smile at Liola before she left.


    * * *


    After Mama Sang had gone, Meiji carefully calculated in her head, thinking the guest before her eyes would probably preferred reserved girls.


    Meiji hid her sexy smile, and replaced it with a blushing smile. It was strange, even though only her expressions changed a bit, her temperament felt completely different. Her previous attractiveness turned into more of a naive shyness. The only thing that remained the same, was her eyes still sparkling like stars.


    ¡°What is your name?¡¯


    Meiji laughed playfully. Liola suddenly realized her smile was quite similar to Jasmine¡¯s. Liola answered honestly, ¡°Liola.¡±


    ¡°Strange name for a strange guest.¡± Meiji blinked, and stood next to Liola by the sliding doors.


    She curiously looked out the sliding doors, ¡°What are you looking at? Do you care for something far away?¡±


    Liola¡¯s gaze returned to the small stadium, and a bit of worry unconsciously manifested between his eyebrows.


    Meiji greedily look at the ripple on the water she caused, and she even had a thirst to see even more emotions on Liola¡¯s face.


    ¡°Is it friends?¡±


    Liola¡¯s heart felt touched. Of course he knew the word friends, but what exactly were friends? Liola couldn¡¯t tell exactly. Was he friends with Kaiser, Meinan, and Purity? What about Anise? And Lanski, Jasmine? Finally, what about the Baolilong who always called him papa?


    ¡°What exactly are friends?¡± Liola murmured.


    Meiji said with a meaningful smile, ¡°Those whom cry with you, laugh with you, and remain at your side through the obstacles of life. The people who really care about you can probably be called friends.¡±


    Liola fell silent, trying to think of Meiji¡¯s definition for ¡°friends¡±, and thought of anyone who really cared about him.


    Although Kaiser always seemed to act as if he didn¡¯t care whether Liola dies, but¡­ Liola remembered the time that he was almost killed by Lanski, and Kaiser had a ¡°cold war¡± with him for a week.


    Purity probably didn¡¯t even need mentioning. When Liola was almost killed by Miluo, Purity kicked Meinan so she could run out of the protective shield. Liola had never forgotten about that time.


    As for Meinan, he only punched Liola not long ago, just because he said he wanted to leave. He also remembered Baolilong¡¯s little body blocking Black Rose¡¯s way to protect him. Finally, there was Jasmine¡¯s worried look before Liola left the stadium.


    ¡°Liola, do you have friends?¡± Meiji asked softly.


    Liola looked at the stadium again. He couldn¡¯t go back there, he can¡¯t let the people who really cared about him suffer the same fate as Anise.


    ¡°Yes, I have many friends.¡±


    Meiji¡¯s eyes widened as she desperately tried to capture the expression on Liola¡¯s face. The silver eyes were no longer cold, but instead filled with¡­


    ¡°Meiji!¡±


    The door was suddenly knocked on heavily. Before Meiji responded, Mama Sang had already barged in, and said as she tried to catch her breath, ¡°Hurry, hurry! There¡¯s someone important, very important, and you must serve him.¡±


    Meiji tilted her head, and Liola¡¯s face seemed to be returned to the peaceful water it once was.


    Meiji felt disappointed and grunted with dissatisfaction, ¡°I already have a guest, let him wait no matter how important.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Mama Sang waved her feather fan vigorously, ¡°Let him wait? Are you joking?! It¡¯s that, that guy!¡±


    Meiji¡¯s face changed. Who could make Mama Sang act this way, except one of her two powerful guests? Meiji frowned slightly, and looked at Liola reluctantly.


    Liola smiled towards her, nodded with understanding and said, ¡°Go welcome your guest. Thank you for telling me the definition of friends.¡±


    Meiji¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and said, ¡°Mama Sang, please go appease that guest, I will be right there.¡±


    Mama Sang laughed. She understood her message and left. She thought knew guests like Liola didn¡¯t come often, and it wasn¡¯t strange for Meiji to be reluctant to leave.


    Seeing Mama Sang leave, Meiji immediately turned and said to Liola, ¡°You must leave, now!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liola was baffled. He still had to participate in the arena, how could he just leave?


    ¡°You idiot! You were lied to and you didn¡¯t even know. This room has always been for the sacrifice of the exhibition match.¡± Meiji saw Liola had no intention of leaving, and hurriedly explained the truth,


    ¡°Before the real arena matches begin, there is always an exhibition match to catch the crowds¡¯ interest for gore. The sacrifice will be thrown into an arena surrounded by electric fences, and duel to death with a Dragon.


    The person responsible for finding the sacrifice will always skillfully find an outsider who could fight reasonably well but still can¡¯t possibly win against a Dragon. That way, it would increase the crowd¡¯s interest in the match.¡±


    Meiji grabbed Liola¡¯s shoulder, ¡°YOU are that sacrifice!¡±


    Liola¡¯s expression changed slightly. So that¡¯s how it was. No wonder there were services and the room was so luxurious. Was this ¡°payment¡± for him being the sacrifice? So everything Barker said about the money after matches was also a lie.


    Meiji anxiously looked at the door, and then pointed out to Liola, ¡°With that man being here, more than half of the guards will be assigned to ensure his safety. This is your best chance to escape, and don¡¯t ever come back to the Dark Street, this is not a place someone with friends should come to.¡±


    Liola said after a moment of silence, ¡°What about you?¡±


    Meiji obviously didn¡¯t expect Liola to ask such a question. She was shocked for a moment then asked back, ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°You care about me, right?¡± Liola thought of it briefly, ¡°You tell me I¡¯m in danger, and ask me to escape, doesn¡¯t that mean you care about me? Then you are my friend.¡±


    Hearing this, Meiji burst into laughter, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I was born here and grew up here. Other than this place, I have no where else to go.¡±


    Meiji could not stay any longer considering the rumbling noises outside of the door. After telling Liola again to escape, Meiji couldn¡¯t neglect that person anymore. She grabbed her long skirt and rushed outside.


    Liola quietly stood where he was. His eyes were still looking at the stadium, but his ears were listening to the sounds outside. When it gets quiet outside, Liola planned to leave this place.


    Gradually, the outside returned to its quiet state. At the same time, a female voice said,


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Meiji suddenly had some business to attend to, so I will be your servant today. I hope you will be satisfied.¡±


    Liola slowly turned and said calmly, ¡°It¡¯s noisy outside.¡±


    The girl courteously replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there was a guest who arrived unexpectedly. We had to allocate guards to protect him. Because he is in a room not far from yours, so it got a little noisy.¡±


    Liola quickly extracted the information from the girl¡¯s reply: that important guest was near, which meant there would be many strong guards nearby, and leaving here quietly wouldn¡¯t be possible. Therefore, he could only leave his room in a proper manner.


    ¡°I want to heal my wounds.¡± Liola said to the girl calmly.


    The girl glanced at the wounds on Liola¡¯s wrist and neck, then courteously replied, ¡°Yes, guest, the healing room is on the third floor; please follow me.¡±


    Liola nodded, and followed the girl out of the door. There was a person leisurely standing against the wall. Liola took a good look, and it was the young guard next to Barker. As soon as he saw Liola walk out, he immediately cautiously straightened his body.


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing this guest to the healing room.¡±


    The woman explained to the young guard, who nodded. The girl said to Liola, ¡°this way¡±, then walked into the elevator, and Liola followed. Though Liola had no expression on his face, but he thought quietly, that perhaps the bodyguard was sent to be his prison guard.


    ¡°Is there any match I can watch right now?¡±


    Liola tilted his head to ask the guard. The guard was obviously shocked, but answered honestly, ¡°Yes, but they are mostly privately held matches. The formal ones don¡¯t start for another three days.¡±


    ¡°Can I go watch? I have to go to a match in three days, but I still don¡¯t understand what an arena is.¡±


    Liola looked back at the time when he entered the Dark Arena Pyramid. There were emotional people who were easily angered. With a little provocation, those people would be the best cover for Liola to escape.


    Luckily Liola had already stupidly asked what arena was, the young guard didn¡¯t think much of it, and nodded his head in agreement. Concerned, the guard asked, ¡°How are your wounds?¡±


    ¡°Fine, just some scratches.¡±


    The guard nodded. The wounds shouldn¡¯t take too long to heal,


    ¡°Go treat your wounds, then we will go watch some matches after.¡±


    Liola nodded, and followed the maid to the healing room. The scratches on him didn¡¯t more than ten minutes to heal. Liola climbed out of the healing Maxun, moved around to ensure that his condition was good enough for escape. He then nodded towards the guard as if he was bored.


    The guard shrugged, and said to the maid, ¡°I¡¯ll just take him to the arena. You go and wait back in the room.¡±


    The guard led Liola towards the arena, and asked on the way, ¡°I heard you saw Meiji? Is she beautiful?¡±


    Liola was silent for a moment.


    ¡®Was Meiji beautiful? She doesn¡¯t seem to be as good-looking as Anise or Lanski, but compared to the girls brought there by Mama Sang, she was prettiest.¡¯


    Liola assessed, ¡°Not too bad.¡±


    The guard almost tripped. He turned his head and asked in disbelief, ¡°Just ¡®not bad¡¯? I heard she¡¯s the prettiest woman in the Dark Street.¡±


    Liola had an idea, ¡°Weren¡¯t you standing outside? Didn¡¯t you see her?¡±


    The guard said dreadfully, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, but my master. It wasn¡¯t until he was assigned to protect that important guest was I assigned to where you were. Ah, so I missed Meiji by just a little bit.¡±


    Liola¡¯s silver eyes flashed again, he got yet another new piece of information.


    The guard took Liola to the first floor. This place was unlike the quiet floors upstairs, instead it had many people coming and going, and it was very noisy. Liola thought to himself, should he run now, or wait until the arena?


    The guard walked up to the reception desk, and winked at the pretty female receptionist, ¡°Hey, tell me which arenas have fights currently.¡±


    The receptionist laughed, and her hands quickly pressed buttons on the Maxun. She flirtatiously answered, ¡°No. 2, 8, and 19 all have fights. Go to the one in 19, it¡¯s the best one to watch.¡±


    The guard smiled at the receptionist, then tapped Liola¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll go see No. 19.¡±


    Liola hesitated. He could see from the corner of his eyes that the door still had ten or so guards, and he decided to go take a look at the arena. Perhaps he could find a chance to escape there.


    Liola followed the guard, and quietly assessed the guard¡¯s steps and muscle distribution. His steps were heavy, so he was not the light, dexterous type. His arm muscles were sturdy, so he was probably quite strong, and not someone he could deal with without his Ki.


    ¡°Have you heard about Dragons?¡±


    The guard asked suddenly, and asked about Dragons as soon as he opened his mouth, which made Liola unsure how he should respond.


    Liola answered, ¡°Heard about it.¡±


    ¡°I heard Dragons could also be either strong or weak. In fact, not every Dragon is equally terrifying. My master said, if I can face it calmly, even I could win against a Dragon.¡±


    The guard was casually mentioning, and Liola frowned because he didn¡¯t understand the intent, so he simply grunted in reply.


    The guard seemed to have remembered something else, he turned his head with interest and asked, ¡°You were quite fast, and that stick of yours were dancing like butterflies. Every action you did was like a step in a dance. What is it called? Even my master hadn¡¯t seen it.¡±


    ¡®Had I not been sealed, then it would actually be a lot faster¡¯ Liola thought to himself, and answered, ¡°Windborne Blade¡±


    ¡°Windborne Blade?¡± The guard carefully searched through his mind, but found nothing. A little discouraged, he said,


    ¡°Haven¡¯t heard of it. The art of Kung Fu is really boundless like the sea. There are endless things to learn.¡±


    ¡®Unless you¡¯re also from another world, no matter how much you learn, you wouldn¡¯t have known about Windborne Blade,¡¯ Liola thought to himself.


    Windborne Blade was something created by the organization¡¯s leader, who personally taught Liola the skill along with Heart of Consciousness and Fluttering Blood Ki. But his Ki had been completely sealed away by Lancelot. Without the massive support of his Ki, Liola could be, at best, a strong ordinary person.


    ¡°But seriously¡­¡± The guard hesitated to ask, ¡°Why did you come to Dark Street?¡±


    Liola answered honestly, ¡°Just by wandering around.¡±


    The guard¡¯s left foot tripped his right foot, and he almost fell face-first onto the ground.


    He said with disbelief, ¡°Just from wandering? Are y-you lucky or unlucky? To get to the Dark Street, one has to cross many strange pathways and zig-zag through countless unknown alleys. Even I had to be lead several times before I remembered how to get here.¡±


    ¡°I think I was unlucky.¡± Liola answered plainly. He came to the hard-to-reach Dark Street, then got tricked to be a sacrifice. It can¡¯t be luck, can it? Come to think of it, this all started back when he went to the ruins and let Miluo out, then all sorts of troubles followed¡­ seriously unlucky!


    The guard awkwardly patted Liola¡¯s back to comfort him, ¡°Don¡¯t think of it like that. Perhaps it¡¯s an opportunity destiny has given you.¡±


    ¡®Fate¡­¡¯ Liola fiddled with the Dragon Cross necklace in front of his chest, thinking back to the scene in Duanchang Cliff where Anise desperately pleading him¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Go, Liola, I can¡¯t be saved. I am a doctor, I know.¡±


    An arrow had pierced Anise¡¯s chest.


    Liola trembled as he held the arrow¡¯s crook, but he didn¡¯t dare to move it.


    Liola was a top-class Assassin, and as such he can accurately judge how severe wounds were. But Liola refused to examine Anise¡¯s wounds, because he was afraid to!


    ¡°Why was there this arrow? We were almost there, almost¡­¡±


    Liola had a long face, painfully denying Anise¡¯s near-death state.


    ¡°This is destiny, Liola.¡± Anise¡¯s face was pale as snow, but there was still a slight smile on her face, ¡°I¡¯ve never told you, the cross necklace can only let one person leave.¡±


    Liola¡¯s body trembled, and couldn¡¯t believe that Anise lied to him. He said while trembling, ¡°You told me we¡¯ll go to Duanchang Cliff together and leave together. Were you lying to me?¡±


    With her life in danger, Anise unexpectedly had an innocent expression, ¡°We are leaving together, but it¡¯s just that our destinations are different. My mission is complete, and yours, Liola, is just beginning.¡±


    Anise suddenly coughed, and a large amount of blood came out of her mouth.


    Anise¡¯s bloody hands reached up to touch Liola¡¯s face, and wiped away the sweat from his face. She placed her head on Liola¡¯s chest, and said apologetically,


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Liola, I can rest forever now, but your pain is just starting¡­ Please forgive me for I can no longer share your pain with you.¡±


    Tears slowly rolled down Anise¡¯s face, this was the first time Liola had seen the cheerful Anise cry.


    ¡°However, Liola, I believe you¡¯ll definitely find friends who will share your pain and suffering, you definitely can.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Hey, are you daydreaming?¡± The guard scratched his face, calling at the immobilized Liola.


    Liola was awake from his daydream, and nodded at the guard. At the same time, his heart yelled out to Anise.


    ¡®I did find friends who would share my pain, but Anise, I can¡¯t stay by their side. I can¡¯t allow anyone to suffer the same fate as you.¡¯


    ¡°Arena 19, we¡¯re here.¡±


    The guard looked at the sign ¡°19¡± next to the door, and led Liola into the arena.


    Arena 19 wasn¡¯t too big, there were about 70-80 seats with area of 9m by 9m square, but the audience present far exceeded that number.


    The arena was so crowded they were practically standing shoulder to shoulder. Everyone seemed extremely excited. There were two women fighting one another on the arena. As the wounds on their body accumulated, their clothes became more and more torn, the cheers of the crowd became louder and louder.


    The guard stood stupefied at the door, and didn¡¯t know what to do. He didn¡¯t the female receptionist suggested for them to watch this match because of the two fairly good-looking women. The guard scratched his face, and thought Liola wasn¡¯t the type who lusted after women, therefore probably wouldn¡¯t like this match.


    Liola observed the entire room: the crowd¡¯s emotions were high, thus a riot could be easily caused with simple provocation, and a riot was exactly what Liola needed for his escape plans.


    Liola stepped into the room without hesitation, and the young guard couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He muttered something about ¡®you really can¡¯t judge a person by their looks¡¯, and followed Liola into the crowd.


    ¡°Wait for me, Liola.¡± The guard struggled to push into the crowd, and follow Liola¡¯s outline.


    But since the place was so crowded, the guard¡¯s face was getting warped, but still didn¡¯t cover much distance. He thought Liola was quite the pervert, since he was already in front of the arena in an instant.


    Liola¡¯s eyes flashed, and saw there was a crack in the crowd. He immediately turned sideways to push into the crowd. Before long, Liola was in front of the arena.


    Liola carefully observed the elastic ropes separating the arena from the crowds, and the women often used the ropes to increase their momentum.


    Liola had quickly formulated a plan in his mind. He took out Broken Silver and, after unsheathing it, a silver light flashed. Three ropes instant broke, and the elastic ropes snapped back and hit the bodies of the surrounding crowd.


    Suddenly, there were tens of people moaning in pain on the ground. The ones who had lesser wounds vented their anger on their surrounding people. But what truly turned the place into chaos was when the crowds saw the two pretty female competitors with torn clothes standing before their eyes.


    All the men ran up the arena one after another, and the two female competitors, who were fighting each other moments ago, had no choice but to join forces and kick the men who were trying to grab them.


    Chaos ensued in the entire place. The guard also had to dodge angry fists. When he remembered Liola, he had already lost sight of him.


    The young guard panicked, and he took out his gun and fired three shots into the air. Everyone got scared and crouched down while holding their heads, and the only person standing was the guard. He desperately looked for Liola in the crouched crowds, but of course, Liola wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Damn! You can¡¯t escape!¡± The guard clenched his hand into a fist and yelled.


    By this time, Liola had already gotten out of arena 19. The Assassin skillfully maneuvered through the shadows, but not towards the lobby on the first floor.


    Liola had already observed the lobby. Though an Assassin¡¯s stealth could fool people¡¯s eyes, but it doesn¡¯t mean he could get past the Maxuns: Liola didn¡¯t ignore the Maxuns scanning for people at the door.


    Jumping off was probably the safest way to escape. Liola believed Broken Silver would have no problem cutting open a few pieces of fortified glass. Thinking the most dangerous place would also be the safest, Liola planned to go back to his room to jump off, even if someone were to find him, he could argue that he did nothing but return to his room.


    Liola quickly tried to return to his guest room. As he was about to push the door open, his instinct flashed in his mind, and he slowly pushed the door. He tilted his head and saw the maid before was sitting on a sofa.


    If she was alone, Liola could definitely make her unconscious before she noticed, but unfortunately the maid seemed to have found several sisters of hers. They were all talking and occasionally laughing.


    Liola quietly closed the door, and at the same time suddenly realized the elevator not far from the room was opening.


    Liola¡¯s face sank, and quickly left the door. He had no choice but to rush towards a turn at the end of the hallway. Liola didn¡¯t have time to look, and at the same time the elevator door opened, he turned the corner.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Liola had to apply the emergency brakes to stop himself from hitting a maid holding a platter of food.


    Liola¡¯s pupil dilated: a luxurious room had its door wide open, and everything inside could be seen with a glance.


    It was an elegant guest room. The living room had a big circular table, and a gold-haired middle-aged man was sitting in the middle of the table facing Liola. There were many people around him, including Barker, the older bodyguard, Meiji, and many people whom Liola did not recognize.


    Escaping to the place where all the strongest enemies were, this was practically Liola¡¯s graveyard.


    Liola¡¯s face sank, and looked at the only person who wasn¡¯t his enemy ¡ª Meiji. Everyone followed Liola¡¯s gaze settling on Meiji, who, after a moment of panic, returned to her calm, then purposely gritted her teeth and then yelled at Liola,


    ¡°You idiot! Didn¡¯t I tell you I will go see you at night?¡±


    Seeing Meiji¡¯s rage, Liola was stupefied briefly, but then understood Meiji¡¯s intention. He cooperated with her and answered, ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t stand not seeing you.¡±


    ¡°Listen, go back to your room first.¡± Meiji continued as she used the corner of her eye to look at Barker and other hosts of the Dark Arena Pyramid.


    Although they looked slightly dissatisfied and frowned, they didn¡¯t seem to suspect anything. Meiji¡¯s provisional lies seemed to have fooled them; she quietly sighed in relief.


    Liola nodded, and immediately turned to leave. But a warm yet solemn voice stopped him, ¡°Who¡¯s this guy? Have you eaten yet?¡±


    Barker hurriedly turned to the gold-haired, middle-aged man and explained, ¡°He is the exhibition match¡¯s ¡®competitor¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Have you eaten yet? Care to join us for a meal?¡± The gold-haired man stared at Liola; his face was still warm, and Liola couldn¡¯t tell whether he knew what the exhibition match really was.


    Though Liola¡¯s face remained calm, his heart was pounding, ¡°No, thank you. I¡¯m not hungry.¡±


    The gold-haired man¡¯s smile seemed to have broaden, ¡°Oh? Sorry, I thought you were in love with Miss Meiji, and would want to spend some more time with her.¡±


    Meiji¡¯s face turned pale, and even Barker looked at Liola and Meiji suspiciously.


    Liola¡¯s face sank a little, but he purposely acted pridefully and answered, ¡°I don¡¯t want to see her serve anyone else.¡±


    The gold-haired man seemed to find something interesting, and he couldn¡¯t hold back asking, ¡°Big boy, you really don¡¯t recognize me?¡±


    Liola was surprised by this. He then carefully examined the man. He had a head of golden and wavy hair, and matching eye color. The man¡¯s smile was warm, but a solemn vibe was given off from him. Liola especially noticed, that the man was actually wearing a Sorcerer robe.


    But more importantly, Liola was very sure that he didn¡¯t recognize this man, but the man acted as if it were impossible for Liola not to recognize him. Liola was having a headache, not knowing how to answer.


    ¡°I am Qiusi Glory, does this help you remember?¡± Qiusi kindly provided a hint.


    ¡®Qiusi Glory?¡¯ Liola repeated this name in his mind, and it sounded somewhat familiar?


    Liola thought again, but couldn¡¯t remember where he had heard it. The name was completely unfamiliar to him.


    ¡°How do you not know Aklan Prime Minister¡¯s name and appearance?¡±


    Barker couldn¡¯t hold back and finally screamed. Meiji also looked at Liola in disbelief.


    Liola knew he was in trouble. He had heard that Aklan Empire had a Prime Minister, but he had never asked Kaiser about his looks or name¡­ Liola would have never predicted he would come face to face with the Prime Minister, and he wouldn¡¯t have Kaiser by his side to explain things to him.


    Qiusi showed a slight interest and he waved at Liola, ¡°Come here, boy, I¡¯m very curious about your history.¡±


    Liola¡¯s body froze, the escape plan seemed¡­ to have failed. With no other choice, Liola obeyed and sat down.


    Qiusi laughed, and waited for Barker to arrange another seat for Liola. Qiusi took up the teacup and asked, ¡°Where are you from?¡±


    Liola seemed calm, and remembered what Kaiser said about people from other worlds wasn¡¯t a strange thing nowadays.


    Therefore, Liola didn¡¯t plan to lie, and said honestly, ¡°I¡¯m not from this world.¡±


    Everyone sitting around the table seemed to be shocked.


    Even Qiusi looked serious for moment, then his smile returned. He nodded and said,


    ¡°So that¡¯s why. In the last ten years, we did indeed have a lot of aliens. Most of them are housed and protected by the government, but it¡¯s hard not to let some slip through the net.¡±


    Barker hurriedly said, ¡°Right, it¡¯s not strange to have people from other worlds here recently.¡±


    Qiusi laughed as he narrowed his eyes,


    ¡°Barker, you don¡¯t have to worry, I¡¯m no longer interested in people from other worlds. The one who should worry is you, this little guy seems to already know the truth about the exhibition match.¡±


    Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed. His cold silver eyes held their gaze at Qiusi, and he thought, was there some flaw in his disguise? Even Meiji lowered her head with a pale face. But Qiusi still smiled, and raised his cup at Liola, as if he had no idea that he just pushed him into a dark abyss.


    At this time, the young guard also barged in. He looked panicked and he was looking for his master and Barker, but instead he saw Liola. He was stupefied, and didn¡¯t understand what the heck was going on; the man he thought had escaped was actually having dinner with his boss?


    Barker was enraged, thinking that Liola had humiliated him in front of the Prime Minister. He yelled at the older guard,


    ¡°Look at your apprentice, he can¡¯t even look after one person. From now on, you are responsible for the exhibition match competitor.¡±


    Barker coldly turned towards Liola,


    ¡°You better enjoy your last three days, and don¡¯t have any crooked ideas. Otherwise, prepare to pit your life against a Dragon without food or clothes.¡±


    ¡°And what if I win against that Dragon?¡± Liola coldly answered.


    Barker was actually shocked by Liola¡¯s cold eyes. Trying to hide his fear, Barker yelled, ¡°If you win, then you can get the hell out of the Dark Street. Okay?¡±


    Liola calmly nodded. Flames raged on in his pair of silver eyes made everyone shiver.

 Volume 4, 4 : Operation Rescue Liola

    Volume 4, Chapter 4 : Operation Rescue Liola


    ¡°Liola¡­ is in the Dark Street?¡±


    Barbalis nodded with difficulty. According to his information network, someone saw the conspicuous boy walking into the entrance of the Dark Street, and didn¡¯t come out.


    Kaiser was acting very strangely. His body was practically frozen, then his entire body fell over onto the sofa like a statue. He held his head and tried to squeeze himself into the sofa.


    Purity was anxious, and forcefully dragged Kaiser off the sofa. She desperately shook the lifeless Kaiser,


    ¡°Since we know where Liola-dage is, then why don¡¯t we go and get him back? I don¡¯t want the Assassins to find him first.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser turned his head away, not wanting to answer Purity¡¯s question.


    Meinan frowned, and he backed Purity up.


    ¡°Purity is right. We should go to the Dark Street now and bring Liola back. If we take too long, I fear Liola¡¯s life might be in danger.¡±


    Daylight, who was also worried, began to open his mouth to persuade Kaiser, but Kaiser spoke before he had a chance to. As soon as Kaiser opened his mouth he started cursing.


    ¡°You spoiled brats, do you have any idea what kind of place the Dark Street is? Across the entire Aklan Continent, the darkest, most dangerous, and dirtiest things all converge at the Dark Street. Even the headquarters of the best Assassin organization, Adorning Flowers, is there.¡±


    Barbalis, who received words that Liola was at the Dark Street, also had a long face. According to the information he received, Liola¡¯s situation was far worse than Kaiser had even imagined. Not only was Liola at the Dark Street, he was inside the Dark Arena Pyramid, preparing to pit his life against a Dragon in three days.


    Barbalis actually felt helpless. Originally, he planned to fetch Liola himself no matter where he might be. After all, Kaiser and others still had a match to win. Who knew, out of all the places he could have gone, Liola had to choose another rank-X person¡¯s territory. He and the rank-X person had always had a silent agreement: He won¡¯t touch Aklan Academy, and Barbalis wouldn¡¯t step into the Dark Street.


    Barbalis couldn¡¯t do anything except held a long face and said to his four students.


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve already gotten the word of Liola¡¯s current situation. He¡¯s inside the Dark Arena Pyramid, and he will be dueling a Dragon in at most three days.¡±


    Purity, Meinan, and Daylight seemed frustrated, they wanted to rush to the Dark Arena to save the Assassin. Only Kaiser understood what Barbalis actually meant; he said coldly,


    ¡°Three days at most, you said? Do you really think the Adorning Flowers wouldn¡¯t realize the person they want to kill is in their own headquarters in the span of three days?¡±


    ¡°Headquarters?¡± Purity and others couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Dark Arena Pyramid is the Adorning Flower¡¯s headquarters.¡±


    Kaiser answer coldly.


    Purity and others took a deep breath, while Kaiser seemed rather carefree, not caring where the Assassin was, or whether he was alive.


    ¡°T-then what do we do, Kaiser?¡± Purity¡¯s big eyes blinked. There were unshed tears inside her eyes begging for release.


    Daylight thought carefully, ¡°Kaiser, I¡¯ve heard about the dangers of Dark Street. I think we best be fully prepared before we rescue Liola¡­¡±


    Bam!


    Kaiser slammed his hands hard on the table. His face was dark and cold, and he said ruthlessly, ¡°I¡¯m not going to save him.¡±


    Kaiser crossed his arms and lazily went back to sofa, as if the had nothing to do with him,


    ¡°This isn¡¯t my business. He¡¯s throwing his life away by going to the Adorning Flower¡¯s headquarters, why should I risk my life to save him? He¡¯s nobody to me, I don¡¯t care about him.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser! How could you say that?!¡±


    Purity strongly protested, but Kaiser tilted his head to look out the window, and said coldly,


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I say that? Tell me, what is Liola to you? What reasons do you have to risk your lives to save him?¡±


    Purity was speechless, and Meinan frowned. It seems natural to them to be with Liola, so they never actually took the time to think and realized they had no actual relationship with Liola, not until Kaiser mention it. Two of them were at a loss, but it was also impossible for them not to do anything about Liola.


    ¡°Friends, right?¡±


    Daylight scratched his head, and curiously looked at the three people¡¯s descent into chaos. He answered it for them as a matter-of-fact.


    Purity and Meinan seemed suddenly enlightened by Daylight, and Kaiser was still watching the window, but darkness flashed across his face.


    ¡°Go prepare. Since Dark Arena Pyramid is the headquarters of an Assassin Organization who wants Liola dead. We shouldn¡¯t waste even a second. If we¡¯re one second too late, perhaps Liola would be dead.¡± Daylight said solemnly.


    ¡°Are you an idiot? You only knew Liola for days. It¡¯s not necessary for you to risk your life.¡±


    Kaiser finally snapped. He jumped up and shook Daylight¡¯s shoulder, trying to awaken the righteous idiot.


    Daylight, however, answered as if it were obvious, ¡°He had saved me before, now it¡¯s my turn to save him. Is there something wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°Liola saved you?¡± Kaiser was suspicious. When did this happen? How come he hadn¡¯t heard of it?


    ¡°When I lost to Yiyu and Yizhou, wasn¡¯t it him who came to protect me and Purity? Though it was all a blur, I vaguely remember hearing some of his words.¡±


    Daylight smiled as he reminded Kaiser of what happened that day when the Violet Academy came to provoke them.


    The moment Kaiser heard Daylight¡¯s response, he yelled furiously,


    ¡°To him, that thing was as simple as moving a pinkie. But now, here you are preparing to go to the Dark Arena, risking your life to rescue him. Do you really understand?¡±


    Daylight scratched his face, and stood firm, ¡°I know, but I still have to go save Liola.¡±


    It was Meinan¡¯s turn to be curious, ¡°Daylight, why are you so determined? Even more so than the three of us who had known Liola the longest? Do you really not fear death?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just more honest than all of you. I feel the three of you would never leave Liola to die alone, so no matter how dangerous, I believe that you will still eventually go save him. But when you¡¯re all hesitating, it¡¯s a waste of time; time Liola doesn¡¯t have.¡±


    Daylight said as he looked worriedly out the window. Then he turned around, and looked at Kaiser and others with his usual determination, ¡°We should get going now. You can hesitate on the way there.¡±


    ¡®Hesitate¡­ on the way there?¡¯


    Purity and Meinan were dumbfounded, but his honest ways seemed to have affected the two. Although Purity was very afraid, she herself knew she would never leave Liola alone in a time like this.


    Meinan, on the other hand, scratched his face and stole a glance at Kaiser, then murmured to himself, ¡°Liola also saved us, and he risked his life for us too, like that time with Miluo.¡±


    Hearing Miluo¡¯s name, Kaiser¡¯s face faltered. He did indeed remembered what took place in the ruins.


    When Liola was facing the powerful Miluo, Liola did have a bit of hesitation. When Kaiser saw Liola looked at them with hesitation, he practically thought the Assassin had decided to abandon them. With an Assassin¡¯s speed and stealth, avoiding Miluo was definitely not a problem for him.


    Liola¡¯s eyes did reflect he planned on escaping. Kaiser believed he understood what Liola was thinking.


    ¡®But why did that damn guy stay for? And he got beaten to the brink of death. Did he feel the wounds he had sustained hadn¡¯t been enough?¡¯


    Kaiser clenched and released his fist over and over.


    ¡°Kaiser.¡± Purity tugged Kaiser¡¯s shirt with hesitation, and timidly begged, ¡°Go with us to save Liola-dage, please?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face became unsightly and kept his eyes to the front, not wanting to look at Purity¡¯s face. With an emotionless sounding voice, he said ¡°I¡¯m not going.¡±


    Hearing this, Purity¡¯s original timidness was completely gone. She was so angry her body was trembling.


    Purity screamed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe how heartless you are, Kaiser! It¡¯s regrettable for Liola-dage to have helped you.¡±


    Purity angrily grabbed Daylight and Meinan¡¯s arms and dragged them out,


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We will go save Liola-dage, who cares about this heartless guy Kaiser.¡±


    Before being forcefully pulled along by Purity, Meinan turned his head to look at Kaiser, and he kept having a feeling that Kaiser¡¯s response this time was a little strange?


    Miluo, Sorcerers sent by Miluo, and Six Forbidden Sins had all tried to kill Liola, and which of them could they fight and win? But no matter what, Kaiser had never abandoned Liola before, so why was his response this time so strong?


    * * *


    After Purity and others left the room, Kaiser coldly opened his mouth, ¡°Dear principal, you sure have a ton of free time. Since you have time to watch students fight, why don¡¯t you go do what principals do for Aklan Academy?¡±


    Finally someone remembered there was a principal in the corner. Barbalis walked out, and smiled with intent.


    He opened his mouth, ¡°The problem isn¡¯t with saving Liola, but instead with entering Dark Street, right?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face grew as dark as the sky before a violent storm. He pointed the door with his finger, ¡°Get out!¡±


    Used to Kaiser¡¯s informal nature, Barbalis was not at all angry at Kaiser¡¯s discourtesy, but instead smile slyly, and actually followed Kaiser¡¯s order to leave the room.


    Barbalis thought, ¡®So Kaiser was born in the Dark Street, no wonder even his information network couldn¡¯t find where Kaiser was from. Now¡­ a guy born in the Dark Street would be forced to go back to save a guy? Interesting, all too interesting.¡¯


    The instant Barbalis closed the door, Kaiser finally showed signs of fatigue. He buried his face in his hands, and a voice could be heard from the cracks between his fingers,


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to¡­ go back to that place.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Kaiser is a bastard!¡±


    Purity yelled again and again with a very high decibel, which made the two men sitting next to her cover their ears repeatedly. Luckily, Purity didn¡¯t drag on the last syllable this time around, otherwise the two men might not withstand it anymore and push the woman off the Dragon in midair.


    After yelling over and over, Purity was got tired, so she buried her face into the Dragon¡¯s back.


    Sighing in relief, Daylight turned to ask Meinan, ¡°Do you really know how to get to the Dark Street? I heard the entrance is very hard to find.¡±


    Meinan nodded, and answered without hesitation, ¡°I used to go there often when I was young.¡±


    After he answered reflexively, Meinan kept his mouth open, and suddenly realized he had just revealed a secret. For a normal person, when they were young¡­ they probably wouldn¡¯t go there often, right? Meinan suddenly had the urge to slap himself.


    Fortunately, Purity had her face in the Dragon¡¯s back, busy thinking about something, and thus ignored what Meinan said. Daylight simply nodded to signal he understood, and then continued guiding Flames.


    Meinan wiped away his sweat, not knowing whether he should feel lucky that his companions were absent-minded, or should he be sad he may be dying with the said absent-minded companions?


    Daylight suddenly patted Meinan¡¯s back, and pointed at below, ¡°Meinan, is that where you said it was?¡±


    Meinan looked down.


    A few dark and dirty streets intersected each other in a mess. The surrounding buildings were so damaged, if a tourist was to be told they were in Aklan¡¯s capital, they would not believe it.


    Meinan used his amazing memory to carefully recall what he remembered from when he was young, and then he compared it to the streets below.


    Meinan nodded at Daylight assuredly, confirming the location of the place. Daylight then commanded Flames to land on the street.


    Meinan jumped off the Dragon¡¯s back.


    After Daylight helped Purity get off and commanded Flames to become a small Dragon, Meinan had confirmed the entrance, it was a narrow alley.


    Just as Meinan was about to beckon Daylight and Purity to go into the alley, a familiar thing came into view: a few homeless guys with wounds on their body were kicking and punching a scarecrow, and the thing on the scarecrow¡¯s left chest was actually Aklan School of Sorcery¡¯s jeweled staff school badge.


    ¡°Where did you find this?¡±


    Daylight noticed the badge even faster than Meinan. He had already rushed up and yelled at the hobos.


    When they heard the yell, the hobos who were already angry, became even more enraged. They turned to look at Daylight, but as soon as they saw Daylight¡¯s blue-lined Knight uniform and the Dragon next to him, their faces all turned pale.


    They wouldn¡¯t even dare to mess with the lowest rank Knight, Green, let alone a Blue Knight, especially when the person was a Dragon Knight.


    ¡°I asked you, how did you get this badge?¡± Daylight pressed forward, snatched the badge off the scarecrow, and interrogated at the hobos.


    Knowing they couldn¡¯t escape, the leader of the bunch bit the bullet and said, ¡°I found it.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Meinan had a cold expression on his face, and said solemnly,


    ¡°Is it necessary to hate something you¡¯ve randomly found? Even to the point where you would put it on a scarecrow and vent your anger on it? Daylight, looks like they won¡¯t tell us the truth until we teach them a lesson. Let¡¯s use your Dragon to burn a few of them alive before we ask again.¡±


    Daylight turned his head to look at Meinan in shock. Though Meinan¡¯s face was somewhat frozen, he secretly winked at Daylight, and Purity was on the side trying to hide her laugher.


    Though Flames was small, but it was more than enough to scare a few hobos. The leader hurried waved his arms, ¡°W-wait, wait. We¡¯ll tell you the truth, please don¡¯t burn us!¡±


    Daylight nodded with a dim expression on his face.


    The leader of the hobos said in a hurry, ¡°This is something from a man who passed by here before. B-because we took a beating from him, we put his badge on the scarecrow imagining it¡¯s him.¡±


    ¡°Where did the man go?¡± Purity interrupted.


    The homeless guy wanted to yell something like ¡®go away, little girl¡¯, but since the girl looked like the Dragon Knight¡¯s companion, he swallowed his anger, and answered honestly,


    ¡°Barker took him to the Dark Street.¡±


    ¡°Barker?¡± Meinan asked with suspicion.


    ¡°He¡¯s one of the hosts at Dark Arena Pyramid, he often comes here to look for new competitors.¡±


    Meinan carefully thought about it. ¡®Could Liola, who can¡¯t kill, possibly agree to go to the arena?¡¯


    Meinan asked with some confusion, ¡°Was he forced, or did he go willingly?¡±


    The homeless guy answered carefully, ¡°He was threatened by Barker¡¯s bodyguards, but that boy didn¡¯t seem to resist.¡±


    A thin homeless guy joined the conversation, ¡°The boy said he can¡¯t kill anyone, and Barker told him there won¡¯t be any killing. Who is he kidding?! Everyone knows competitors in the arena often lose their lives in just a few matches, otherwise why would they come out to look for new competitors so frequently.¡±


    So he was tricked, Meinan sighed. He wondered, how can the best assassin be so naive?


    Meinan tried to confirm it for the last time with the homeless guy, ¡°You are sure that, after he was brought into the Dark Street, he never got out?¡±


    The leader nodded, ¡°He¡¯s been in for more than two days. We¡¯ve been sleeping here. He definitely hasn¡¯t come out.¡±


    Meinan nodded, and threw a few coins at the homeless guys.


    He beckoned his two companions, and walked towards the alley.


    When they were at the entrance, Meinan stuck Liola¡¯s badge on the wall, then walked into the alley.


    Meinan turned his head to look at the badge. With Kaiser¡¯s observational skills¡­ he should be able to notice it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Dark Arena Pyramid, and get our Assassin back.¡±

 Volume 4, 5 : Kaigleser

    Volume 4, Chapter 5 : Kaigleser


    ¡°Sister, sister! I can go participate in the arena now.¡±


    ¡°Kaigleser, don¡¯t go to the arena. It¡¯s too dangerous.¡±


    Worried, the sister patted her brother¡¯s head. However, she knew how stubborn Kaigleser was. Anything he set his mind on, he¡¯ll see through to the end¡­


    ¡®Sigh Is it a good or bad personality?¡¯


    ¡°No! I want to go, they finally agreed to let me go to the arena.¡±


    The tiny Kaigleser was quite stubborn, no matter whether his sister used kind words or solemn admonishments, nothing could persuade him.


    Finally his sister could do nothing except hugged him and bawled, ¡°Please don¡¯t do this. You¡¯re the one one I have left. Mama and papa are both dead, I don¡¯t want to lose you too.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaigleser felt his heart soften.


    He answered his sister with tears in his eyes, ¡°Sister, it is because mama and papa are both dead that we can¡¯t stay here in the Dark Street anymore. If we have a little money, we can immediately leave this place. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid that sister, too, will, will¡­¡±


    Finally, sister agreed to Kaigleser, and said that she would go watch the match¡­


    Damn, why would he let his sister go watch that match? What kind of idiot was he?


    He obviously knew sister hated those kind of gory matches, and knew those chaotic areas weren¡¯t suitable weren¡¯t suitable for the beautiful sister. Why was he so careless and hard-headed?


    Sister said, ¡°Where should sister go to watch the match?¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Kaiser, you still haven¡¯t found papa?¡±


    ¡°Daylight and others went to save him.¡± He squeezed himself as much as he could into the sofa while burying his head between his knees; all he did was give a muffled reply.


    ¡°Where did they go to save papa? Baolilong is going too!¡± Baolilong jumped onto the sofa and grabbed Kaiser, trying to pull his head out of his knees.


    * * *


    ¡°Dark Arena Pyramid, I am going to be in the Dark Arena.¡± Kaigleser answered proudly. It was the most famous arena within Dark Street.


    * * *


    ¡°Dark Arena Pyramid. They went there to save your papa.¡± Kaiser still wasn¡¯t willing to pull his head out to face Baolilong.


    Baolilong asked with confusion, ¡°A black pyramid? Why wouldn¡¯t papa bring Baolilong? What is papa doing there?¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Sister, they said my magic is really good, so they let me to fight in the exhibition match, it will be the first match!¡±


    ¡°Really? You are the best.¡± Sister always laughed with such warmth towards him.


    * * *


    ¡°He¡­ was stupid enough to be tricked into the exhibition match!¡±


    Kaiser finally lifted his head and yelled, which shocked Baolilong and froze where it stood.


    Baolilong stood stupefied as it looked at Kaiser¡¯s red eyes. Kaiser grabbed his hair in frustration, as if he had become his own nemesis, ¡°Why? Why so stupid?!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s cheeks puffed, and jumped on Kaiser¡¯s back to hammer him, ¡°Papa isn¡¯t stupid! Kaiser is the idiot!¡±


    Being close to spitting out blood from Baolilong¡¯s hammering, Kaiser seemed to want to vent all his anger, and started fighting with Baolilong.


    They both were in a crazed frenzy as they tried to fight each other.


    Kaiser pushed Baolilong onto the ground, and punched as many times as he could. Since Baolilong¡¯s Dragon skin was unbelievably tough, and Kaiser¡¯s fists ended up bloody from punching it.


    Though Kaiser¡¯s tender fists couldn¡¯t possibly harm the little Dragon, Baolilong was scared by Kaiser¡¯s crazed look as well as the blood covering Kaiser¡¯s hands.


    Baolilong started crying, ¡°Kaiser, Kaiser! Don¡¯t beat Baolilong, Kaiser¡¯s hand is full of blood, whaaa¡­¡±


    Hearing Baolilong¡¯s cry, Kaiser slowly stopped, though he still threw some slow punches.


    A few drops of liquid fell onto Baolilong¡¯s little face. Baolilong slowly opened its eyes, and then slowly climbed up to hug Kaiser.


    It said, ¡°Kaiser don¡¯t cry. It¡¯ll all be fine when you go with Baolilong to save papa.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly hugged Baolilong, and buried his face in Baolilong¡¯s little hug. He continued to murmur,


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I win against a Dragon? Why? If I won, doesn¡¯t it mean sister wouldn¡¯t have to use her life in exchange for mine?¡±


    ¡°Kaiser? We go save papa, okay?¡± Baolilong was baffled. It lowered its head and looked at Kaiser, unsure of what Kaiser was talking about.


    Kaiser heard what Baolilong said, and finally explained his predicament,


    ¡°I can¡¯t go back there. I lost the exhibition match. Technically I should have died, but my sister used herself to save my life. I was exiled from the Dark Street, so I can¡¯t go back there. As soon as they find me, I will definitely die¡­¡±


    Kaiser suddenly stopped, and carefully examined Daylight¡¯s situation. If they were to take away the competitors for exhibition match by force, they would also be killed by people in the Dark Arena Pyramid!


    But, without him, who was exiled from the Dark Arena, Daylight and others should at least be able to go into the arena without much trouble, the arena is open to all, after all. As long as they pay a bit of money¡­


    Kaiser¡¯s face suddenly had a small seizure.


    ¡®The three guys wouldn¡¯t just wear Aklan Academy¡¯s uniform and blue-lined Knight¡¯s uniform into the Dark Street, would they?¡¯


    Kaiser walked around the room uneasily. ¡®At least Meinan should be smart enough to put on some disguise¡­ right?¡¯


    Kaiser lowered his head. He clearly knew he was lying to himself. Those three guys would definitely not put on disguises.


    One was a Dragon Knight who represents righteousness itself, along with the most famous school badge across Aklan Continent. They will definitely look super suspicious¡­ people would probably try to kill them as soon as they set foot into the pyramid.


    Kaiser suddenly jumped up.


    ¡°Baolilong, let¡¯s go save your father, Purity, Meinan, and Daylight!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s cries were suddenly gone, and instead replaced with cheer. It yelled towards Kaiser, ¡°And Kaiser¡¯s sister!¡±


    Hearing what Baolilong said, Kaiser froze.


    ¡®Right, save sister!¡¯


    He had originally feared that guy in the Dark Street. But there¡¯s not much difference if he was to save five people instead of four. Death probably awaited him, so he might as well die while trying accomplish a goal.


    Kaiser, who finally thought about it thoroughly, yelled, ¡°Sister, I¡¯m coming to save you! Baolilong, transform now.¡±


    ¡°This is too small, and Baolilong is too big¡­¡± Baolilong pouted as it looked at the low ceiling.


    ¡°Who cares. Death awaits us, we might as well break a few rooms, and give that neglectful old geezer Barbalis some trouble, then I could rest in peace!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Though unsure of what Kaiser meant, but Baolilong still cheerfully yelled. Then a ten-meter tall giant Dragon broke the stadium lounge¡¯s ceiling.


    Baolilong¡¯s movements also destroyed and flattened several surrounding lounges. Unfortunately, the Violet Academy lounge was right next door.


    With the sounds of people cursing, Kaiser laughed loudly, rode Baolilong arrogantly and flew away.


    * * *


    At this time, while attempting to contact someone to save Dark Street¡­ no, to save Liola and others, Barbalis heard several loud noises, followed by a crowd of people cursing at Aklan Academy and its principal. He heard other principals outside banging his door loudly. Barbalis¡¯s face sank.


    Barbalis scratched his head, and cursed Kaiser. Even as he was leaving, he had to create more trouble.


    Barbalis looked out the window at the dotted figure in the sky, Kaiser, ¡°Five students going to the Dark Street, they will probably die¡­ but, the group of troublemakers seemed to be immortal, so they should be able to come back alive, right? I hope they would remember to bring me, the person who can¡¯t go to Dark Street, a souvenir from it.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Meinan, Daylight¡­ don¡¯t you guys t-think everyone is looking at us?¡±


    Purity grabbed the corner of Daylight¡¯s shirt, and held Meinan¡¯s arm. She couldn¡¯t stop trembling. She felt was everyone¡¯s eyes staring at them viciously, and their hands held all types of weapons. Plus they all seem to be looking at her with malice.


    Purity also held onto Daylight¡¯s arm; she wasn¡¯t willing to let go of her lucky charms.


    Meinan was also very scared. The people in the surroundings did indeed look at them with malice, but Meinan couldn¡¯t figure out what the problem was. There were Sorcerers and Knights around them, so why did people look at them differently?


    Daylight, who was never affected by the people around him, walked with his head held high towards the Dark Arena Pyramid. Although he was anxious, Daylight had already sensed there was indeed a Dragon inside the pyramid, and the Dragon was in an extremely hungry state. He didn¡¯t want to see a Liola become a pile of bones.


    Roar!


    A long Dragon roar could be heard coming from the pyramid, and it was followed by the cheering sound of a large crowd, and they could vaguely hear the yells of ¡°tear him up¡± and ¡°eat him¡±.


    ¡°Crap! We have to hurry.¡±


    Daylight, who was now very anxious, commanded Flames to become a big Dragon, then he grabbed Purity and Meinan¡¯s arm and jumped up the Dragon¡¯s back.


    Purity screamed, and then fell back onto the ground. Daylight and Meinan turned to look, and saw a few Knights with informal uniforms standing by them, one of which grabbed Purity¡¯s hair.


    ¡°Let her go.¡± Daylight unsheathed his sword, and angrily pointed it at the Knight who grabbed Purity.


    The Knight sported an arrogant smile, and gestured at Flames, ¡°Okay, leave this Dragon here, and I will return your princess.¡±


    Worried about Liola, but also seeing Purity crying, Daylight furiously jumped off Flames, not giving the Knight a chance to use Purity as a hostage.


    Daylight¡¯s sword was already close to the Knight, which forced him to let go of Purity¡¯s hair, and hastily pull his sword out to block Daylight¡¯s attack. Since he was already at a disadvantage from the start, he was pushed back again and again by Daylight.


    Enraged from the situation, the Knight yelled at his buddies, ¡°Hurry up and help me.¡±


    Hearing this, the surrounding Knights all pulled out their swords and joined the fight between Daylight and the Knight. Daylight was able to block four to five swords, and at the same time he carefully examined the situation. Although he probably wouldn¡¯t lose to them, winning against them still would take Daylight too much time, time Liola might not have.


    After thinking about the situation, Daylight changed his mind, and a blue aura exploded from his body. The blinding aura pushed the Knights back a few steps. At the same time, Daylight grabbed Purity and instantly jumped back onto Flames.


    ¡°Meinan, use protective shield to shield Flames.¡± Daylight hurriedly commanded Meinan; he planned to forcefully run out of here. Everything else would have to wait until after they reach the Dark Arena and save Liola.


    Meinan immediately started an incantation, and Flames unfurled its wings to fly into the air. As soon as the transparent shield formed, a few fireballs hit it, and a ripple spread throughout the shield¡¯s surface.


    Meinan frowned, and he transferred more magic onto the shield, filling the holes caused by the attack.


    The fireballs were only the first wave of attacks. The few Mechas flying in the air had no plan of letting Daylight go. Crossfire from the few Mechas landed several hits on the shield, which made the shield shake violently.


    Daylight commanded Flames to dodge the shots, but because there were too many Mechas, no matter how he dodged, there were still some he couldn¡¯t avoid.


    Daylight carefully examined the Mechas¡¯ movements, and at the same time, he said with a voice filled with worry. ¡°Meinan, can you hold up?¡±


    Meinan smiled lightly, ¡°Knight, don¡¯t underestimate a Sorcerer¡¯s ability.¡±


    Daylight pouted, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare.¡±


    Purity took off a large bowtie from her hair, and after coughing lightly to get the two men¡¯s attentions, Purity raised the bowtie, then pressed a heart-shaped jewel in it. Blinding lights suddenly shone out of the jewel, and Purity yelled at the same time,


    ¡°My summon, angel Nana, hear my command and come here!¡±


    Daylight had a flash of anticipation in his eyes, he turned his head and yelled, ¡°Oh oh, is this the legendary summoning spell?¡±


    Meinan said with a face full of black lines, ¡°If Purity knows how to summon, then I¡¯m probably an offensive Sorcerer, Liola must be a shaman, and Kaiser would be harmless, naive little boy.¡±


    ¡°Your analogies really make people feel dispirited.¡±


    Daylight, Meinan, and even the Sailor Moon-wannabe Purity were all looking for the source of this voice, why did it sound like¡­


    ¡°Hey! Not that I want to break your thoughts, but if you don¡¯t ask Flames to dodge soon, you will be hit by tens of shots.¡±


    Hearing this, Daylight suddenly raised his head, and surely enough he saw a skyful of bombs flying towards them. Daylight was able to dodge most of them in the nick of time, and let Meinan¡¯s shield handle the couple remaining. At this time, that voice started talking again.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s me, Kaiser, and I¡¯m using Baolilong and Flames as if they¡¯re communication Maxuns to talk to you guys. This function is quite handy, I must say, fight on as you listen to me.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, I knew you would come.¡± Purity couldn¡¯t help but start weeping.


    ¡°Sh-shut up.¡± Kaiser¡¯s voice sounded a bit awkward, but it soon returned to normal, ¡°Purity you were using your remote control to call your Angel Mecha over, right?¡±


    Purity nodded desperately, and then realized Kaiser wasn¡¯t there, so she hurried to answer,


    ¡°Right! B-but there are a lot of enemies here. More and more are coming. Kaiser, hurry and come help us.¡±


    ¡°No, I have my plans. Listen to me, you don¡¯t need to defeat them; all you have to do is create chaos, the bigger the better. It would be best if it¡¯s large enough to lure all the guards from the Dark Arena Pyramid!¡±


    ¡°You plan on using the chaos as a distraction to go into the Dark Arena Pyramid?¡± Meinan asked.


    ¡°No!¡± Daylight anxiously said, ¡°You can¡¯t possibly save Liola by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I had been around the Dark Street since I was little. Winning against people in the Dark Arena Pyramid isn¡¯t my specialty; but when it comes to running for one¡¯s life, that would be my¡­¡±


    ¡°Kaiser¡¯s ultimate!¡± Meinan and Purity said in unison.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡±


    Daylight thought carefully, there were too many enemies, and they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to escape quickly. Perhaps following Kaiser¡¯s plan was the best solution out of their current situation.


    Although he was still worried about the two people with him, Daylight said with a frown, ¡°If you get into any danger, immediately use this method to contact us. No matter what, we will charge in to save you.¡±


    ¡°You too, as soon as you hear me say retreat, no matter what, you must leave immediately. You guys must understand, you are only having a street fight with people in Dark Street. If you don¡¯t make it more severe, the real defense of Dark Street wouldn¡¯t come out to stop you. But as soon as they know that the competitor in the exhibition match had escaped, the Dark Street would definitely treat you as a part of the escape plan. When the real defense of Dark Street mobilizes to catch you, then none of us can escape.¡±


    ¡°And, you better frequently act like you¡¯re about to lose. So, more scratch wounds, more spitting out blood. Don¡¯t ever make it seem like you¡¯re strong, otherwise we could attract even more terrifying enemies.¡±


    Hearing Kaiser solemn warnings, Daylight, Meinan, and Purity all nodded seriously, indicating that they understood.


    ¡°Okay! Go, the invincible Aklan Academy Troublemaking Team. It¡¯s time to cause trouble. SNAFU is awaiting for us to fulfill!¡±


    Three of them could practically just see Kaiser¡¯s eyes shining, they all held up their fists and yelled, ¡°Trouble!¡±


    As the white, beautiful Mecha arrived, Purity¡¯s eyes became more sinister. When the angel opened the door to the cockpit on its chest awaiting Purity, Purity laughed like a queen,


    ¡°Ohehe, the arrows are here. Everyone place your apples on your head, those who fail to do so will find an arrow through their head.¡±


    ¡®Your arrows are so huge that even if they had an apple on their head, it would explode along with their heads¡­¡¯ the Knights and Mecha Fighters thought.


    Daylight raised his sword and rode on Flames grandiosely, ¡°Flames, Meinan, my good friends, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Flames let out a long and loud Dragon roar, as an opening ceremony for the Aklan Academy Troublemaking Team.


    * * *


    Kaiser raised his head to look at the chaos in the air: bombs flying everywhere, arrows piercing every direction, and streams of fire flying around. He nodded in satisfaction and murmured,


    ¡°This is the true power of the Troublemaking team. Okay, Baolilong, let¡¯s go rescue the pope of Troublemaking religion, and the leader of the Troublemaking Team.¡±


    Baolilong foolishly nodded, ¡®As long as Kaiser was going to save papa.¡¯


    Kaiser looked as everyone on the street seemed to be running and avoiding attacks, and no one should recognize him.


    Kaiser came out of a little alley that he had been hiding in, and walked with large steps toward the Dark Arena Pyramid. Kaiser looked at the familiar pyramid; it was something that countlessly appeared in his nightmare, and he remembered the terrifying cry of a hungry Dragon.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to save you, Liola.¡± Kaiser¡¯s green eyes were shining, ¡°And, I have to save myself from my nightmare.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Why¡­ are Daylight and others here?¡±


    Standing on the arena, Liola looked at the giant screen and saw the chaos happening in the Dark Street, as well as a few familiar faces. Liola felt sad to the point where he couldn¡¯t even breathe.

 Volume 4, 6 : The Voice of the Dragon Cross Necklace

    Volume 4, Chapter 6 : The Voice of the Dragon Cross Necklace


    Due to the Prime Minister Qiusi¡¯s interruption, Liola¡¯s plan of escape collapsed. Barker had assigned the older guard to watch over him inside his room, and all the glass windows in the room were replaced with electrified metal windows.


    There were also more than ten guards outside of his door at all times. The intent was obvious: even if Liola had wings, he would have a hard time escaping.


    But the treatment for the Dark Arena Pyramid exhibition competitor still hadn¡¯t changed: all kinds of delicious food would be presented at Liola¡¯s whim, and Mama Sang still brought her Seven Fairies to let Liola take his pick, but Liola stood still watched at the stadium like he did before.


    Within the past three days, Mama Sang didn¡¯t want to give up and went to Liola¡¯s room three, four times. After she got so angry and even her make up fell on the ground, a familiar voice called out.


    ¡°Liola.¡±


    Liola¡¯s body froze a little, but he didn¡¯t turn around, instead said with an apologetic tone, ¡°Sorry, you warned me, but I still failed, and I even dragged you down with me.¡±


    Meiji looked at the lonely but proud person standing by the window, she laughed lightly,


    ¡°I¡¯m okay. The Prime Minister specially told Barker not to do any harm to me, and even told me to serve you, in this last hour¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any servants.¡± Liola answered lightly.


    Meiji didn¡¯t back off from such a cold reply, but instead changed the topic, ¡°Do you have Dragons in your world?¡±


    Liola originally had no plans to talk, but Meiji was, after all, someone who warned him. Liola paused briefly, and finally answered Meiji¡¯s question, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°A Dragon is a powerful being.¡±


    Meiji didn¡¯t care whether Liola had any interest in listening. She talked as if she was telling a story, and slowly described everything about a Dragon: its habitat, weaknesses, habits, etc.


    The older bodyguard who was standing on the side didn¡¯t stop Meiji, instead he looked to see if Liola had heard any of it.


    ¡°Dragons have always been the most mysterious creature in this world. Some people say that their intelligence is far greater than humans¡¯, and some say they are only large and strong beings. But what cannot be denied is, if you were fighting them one-on-one, very few people could win. They have immense power and a natural instinct for battle, not to mention different Dragons will use different magics, such as¡­¡±


    Meiji coughed intently, ¡°A Red Dragon will always spit fire.¡±


    Liola still remained quiet, and Meiji couldn¡¯t help but worry, did this clean, pretty boy before her actually hear any of her words?


    Meiji could only continue to explain, and beg in her heart that the boy would listen to her.


    ¡°The weakness of a Dragon is also their most terrifying place. The weakest part of a Dragon is its eyes. However, if you can¡¯t stab through its eyes and its brain in one strike, then it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t try to do so, because it will anger the Dragon even further, and it will retaliate with fatal strikes. Even if the Dragon loses both of its eyes, their sense of smell isn¡¯t any worse than their sight.¡±


    Meiji spent a long while talking, but Liola didn¡¯t even move at all, which made Meiji felt a bit discouraged. At the same time, she said pretty much all she had to say, but she didn¡¯t want to leave so she continued to chit chat about various rumors about Dragons.


    ¡°Dragons, like people, are divided into ranks, or perhaps I should say they are even more rank-oriented than humans. Red Dragons have always been pretty high in the ranking, and most other Dragons couldn¡¯t match it, but Black Dragons are even a step higher than Red Dragons. Rumor has it that the Dragon Empire¡¯s Sacred White Dragon is the highest rank of Dragons, as if they are the royalties among Dragons. Even their scent strikes fear into the hearts other Dragons.¡±


    ¡®Ranks¡­¡¯


    Hearing this, Liola finally felt that he heard some useful information. Liola was someone who had been called ¡°papa¡± by a Dragon for months, so he probably had much better idea of a Dragon¡¯s habits and properties than Meiji.


    It looked like the Dragon he would have to fight was a Red Dragon, and coincidentally Daylight¡¯s Dragon was also red, so of course Liola knew they would spit fire.


    ¡®Red Dragons were terrified of Sacred White Dragon¡­ Would they fear the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s master?¡¯ Liola thought.


    Perhaps the only way to test the theory would be to test it himself. But if he only show his Dragon scale briefly, Baolilong shouldn¡¯t have time to trace him, right? Liola was hesitating.


    The older guard looked at the time, and said to Liola, ¡°Time to go.¡±


    Liola finally turned around. When he was passing by Meiji, a quiet voice said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Hearing this, Meiji¡¯s face went soft, and she sighed quietly, ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t have another life to give to the arena.¡±


    * * *


    Liola walked with the elder guard into the elevator. The elevator went to the top floor. When the doors opened, the elder guard calmly said,


    ¡°I¡¯m old, and I¡¯ve seen many people in my time. I can tell, young one, you were born to turn the tide of this era, so you can¡¯t possibly die at a place like this.¡±


    He would turn the tide of this era? Liola¡¯s face sank,


    ¡°Perhaps if I died at a place like this, this world would be a slightly better place.¡±


    The elder guard¡¯s eyes flashed with a sense of thought as he opened the door and saw Liola stepping out of the elevator without any hesitation.


    The elder guard, however, remained in the elevator. He looked at Liola, and judged his figure: it was long and thin. The guard murmured,


    ¡°Indeed, those dispirited shoulders looked like they¡¯re not enough to shoulder the entire world. But you will sail through this. In time, those silver eyes of yours would probably cause tsunamis.¡±


    The waiter at the side asked curiously, ¡°Mister, aren¡¯t you going to watch the exhibition match? I heard that the sacrifice this round is quite strong, and it should be an interesting match.¡±


    The guard answered with a shake of his head, ¡°I¡¯ve grown quite old, and I don¡¯t want to be kicked to the side by the eager, young crowds.¡±


    The guard pressed the button to close the elevator door, and leaving a confused waiter behind. He went back to the room for sacrifices, and planned on watching the match next to the Dark Street¡¯s most beautiful woman.


    * * *


    Liola slowly stepped into the arena. It was very broad and completely different from the arena he saw before with the young guard. In fact, it was actually somewhat similar to the academy ranking match¡¯s arena: it was surrounded by seats elevated from the ground.


    There was one box far up in the audience, and it was surrounded by thick walls. The Aklan Prime Minister, Barker, and a few others were sitting in that box. Compared to the excited, bloodlusting crowds surrounding it, the box seemed very quiet and elegant.


    In the actual stage for the match, there were nothing but a concrete floor. Liola calmly walked into the center of the stage, and his face remained expressionless.


    This dissatisfied the crowds, who were used sacrifices crying in fear and begging for mercy.


    In turn, started yelling things like ¡°Go to hell¡±, ¡°Hurry up and let the Dragon eat you¡±.


    Liola didn¡¯t care about the cries from the audience. He pulled out Broken Silver and unsheathed it.


    Liola examined his somewhat tattered Sorcerer robe. Ordinarily, he wouldn¡¯t care, but with his abilities sealed, Liola didn¡¯t want to be hindered by the cumbersome Sorcerer robe. Liola tore off the Sorcerer robe, showing the silver-lined white Knight uniform underneath.


    Everyone in the audience immediately went silent. What a Silver rank Knight represented, they couldn¡¯t have not known.


    A Silver Knight would most probably have the strength that would far surpass a Dragon. The exhibition was almost like a sacrificial ritual, and the competitor was the sacrifice to open the gory arena matches. How could they have found someone with the strength to surpass a Dragon?


    The people in the box also seemed to panic, and blaming eyes and words were all thrown in Barker¡¯s direction.


    Barker immediately clarified, ¡°It¡¯s not possible. It¡¯s impossible for him to have the strength of a Silver Knight, otherwise how could he have been threatened by my two guards and follow me obediently?¡±


    Seeing uneasy emotions were spreading among the audience, Barker immediately grabbed the broadcast and said,


    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t worry, that set of Knight uniform is just for the purpose of entertainment. This person is just a normal sacrifice, and he can never beat our invincible red Dragon.¡±


    Hearing Barker¡¯s speech, the crowd went wild again. Being in the Dark Street, the crowds wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to see a Silver Knight, and some of them even complimented Barker, saying that he was quite creative.


    A sacrifice with Silver Knight uniform being torn into pieces by a Dragon would be definitely more interesting to watch.


    Ignoring the bloodlust filled yells of the crowd, ignoring the fear in the eyes of the people who looked at his Knight¡¯s uniform, and ignoring Barker¡¯s panicked explanation, Liola continued to quietly stand in the center of the stage.


    He lifted his chin slightly, and his silver eyes calmly looked into the sky. It was as if he wasn¡¯t in a crowded arena, but instead at a quiet dark night. The thin man looked as if he was raising his head to look at the stars, even his eyes seemed to reflect the silver star light.


    What was unbelievable was that, the crowd also seemed to quiet down and wouldn¡¯t dare to make a noise, as if doing so would disturb this quietly man of the night.


    ¡°Oh, what is this boy¡¯s name? I did forget.¡± Qiusi sat in the box, and his mouth had a faint smile.


    Seeing something was wrong, Barker¡¯s face turned pale, and answered while trembling, ¡°Th-this man is about to lose his life, Prime Minister, Sir, why would you want to know a dead man¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°Or is he¡­ about to die?¡± Qiusi¡¯s smile widened.


    Cold sweat ran down Barker¡¯s head. Flustered, he yelled at his subordinate.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let the Red Dragon out, now?!¡±


    The subordinate on his side hurriedly nodded, and at the same time pressed a few buttons on the control panel in the box. With the accompaniment of a hungry Dragon roar, a fiery red, and deadly Dragon appeared in front of Liola.


    The hungry Dragon took one look at Liola, and rammed its head against the steel cage, wanting to swallow this little man whole.


    ¡°Turn on the electric shield.¡±


    When the cage was lifted, the subordinate didn¡¯t dare to ignore the dangers of a Dragon. He immediately pressed another button, and an electrified shield appeared in the center of the stage. On one hand it stops the sacrifice from escaping, on another it also prevents the Dragon from harming the audience.


    Even though Dragon roared in front of Liola, he didn¡¯t even frown a bit. Liola was even examining the Red Dragon, and thought to himself:


    ¡®The scales on this Dragon weren¡¯t as red as Daylight¡¯s Flames, and it didn¡¯t look as pretty. Its level should be well below Flames.¡¯


    Liola was unusually calm, and he didn¡¯t know Barker was angered so much by his calmness, because Liola¡¯s composure and dark attitude was killing the bloodthirst of the crowd.


    If this continues, then the exhibition would lose its purpose to provoke the lust for gore in the audience. Barker panicked like a rat in a forest fire.


    At this time, the young guard anxiously walked into the box, and said to Barker,


    ¡°Boss, the people outside seemed to be fighting, and the fight is getting more and more intense. It¡¯s at the point where the whole street had to be closed down. Should we send security guards to maintain the order?¡±


    ¡°Who cares how it goes outside, what¡¯s important now is the inside¡­¡±


    Barker suddenly stopped, and an idea seemed to have dawned on him, ¡°Is it really severe?¡±


    The young guard nodded desperately.


    ¡°For all the times I¡¯ve been here, I hadn¡¯t seen anything this bad. It¡¯s practically a little war going outside. I don¡¯t know who the culprit is or what they did to cause such a large, chaotic battle.¡±


    Barker pushed the young guard aside, and said excitedly to his subordinates who were at the control panel.


    ¡°Q-quick and show the video from the security cameras on the Dark Street.¡±


    Though the subordinates didn¡¯t know what their boss had planned, but they obeyed his order. A giant 3D projector showed the scene on the arena, and all the scenes from the battle outside could be clearly seen.


    The crowd¡¯s bloodthirst was re-ignited by the chaotic scene, and many of them yelled something like ¡°Go kill them¡±.


    Liola glanced at the 3D projections, and he knew it was Barker¡¯s way of exciting the crowd, but he didn¡¯t care, because he didn¡¯t care about the state of the crowd, and it wouldn¡¯t affected him in any way.


    ¡°Purity, hold on!¡±


    ¡®Daylight¡¯s voice?¡¯


    Liola trembled as he looked towards the projection. A familiar Red Dragon was surrounded, and the Angel Mecha on its side was already heavily damaged, but it continued to shoot out arrows at its enemies. Meinan, who desperately tried to maintain the protective shield seemed to have blood slowly dripping out of the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°W-why are they here?¡±


    Liola¡¯s calm was finally broken, and he couldn¡¯t ignore the thought in his heart that Daylight and others were here to look for him, and they were in this predicament because of him.


    Liola¡¯s heart shook again, and he hoped the other two would not care about him and not come looking for him¡­ but Liola¡¯s hope was shattered.


    Though Kaiser cleverly wore a hat, Baolilong was hanging on Kaiser¡¯s back, and its anxious expression was obviously because it was hurrying Kaiser to look for Liola.


    ¡°No!¡± Liola¡¯s cold eyes finally went up in flames.


    The angry Assassin yelled at Barker, ¡°Hurry up and let the Dragon out! I have to duel with this Dragon! There is no time!¡±


    ¡®I have to beat this Dragon quickly, then go help Daylight and others, and I can¡¯t allow Kaiser and Baolilong to cause trouble in the Dark Arena Pyramid.¡¯


    Liola had never felt so anxious before, even his heart was pounding out of his chest, as if it was telling Liola to hurry.


    Barker was surprised by Liola¡¯s anger for the first time, and even crowds were shocked by the eyes with a burning cold flame.


    Barker actually unconsciously said, ¡°Let the Dragon out!¡±


    The Red Dragon was finally freed from its cage. Seeing the hungry Red Dragon, Liola didn¡¯t hesitate, and he used Broken Silver to cut off the rag on his left arm, and the white scale on his left arm was revealed.


    Liola lifted his left arm, as if a thin arm could stop a ten-meter giant Dragon.


    As the Dragon charged, the whole arena was shaken along its footsteps. Its distance from Liola was getting closer and closer, but Liola still held his left arm in front of his chest.


    His eyes were still burning with a white flame, one that looked like Kaiser¡¯s white fireballs. When the Red Dragon ran up to Liola, it lifted its huge claw, and swung it at Liola.


    To the sealed Liola, if this attack lands, Liola would probably become a pancake.


    ¡°Kneel!¡±


    Liola roared with rage.


    Baolilong from afar seemed to have sensed something: its pink eyes instantly glowed, and Baolilong also gave out a mighty roar with its master, which made Liola¡¯s roar sound like a Dragon roar.


    At that moment, the air froze. The crowd, Red Dragon, and people in the box all felt their minds going blank, and they had no idea what was happening.


    They felt like they couldn¡¯t move, and the only thing they could see were Liola¡¯s burning eyes, and his roar echoed in their ears.


    ¡®Kneel! Right, we have to kneel.¡¯


    All the crowds felt their legs give out beneath them, and kneeled as if it were the natural thing to do.


    In the box, even Barker kneeled on the ground and stared blankly. The only person standing in the box was Qiusi. His face was no longer filled with a smile, but with a frigid expression on his face. He thought, at that moment, even his mind went blank, and the command to kneel almost made him¡­


    Fear showed on the face of the Red Dragon, stopping only inches away from Liola.


    The giant Red Dragon timidly looked at the tiny scale on Liola¡¯s arm, and it seemed to be naturally in fear of higher ranking Dragons, especially since the scent before it was the highest of the Sacred White Dragons¡­ The scent of a prince.


    The Red Dragon growled in grievance.


    What was strange was Liola actually understood what the Red Dragon was saying.


    The Dragon actually said, ¡°S-sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to offend you. But I was too hungry and I didn¡¯t notice your scent, so I didn¡¯t know it was you. Please forgive me.¡±


    Liola stood stupefied at where he was, and Baolilong said via telepathy,


    ¡°Papa don¡¯t move, Baolilong and Kaiser are here to save papa. Oh and, papa, that Dragon is just a low-ranked Dragon, and he doesn¡¯t have a master to command him, so he wouldn¡¯t dare to harm papa anymore. Papa, don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    Liola was dumbfounded. Why did it seem like Baolilong was treating him like a little kid?


    But Baolilong seemed to be more chatty than before, which was uncharacteristic of it. It acted more like¡­ Kaiser.


    Liola sighed, a chatty Dragon prince? Hopefully when Miluo sees his chatty son, he wouldn¡¯t want to kill him because of it. But then again, Miluo already wanted him dead.


    Liola suddenly realized the crowd was already out of their daze, and they looked baffled as they saw the confrontation between Liola and the red Dragon.


    Liola had an idea, and used telepathy to say to Baolilong, ¡°Baolilong, can you tell this Dragon to feign defeat when I attack it?¡±


    He heard Baolilong¡¯s voice saying, ¡°Okay, papa, just turn Baolilong¡¯s scale to the Dragon.¡±


    In the eyes of the crowd, Liola raised up his left arm again, as if he were an emperor giving commands, and Red Dragon was indeed following the King¡¯s wish. The Red Dragon growled again to indicate it understood.


    Liola placed Broken Silver back into its scabbard. He didn¡¯t want to harm this obedient Dragon. He raised Broken Silver, and purposely started to struggle, looking as if it were trying to throw Liola off. But it also continued to growl, and Liola heard,


    ¡°How is this? Is this too much force to shake you off?¡±


    Though the crowd didn¡¯t know what was going on, but the exhibition match had finally began, and the sacrifice seemed strong. His graceful moves made the crowd yell in satisfaction.


    ¡°Shred my shirt, and let me hurt a bit.¡± Liola whispered into the Red Dragon¡¯s ear. He fully understood the desire of the crowd to see blood. If Liola was completely unscathed, he was afraid that Barker wouldn¡¯t be willing to let him go because the crowd would¡¯ve been dissatisfied.


    As unwilling as the Red Dragon was to hurt the master of the white Dragon, but he had no choice but to obey the order.


    While fighting with Liola, the Red Dragon waved its claw, and three claw marks appeared on Liola¡¯s chest, from which blood oozed out, and the crowd went wild as a result.


    Liola saw it was time, so he jumped onto the Dragon¡¯s back, and took Broken Silver to hit the Dragon continuously. Though it looked like heavy hits, but in reality Liola didn¡¯t put any force into it and he was doing it for show. Besides, after losing all his Ki, Liola actually didn¡¯t have enough strength to damage a Dragon.


    ¡°Yell a few times, then fake a faint.¡±


    Liola commanded on the Dragon¡¯s back, and the Red Dragon obeyed as he yelled in pain and ran around the stage. And when Liola acted like he was giving a final punch, the Red Dragon screamed, then fell to the ground.


    Liola stood slowly up from the Dragon, and his gaze was fixed on Barker in the box, reminding him the promise of letting him leave if he won against the Dragon.


    * * *


    Barker¡¯s face was completely frozen. He could have never imagined he had made the wrong judgment and underestimated Liola. He really did win against the Red Dragon! What would the crowd think now¡­


    ¡°Great, he really did win.¡± The crowds exploded with screams.


    ¡°My god, that was just too awesome. Looks like he really is a Silver Knight?¡±


    Unexpectedly, the crowd began cheering for the competitor¡¯s beautiful performance. Seeing this, Barker had no idea what to do. Had the crowd been unhappy, then Barker wouldn¡¯t even hesitate a moment to hire someone to kill Liola, but now the crowds were this happy¡­


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to let him go? Or are you going to break your promise like you always do?¡± Qiusi smiled, but a pair of shiny golden eyes held their gaze on Barker.


    Scared of him, Barker felt weak in his knees.


    He seemed to have understood Qiusi¡¯s meaning, and without any other plans, he grabbed the broadcast and said,


    ¡°The current exhibition match was won by the competitor, and as a result, the competitor will be¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Barker.¡± A seductive and soft woman¡¯s voice interrupted Barker.


    Liola felt a weight in his heart. This deadly and seductive woman¡¯s voice was far too familiar. Liola almost didn¡¯t want to look at the origin of this voice, but his eyes still looked towards the entrance.


    Black Rose¡¯s sexy and charming body stood at the entrance. Wearing a tight-fitting dress, she looked more beautiful than ever. Like always, countless rose petals surrounded Black Rose, and her fingers were wrapped around the handle of a long bramble whip.


    Black Rose yelled lightly with a sweet voice, ¡°Aiya, pretty little brother, you really know how to pick the place. You actually came to the headquarters of Adorning Flowers organization. Did you miss me, and specially came here to be collected? Hehe.¡±


    Liola was severely shocked. The Dark Street was the Adorning Flowers¡¯ headquarters? Could he have walked into the lion¡¯s den?


    Seeing Liola¡¯s unbelievable expression, Black Rose laughed with satisfaction. She thought this otherwise expressionless man having such helpless expression satisfied her desires. If it were possible, she¡¯d play with this pretty boy sometimes, she thought with dissatisfaction.


    Unfortunately, they were in the headquarters, and her boss was enraged because she failed last time. She would probably be best off killing the boy right away, or otherwise she would find herself in a difficult predicament. After thinking of her boss¡¯s shiny blade, Black Rose couldn¡¯t help but touch her own thin neck.


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad. Even though you won against the Dragon, but I had already known three days ago that you actually came to the headquarters, hehe. Seeing you think you can escape, then killing your hope in doing so seemed to be throwing you into an abyss, and it makes me¡­ really satisfied!¡±


    Black Rose waved her whip around, leaving a trail everywhere it hit.


    Liola examined his surroundings.


    Black Rose of the Six Forbidden Sins was in front of him, and around him were outlaws who were excited at the appearance of Black Rose. The whole pyramid was like a large cage, imprisoning Liola within.


    The crowds were excited again, and the bloodthirsty audience were like layers upon layers of chains surrounding Liola, and Black Rose was the guillotine, preparing to behead him momentarily.


    Even for Liola, who had seen plenty of such situations in his life, this was too much and he sank into despair.


    The yelling around him acted like tidal waves continuously shoving him.


    Liola held his ears in pain, but even if he could block those deadly screams, he couldn¡¯t stop the voices in his head nor could he get rid of the scenes in his mind.


    Why did Kaiser and others come to look for him? Did they not know how dangerous it would be? Did they not understand that being by his side meant death?


    Scenes after scenes flashed before Liola¡¯s eyes: Anise drowning in her own blood desperately reaching out her hand, and giving the Dragon cross necklace to him.


    Anise, who, in his eyes, was always smiling, could no longer smile. The lines of dried tears criss-crossed on her white face.


    He didn¡¯t want Anise to die, why did she have to die?!


    Lanski¡¯s blue eyes were filled with tears and shame, and pointing her sword at him to kill him, wanting him to return Baolilong to her¡­ Yes, he took away Lanski¡¯s Baolilong, but he didn¡¯t do it on purpose. He didn¡¯t think it would end like this.


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s scared scream pierced right through Liola¡¯s heart. Even if he closed his eyes as hard as he could, Liola couldn¡¯t block away the scene of blue blood dripping across his eyes, and Baolilong using its little body to block Black Rose, as well as the scene of Black Rose tossing Baolilong aside like trash.


    Liola imagined the situation outside, could it be¡­


    Meinan trembling as he held the blood back from coming out of his mouth. Purity falling out of the sky like a kite with broken line.


    Daylight struggling to keep his battered body standing, but still holding on his sword, perhaps even reaching out to hold Meinan up, and they were stepping over their enemies¡¯ bodies in the Dark Street that was foreign to them. All of this, because of him.


    Kaiser! Kaiser and Baolilong, too, were in the pyramid. Liola looked around, and all he saw were enemies, enemies, and more enemies. If Kaiser and Baolilong really came here, wouldn¡¯t that mean¡­


    Liola painfully closed his eyes. Cold tears fell down along his cheek.


    Liola murmured, ¡°Me, it¡¯s all me, why is it all me?!¡±


    Countless scenes flashed before his eyes, and almost everyone of them was a scene where everyone was bleeding. Liola felt completely heartbroken. He held his fists and repeatedly struck the ground, as if he couldn¡¯t feel pain.


    Liola yelled, ¡°If I die, will this all end? Anise! Tell me, why did you save me? Is it to bring harm to other?!¡±


    Pity flashed across Black Rose¡¯s eyes. Her white hands lifted Liola¡¯s chin, and took pity, ¡°Pitiful brother, if living is so painful, then let me help you escape it!¡±


    Liola felt the hand on his neck tighten, and even Black Rose¡¯s sharp nails sank into Liola¡¯s neck. Being heartbroken, Liola didn¡¯t have any intention of resisting, and he let his sights blur and consciousness fade¡­


    Liola suddenly seemed to regain his consciousness. Both of his hands grabbed Black Rose¡¯s hand, and suddenly asked,


    ¡°Are you going to let them go? It¡¯s enough for me to die, right?¡±


    Black Rose seemed shocked, then showed a seductive smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, little brother, if no one is paying, I wouldn¡¯t even be willing to lift a hand.¡±


    Liola slowly let go of Black Rose¡¯s hand, and Black Rose continued to tighten her grasp. Seeing Liola¡¯s arms already fallen from the lack of power, Black Rose said as if she suddenly remembered something,


    ¡°Oh! Right, I forgot to tell you this, but little Dragon is an exception. My employer specifically told me I have to kill you both.¡±


    A ray of light shone across Liola¡¯s darkened eyes, and Black Rose¡¯s expression changed too, then she kicked Liola in the stomach, which sent him flying. After landing, Liola withstood the pain of his stomach and stood up, with rage flashing in his eyes.


    Black Rose held her stomach with her right hand, but blood seeped out between her fingers.


    Black Rose¡¯s beautiful face again twisted into something ugly beyond belief, and her voice sounded like nail on blackboard.


    ¡°You dare to harm me?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch Baolilong!¡± Liola¡¯s cold voice made people felt like they were listening to an abyss.


    ¡°Just a Dragon.¡± Black Rose screamed with a strange voice, ¡°You are about to die, why do you care about whether that Dragon dies?!¡±


    Liola growed, ¡°Don¡¯t touch Baolilong, he¡¯s¡­ is¡­¡±


    ¡®What is he?¡¯


    Liola seemed to be at a loss for words. What was Baolilong to him? His Dragon? His child?


    Liola suddenly realized that he didn¡¯t even know what position Baolilong stood in his heart, but he was certain that he cared much about Baolilong, even though Liola didn¡¯t know why.


    ¡°Child! You and Baolilong are like brothers, you are just like one another, as long as someone treats you well, you will treat them well many times over.¡±


    A voice suddenly barged into Liola¡¯s mind.


    The tone was like a kind mother shaking her hand at her naughty child. Liola was baffled, he didn¡¯t understand why a mother-like voice would appear in his mind, could it be that he was hallucinating?


    ¡°Look down, child.¡± The soft, kind voice said patiently, ¡°I am in front of your chest.¡±


    Liola was stunned, and at the same time felt a tingling sense of warmth flashing across his chest.


    Liola reflexively lowered his head to look at the only thing in front of his chest ¡ª the Dragon Cross necklace. The necklace was emitting a warm, white light.


    Liola blinked, he seemed to have seen Dragon wings briefly flapped around the necklace?


    The mother-like voice spoke again to explain to Liola,


    ¡°Because Princess Anise really loved you, so you loved her more, and you were willing to defy the organization¡¯s kill order for her. Because Baolilong really loves you, you wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to harm it. Because your friends also love you, and they risk their lives to save you, so you would feel the intense pain in your heart¡­ You are a kind child, Liola.¡±


    Hearing the necklace¡¯s words, Liola laughed bitterly. He was an Assassin, and Assassins were ruthless, cold-blooded, and cruel, how could he possibly be kind?


    The necklace emitted an even brighter light, as if it were shaking its head to laugh at Liola¡¯s silliness.


    However, it didn¡¯t say anything, because Black Rose had already noticed something was wrong. The necklace said somewhat anxiously to Liola, who was standing stupefied, ¡°Child, I can help you temporarily suppress your seal, but you will only have three hours. Within those three hours, you must rescue all of your companions and get out of here.¡±


    At this time, Black Rose had already commanded her petals to chop Liola to pieces, but an intense white light exploded from the necklace, and the light enveloped the entire arena.


    The crowds covered their eyes and screamed in pain. Along with a Dragon roar, the light took the shape of a snow-white Dragon as it soared into the sky.


    The giant Dragon then seemed to have poured itself through Liola¡¯s forehead. Liola felt a bubble burst in his head, and immense Ki came out from within to fill every corner of Liola¡¯s body.


    The best Assassin was back!


    * * *


    ¡°Damn! What is this light?¡±


    Black Rose shook her head with agitation, trying to shake off the intense headache the bright light caused. At the same time, she looked around to prevent Liola from using this opportunity to escape, but Black Rose suddenly realized, she couldn¡¯t sense Liola at all, as if he was no longer in the arena.


    ¡®But that¡¯s impossible!¡¯


    The arena was surrounded by electrified shielding. Even for her, escaping here through the shields would be impossible without sustaining serious injuries.


    ¡®Where the hell was Liola?¡¯


    Black Rose searched panickedly, at the same time she surrounded herself with countless petal to prevent a sneak attack.


    However, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in both her hand and feet. Black Rose screamed as she fell to the ground. She trembled as she lifted her hands, and only then did she notice that the nerves on all her hands and feet were broken.


    Black Rose had almost lost it, ¡°Come out! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±


    The intense light finally faded, and a pair of cold, ruthless silver eyes appeared on the stage.


    Black Rose and the surrounding crowds all quieted down. Liola had the unsheathed Broken Silver in his right hand. The light reflected the sharp edge of the blade, and it terrified people as much as his eyes. Along with his Silver Knight uniform, he seemed incredibly dangerous.


    ¡°Wow, really amazing, Silver Knight!¡±


    Black Rose said mockingly, then she went into a frenzy, and burst out laughing wildly.


    She sneered as she laughed, ¡°Even if you are Silver Knight, you think you can get out of the Dark Arena Pyramid? In your dreams!¡±


    ¡°Silver Knight?¡± A lazy voice could be heard from the entrance, and the lazy body was leaning at the door frame,


    ¡°Aiya, if Liola was only as strong as a Silver Knight, then Lancelot probably still hasn¡¯t reached Gold rank yet.¡±


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong cheered with both of its arms in the air, and it was wiggling restlessly in Kaiser¡¯s arms.


    Kaiser fumbled to hold onto Baolilong, to prevent this stupid Dragon from running into the electrified shield. At the same time, he didn¡¯t forget to say to Liola,


    ¡°You irresponsible little father, don¡¯t ever make me babysit your kid again. This Dragon has the intelligence of a water melon.¡±


    Liola seemed to have pouted, but in his heart he sighed in relief that Kaiser and Baolilong were still well. Now what he must do was to handle everything here, then hurry to rescue Daylight and others.


    With firm resolve, Liola immediately started to attack. The only thing Black Rose saw were a pair of cold silver eyes. Broken Silver instantly disposed of all her petals, and then it pressed on towards Black Rose.


    Black Rose succumbed to fear as she covered her eyes and screamed at the top of her lung, until Liola knocked her unconscious.


    Liola stood in front of the unconscious Black Rose with Broken Silver.


    He hesitated: which one was more important, his promise to Anise or his friends¡¯ safety? Liola really couldn¡¯t decide, and he looked at Kaiser helplessly, who was flinging his fingers carelessly,


    ¡°As one of the Six Forbidden Sins, she has failed twice, and one of the times was even at their headquarters. Looks to me like she wouldn¡¯t even be able to stay within Flowers.¡±


    Kaiser lazily straightened his back and hurried, ¡°Kick her a few times for revenge, then we have to hurry and save Daylight, I don¡¯t think they can hold up much longer.¡±


    Liola smiled, and he understood that Kaiser saying to kick her wasn¡¯t because of vengeance, but instead prevent Black Rose from chasing them after she wakes up.


    Liola stomped a few times on Black Rose¡¯s hands and feet, then walked to the edge of the stage, looking at the electrified shield.


    ¡°He defeated Black Rose!¡±


    ¡°My god! H-he¡¯s coming out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Nobody could break this electric shield¡­¡±


    Before the last guy even finished his sentence, he saw Liola hold up his two arms and rammed against the shield. Without even showing his aura, the shield disappeared after crackling briefly.


    After countless screams from the crowd, they all started to run every which way to try to escape.


    ¡°You should really learn how to have an aura, otherwise you don¡¯t look imposing at all when you swing in the air a few times and you suddenly win, and it¡¯s not fun to watch at all.¡±


    Kaiser saw that the electrified shield had no effects on Liola, and started babbling like usual,


    ¡°Think about it, how handsome Lancelot and Blood Wolf looked when they fight, with sounds and lights, the whole atmosphere is different.¡±


    ¡°Papa is 1000 times better than Stinkelot!¡±


    Baolilong, who climbed onto papa¡¯s back as soon as possible, roared in dissatisfaction. As soon as it heard about Lancelot, Baolilong was enraged.


    Kaiser painfully covered his ear with his left hand, and held up his middle finger on his right hand.


    Who knew Baolilong would imitate him, and threw both of its chubby middle fingers up in the air, and grimaced.


    ¡°Aiya! Little runt, you even put up one more middle finger than me? Liola! Look at how you¡¯ve taught your child! He already knows how to gesture his middle finger, and he¡¯s only five years old, what¡¯s going to happen when he grows up?¡± Kaiser was making a fuss at Liola.


    Liola tilted his head to look at Baolilong. The Assassin raised his hand in hesitation, then put up his middle finger, and put his hand in front of Kaiser¡¯s face and asked,


    ¡°Are you talking about this?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Two streams of tears flowed down his face.


    ¡°Please, put your middle finger down, even Baolilong does it better than you.¡±


    (Kaiser thought, put down the middle finger quick! Otherwise, the readers will think that I¡¯m a bad influence on you, and then drag me to a corner to beat me up)


    ¡°Hurry and let¡¯s go, Kaiser, there are still quite a few troublesome people here.¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes glanced towards the box, where a gold-haired man was standing and smiling. Liola felt he better hurry and leave here with Kaiser before Qiusi got interested in stopping them, otherwise there could be an intense fight.


    ¡°Hot damn! Even the Prime Minister comes to the Dark Street?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes followed Liola¡¯s. But he wasn¡¯t as clueless as Liola to not recognize the man in the box was the Prime Minister of Aklan.


    Rumor had it, he¡¯s a very powerful Sorcerer. Like Liola, Kaiser didn¡¯t want to mess with someone like him.


    ¡°Wait, I have to go save someone,¡± Kaiser said anxiously.


    ¡°Kaigleser?¡±

 Volume 4, 7 : Glory

    Volume 4, Chapter 7 : Glory


    Kaiser was shocked when he heard A familiar voice calling a name he no longer used.


    ¡°Meiji?¡± Liola looked at the source of the sound. Meiji was trying to catch her breath at the entrance.


    ¡°Sister?¡±


    Kaiser suddenly turned his head. As soon as he saw Meiji at the entrance, he spoke. When Meiji ran towards Kaiser, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of Meiji and blocked her path.


    Seeing him, Kaiser¡¯s face sank, gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Gladiolus!¡±


    Liola carefully examined this man. This man¡¯s body was shaped similar to Liola¡¯s.


    They were both slender, but his face looked far more serious than Liola¡¯s. His long, brown hair was tied in a ponytail. He wore a fiery red gold-lined Knight¡¯s uniform, and he had two weapons: in one hand he held a normal length sword, and in the other, he held a dagger similar to Liola¡¯s Broken Silver.


    At this time, Gladiolus was also examining Liola, and he was deeply surprised.


    Before, he had already secretly observed Liola, and judged his strength should be far below Black Rose. But today, he easily defeated Black Rose, and Gladiolus could sense an incredible strength seeping out of Liola¡¯s body. His power reminded Gladiolus of another powerful enemy of his, the Paladin Lancelot.


    ¡®No! It¡¯s not possible.¡¯


    Gladiolus completely denied that the man in front of him would be equally powerful as Lancelot. If Liola were really on equal standings with Lancelot, then wouldn¡¯t it mean the Six Forbidden Sins messed with someone they shouldn¡¯t have?!


    ¡°Diolus,¡± Meiji was almost crying.


    She would have never imagined, as the leader of the Six Forbidden Sins, Gladiolus would be back in the organization so soon. Now, wouldn¡¯t it mean her brother, who was exiled from the Dark Street by the organization, would be¡­


    Gladiolus seemed to return from his thoughts. After glancing at Meiji, he turned to face the exiled man, and said coldly, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have came back.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank, but then laughed lowly, ¡°Heh, I am back, and I¡¯m going to take my sister out of this dump.¡±


    ¡°Kaigleser, don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡± Meiji was so scared her heart was pounding out of her chest, she didn¡¯t think her little brother would actually talk to Gladiolus in this manner.


    She didn¡¯t know Kaiser had already nudged Liola, and asked with in whisper, ¡°Hey, Assassin, though I didn¡¯t know what happened, but are you back to your old self?¡±


    Liola nodded, ¡°Only for three hours.¡±


    ¡®Only three hours?¡¯


    Kaiser cursed under his breath, then asked again, ¡°Three hours should be enough to finish that guy over there, right?¡±


    Liola said expressionlessly, ¡°He is quite strong, but he¡¯s not at the level of Lancelot or Mizerui. It will take at most twenty minutes to beat him.¡±


    Kaiser immediately started laughing after he heard Liola¡¯s response. He pointed at the opposing Gladiolus, like a fox taking advantage of an imposing tiger, and said,


    ¡°Do you dare to fight with me¡­ and my Liola? If we lose, then our lives are in your hands, but if we win, then you have to return my sister to me, and you must cancel your hit on Liola.¡±


    When did he agree to fight with Gladiolus? Liola glanced at Kaiser.


    However, because of Meiji and the fact Kaiser added the condition of his hit being cancelled, Liola decided to turn a blind eye at Kaiser¡¯s arrogance. Nevertheless, he was very shocked to find out Meiji was actually Kaiser¡¯s sister.


    Before Gladiolus answered, Meiji interrupted, ¡°Don¡¯t bet like this, Kaigleser! Diolus, please, I beg of you, let them go, please don¡¯t harm my brother.¡±


    Gladiolus looked at Meiji, with her face full of tears and she was grabbing the corner of his shirt, and his face actually softened.


    Gladiolus then turned towards his enemies, and his face was still as cold as before. Gladiolus said, ¡°I won¡¯t kill Kaigleser, but Liola must die, it¡¯s a mission.¡±


    Meiji felt relieved and sympathy in her heart. If she could save her brother¡¯s life, Meiji was already thankful.


    After all, it was Gladiolus who said back then, that Kaigleser was to be permanently exiled from the Dark Street.


    Now, for her, Gladiolus even broke his own word. Meiji was moved.


    However, whenever Meiji thought about the clean boy, she turned her head away, trying to avoid Liola¡¯s eyes. She was ashamed of not trying to save him.


    ¡°Your sister¡­¡± Liola looked at Meiji who turned her face away, and slowly opened his mouth,


    ¡°She looks nothing like you, Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°None of your business! Quick and finish off Gladiolus, I don¡¯t know how long Daylight and others can hold up.¡± Kaiser pouted.


    ¡®Different personalities, too.¡¯


    Though Liola didn¡¯t say it out loud. ¡®Why would such a gentle and kind girl have a brother who deserved so many beatings?¡¯


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Liola said to Gladiolus, cutting to the chase. He was very worried about Daylight, and planned to quickly finish off Gladiolus and take Daylight and others out of the Dark Street.


    Gladiolus grunted and unsheathed his sword and dagger.


    Gladiolus sprang out like a bolt from a crossbow, and all that was visible was a red shadow dashing towards Liola.


    Liola also held onto Broken Silver tightly. As far as speed goes, Liola had never run into anyone who was could match his. Liola stepped aside, and dodged Gladiolus¡¯ attack.


    Gladiolus was slightly shocked, but he persisted, and his sword and dagger followed Liola.


    Liola was also shocked Gladiolus was actually able to track his movements, though Liola hadn¡¯t hit his maximum speed yet¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Oh!¡± Qiusi was standing in the box and¡­ he was bored watching the duel. His feathered fan continuously tapped his forehead.


    ¡°Sigh This kind of duel is boring! I can¡¯t even see anything! Seriously, why don¡¯t they go slower? All I see are two shadows flashing around. But, the red shadow seemed to be clearer to see than the white ones, right?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, Liola is my most advanced play toy, the current Gladiolus isn¡¯t even a match.¡±


    A gold-haired man stood quietly in the corner. His unique clothing could be vaguely seen: it was actually a black and white robe.


    Qiusi said with a smile,


    ¡°Ah, if you say he¡¯s your toy, that means I can play too? Don¡¯t forget we discovered him together. But, isn¡¯t it a little over the top to treat someone whose power is on par with ours as a toy?¡±


    Mizerui stepped out from the corner of the box, and raised his brows at Qiusi,


    ¡°Do you even have the right to say that? You purposely acted as if you didn¡¯t know Liola, and then exposed that he knew the truth about the exhibition match, which made his plan to escape fail. You obviously knew Lancelot had sealed him, so his chances of beating the red Dragon was next to zero.¡±


    Qiusi lightly waved his fan,


    ¡°You know, I am a vengeful person, because he used me as a hostage to threaten you.¡±


    ¡°But, I didn¡¯t think he would use this method to win the Red Dragon. Is the master of a Sacred White Dragon really this powerful?¡±


    Qiusi curiously asked Mizerui, who was an expert on Dragons.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that the master of a Sacred White Dragon is powerful.¡± Mizerui looked thoughtfully at the white shadow outside,


    ¡°But rather the master of the Prince of Sacred White Dragons is. In fact, in the past, those who got the approval of the Sacred White Dragon Prince or Princess all uncoincidentally became the Emperor of the Dragon Empire.¡±


    Qiusi answered with an ¡°Ah¡±, and then pointed at Mizerui as if he was making an accusation.


    ¡°You¡¯re toying with the future Dragon Emperor?¡±


    Veins popped on Mizerui¡¯s head, ¡°Aren¡¯t you too?¡±


    Qiusi laughed, and didn¡¯t respond to the question, but instead changed topic,


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you come back to take revenge on Lancelot?¡±


    Hearing the name Lancelot, Mizerui¡¯s face sank. He said coldly, ¡°Looks like if I don¡¯t show a bit of my strength, that guy wouldn¡¯t even notice me!¡±


    Qiusi tapped the tip of his fan under his chin and contemplated, ¡°Do you think sealing Liola was Lancelot¡¯s idea, or the Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders?¡±


    Mizerui hesitated before he answered, ¡°The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t seem to oppose what Lancelot did.¡±


    ¡°Then if you seek revenge on Lancelot, then doesn¡¯t it clearly show you¡¯re opposing the Dragon Emperor? Would that be proper?¡±


    Qiusi said while smiling, and what he said clearly affected Mizerui, whose expression tightened and did not answer the question.


    Seeing Mizerui¡¯s rare expression, Qiusi laughed and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you just play with him and call it a day? Don¡¯t break your relationship with the Dragon Emperor because of this.¡±


    Mizerui solemnly nodded, and then returned to his former, laughing self. He looked at his playtoy outside and said,


    ¡°And how did the toy get his Kung Fu back? Don¡¯t tell me Lancelot is near.¡±


    ¡°Seems like it had something to do with the Dragon cross necklace. The necklace is quite the double-edged sword to Liola: on one hand his whereabouts are under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, but on another, Liola seems to be getting quite a lot of help from it.¡±


    Qiusi carefully thought, then he suddenly remembered something, he turned around and asked Mizerui,


    ¡°How is your investigation with Miluo?¡±


    Mizerui did not hear Qiusi¡¯s question; flames ignited in his blue eyes, because he felt a familiar power.


    Mizerui looked towards the east and yelled, ¡°Lancelot!¡±


    As soon as he finished yelling the name, Mizerui disappeared, leaving Qiusi behind to scratch his face and murmured,


    ¡°Looks like Mizerui is really mad this time. It¡¯s hard to blame him. His relationship with Lancelot had always been rocky, and sealing Liola was probably the fuse leading to this bomb.¡±


    Qiusi¡¯s attention was back on the arena. The two dueling seemed to have come to the end of a phase.


    Gladiolus¡¯ face seemed extremely shocked. When he looked at Liola, his eyes seemed to even show fear.


    Liola, who knew his strength was greater than Gladiolus¡¯, seemed calm, since winning was his prediction.


    Seeing this, Qiusi smiled, ¡°Be careful, Liola, this isn¡¯t everything the leader of the Six Forbidden Sins has. After all, he is also¡­ one of the rank-X people in this world.¡±


    * * *


    Gladiolus, who was catching his breath, suddenly seemed to calm down.


    He said to Liola with composure, ¡°I understand. Looks like I really did underestimate you. From now on, I should get more serious.¡±


    Liola suddenly felt a strange energy coming off Gladiolus¡¯s body, and his clothes fluttered around.


    A red aura was vaguely emitted from his body, and slowly concentrated around his weapons. Finally, the sword and dagger exploded in a light, and they were engulfed in flames, even though there was no trace of Gladiolus from being burned by holding them.


    ¡°Magic Swordsman! Liola, be careful, he seems to be a swordsman who could use magic, and judging from his looks, fire magic. Be careful, I don¡¯t know what moves he would use.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly yelled, and explained to the frowning Liola. He then sat down again back in the audience, raised his teacup and said to the sister next to him,


    ¡°Sister, how about another cup of tea?¡±


    Meiji picked up the teapot and poured her brother another cup of tea. She asked worriedly,


    ¡°Is Liola in danger? Isn¡¯t he a Dragon Knight? Shouldn¡¯t you return his Dragon to him?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry. That guy is practically like a strange cat with nine lives, he wouldn¡¯t die no matter what. And, sister, you have no idea, this Baolilong has always been a troublemaker and cause Liola more harm than helping. If I threw Baolilong over, Liola would hate me for life.¡±


    Kaiser carelessly waved his hand, and continued to eat his jello and drink tea, but he didn¡¯t forget to stuff a piece of meat inside Baolilong¡¯s protesting mouth.


    Liola and Gladiolus finally began their serious duel.


    The fire on Gladiolus¡¯ weapons grew wilder and wilder, and even Liola, who was standing quite far away, felt the heat.


    Liola didn¡¯t dare underestimate his enemy, so he put all his Ki in motion, trying to raise the speed of Windborne Blade to its limit, and have a showdown with Gladiolus. After which he can go save Daylight¡­


    Boom!


    The walls of the pyramid shook violently, and many pieces of rock flew this way and that. Even Kaiser, who was in the audience, raised his gun to break up the larger pieces of rock flying towards him and Meiji.


    After the dust settled, a giant Red Dragon and an Angel Mecha appeared in newly created hole on the walls of the pyramid.


    ¡°Liola, great, you¡¯re alive.¡± Daylight, whose body was covered in wounds, saw Liola. After seeing the person they were rescuing was okay, Daylight finally felt some relief.


    Liola saw Daylight and Meinan were both on the Dragon, and Purity was in the Mecha waving at him. Liola finally felt a weight lift from his heart.


    If something were to happen any of them, Liola would probably never forgive himself, just like he would never forgive himself for Anise¡¯s death.


    Though none of them died, Liola noticed they were covered in blood, even the timid Purity had a scratched forehead and blood on the corner of her mouth.


    The beautiful Angel Mecha was also broken in various places, so it appears to be seen that their street fight was quite intense.


    ¡®Wait just a bit, I will immediately take you all out of here, and get back to Aklan Academy to treat your wounds!¡¯


    Liola¡¯s silver eyes ignited, and he looked Gladiolus, whose eyes had identical flames¡­


    ¡°Meinan! My dear baby, how can you be wounded like such? Tell me who hurt you, and I¡¯ll seek revenge for you!¡±


    Qiusi smashed the box¡¯s fortified glass with his forehead, and ran towards Meinan with an affectionate expression.


    Everyone¡¯s face darkened hearing a middle-aged man saying such disgusting things.


    At the same time they looked on at Dragon. Meinan, who was riding Flames, looked like he would rather hide in Flames¡¯ stomach.


    When Qiusi rushed to Flames¡¯ side, Meinan finally burst out a scream, ¡°Stop!¡±


    Qiusi did actually hit the emergency brake, and twiddled his thumbs.


    Meinan saw Qiusi, and cursed out in anger, ¡°As a Prime Minister, look at yourself? How many times have I told you? You have to look majestic and imposing!¡±


    ¡°I do, but I just haven¡¯t seen my dear baby for such a long time, so I just got a little too excited.¡±


    Qiusi crouched in a corner depressedly and drew circles on the ground, and he often threw a ¡°you misunderstood me¡± look at Meinan.


    Meinan¡¯s expression suddenly changed, ¡°Don¡¯t call me dear baby, don¡¯t forget we¡¯re still in a cold war!¡±


    After he finished screaming, Meinan tilted his head, refusing to look at Qiusi. But by tilting, he saw Daylight looking at him strangely.


    Meinan was baffled as he look at others, and everyone¡¯s mouth was twitching and their expression were awkward.


    Confused, Meinan opened his mouth to ask, ¡°Why do you guys look at me with such strange expressions?¡±


    Kaiser covered his mouth and said ambiguously, ¡°Aiya, we¡¯re just a bit shocked. I would never have imagined you and the Prime Minister actually are¡­ in that kind of relationship!¡±


    Meinan showed an uncomfortable expression, ¡°Sorry for hiding this from you all. I do indeed have a relationship with him, but I didn¡¯t hide it purposely. I just felt embarrassed.¡±


    Everyone took a deep breath, and even Kaiser widened his eyes, ¡°You are really in that kind of relationship with him? When did this start?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Meinan looked strangely at Kaiser, ¡°Of course it began when I was young. But because of Ally, our relationship had worsened, and that¡¯s why we¡¯re in a cold war.¡±


    ¡°Ally¡¯s my wife.¡± Qiusi added with a laugh.


    ¡®So that¡¯s how it is. His wife found out, so things turned worse? What a complex relationship¡­¡¯ Everyone thought.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Kaiser suddenly exploded with a yell, and he said as if he were in pain,


    ¡°When we were in Yaron Plains, I even slept in the same cave as Meinan, my God! My chastity!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kaiser!¡± Purity hurriedly said to Kaiser.


    ¡°Liola-dage is more handsome, has a better body, and more elegant than you. Meinan would definitely make a move at Liola-dage first.¡±


    Tears flowed down Kaiser¡¯s face, ¡°Why are your words of comfort so uncomforting?¡±


    ¡°Make a move? What move would I make?¡± Meinan asked while baffled.


    Daylight lightly patted Meinan¡¯s shoulder, and his face was flashing an infinite amount of tolerance. He said firmly to Meinan,


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t against discriminate you as a result. Everyone has the freedom to choose.¡±


    Purity nodded her head desperately, ¡°Right, Meinan, don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t discriminate against homosexuals!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Meinan was stupefied.


    ¡°What is a homosexual?¡± Liola curiously asked Kaiser.


    ¡°Men loving men and women loving women are all called homosexuals.¡± Kaiser showed an ambiguous smile, ¡°So people like Meinan and the Prime Minister would be called homosexuals.¡±


    Meinan completely froze.


    Liola thought for a moment then raised his head to ask, ¡°Is that also called incest?¡±


    ¡°Incest?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Liola nodded. ¡°Now I remember: the Prime Minister¡¯s name is Qiusi Glory, and Meinan said his full name is Meinan Glory. If they are related, it would be incest too, right?¡±


    Meinan finally understood, and yelled at everyone,


    ¡°That¡¯s not how it is! This guy is my father, we are in a ¡®father-son relationship¡¯! Purity, didn¡¯t you already know the Aklan Prime Minister is my father? How could you misunderstand?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Purity shrank back into the cockpit, ¡°I thought it was incest.¡±


    With veins on his forehead, Meinan explained it to everyone word-by-word.


    ¡°Aklan Prime Minister, Qiusi Glory, is my biological father. My mother, Ally, was killed by the Six Forbidden Sins. Not only did he not seek revenge for my mother, he even came to the Dark Arena, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m in a cold war with him.¡±


    ¡°My child¡­¡± Helplessness flashed across Qiusi¡¯s eyes, but he didn¡¯t make any excuses.


    Meinan walked to his father, and said with a low voice.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, then fine, tell the Six Forbidden Sins to cancel their hit on Liola. If Liola also gets killed by the Six Forbidden Sins, I will never forgive you!¡±


    Complex emotions seemed to have crossed Qiusi¡¯s face, but he did not deny his son¡¯s request.


    He walked towards Gladiolus, and said in a casual manner, ¡°Since my precious son said so, Gladiolus, do me a favor?¡±


    Gladiolus carefully thought to himself. His eyes looked towards Meiji, whom was also giving him pleading looks.


    Gladiolus thought about it some more with a frown, then said, ¡°The target of this mission is far too strong, and unlike anything the employer had described. This mission is hereby cancelled.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡±


    Everyone cheered, and even Liola listened in disbelief. It wasn¡¯t until Meinan patted his shoulder, Purity being so happy she started crying, and Daylight showed a sincere smile, that Liola realized that this was real.


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Baolilong climbed on Liola¡¯s back. Its cheeks were puffed up, still mad papa had abandoned him, and Kaiser also said uncomfortably.


    ¡°I really do have to thank you this time.¡±


    Liola couldn¡¯t understand what Kaiser was saying, and Kaiser tilted his head awkwardly,


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I can finally see my sister is okay, and finally untied the knot in my heart about the Dark Street. Aiyo, you are always the one who always run to places you shouldn¡¯t be, and this was no different¡­ a-anyhow, just thank you!¡±


    Though he couldn¡¯t understand Kaiser¡¯s speech, but Liola could at least understood that Kaiser was giving him his gratitude. It was rare to see Kaiser being awkward like this, and Liola couldn¡¯t help but let out a laugh. Everyone else stared at him to see his rare smile.


    ¡°Oh! Damn, that cursed smile again¡­¡±


    Bam!


    A series of strange sounds came from the direction of the pyramid, and then the walls of the pyramid began to crack from the hole where Flames entered. Gladiolus raised his head and said,


    ¡°You guys broke the pyramid¡¯s main supporting column.¡±


    Boom!!!

 Volume 4, 8 : X Rank Duel

    Volume 4, Chapter 8 : X Rank Duel


    ¡°Lancelot!¡±


    Mizerui zipped by in the air quickly with a cold smile on his face.


    The unicorn and its master before him seemed they hadn¡¯t noticed they were being followed.


    Mizerui lifted his right hand, and the space on top of the unicorn started twisting, and the unicorn started to scream, then it started free falling, and disappeared into the thick clouds.


    Mizerui quickly followed and flew downwards, until his feet landed on the earth again.


    Mizerui¡¯s slender body stood in a barren plain. A cold light flashed on his gold-framed glasses, ¡°Angering me is very dangerous, Lancelot.¡±


    ¡°To not let an Assassin endanger the world, I would have done it no matter how dangerous it is.¡±


    A deep but magnetic voice could be heard a few meters behind Mizerui, and it was accompanied by crystal clear horse neighs.


    Mizerui didn¡¯t turn his head, instead he reached out his hand to push his glasses up, then he said softly,


    ¡°Lancelot, if you¡¯re happy with executing your sense of justice, then that¡¯s fine, but why must you mess with me? It¡¯s just not Barbalis, even your good friend Blood Wolf was fond of Liola, so why do you have to go against everyone¡¯s wishes?¡±


    ¡°Even if I were to become the enemy of the world by maintaining justice, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate. I wouldn¡¯t release an Assassin¡¯s seal for even my friend Blood Wolf.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s tone and attitude were resolute. In his mind, there was nothing more important than protecting justice and the safety of the world. If anyone or anything had one in a million chance of harming the world, then he felt it was his duty to reduce the one in a million chance to zero.


    Mizerui finally turned around, and impatience flashed in his eyes. He smiled coldly, ¡°I¡¯m much more dangerous than Liola, why don¡¯t you come seal me?¡±


    Hearing Mizerui¡¯s mockery, Lancelot calmly unsheathe his sword, ¡°You are indeed dangerous, even more so than the Assassin.¡±


    ¡®Could it be?¡¯


    Interest flashed across Mizerui¡¯s eyes. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked,


    ¡°Could it be¡­ the main reason you sealed Liola was to lure me out?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, it¡¯s also to prevent him from becoming a powerful bargaining chip for Miluo.¡± Lancelot¡¯s body suddenly emitted a white aura, and prepared to attack at any time.


    ¡°Even the righteous Paladin learned how to use tricks, but aren¡¯t you worried about the Dragon Emperor? Don¡¯t forget, I am the Emperor¡¯s good friend too.¡±


    As Mizerui spoke, he quietly moved back.


    To a Sorcerer, the farther away the enemy is, the better, especially when the opponent has a blazingly fast unicorn as a mount or if it¡¯s an Assassin like Liola, who relied on their terrifying speed.


    Of course, Lancelot also knew the weakness of Sorcerer was close-quarters combat. When Mizerui was buying more time with questions about the Dragon Emperor, Lancelot didn¡¯t waste any time and used his unicorn to catch up to Mizerui.


    As Lancelot swung his sword towards Mizerui, he said with a deep voice,


    ¡°You¡¯re not truly following the Dragon Emperor. Though I don¡¯t know what your intent is, I¡¯ve already seen you sneaking around in the palace more than once.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t believe he had been seen!


    Mizerui¡¯s expression faltered, and pulled out his staff. A sapphire the size of an egg immediately emitted a faint blue light, and blocked Lancelot¡¯s white sword.


    Mizerui followed up with a short incantation, and massive weight immediately spread from the tip of the sword to Lancelot¡¯s arm muscle.


    After shaking his arm a bit, he concentrated his white aura around his arm and sword. Lancelot seemingly ignored the tons of weight, turned his blade, and continued to swing at Mizerui.


    Mizerui knew his couple of moves wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the Paladin. Mizerui¡¯s other hand had already prepared other magic, ¡°Reverse Gravity!¡±


    The spell was not targeted at Lancelot¡¯s sword, but instead at his unicorn¡¯s feet.


    The unicorn had its feet floating in the air, as the heavy Lancelot rode on its back, as a result of Mizerui¡¯s spell. The two opposing forces made it impossible for the unicorn to keep its balance, and it fell to the ground. It desperately struggled to get up, but it was no use.


    Lancelot, of course, could no longer stay on his mount.


    After fumbling around on the unicorn, he leapt off, and the sword in his hand had broken the light blue protective shield. It was an opportunity he couldn¡¯t miss, so he sent a flurry of attacks toward Mizerui, who was having a hard time blocking all the attacks.


    The sword scathed Mizerui¡¯s left face. Had he not place down magic around him as a habit, Mizerui¡¯s head would probably had been impaled by the sword, instead of just a simple mark.


    Though the scratch did not take Mizerui¡¯s life, it seriously angered him. Mizerui, as a rank-X criminal, still walked around without any disguise, because he was a fearless, and dangerous Sorcerer.


    ¡°Lancelot!¡± Mizerui¡¯s blue eyes were fuming.


    An enormous magic centered around Mizerui exploded, then took the shape of a tornado. The ground sank as if something heavy pushed it down. It first sank near Mizerui, then spiraled outward.


    The ground beneath Lancelot was an exception. A strong, white aura exploded, equalled to Mizerui¡¯s magic.


    Though the ground surrounding him sank like a trench, the ground covered by Lancelot¡¯s white aura remained untouched.


    Mizerui¡¯s body was enveloped by a dark magical aura, which contrasted with Lancelot¡¯s white aura.


    The only common thing between them was they were both unquestionably strong. Two of the top rank-X powerhouses were about to start a world-shaking duel, and the outcome of this battle would forever leave its mark in the history¡­


    Crackle, crackle.


    They both heard a strange sound. Two of the world¡¯s most powerful people twitched both their faces, then slowly looked towards the source of the noise.


    Crouching in the hole he dug, the ¡®movie-watching, cracker-eating¡¯ Barbalis felt two pairs of firm eyes on him.


    He calmly swallowed his crackers, waved his arms and said, ¡°Don¡¯t mind me. Continue, continue.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s face sank, while Mizerui laughed helplessly and bitterly.


    ¡°What? Why are you not fighting?¡± Barbalis jumped out of the hole, and dusted his bum. Acted innocent and said,


    ¡°Too bad, the duel between the strongest Knight and Sorcerer was actually interrupted by me. Had I known, I wouldn¡¯t have eaten crackers.¡±


    Mizerui said expressionlessly, ¡°Stop pretending, Barbalis, you were only here to prevent the fight.¡±


    Lancelot tightly held onto the sword in his hand, but after looking at Mizerui and Barbalis, Lancelot didn¡¯t raise his sword. As far as he knew, Barbalis had a very special and strong magical abilities. Facing these two powerful opponents, Lancelot was afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to handle them both.


    ¡°Mizerui, that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong. I¡¯m mainly here to discuss a few things with Lancelot.¡±


    Barbalis smiled and glanced at Lancelot, whom became alert again after hearing this.


    ¡°What would you discuss with him?¡± Mizerui began to be curious.


    ¡°About that seal on Liola¡­¡±


    ¡°I will not help him release the seal.¡± Before Barbalis finished, Lancelot immediately refused.


    Barbalis showed a disagreeing look, ¡°If you¡¯re not going to help him, you might as well kill him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Liola again?¡± Mizerui frowned.


    ¡®This little runt¡­ couldn¡¯t cause less trouble now that he lost his Kung Fu?¡¯


    ¡°The Adorning Flowers has a hit on him.¡± Barbalis glanced at Lancelot, whose face seemed to change a little, and continued satisfactorily,


    ¡°When Black Rose came for him, she almost sent him to judgment day, and because Liola didn¡¯t want anybody getting hurt, so¡­¡±


    Barbalis thoroughly explained everything that happened recently.


    Mizerui was stupefied as he was listening, and he finally dropped his jaw,


    ¡°T-this guy¡­ could he have been any more unlucky? He walked into the Dark Arena Pyramid himself? Isn¡¯t that the headquarters of the Adorning Flowers?!¡±


    Barbalis laughed bitterly, ¡°And you also knew in order to save him, Kaiser and the others barged into the Dark Street, and caused quite a ruckus there.¡±


    ¡°They actually made it out alive? According to their abilities, without Liola¡¯s peerless Kung Fu, they should have had zero chance of walking out of the Dark Arena Pyramid alive.¡± Mizerui locked his brows together.


    Barbalis exaggeratedly sighed and continued to explained,


    ¡°The main reason was there were only two out of the Six Forbidden Sins present, but in the end it was because of Qiusi, Gladiolus agreed to let them go. Otherwise, things would¡¯ve been far worse.¡±


    Barbalis coughed lightly,


    ¡°Last time Black Rose came to assassinate Liola, Baolilong almost died along with him. And this time in the Dark Arena Pyramid, many young students with bright futures almost died with him, and one of them was a Blue Knight. They were all friends of Liola, and they would never abandon him. If there are more Assassins to come, they would definitely shield Liola¡­¡±


    Some rarely-seen hesitation appeared on Lancelot¡¯s face and his brows were locked. He thought to himself, if he doesn¡¯t release Liola¡¯s seal, he would most likely die in the hands of the Six Forbidden Sins. But as for the risk of other people dying, it wasn¡¯t likely. Without any profits, Assassins would never kill more than they have to. Lancelot was very familiar with the profession he hated the most.


    However, if he were to release Liola¡¯s seal, then the world would have an additional Assassin, and possibly the strongest Assassin. Lancelot would never allow this to happen. After thinking about it, Lancelot looked at Mizerui and then turned to climb onto his unicorn.


    ¡°Wait, what about Liola¡¯s seal¡­¡±


    Barbalis hadn¡¯t finished, but he was interrupted by Lancelot¡¯s deep and solemn voice,


    ¡°I trust Mizerui and Barbalis should have enough power to protect one person. This is where we stop today. Mizerui, I hope you do what¡¯s best for you, and live up to the Dragon Emperor¡¯s trust and hope in you.¡±


    After having said so, the unicorn lifted its front leg; after a majestic neigh, it flew up in the air, leaving behind two people staring at one another.


    Barbalis then burst out in tears, ¡°Are you telling me I have to be glued to Liola?¡±


    Mizerui coldly glanced at Barbalis, whom suddenly felt a shivering cold through his body. His face then turned pale.


    ¡°Mizerui, y-you are not thinking of letting me handle the entire Six Forbidden Sins by myself, right?¡±


    Mizerui smiled.


    ¡°Stop trying to trick me, Barbalis. You may have fooled Lancelot, but you can¡¯t fool me. I was just cooperating with your lies in front of Lancelot. Qiusi is already in the Dark Arena to watch. His only son and the only thing he cares about, Meinan, ran to rescue Liola. I trust Gladiolus would not want to offend the Aklan Prime Minister, and will therefore cancel the hit on Liola.¡±


    Barbalis raised his brow, and said.


    ¡°Mizerui, you¡¯re quite smart; you did indeed guess the outcome. That is correct, Gladiolus did indeed cancel the mission to assassinate Liola. However, judging from the abilities of the troublemaking group, even without the Six Forbidden Sins, the dangers that await them won¡¯t be few. I was hoping I could trick Lancelot into releasing Liola¡¯s seal, but the Paladin¡¯s stubbornness is as famous as his power.¡±


    Mizerui carefully thought.


    ¡®Indeed, if Liola¡¯s seal could not be released, then his toy would have to report to the grim reaper soon.¡¯


    However, Lancelot¡¯s seal was very difficult to release, and this made it troublesome for Mizerui.


    Barbalis suddenly asked, ¡°Mizerui, which side do you think wants Liola dead? Miluo or the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    Mizerui frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, really not sure. Both sides have reasons to kill Liola. What¡¯s important is, which side is actually righteous? What happened before, exactly? Why did the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Sacred White Dragon, otherwise known as Miluo¡¯s wife, die in vain? Why did princess Anise go to another world? Could the hatred between the Dragon Emperor and Miluo only be caused by the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s death?¡±


    Barbalis looked into the sky, and said mysteriously, ¡°Perhaps we can find all this answer from that silver-eyed Assassin.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Mizerui narrowed his eyes, ¡°Why did you say the same thing as Qiusi?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Will Meiji be fine in the Dark Street?¡±


    After having crashed the Dark Street, causing the pyramid to collapse, and after Qiusi cried as he agreed to pay for the damages they caused, the gang finally arrived at the academy ranking matches stadium safely.


    What they didn¡¯t know was Barbalis abused his powers again, and changed the time of the matches to be in three days, so they could have some rest after coming back from the Dark Street, before they have to participate in another match.


    Kaiser shrugged, and said without care.


    ¡°Sister seemed to be doing fine there. Every problem she may have, Gladiolus would probably help her. She herself said she didn¡¯t want to become my baggage, so I don¡¯t really have a choice! Gladiolus will take good care of my sister, so it should be fine. Perhaps in a while, I will suddenly have an Assassin brother-in-law. Speaking of which, I seem to be fated with Assassins.¡±


    Liola nodded while thinking Gladiolus backed off again and again because of Meiji, so he will most likely do his best to protect Meiji. Therefore, Liola wouldn¡¯t worry about her.


    However, many people did worry about Liola. After the promised three hours had been past, Liola experienced the pain of being sealed again, and his Ki was nowhere to be found. He became an agile normal person again.


    Thinking about his predicament, Liola¡¯s face sank again.


    His companions, who saw his countenance all yelled in a worried manner. ¡°Liola, what are you thinking again?¡±


    Tears fell down Purity¡¯s face. She wept as she pulled the corner of Liola¡¯s shirt, ¡°Liola-dage, please don¡¯t run away from home again.¡±


    Daylight and Meinan¡¯s faces were also filled with worry.


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank as he threatened, ¡°Stupid Assassin! If you act rashly again, I will take my gun and break your legs so you won¡¯t be able to go anywhere at all!¡±


    ¡°Baolilong will never leave papa¡¯s back again!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s stubborn face showed itself from Liola¡¯s back, declaring its determination. Baolilong¡¯s two little chubby hands also tightly held onto Liola.


    Liola smiled slightly, ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere, because there will always be people following me.¡±


    Everyone laughed, and even Kaiser said happily,


    ¡°Haha, we are safe in this lounge, and I don¡¯t believe Liola¡¯s smile could cause any curses.¡±


    Bam!


    As if to challenge what Kaiser said, a giant Dragon foot broke into the lounge, and landed on the table everyone was sitting around. The food and drinks on the table spilled onto the people around, and everyone¡¯s smiles froze. They all sat around the table like statues.


    ¡°This is your payback from destroying our lounge before!¡±


    Yiyu stood on top of the Water Dragon, and Yizhou was sitting next to him with a cold face.


    The Dragon whose foot broke through their ceiling was, of course, the Water Dragon¡¯s foot. Everyone woke up from their daze, and they all raised their head to look at Yiyu and Yizhou.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong, but I can¡¯t seem to get angry!¡± Kaiser was maintaining his smile.


    Purity clapped her hands together in front of her chest as if she was praying, and she smiled like a saint.


    ¡°Yeah. Considering we risked all of our lives a few days ago to rescue Liola out of the Dark Street, why would this little quarrel matter?¡±


    ¡°After having seen a tsunami, no one would care about a small ripple.¡± Daylight¡¯s eyes looked as if they belonged to an unfathomably wise hermit.


    As for Liola, he was the person whose expressionless face could not even be affected by tsunamis. Yiyu and Yizhou meant nothing to him. He picked up the newspaper with his left hand, and the cup he rescued in his right hand, then leisurely started reading the newspaper.


    ¡°Hahaha! What a bunch of turtles! A Dragon foot could make them pee in their pants.¡±


    Yiyu arrogantly laughed at the people from other academies. He had a super condescending look while he looked at the Aklan Academy students.


    ¡°What a bunch of losers!¡± Yizhou coldly added.


    As the sound of a gunshot being heard, a fireball scratched Yiyu¡¯s face. Along side with Kaiser¡¯s detestable look and his hand held up a middle finger.


    This all explained one thing. Kaiser would never be a peaceful, kind soul¡­ In fact, there was no peaceful soul in the Aklan Troublemaking Squad.


    Purity had already puffed her cheeks and ¡°summoned¡± her Angel Mecha, Nana, and Daylight was busy with his magic to call forth the Red Dragon Flames.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! The crowd is waiting for you to be badly beaten by us, at the point where you have to beg for mercy while lying on the ground!¡±


    Yiyu, whose face was scratched by the fireball, was enraged. He roared at the Aklan Academy team, and commanded the water Dragon towards the center of the arena.


    The giant Red Dragon, Flames, appeared out of the magic circle Daylight drew.


    After a majestic Dragon roar, Daylight, Meinan, and Kaiser all jumped onto the back of the Dragon. Purity climbed into the Mecha¡¯s chest the four of them gritted their teeth as they wanted to have a duel with Violet Academy.


    Liola put down the newspaper in his hand. A light smile flashed across his face. Liola took out a pair of dark eye protective gear and put it on, then said to the Baolilong behind him,


    ¡°Baolilong, transform into a large Dragon. We have a match to win.¡±


    After not having the chance to become a big Dragon for quite some time, Baolilong happily agreed, and immediately turned into a ten-meter tall beautiful white Dragon.


    It carried Liola up into the air and caught up with the Red Dragon and the Angel Mecha.


    Kaiser lazily laid on the Dragon¡¯s back and said, ¡°Aiya, I thought you were going to continue to bum in the lounge.¡±


    Liola flashed a smile, ¡°That was my plan, but the lounge was destroyed.¡±


    Kaiser turned onto his back, and crossed his legs.


    Daylight and Meinan turned and flashed a smiled towards Liola, while Purity skillfully controlled the Angel Mecha.


    Above the sunny day and the clouds, they looked like they were in perfect harmony. After having survived so many dangers and difficulties, this team would live happily ever after, for eternity¡­


    ¡­ Just kidding! The story¡¯s not over.


    In the blue skies and between the white clouds, a little white dot quickly closed in towards the group.


    Everyone looked curiously at the little white dot. As it got closer and closer, everyone was able to see what it was more clearly, and at the same time everyone¡¯s face looked more and more downcast, especially Liola, who couldn¡¯t stop his body from trembling.


    Kaiser suddenly jumped up. while squeezing the words between the cracks of his teeth, he said.


    ¡°Lancelot! What the hell is he doing here?¡±


    The handsome White Knight who was riding on the unicorn pulled the leash, stopping in front of the White and Red Dragons.


    The Paladin still pridefully and majestically looked down at the gang, as if he was the God of the Sun being sent to judge them.


    His justly lips slowly opened to say, ¡°Liola, hand over your Dragon Cross Necklace.¡±

 Volume 5, 1 : Anise’s Possessions

    Volume 5, Chapter 1 : Anise¡¯s Possessions


    Seeing Lancelot¡¯s judgmental look, Daylight, Kaiser, Meinan, and Purity all seemed to move in unison in front of Liola. The four of them acted like four mothers trying to protect their young, fearing that Lancelot might do Liola more harm.


    Kaiser was the first one to snap, he opened his mouth and cursed.


    ¡°Bastard! What the hell do you want again? I don¡¯t know how many times Liola almost died because of you, and you still came here shamelessly?!¡±


    Though others did not curse like Kaiser did, but judging from the anger on their faces, they all agreed with what Kaiser said.


    Lancelot, however, completely ignored Kaiser. His eagle-like eyes held their gaze at Liola. His deep and with a solemn voice, he repeated his words.


    ¡°Hand over your Dragon Cross Necklace.¡±


    Liola¡¯s heart was pounding rapidly.


    ¡®Hand over Anise¡¯s necklace? No!¡¯ Liola¡¯s right hand held tightly onto the Dragon Cross Necklace in front of his chest.


    ¡°Never!¡±


    Lancelot seemed to have known Liola wouldn¡¯t hand it over readily. He waved his arm impatiently.


    ¡°Hand it over, you don¡¯t have any power to resist, and I don¡¯t want to harm you.¡±


    Liola knew that right now, he couldn¡¯t even win against Daylight and others, let alone a rank-X person. But he could hand over everything and anything¡­ except the necklace Anise had left behind.


    Liola laughed bitterly in his heart. Even if he wasn¡¯t willing to give it up, if Lancelot were to take it forcefully, other than giving up the necklace, even if he were to give up his life, the necklace will still be taken away from him.


    Despite it all, Liola still wouldn¡¯t allow himself to hand over Anise¡¯s necklace. His face remained calm and cold, saying ¡®if you want the necklace, then take my life with it¡¯.


    Lancelot did not bother to waste any more of his breath. The unicorn ignored the presence of Daylight and others, and beelined towards Liola.


    While charging towards Liola, Lancelot¡¯s powerful aura pushed Daylight and others out of the way. Carrying Liola, Baolilong wanted to fly away, but its speed was no match for the unicorn.


    In an instant, Lancelot had already jumped onto Baolilong¡¯s back. Baolilong was angry and anxious, but it wouldn¡¯t dare to move too much to try to throw Lancelot off. Baolilong didn¡¯t want papa, who lost all his Kung Fu, to fall out of the air.


    Though Liola could sort of make out Lancelot¡¯s movements, his body could not respond in time. Without much efforts, Lancelot¡¯s hand reached the Dragon Cross Necklace on Liola¡¯s chest.


    However, the strange thing was, as if he had been electrified, Lancelot¡¯s body shook violently, and he even cried out in pain, then quickly pulled his palm back.


    Liola¡¯s eyes reflexively looked at Lancelot¡¯s palm. He saw a burnt mark appearing on Lancelot¡¯s palm, in the shape of the Dragon Cross Necklace.


    Liola was a little baffled, and instinctively reached for the necklace on his chest, but the necklace felt like it was at room temperature, so why did it leave such a burn mark on Lancelot¡¯s palm?


    Seeing his palm had been burnt, Lancelot immediately used the healing magic unique to holy Knights. An intense white light gathered in his palm. After the light faded, the wound did indeed disappear, but a scar in the shape of a cross remained in the center of his palm.


    Even though he used his healing magic again and again, the scar would not disappear. Lancelot¡¯s face was filled with rage.


    ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±


    Of course, Liola couldn¡¯t say anything, because he didn¡¯t do anything at all!


    Lancelot saw Liola, himself, was baffled, so he had no choice but ignore the scar in his palm. His hand reached towards Liola¡¯s neck, trying to threaten him with his life to hand over the Dragon Cross Necklace.


    ¡°Stop! Paladin, are you really going to harm a helpless ordinary person?¡±


    Seeing Lancelot¡¯s hand was about to reach Liola¡¯s neck, but being pushed back by Lancelot¡¯s Ki and therefore having no way of rescuing Liola, Kaiser anxiously and tried to use the Paladin¡¯s name against him, hoping Lancelot the Holy Knight would remember, the code of honor for Knights forbid them from harming weaklings.


    However, Lancelot ignored Kaiser¡¯s yells. His large hand wrapped around Liola¡¯s thin neck. But another strange thing happened: as soon as Lancelot touched Liola¡¯s skin, he jumped back as if he had been electrocuted again.


    This time, both Lancelot and Liola looked towards his palm. The cross mark looked like it was newly made again. It was bright red then it turned black, as if it had never been healed.


    Lancelot finally understood, perhaps he couldn¡¯t touch Liola at all, so maybe he can¡¯t snatch the necklace directly.


    Lancelot felt his rage rising, and he cancelled the Ki blocking Daylight and others. Daylight, Flames, Purity, and her Angel Mecha, Nana, charged in.


    Lancelot glanced around them, and finally settled his gaze on Kaiser.


    Kaiser felt terrified from Lancelot¡¯s stare, and a thought flashed across his mind.


    ¡®Crap! This guy probably couldn¡¯t touch Liola for some reason, and can¡¯t grab it directly, so he¡¯s going to threaten him with a hostage!¡¯


    Though Kaiser knew what Lancelot wanted, but he couldn¡¯t find any way out of it.


    Lancelot hopped onto the unicorn, and a white shadow flashed past Flames. When Daylight realized something was wrong and turned his head, Kaiser was already gone.


    ¡°Hand over the Dragon Cross Necklace.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s cold voice could be heard from afar, accompanied by Kaiser¡¯s moaned in pain.


    Liola felt a chill, and he looked towards the unicorn. Sure enough, Kaiser had already fallen into Lancelot¡¯s hands.


    Sitting on top of the unicorn, Lancelot¡¯s right arm was holding Kaiser¡¯s neck, and his entire body was dangling in the air, struggling.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch him!¡± Seeing Kaiser¡¯s life in danger, but he was an useless person who lost his Kung Fu, Liola felt a spinal shiver.


    ¡°Y-you damn bastard, y-you went as far as using me as a hostage?!¡±


    Kaiser desperately squeezed out curses at Lancelot between his teeth.


    Lancelot furrowed his brow, and applied more force into his hand, which made Kaiser¡¯s face turn red, and at the same time he continued to ignore the yells of everyone else.


    However, Kaiser wasn¡¯t someone who would sit idly waiting for death. He pulled out the giant gun hanging from his hips. When Lancelot¡¯s attention was back on Liola, Kaiser murmured a few incantation, and a white light emitted from the gun, with its barrel pointed directly at Lancelot¡¯s handsome face.


    Lancelot sensed a power coming from the hostage, and he immediately responded. With a wave of his other hand, Kaiser¡¯s gun fell out of the sky, and disappeared into the clouds.


    The situation had turned for worse!


    With a red face, Kaiser couldn¡¯t believe he might die before reaching the age of twenty. Could it be that the Gods were really jealous of his talents? Damn! But he didn¡¯t want to die yet.


    Kaiser gritted his teeth, and held Lancelot¡¯s hand with both of his own, and squeezed out the incantation between his teeth.


    ¡°¡­ Napalm Bomb!¡±


    Lancelot had never thought the hostage in his hands would have any powers to resist. He was caught off guard and Kaiser¡¯s bomb landed on his hand.


    In reflex, Lancelot opened his hand, letting the hostage in his hand lose¡­


    ¡°Ah! Damn you, it was just a small bomb, and you actually really let go~~¡±


    Without the support of Lancelot¡¯s hand, Kaiser fell straight out of the sky.


    Accompanied by Kaiser¡¯s screams, two Dragons and a Mecha flew towards him. However, since they didn¡¯t expect Kaiser to use his magic. They were slow at start, so they could do nothing but watch as Kaiser headed to kiss the ground.


    Kaiser desperately struggled to turn in the air, and held his head in his arms. He thought that even if he broke his arms and legs, there would still be good healing Maxun he could use, but if instead he hurts his gifted head, healing Maxuns would be useless on his head if it¡¯s opened like a broken water melon.


    While turning in the air, Kaiser¡¯s sharp eyes spotted Barbalis, along with his rarely seen solemn yet deep in thought face.


    ¡°That guy is murmuring incantation?¡±


    Kaiser acted as if he had forgotten he was free falling. He stared at Barbalis¡¯ mouth, trying to make out the spell.


    ¡°It seems to be¡­ group teleportation?¡±


    After thinking about Barbalis¡¯ spell, Kaiser saw images flying past his eyes: from a circle stadium to an open grassland, followed by a forest, and finally a barren plain.


    ¡°Aiya!¡± Kaiser finally hit the ground, and he immediately started screaming, ¡°Oh my god, it¡¯s over, I must¡¯ve broken my arms and legs, crap! My head, is my precious brain okay?¡±


    Kaiser immediately started patting different parts of his body, and then finally sat baffled and cross-legged on the ground, wondering why he seemed to be unscathed?


    It couldn¡¯t be, he obviously fell from a very high place¡­


    The confusion the others had was not any less than Kaiser¡¯s.


    They were still in the sky above the stadium, so why are they suddenly on a barren plain?


    Other than confusion, Liola and others saw nothing wrong with Kaiser, and he could still pat his body in different places and calmly scratch his face, so it seemed Kaiser was completely unharmed. They could finally relax.


    ¡°Lancelot, how could you attack a students above the stadium? Aren¡¯t you afraid you will harm your fame as a Paladin? Look, I especially used a group teleportation for you so we can fight somewhere else!¡± Barbalis laughed as he explained.


    ¡°You old geezer!¡± Kaiser jumped up.


    ¡°Did you purposely take us out here in the middle of no where so that guy Lancelot could kill us and you wouldn¡¯t have to bury us?¡±


    Barbalis acted surprised, and asked, ¡°Kill you? That couldn¡¯t be, could it? Why would a righteous Paladin kill a few students and an ordinary person who couldn¡¯t fight back?¡±


    Hearing this, Lancelot¡¯s face turned cold, and with an even colder voice he said,


    ¡°Barbalis, don¡¯t mock me. Killing them is not my goal, but if killing them will reach my goal, then I will not hold back.¡±


    Barbalis showed a clown-like smile, and jokingly replied, ¡°Really? These guys are innocent, are you seriously going to kill them? This isn¡¯t like you.¡±


    ¡°Unless necessary, I wouldn¡¯t kill anyone. As long as that Assassin hands over the Dragon Cross Necklace, I will never make things difficult for him again.¡± Lancelot impatiently waved his arm and said.


    ¡°Are you a robber now? It¡¯s an alright profession. Did you finally have an epiphany, and decided to stop being a righteous Holy Knight?¡± Barbalis face was full of smiles, but his speech cut deep.


    Lancelot roared, ¡°I am righteous. That necklace belongs to the Dragon Emperor. I am simply following orders to retrieve the necklace.¡±


    Barbalis¡¯s gaze was fixed in Lancelot¡¯s palm, and he reflexively held his fist to cover up the mark left behind by the Dragon necklace, but Barbalis had already seen the entire process of Lancelot getting burnt by the necklace.


    Seeing Lancelot was trying to cover it up, he lightly laughed, ¡°Following orders? Whose orders? Was it the Dragon Emperor¡¯s?¡±


    Lancelot went silent, and his silence made Barbalis even more skeptical.


    If it was the Emperor¡¯s order, Lancelot should have admitted without any hesitation. So it¡¯s not the Dragon Emperor¡¯s order? Then who else could there be who could give orders to the dignified Paladin?


    Barbalis¡¯ curiosity was not satisfied, but he better handle this situation well. Even for him, he couldn¡¯t be sure that, in the event the Paladin attacks, he could ensure the safety of all five of them and two Dragons.


    But the Dragon Cross Necklace was very important and too many mysteries were behind it.


    Barbalis heard a voice inside his head constantly telling him, the necklace must not be handed over. But how can he make the Paladin give up without giving him the necklace?


    Barbalis laughed bitterly, ¡®Mizerui, you are great. You are hiding far away and throwing all the problems to me.¡¯


    Lancelot also thought, he couldn¡¯t touch the Dragon necklace or Liola. Barbalis was obviously siding with Liola, so taking back the necklace looks like a difficult task, but he did promise his good friend. Lancelot furrowed his brows.


    ¡°Liola!?¡±


    Daylight¡¯s yell made turn and look at Liola.


    Liola¡¯s face was getting paler and paler by the second, his body was fumbling around, and even his breath was irregular.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t know what was going on either. He felt his breathing was getting more and more labored, and his body getting weaker and weaker.


    Finally, he blacked out, and fell off from Baolilong¡¯s back. Luckily, Daylight had already noticed something wrong with Liola, and commanded Flames to fly over, allowing Daylight to catch Liola.


    When Daylight lowered his hand to examine Liola, he noticed that something was very, very wrong. Liola¡¯s face was drained of blood, and his breathing was so weak, it was barely noticeable.


    ¡°Liola? What happened? Wake up!¡± Daylight was anxious.


    Liola¡¯s body was almost like a dead corpse. He was just fine, so why would this suddenly happen?


    Flames landed on the ground. Kaiser and Barbalis hurried to Flames, and Purity jumped out from the cockpit onto Flames¡¯ back before the Mecha even securely landed.


    She desperately shook Liola¡¯s body while continuously calling Liola¡¯s name.


    Kaiser looked at Liola, and immediately yelled.


    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s Black Rose¡¯s poison. Feir said he could only suppress it, and looks like Liola¡¯s poison is recurring.¡±


    The moment everyone heard, and their faces turned pale. Barbalis said while crouching.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go bring Feir here¡­¡±


    But Kaiser reached out his hand and covered Barbalis¡¯ mouth.


    After throwing a look at Barbalis to tell him to be quiet, Kaiser took big steps toward Lancelot, and stopped a few feet away. He said to Lancelot.


    ¡°Liola was poisoned because he lost his ability to defend himself, and his current predicament was caused by you and you alone. You have the responsibility of curing him.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s face froze. The balance of good and evil kept swaying in his heart. He thought if the Assassin was dead, then a lot of problems would be gone, and at the same time he could take away the Dragon Cross Necklace¡­


    ¡°Paladin!¡±


    Daylight¡¯s roar awakened Lancelot from his thoughts.


    Without any hesitation, Lancelot took a few steps towards Daylight and Liola. A dense and bright white light emitted from Lancelot¡¯s palm. With the illumination from the light, Liola¡¯s otherwise corpse-like face gradually filled with color, and his breath became normal. Seeing this, everyone sighed in relief.


    Daylight lowered his head and looked at Liola, then raised his head again; a pair of firm eyes looked at Lancelot.


    ¡°Paladin, isn¡¯t Liola your apprentice?¡±


    Everyone felt their heart skip a beat, especially Kaiser, Meinan, and Purity.


    They had spent a lot of time lately with Daylight, and even risked their lives in the Dark Street to save Liola. Daylight had already been a part of the gang, and the three of them had completely forgotten Daylight didn¡¯t know the truth about the issue.


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what is going on, but Paladin, can you promise me you have a righteous reason for taking away the Dragon Cross Necklace, and not for any criminal reasons?¡±


    Daylight¡¯s solemn and righteous speech, along with his unswerving eyes, almost reminded Lancelot of himself when he was younger.


    Lancelot laughed in his heart, but his face remained solemn like before. Lancelot answered with hesitation, with the same righteousness as Daylight.


    ¡°Who do you think I am? I am the Paladin Lancelot!¡±


    Seeing Lancelot not hesitating, and did not show any signs of guilt, Daylight¡¯s face relaxed. He lowered his head to look at the unconscious Liola.


    He grabbed Liola¡¯s Dragon Cross Necklace, and when everyone thought he, too, would be burnt, Daylight tugged and took the necklace from Liola, and held the necklace towards Lancelot as if nothing was wrong.


    Lancelot hesitated as he reached out his hand out, but when his hand was near the necklace, Lancelot clearly felt that the temperature in his palm was rising. Lancelot¡¯s face sank, why would this child be unharmed by the necklace?


    ¡°Daylight! The necklace is Liola-dage¡¯s treasured possession, you can¡¯t give it to someone else!¡±


    Seeing Daylight was about to give the necklace to Lancelot, Purity took the opportunity and grabbed the necklace before Lancelot had a chance to.


    She held onto it tightly in her chest, then backed up behind Kaiser and Meinan. Meinan had the same expression as Purity; filled with discord. However, Kaiser¡¯s face was filled with hesitation.


    Daylight sported a serious expression and asked Purity, ¡°Which is more important, the necklace or Liola¡¯s life?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Meinan and Purity clearly knew which was more important; if Liola¡¯s dead, who would care who has the necklace?


    ¡°Up to this point, how many dangers did this necklace bring to Liola? Liola already doesn¡¯t have his Kung Fu. If he were to continue to wear this necklace, he will most likely die because of it.¡±


    Daylight lowered his head to look at the unconscious Liola, trying to remember how many times had Liola been on the verge of death.


    Hearing what Daylight said, Meinan and Purity¡¯s faces both sank.


    Indeed, ever since they¡¯ve known Liola, he had suffered countless wounds, and almost lost his life many times.


    Kaiser calmly said to Daylight, ¡°Wrap the necklace in a rag and give it to the Paladin.¡±


    While everyone else was stupefied, Kaiser turned to Lancelot again,


    ¡°Sir Paladin, are you satisfied now? You¡¯ve already sealed Liola, and now the necklace is yours too. Can you promise us neither the Dragon Emperor nor Miluo would cause us any more trouble?¡±


    ¡°I can promise for the Dragon Emperor. But as for Miluo¡­¡±


    Lancelot lowered his head for a short meditation, then said, ¡°I will tell the Knight Association to assign patrols and guard towers around the academy.¡±


    Kaiser grabbed the wrapped necklace out of Daylight¡¯s hand, and said solemnly,


    ¡°This necklace is yours, and we won¡¯t beg you to release Liola¡¯s seal. But if Liola still gets kidnapped or gets poisoned, or even dies, it will be your obligation to save him, or seek revenge for him. It¡¯s not too much to ask, right?!¡±


    Lancelot calmly received the wrapped necklace, jumped back onto the unicorn, and said one word, ¡°Sure¡±


    Then the unicorn flew up into the sky, and the little white shadow flew off into the distance.


    ¡°Hmmph!¡±


    Kaiser watched with cold eyes as Lancelot flew away. But instead of relief, he seemed to be more and more worried.


    ¡°Kaiser, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Purity asked.


    Lancelot was gone, so what could make Kaiser seem this worried?


    Kaiser turned around to look at Daylight and the unconscious Liola, and his body started to tremble and his face looked like he was in pain. He said while cold sweat ran down his face.


    ¡°I forgot to tell Lancelot to protect me too. If Liola finds out I handed over his necklace, would he forget about the promise to Ani-something, and kill me in one blow?¡±


    ¡°Waahhh, Daylight you must take good care of me, and don¡¯t let Liola hurt me!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    * * *


    Barbalis also watched as Lancelot left. He couldn¡¯t believe Kaiser would hand over the necklace, and Kaiser¡¯s sudden actions left him no choice but to simply watch.


    ¡®Hmm, what should he do now?¡¯


    Barbalis began to think about how he could retrieve the necklace for Liola¡­ He suddenly noticed someone looking at him, so Barbalis alertly raised his head.


    He saw Kaiser, who was moaning in pain because he thinks Liola might kill him, was glancing at him from the corner of his eyes, and Kaiser¡¯s eyes seemed to be trying to warn him something.


    Barbalis was shocked. When he looked at Kaiser again, Kaiser was laughing stupidly, with no signs of any warning. But his stupid laugh made Barbalis feel even more numb than his warning eyes.


    ¡°Other than being raised in the Dark Street, could this little runt have other¡­¡± Barbalis murmured to himself¡­


    ¡®Oh, crap!¡¯


    ¡°Damn! The ranking matches! Aklan Academy¡¯s first place! My position as the best academy¡¯s principal!¡±

 Volume 5, 2 : The Real Ordinary

    Volume 5, Chapter 2 : The Real Ordinary


    ¡°Gone¡­¡±


    Liola was at a loss. His right hand kept touching his chest, where his necklace was supposed to be, but there was nothing. The Dragon cross necklace that had always been there was now nowhere to be found.


    ¡®Anise¡­¡¯


    ¡°Gone!¡±


    Barbalis shrank into the sofa, remembering when he got back to the stadium, the other principals all claimed that Aklan Academy ran away from the match, and therefore Violet Academy won by default. As such, his position as the principal of the first academy was gone!


    Unlike the two depressed people on the sofa, Kaiser was in a celebratory mood. He crossed his legs, and said leisurely but roughly.


    ¡°Fortunately, my life is still here. Hahaha! I knew Liola would hold up his promise to Anise, psh, otherwise, why wouldn¡¯t he kill me now?¡±


    ¡°Kaiser!¡±


    Purity quietly scolded him, and at the same time turned to look at Liola. A dark, depressed aura was gathering around the Assassin.


    Liola¡¯s face looked like he was in despair, which made Purity extremely worried, especially with Kaiser gloating on the side, but she didn¡¯t know what she should do.


    Kaiser heard Purity¡¯s yell, but not only did he not put on a sad face, he raised his eyebrows, and crouched in front of the Assassin to scrutinize him. He even used his index finger to poke the Assassin.


    Liola was already enraged at the fact that Kaiser handed over the necklace when he was unconscious, but now Kaiser was rubbing salt in his wounds. Liola¡¯s eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he reached out and grabbed Kaiser¡¯s damn index finger tightly.


    ¡°What! Wanna kill me?¡± Kaiser acted as if he didn¡¯t know he already made the Assassin furious, and threw more gasoline on the fire.


    Liola gritted his teeth, and desperately thought of Anise¡¯s promise so he could control himself from pulling out Broken Silver to slice his friend in two¡­


    Kaiser pulled back his finger, and asked Liola. ¡°Let me ask you. What¡¯s more important, Anise or the damn necklace?¡±


    Liola was shocked, and didn¡¯t understand the purpose of Kaiser¡¯s question.


    Kaiser patiently waited for his answer.


    Liola said after furrowing his brows. ¡°Anise.¡±


    ¡°Then let me ask you again. Whose life had been lost in exchange for yours?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s question hit Liola like a bolt of lightning. His murderous aura had been completely washed away, and he was back to his depressed look.


    However, Kaiser still wasn¡¯t willing to let it go, so he opened his mouth and asked again.


    ¡°You are living because of Anise, do you really think you could easily throw your life away?¡±


    Hearing this, Liola lowered his head as far as he could.


    Seeing Liola abnormal action, Kaiser finally felt a little bit of sympathy. He said awkwardly.


    ¡°Anyhow, this is what I think: Anise would definitely not want you to lose your life over her necklace. She saved you not so you can die later, but instead for you to live well, right?¡±


    Liola¡¯s body shook again.


    What would Anise say in this situation? It must be¡­ for him live well, right? She had always said so in the past.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Kaiser would actually talk seriously like this.¡± Purity widened her eyes, and even Meinan was in disbelief.


    ¡°What? I am serious sometimes.¡± Kaiser immediately protested.


    ¡°Haha, but it¡¯s really rare to see Kaiser this serious.¡±


    Even Daylight laughed, which made all three of them turn around to look at Daylight. Six widened eyes made Daylight feel awkward, so he asked.


    ¡°What? Why are you all suddenly looking at me like this?¡±


    Kaiser frowned, ¡°Uh, about the fact that we told you Liola was Lancelot¡¯s apprentice¡­ We didn¡¯t lie to you on purpose, the situation required it, you know, b-because¡­ oh right! I almost forgot, it was to save Liola.¡±


    ¡®Not on purpose? It was practically premeditated¡­¡¯ Purity and Meinan listened to Kaiser lying again and cold sweat started running down their foreheads.


    Daylight sported a solemn face, ¡°Lying is wrong, but let¡¯s forget about the past. I knew you guys were trying to save Liola and had to lie, but I hope from now on, you guys won¡¯t use lies to achieve your goals.¡±


    Daylight¡¯s righteous demeanor made Purity and Meinan nod immediately, and even Kaiser looked embarrassed, indicating he agrees, but nobody knew how sincere he actually was, and even Daylight looked skeptically at Kaiser.


    Kaiser gulped, then waved his hands and said,


    ¡°I won¡¯t. I only lie when I have no other options available. Now that Liola already handed over the necklace, and his Kung Fu sealed, not to mention Lancelot said he would send people to protect us. I don¡¯t believe there will still be situations where I would be forced to lie¡­¡±


    Purity immediately used her hand to cover Kaiser¡¯s big mouth, and looked at Liola worriedly, fearing Liola would be provoked by what Kaiser said.


    When they were all looking at Liola worriedly, he raised his head, and said as if deep in thought.


    ¡°Really? So you¡¯re saying there will be no more trouble?¡±


    After Liola heard what Kaiser said, he finally realized, from now onwards there wouldn¡¯t be a ton of troubles pressuring him into breaking his promise with Anise, and he wouldn¡¯t put his companions into dangerous situations.


    A plain and boring school life? Isn¡¯t it how he had always wanted to live?


    Kaiser answered lazily, ¡°Yeah, no more trouble.¡±


    Liola¡¯s darkened eyes began to flash silver lights.


    He turned to look at Kaiser and others, and the four of them looked worried. For the first time, Liola felt it wasn¡¯t such a bad thing losing Anise¡¯s necklace. At the very least he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about harming the four people around him, and not having to worry they would lose their lives because of him.


    Liola remembered when he was in the Dark Arena Pyramid, when he realized four of his companions were risking their lives to save him from the Dark Street. That feeling of fear and pain was something he would never want to experience again.


    ¡°Hmm, papa?¡±


    Baolilong, who was lying on its stomach on Liola¡¯s legs and sleeping happily, suddenly woke up. It rubbed its sleepy eyes and yawned, then it tried to reach for the necklace as a habit, but only felt Liola¡¯s chest.


    Baolilong was baffled, then it tilted its little head and said, ¡°Mama is gone¡­ Oh, right, mama said she will be back.¡±


    Liola and others were confused by what Baolilong said, but it was not unusual for Baolilong to speak nonsense.


    Baolilong¡¯s babbling seemed to have attracted everyone¡¯s attention¡­ Except Barbalis, who was sitting on the side still depressed for losing his seat as the top principal, but a light flashed across his eyes.


    Liola softly touched Baolilong¡¯s white hair.


    Baolilong was a bit surprised, because it was rare for Liola to do something indulging. The only time he acted like this, was when Liola decided to run away from them, so such tender action actually made Baolilong feel uneasy.


    Its little chubby hands and feet wrapped tightly around Liola, and its eyes looked were saying,


    ¡®I¡¯m never letting go¡¯.


    Looking at Baolilong¡¯s cuteness and his companions, Liola thought, if he lost the necklace so he¡¯ll never endanger these four people and a Dragon, then Anise would forgive him, right?


    ¡°Excuse me, uh¡­¡± They all heard a timid voice coming from the door, and everyone¡¯s attention was diverted towards.


    They all saw Lanski standing at the door with a frown.


    * * *


    They were still in the lounge of the stadium where the ranking matches were.


    However, if they were to raise their heads, they could clearly see the blue skies and white clouds. Being able to do so from the lounge could only mean one thing ¡ª the ceiling had all but disappeared.


    If they were to look around more closely, they would notice some of the walls were missing, and only two remained.


    The only thing remained in the entire room was probably the sofa where Liola and Barbalis were sitting.


    Among the dust and debris, having a complete sofa sitting in the middle was unspeakably strange.


    Originally, the lounge had only a hole caused by Yizhou¡¯s Dragon, but when Kaiser and others carried the unconscious Liola back, Yiyu and others from the Violet Academy swaggered over, informing them of their loss because they had deserted the match. Therefore, all the other principals decided for Violet Academy to be crowned as the winner.


    Other than Barbalis¡¯ yells for unfairness, Kaiser and others wouldn¡¯t care at all.


    However, Yiyu started to mock them¡­ Mocking would have been fine, but he decided to mock the unconscious Liola and a Dragon.


    Then there was someone who couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, so a Sacred White Dragon and the Angel Nana started battling against them¡­ As soon as the Dragon and Mecha start fighting, the remaining three obviously join the fray.


    It wouldn¡¯t have mattered much if nothing else happened. At most, it would have been two teams finishing the match they were supposed to have, since the arena was just a few steps away.


    But things weren¡¯t so simple.


    Aklan Academy students were very unhappy of losing their title as being students of the best academy. In addition, Violet Academy had extreme hatred towards them, so then things escalated into a brawl between two academies.


    But if it¡¯s just a brawl between two academies, it wasn¡¯t unprecedented, and normally wouldn¡¯t destroy the stadium¡­


    The problem was, Barbalis had gone crazy. When he heard he had lost his title as the top principal, he froze on the spot.


    Until the brawl started, and a student carelessly shot a fireball towards him (to this day, it is still unknown which side the student belonged to). Barbalis then lost it and became a human fireball launching machine.


    And now, the entire stadium only had two walls left, along with the sofa where Liola was placed.


    Originally, the ground was covered with students moaning in pain, but at this time they were all cleared out¡­ Erm, sent to the infirmary for treatment.


    * * *


    ¡°Sorry, I should¡¯ve knocked first, but¡­ there wasn¡¯t a door here, so¡­¡±


    Lanski stood awkwardly at where the door should¡¯ve been, but there was nothing left of the door.


    An angry, puffy face surfaced from behind Lanski ¡ª Jasmine. She was not polite like Lanski.


    As soon as she saw Liola on the sofa, she immediately ran up, and put her hands on her waist, yelling like a lioness,


    ¡°Liola, you were ridiculous. Did you know everyone was worried about you? How could you walk away without saying anything, what do you think your baby is? How could you abandon him so easily? You, you really are¡­¡±


    Jasmine kept saying ¡°you¡±, but still couldn¡¯t say the following words. She sighed and her angry expression dissipated, replaced by worried expression. She then asked,


    ¡°What happened to you? Why did you leave without saying anything?¡±


    ¡°I misunderstood you, I¡¯m really sorry.¡±


    Lanski lowered her head, because she was very clear she had done something wrong. Though she didn¡¯t know what happened after, but she knew everything started with her accusations.


    Although Lanski was prideful and arrogant, she will never push blame onto someone else, and she will apologize if she knew she had done something wrong.


    Liola¡¯s expression changed. However, as soon as he saw Lanski¡¯s familiar hair and face, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from reaching for his necklace, but there was nothing in front of his chest.


    A feeling of guilt surged in his heart. He couldn¡¯t save Anise¡¯s life, and now he couldn¡¯t even save her last possession¡­ Liola was starting to feel a bit relieved, but now sank into self-loathing again.


    Jasmine saw that Liola¡¯s depressed face, and thought he wasn¡¯t willing to accept Lanski¡¯s apology, so she spoke for her friend.


    ¡°Liola, don¡¯t blame Lanski. You know she was just being her righteous self, and she meant no harm. Forgive her, okay?¡±


    Lanski felt she went too far. She completely forgot who she was and did a 90 degree bow towards Liola, then said loudly,


    ¡°Sorry, please forgive me.¡±


    Liola, who was absorbed in his own world of self-loathing, was dragged back to reality by Lanski¡¯s loud voice. He was baffled as he looked at the bowing Princess, unsure what Lanski was actually doing.


    ¡°Liola-dage, you should forgive the Princess!¡±


    Purity finally spoke. She shook Liola¡¯s arm trying to help Lanski, but her action made Liola even more confused.


    He thought, they wanted him to forgive Lanski? But what did Lanski do that he needed to forgive?


    Liola face remained expressionless.


    ¡®Sigh, this guy must not even know what the heck is going on.¡¯


    Kaiser scratched his head, and knew making a Princess bow to Liola for too long was never a good thing, but unfortunately Liola was unparalleled in being obtuse¡­


    Kaiser couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He grabbed Liola¡¯s arm and whispered into his ear.


    ¡°Hey, a beauty is apologizing to you. You better coax her, say something like, ¡®Baby, I don¡¯t care what you do, I forgive you¡¯ and it will be all good!¡±


    Liola glanced at Kaiser, and then diverted his attention back to Lanski.


    Liola hesitatingly did as Kaiser asked, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I forgive you.¡±


    As for the word ¡°baby¡± and rest, he thought it was best to leave them out¡­


    Lanski immediately raised her head. She carefully examined Liola¡¯s expression, and sure enough, she found no signs of him being angry with her. Liola seemed like he didn¡¯t really cared.


    Lanski was very surprised, and thought Liola¡¯s tolerance was much higher than she had originally thought, and she was the one who seemed childish and naive.


    Lanski couldn¡¯t help but blame herself. She said earnestly.


    ¡°Liola, I¡¯m really sorry about how I treated you before. Can we forget about what happened, and I sincerely ask you, will you be my friend?¡±


    After saying so, Lanski reached out her right hand to try to shake hands with Liola.


    Kaiser immediately used his shoulder to push Liola, trying to tell Liola with his eyes to be friends with the Princess immediately.


    Being friends with a Princess must have a dozen pros and no cons, so how could Kaiser let this opportunity go? Though the person being friends with a Princess wasn¡¯t him, but Liola¡¯s friend was practically Kaiser¡¯s friend too!


    But what Kaiser and Lanski didn¡¯t know, was how much of an effect Lanski¡¯s actions had on Liola.


    What Liola saw was Anise¡¯s smile and friendly hand. This scene looked as if Anise herself came out to tell Liola it was okay to lose the necklace.


    Liola didn¡¯t need Kaiser¡¯s reminder, and he had already reached out with both of his hands to grab Lanski¡¯s right hand tightly.


    Lanski was surprised at Liola holding her hand tightly, or it should be said that everyone was shocked by Liola¡¯s abnormal actions. But Liola himself found nothing wrong as he swam in the joy of Anise forgiving him.


    Lanski uncomfortably glanced at her good friend Jasmine.


    Jasmine was also staring at them with wide eyes. Lanski was worried about her good friend misunderstanding the situation, so she desperately withdrew her own hand, and said with emphasis.


    ¡°Then Liola, we will now be good friends. Oh, I hope we will always be good friends.¡±


    Liola raised his head to look deeply into Lanski¡¯s eyes, and his face was smiling.


    The original cold face actually showed a rare warmth and kindness, which made Kaiser and other bystanders drop their jaws.


    Kaiser even murmured while trembling.


    ¡°A smile is horrifying enough, and now his whole expression¡­ Could it be, the world is going to end tomorrow? Waaahhh, I still have to earn a lot of money, and taste a lot of good food!¡±


    Lanski was also somewhat surprised, but since she wasn¡¯t familiar with Liola and she didn¡¯t act exaggeratedly like Kaiser, she only felt strange that the ice cold eyes actually felt as soft and warm as the moonlight.


    Liola¡¯s soft smile accompanied his clean and beautiful demeanor well. Though it was weird to describe a man this way, but Lanski still couldn¡¯t help but think,


    ¡®Could this man be a fairy under the moonlight?¡¯


    Though Lanski was worried Jasmine would misunderstand, but at this time she couldn¡¯t even take a glance at Jasmine with the corner of her eyes. It seemed her eyes¡­ couldn¡¯t move an inch away from this silver-eyed man¡¯s face?


    At this time, Jasmine¡¯s situation was near identical to Lanski¡¯s.


    Her eyes stared at Liola greedily. Other than letting this moonlight fairy consumed her mind, Jasmine did not realize Liola¡¯s smile was currently directed at another girl.


    Two girls staring at the same man, the atmosphere was very romantic¡­


    Yeah right!


    One man and one woman would be romantic. Two women one man is trouble. Kaiser held his head with both hands and shook it vigorously.


    God!


    Finally becoming friends with the Princess, but from what he could see, this entire debacle would more likely become trouble instead! No, he couldn¡¯t let this thing continue¡­


    ¡°NO!¡±


    Everyone was stunned, and then they all looked at the person who yelled ¡°no¡± ¡ª Barbalis.


    They saw his messy hair, his blood-shot eyes, and his wrinkled Sorcerer robe. He didn¡¯t look anything like a principal (but did he ever?).


    Everyone was confused while looking at Barbalis. Barbalis went crazy, and then pointed at his students and ordered.


    ¡°I must get back my position as the top principal! If you don¡¯t get it back for me, you are all expelled!¡±


    ¡°Damn! That¡¯s not even reasonable, how could we do that?¡±


    Kaiser fought back without hesitation, but Barbalis didn¡¯t flinch like he usually did, but instead moved his terrifying face in front of Kaiser¡¯s, and said word for word.


    ¡°When I tell you to get it back, you get it back. If you can¡¯t get it back, then prepare to be buried alive with the dead!¡±


    Though surprised by Barbalis¡¯ words, Kaiser wouldn¡¯t rest until he made a comeback.


    ¡°What do you mean buried alive, there has to be someone dead before you can bury us with them.¡±


    Barbalis ignored Kaiser, and then started murmuring and dancing again.


    ¡°Ahaha, right, let¡¯s do that. I will send students to assassinate all of the students in Violet Academy. Without any students, there won¡¯t be an academy, hahaha!¡±


    Seeing Barbalis¡¯ crazy look, Kaiser coldly dragged Meinan over.


    ¡°Hey, go talk to your dad, otherwise you will have to be an Assassin soon.¡±


    Meinan weakly nodded. Though he didn¡¯t want to look for the father with whom he was in a cold war, he also didn¡¯t want to become an Assassin or be expelled after years of suffering in the academy.


    ¡°Do you like Lanski?¡± A question surfaced out of the blue.


    While everyone¡¯s attention was on Barbalis, they were shock to hear such as question.


    Who was it that brought up this question?


    Everyone looked at the three people in a love triangle, only to realize the person who asked was someone part of the triangle.


    Jasmine stared at Liola with wide eyes, awaiting his answer without hesitation.


    Lanski immediately waved her hands and said, ¡°Jasmine, why are you talking like this? You should know it¡¯s impossible for me to like Liola, didn¡¯t you already know?¡±


    Lanski¡¯s face had turned completely red, and her speech stuttered. But she saw Jasmine was still stubbornly staring at Liola as if she had to have an answer. To prevent her friend from misunderstanding, Lanski said loudly,


    ¡°The person I-I like is Silver Mask. Jasmine, didn¡¯t you already know?¡±


    ¡®Isn¡¯t she practically confessing to Liola?¡¯


    Everyone looked at the Assassin with dropped jaws, waiting to see how Liola would respond to Lanski¡¯s love confession.


    ¡°I know you like Silver Mask, but I just want to ascertain whether Liola likes you is all. If the person he likes is you, then at least I would be emotionally prepared.¡±


    After saying so, Jasmine held her gaze at Liola, and asked again, ¡°Do you like Lanski or do you like me?¡±


    ¡®This is really fun to watch¡­¡¯


    Everyone¡¯s eyes returned on the male lead of the love triangle, waiting to see if he would choose the Princess with unparalleled beauty, or the affinitive girl next door.


    ¡®Of course he should choose the Princess!¡¯ Kaiser and Purity both yelled in their mind, but their reasons were far different from one another.


    Princess equals money, and Liola¡¯s money was also Kaiser¡¯s money, so of course Kaiser wanted him to choose the Princess!


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes glowed. Lanski, in his eyes, was like a breathing gold mine.


    A handsome hero Silver Mask being with the beautiful Princess would be the perfect ending to the fairy tale.


    Purity looked sympathetically at Jasmine, ¡®Too bad you¡¯re not a Princess, sigh¡­¡¯


    ¡°Jasmine is definitely 100 times better than Princess!¡± Meinan seriously protested for his good friend.


    If Liola would score a perfect 100 on his Kung Fu, then his score for romance would be negative 100.


    The Assassin who didn¡¯t understand love answered directly, ¡°I like you more, Jasmine.¡±


    In Liola¡¯s heart, Jasmine was easier to be with than Lanski, so he answered he liked Jasmine more, but that was the full extent of his feeling for her.


    To the Assassin, love was still a mystery.


    However, this answer not only allowed Lanski to sigh in relief, it also made the straightforward Jasmine blush.


    She answered with a stutter, ¡°O-oh, is t-that so?¡±


    The atmosphere finally seemed to return to normal.


    Other than Barbalis, who was pulling his own beard and murmuring some strange ideas to himself, everyone was lazily enjoying the afternoon sun, to the point where they almost want to thank Yiyu for breaking the ceiling.


    It wasn¡¯t strange, considering this group of late teens and early twenties went into the Dark Street just a few days ago with the thought of dying there, then ran into the Paladin, and fought with Violet Academy. The series of confrontations was too much even for the Aklan Academy Troublemaking Squad.


    Everyone looked a bit lazy, but Lanski seemed like she had something to say. With the encouragement from her good friend Jasmine, Lanski finally said with a blush.


    ¡°Excuse me, do you know where Silver Mask is?¡±


    Everyone froze, and they all looked towards Kaiser, including Silver Mask himself ¡ª Liola.


    Lanski thought Kaiser knew Silver Mask¡¯s whereabouts, and a pair of beautiful and hopeful eyes stared at Kaiser.


    ¡®Bastards! What does this have to do with me?¡¯ Kaiser cursed in his mind, sported a smile.


    ¡°Silver Mask? He left with his master, and probably won¡¯t be coming back anytime soon.¡±


    Lanski looked like she had been hit by lightning. After the shock, her whole persona seemed to sink into depression, and her face was filled with sadness and despair.


    The gang almost wanted to push Liola into her arms to try to comfort the Princess, but Kaiser¡¯s fierce eyes made everyone decide otherwise.


    Kaiser had planned to make Silver Mask disappear from now on so he wouldn¡¯t cause them anymore trouble.


    Kaiser had already forgotten the reason why Silver Mask appeared in the first place, and forgot it was because someone was greedy for Purity¡¯s brooch, therefore forcing Liola to become the man to fight the Dragon.


    ¡°T-then when will he be back?¡± Lanski tried very hard to hold back the fluster in her heart, but couldn¡¯t cover the trembling in her voice.


    Everyone looked at Kaiser, trying to stop him from provoking the Princess.


    Although Kaiser will often take pity on a girl, but if this girl were to bring him more trouble, he¡¯d be the first one to push her into a fire pit.


    Kaiser said without any hesitation, ¡°He won¡¯t be back for a very, very long¡­¡±


    ¡°He will be back, soon.¡±


    Liola interrupted Kaiser¡¯s sentence, and even said this to Lanski. Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped and looked at Liola,


    ¡®T-this guy just said he likes Jasmine more, and now says this to comfort Lanski¡­ When did he become such a playboy and putting his feet into two doors*?¡¯


    [*: Chinese proverb for two timing.]


    Liola, who didn¡¯t understand emotions, definitely didn¡¯t know anything about being a playboy.


    The only reason he said it was because he didn¡¯t want to see Lanski¡­ and by extension, Anise¡­ having a sad expression on her face.


    Lanski clearly sighed in relief, but still said in a worried manner,


    ¡°If Silver Mask is back, please tell me immediately.¡±


    Ignoring Kaiser¡¯s glare, Liola calmly nodded. Satisfied when he saw Lanski¡¯s smile resurfacing, he felt as if he saw Anise smiling at him, and Liola felt warmth in his heart.


    Perhaps this time¡­ he could really live a quiet and calm life?

 Volume 5, 3 : Auntie

    Volume 5, Chapter 3 : Auntie


    The days after losing the ranking match had not been easy, especially when the reason was due to their absence. Even if Kaiser were to come up with random excuses, such as the Paladin was in need of rescue, etc, it was of no use.


    ¡°Nonsense! Why would the Paladin would need rescuing? Even if he did, he would look for the Dark Knight or the Dragon Emperor. He would never look for you unless everyone else in the world was dead.¡±


    Some Knight ignored all the chivalric codes and started swearing.


    That¡¯s¡­ because we all got food poisoning, so we all had to go to the bathroom.


    Kaiser thought about it, and the Knight was right. If the Paladin was in trouble, the situation couldn¡¯t be handled by a couple of students, so he immediately changed his excuse.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying the principal was so kind, he used a group teleportation spell just to move all of you to bathrooms?¡±


    All the Sorcery students present said with a sunken face.


    Uh¡­


    Everyone who knew Barbalis would know he would rather force the students to poop in the stadium than let for them to give up on the match, let alone being kind enough to teleport them to the bathroom.


    Kaiser also understood it was impossible to fool the Sorcery students whom Barbalis had tormented for years.


    And the result of all the failed excuses was the Troublemaker Gang being chased by students from all three schools for a week.


    Every place they could possibly hide, Kaiser had been there at least once, and now Liola and Kaiser were hidden in a very secretive place.


    ¡°Liola, come a bit closer.¡± Kaiser¡¯s voice could be heard in a pitch dark place, together with some tinkling noises.


    Liola quietly moved a bit closer.


    Kaiser continued to say, ¡°No no, I can¡¯t hold myself back anymore. Liola, I have to hug you.¡±


    Liola hesitated a bit, but he himself also couldn¡¯t restrain himself. He thought about it, and Liola actually reached out and grabbed Kaiser, who also hugged back. As they did, they felt their bodies getting warmer¡­


    ¡°AHH?!¡± Along with a scream, the dark place was suddenly lit up. Under the bright light, Liola and Kaiser couldn¡¯t see who it was.


    ¡°W-what are you guys doing in the freezer? Haha, even your hair has frosted. Even if you guys are willing to die for love, did you really have to commit a lovers¡¯ suicide by freezing yourselves in the freezer? Ahaha¡­¡±


    The person who opened the door rolled on the floor laughing at the two frozen human popsicles.


    ¡°M-Mi-zerui.¡± Shivering, Kaiser called out the person¡¯s name, and then he looked around to see if there were any other students.


    Kaiser was freezing to the point where his blood almost froze, or rather, it had already frozen. He wanted to jump out of the freezer¡­ but then he was shocked to he realized that¡­


    ¡°Damn it, my hand is stuck on Liola¡¯s shirt!¡±


    Kaiser desperately struggled, but his hand really felt like it was part of Liola¡¯s shirt, his hand was firmly glued onto Liola¡¯s shirt.


    Liola frowned as he tried to move his hand; unfortunately, he was in the same predicament as Kaiser. Thus, in the freezer, there were two people who were stuck together, and outside was a man rolling on the ground laughing so hard he almost suffocated.


    After struggling for quite a while, Kaiser and Liola finally escaped their ¡°bondage¡± predicament. Kaiser looked at Mizerui, who was still laughing, bitterly.


    Had it not been Mizerui; someone who Kaiser couldn¡¯t mess with, he would have already chopped the man into minced meat and thrown him inside the freezer, so the kitchen staff could make dumplings out of him.


    ¡°When did you come back?¡± Kaiser grunted, and decided not to trifle with this wanted criminal. Instead, he was curious. Why did Mizerui suddenly come back after being gone for so long?


    Hearing the question, Mizerui finally got off the ground and stood up, and seriously answered Kaiser¡¯s question. Although the corners of his mouth would occasionally tilt upwards, especially when he looked at the freezer with the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been back for quite a while, but I¡¯ve been busy. When I finally had time to look for you, I searched the entire campus but couldn¡¯t find you¡­¡±


    ¡°Duh, we hadn¡¯t done anything this week other than hiding desperately. Didn¡¯t you know? All three schools are hunting us. If they find us, I think we really would end up being chopped into pieces and thrown into the freezer.¡±


    Kaiser continued to murmur with dissatisfaction, ¡°Why do we have to be hunted while that guy, Daylight, is completely fine. He¡¯s still walking around the School of Knight minding his own business. He was a part of the M.I.A. group too!¡±


    ¡°Daylight is very strong.¡± Liola said bluntly.


    Compared to the protective shield user Meinan, the Mecha-less Purity, the seemingly useless Kaiser, and Silver Mask¡­


    After some thought, Liola suddenly remembered something.


    Strange, he didn¡¯t even go to any of the matches, and everyone didn¡¯t know he was Silver Mask¡­ So why¡­ would he have to hide with Kaiser?


    Could it be he didn¡¯t need to hide at all? Liola suddenly found out the shocking truth.


    ¡°Liola, you lost your Kung Fu and your dragon cross necklace. What do you plan to do now?¡± Mizerui asked with a smiling face.


    Liola said after a moment of silence, ¡°Live peacefully.¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s eyes flashed with interest, and his smile seemed to carry a bit of mockery, but Mizerui didn¡¯t say anything in response. Instead, he took out a silver mask from behind him, and held it up to Liola¡¯s face,


    ¡°Looks like this will be useless, then?¡±


    The moment Liola saw the silver mask, his heart trembled a bit.


    Seeing the intact mask Mizerui held up, Liola felt the mask was calling for him, hoping it would be worn again.


    Liola saw it as a dilemma. However, he had planned to live peacefully, and therefore he wouldn¡¯t need the mask, but for some reason, Liola felt a strong desire to get the mask again.


    Wavering between two choices, Liola reached his hand out, but froze before touching the mask.


    Mizerui seemed patient, held the mask without moving, and watched the Assassin¡¯s every move of indecision.


    Mizerui was practically laughing coldly as he thought, ¡®How could it be so easy for an extraordinary person to live an ordinary life?¡¯


    Kaiser grabbed the mask, and looked at it while salivating.


    ¡°Shiny, hehe, this mask must be worth quite a lot of money! I¡¯ll just keep it then.¡±


    Kaiser quickly put the mask inside his coat, giving neither Mizerui nor Liola any time to grab it back.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Mizerui was shocked, the mask can¡¯t possibly be sold to others. He immediately wanted to retrieve the mask from Kaiser, but Kaiser mischieviously hid behind Liola, and even poked his head out from behind Liola¡¯s back with a shameless expression.


    Mizerui grunted, how could the sealed Liola stop him from getting the mask back?


    However, Kaiser¡¯s eyes suddenly looked wise, and his joking blue eyes suddenly turned into a deep, ocean blue.


    The look in Kaiser¡¯s eyes made Mizerui stop all of a sudden, and suspicions filled his mind:


    ¡®Is this guy putting on a disguise, or¡­¡¯


    A million thoughts ran through his mind, but the last one he thought of was one pessimistic thing Barbalis said: ¡°If it¡¯s meant to be, it will be, if it¡¯s not meant to be, no matter what you do, it won¡¯t be.¡±


    Mizerui glanced at Liola, whose cold Assassin presence was now completely gone, and the only thing left behind was a pessimistic big boy who wanted to live day-to-day.


    Mizerui sighed. Everything he had done before sank into the sea like a big rock, just as Barbalis had said¡­


    ¡®Perhaps one day it will resurface again?¡¯


    ¡°Well, whatever. Up to you then.¡± Mizerui sighed again as his body faded away, but before he was completely gone, he said,


    ¡°Liola, when the world is no longer at peace, how would you live a peaceful life?¡±


    Liola felt his heart skip a beat. But before he had a chance to ask Mizerui what he meant, his body already completely faded, leaving behind only a shadow imprinted in Liola¡¯s heart.


    Could it be¡­ the peaceful life he had just started was already ending? Could it be he can never live in peace? Liola thought, and his mood was at its worst.


    * * *


    ¡°Ahhhh, Liola, save me!¡±


    Kaiser suddenly cried in pain. Liola was surprised, had his peaceful life passed by already?


    Even though he was sad, Liola still tried to do what companions do, and immediately turned around to try to save Kaiser.


    As soon as he turned, Liola¡¯s silver eyes saw a strange scene: Kaiser was held in the air like a little kitten, and the ¡°person¡± holding him was about 180cm tall (~5¡¯11¡±) with a body full of muscle, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger-like face was complemented by a head full of curly hair.


    The strange creature wore a white apron along with a long skirt with little pink flowers.


    ¡®What is this creature? Even the seen-it-all Assassin Liola couldn¡¯t help but take a step back.


    ¡°Why did you two little pretty dolls come to play in the kitchen? Are you hungry?¡±


    Though this unknown lifeform looked vicious, the statement it made didn¡¯t seem ferocious at all. Instead it said with a smile and spoke gently¡­ that is, if the arc formed by the muscles on its face counted as a smile.


    Although the voice was as deep as nails on a blackboard, someone with such a deep voice talking about dolls would already count as soft.


    ¡°Liola, save me¡­¡± Kaiser¡¯s hand and feet waved around for a while to no avail, so he ended up simply helplessly hanging in the air, and used his tears to beg Liola, who was slowly backing away.


    Liola¡¯s Assassin instinct was guiding him. Judging from what he saw, this unknown lifeform didn¡¯t seem hostile. But being foreign, who knew if normal instincts applied with them?


    While Liola was examining his potential opponent, and Kaiser thought he was going to be eaten alive, the unknown lifeform grabbed Kaiser like a doll and set him on a chair. Then a big hand grabbed the thin Assassin, and placed him on another chair. The unknown lifeform then patted both Liola¡¯s and Kaiser¡¯s heads.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move around, Auntie will now make you some food.¡± After saying so, the unknown lifeform, calling itself Auntie, grabbed a wok big enough to fit both Kaiser and Liola, and then used a shovel like a spatula.


    Auntie muttered a few lines, and then intense flames suddenly appeared on the bottom of the wok.


    Although Kaiser lacked magical strength, he didn¡¯t lack any magical knowledge.


    While trembling, he said, ¡°It¡¯s actually a Firewall spell. Is this Auntie going to use Firewall to burn us into corpses?¡±


    Liola looked at the wok and explained calmly, ¡°It¡¯s not going to be burnt, because then it can¡¯t be eaten.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡± Kaiser jumped up from the seat.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather be burnt than eaten, especially if I¡¯m going to be made into the same dish as you? Should it be called Kaiser Fried Liola or Liola Fried Kaiser? Hmm, the former one sounds better.¡±


    ¡®That¡¯s really not what¡¯s important here.¡¯ Liola thought quietly.


    The reason why Liola sat calmly on the chair instead of using his speed to escape was¡­ he had already saw Auntie tossed in whole chickens, fish, bowls of vegetables, salt¡­ and other large quantities of ingredients into that super-sized wok.


    The wok that was large enough for two people was already 80% full, and there was no more room for a whole person. Therefore, Liola guessed, neither him nor Kaiser would be one of the ingredients.


    Bam! Bam!


    After two loud noises, two pails were placed in front of them¡­ Liola realized the pails were filled with food.


    ¡®So these are¡­ bowls, right?¡¯


    ¡°Little children, eat more. Look at how small you are, you must not be getting enough food.¡±


    Auntie laughed as she used her hands to pat Liola and Kaiser on the back, which made them almost faceplant into the pails.


    ¡®Is this edible?¡¯ Liola looked at the whole chicken and fish inside the pail.


    ¡®It does smell quite delicious¡­¡¯


    ¡°Delicious! Tasty!¡±


    Kaiser already started chewing on the whole chicken. At the same time, he verified that, despite the horrific appearance of the food inside the pail, the taste was unexpectedly good.


    Liola hesitated, but Auntie patted Liola¡¯s back again, hurrying him to eat. Liola then grabbed a fish and started to eat, so Auntie would stop patting him on the back and pushing him head-first into the pail.


    After fighting with the food for a while, Kaiser¡¯s pail was actually only half empty! But the result was Kaiser holding onto his stomach and couldn¡¯t move an inch while sitting on the chair.


    As for Liola, his pail looked practically untouched, he hadn¡¯t been hungry, so the Assassin stopped after eating a fish and some vegetables.


    The Auntie was clearly unhappy. She held the kitchen knife and the shovel, and stood behind the two like a mountain, as if she was saying no one was allowed to leave if they don¡¯t finish.


    Even for the eataholic Kaiser, he was so full now that he wanted to vomit whenever he saw food, so how could Liola possibly finish his own pail of food?


    Auntie narrowed her eyes and asked. ¡°If you guys aren¡¯t hungry, then why are you in the kitchen?¡±


    ¡°Hey hey, maybe Liola wasn¡¯t hungry, but I ate half a pail, doesn¡¯t count as hungry to you? Unless you usually cook for Dragons? Crap, I said too much¡­ ugh.¡±


    Kaiser coughed a few times. The food reached his throat and almost came out of his mouth along with his speech.


    ¡®Dragons?¡¯


    Liola saw the mountains of food, and an idea dawned on him. He immediately called for Baolilong using telepathy.


    Compared to the pathetic situation of hiding constantly for a week, Baolilong, who was loved by everyone who saw it, was comfortably sleeping in the dorm, until Liola called it.


    Baolilong rubbed its little eyes and responded to papa¡¯s calling.


    A little magic circle formed underneath the table, and little Baolilong appeared from it, then crawled out.


    Before Liola mentioned anything about why Baolilong was summoned, it had already started reducing the mountains of food inside the pails as well as the ones in the wok.


    Auntie, who was originally dissatisfied Liola and Kaiser had left more than half of the food, started to show a satisfied smile after seeing Baolilong eliminating the food by eating a whole chicken with every bite.


    ¡°You sure eat a lot and fast. Such a good baby.¡± Auntie sighed with satisfaction, but the air produced by her sigh messed up Liola¡¯s shoulder-length hair.


    ¡°Holy cow, I only knew of an interdimensional bag, but now I know there¡¯s such a thing as interdimensional stomach. Hey, Liola, looks like you would need several stadiums worth of food to feed that little runt of yours.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Baolilong clearing the food like a tornado as he rejoiced in the misfortune of the penniless Dragon¡¯s father, Liola.


    ¡®Making money.¡¯


    Liola remembered something he couldn¡¯t forget. For him, making money would have been simple. Although different worlds had different needs, the Adorning Flowers¡¯ Assassin organization clearly showed Liola that every world needed Assassins.


    As the best Assassin, what stopped him from making a lot of money? Unfortunately, he made a promise not to kill, what was worse was he was completely sealed¡­


    ¡°How do I make money?¡± Liola whispered.


    Though Liola murmured quietly, Auntie heard it clearly.


    The giant body suddenly moved from beside Baolilong to behind Liola¡¯s back, and Liola found himself engulfed in a giant shadow.


    The shadow could belong to nobody but that unknown lifeform named Auntie, but why would Auntie stand behind him? Liola began to wonder if his battle power was enough to beat Auntie.


    A pair of heavy hands landed on Liola¡¯s shoulder, and a face three times the size of Liola¡¯s got close to his ear and whispered,


    ¡°Little baby, are you the little little baby¡¯s father?¡±


    Liola¡¯s ear rung for a long while before he could answer, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Auntie¡¯s giant head shook.


    ¡°Look at how much this baby eats. It probably needs three cows per meal before it would be full. Little baby, you would probably have to make a lot of money to feed little little baby.¡±


    Liola and Kaiser were both stupefied. ¡®T-three cows? Can it be?¡¯


    Although Baolilong ate a lot, but not to the point of having three cows per mean, right?


    Burp~~ Baolilong finally licked the wok clean, and then let out a long burp.


    Baolilong patted its slightly protruding belly, and yelled, ¡°Baolilong is now full, full~¡±


    Hearing Baolilong¡¯s declaration of being full, Liola felt bad. Baolilong had never said it was full before, but instead simply continued eating without stopping.


    ¡®Could it be¡­ Baolilong had never been full before?¡¯


    Thinking about the subject, Liola felt disappointed. He turned to Kaiser, who was sitting beside him and asked, ¡°Kaiser, how much is a cow?¡±


    ¡°A cow? Let¡¯s go with the cheapest one, so probably at least three Gold coins.¡±


    Kaiser had probably also guessed Baolilong¡¯s real appetite. Thinking of Liola¡¯s money as his own, Kaiser¡¯s heart started to feel a pain because of money.


    Three cows per meal, nine cows for three meals, three gold coins for one cow, so that¡¯s 27 gold coins per day¡­


    Liola remembered that being Purity¡¯s bodyguard, they would only get one Silver coin per day, and ten Silver coins equals one Gold coin, so how was he to get the remaining 26 gold and 9 silver?


    Sigh, Kaiser sighed and patted Liola¡¯s back, ¡°Looks like you should raise your baby by being a duck.¡±


    [T/N: Duck ¡ª In Mandarin it¡¯s the same as being a male prostitute or a host.]


    ¡°Being a duck?¡± Liola frowned.


    ¡®How would being a duck feed Baolilong? Unless ducks were worth a lot on this world?¡¯


    ¡°Hahaha, come to Auntie. Auntie has nothing here, except a lot of meat.¡±


    Auntie hit Liola¡¯s and Kaiser¡¯s back with her large palms. Liola¡¯s face turned pale as a result, and Kaiser lied face down on the table, and blood could be vaguely seen from the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Meat meat!¡±


    After hearing about meat, Baolilong seemed to forget who its papa was. It jumped onto Auntie¡¯s back, and yelled with sparkling eyes,


    ¡°Meat meat!¡±


    ¡°A lot of meat? For free?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes shone as well, because then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food again. Besides¡­ hehe, the extra meat could be sold, then he wouldn¡¯t even have to worry about money.


    ¡°Of course not. The meat this little baby eats will be paid by the two of you working.¡± Auntie opened its mouth and laughed out loud, and her shaking muscles made Liola and Kaiser cringe.


    Kaiser, who was powerless to escape, heard the word ¡®working¡¯, and suddenly felt his knees were alive again.


    As he screamed something like ¡°not me¡±, he beelined toward the kitchen exit. Auntie easily swung her big hands, and dragged Kaiser back. Even Liola, who sat on a chair, was picked up like a cat.


    ¡°I can walk by myself.¡± Liola said calmly while suspended on air. At the same time he was not used to having nothing but air under his feet.


    Auntie raised her head and laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t be shy, little babies, just go with Auntie.¡±


    Having said so, her feet began to rapidly move forward. Each step she made, three meters flew by. Despite the fact that the pace of her footsteps were slow, the people being dragged by her felt like their surrounding sceneries were flowing by as if they were on a train.


    ¡°I knew it! I knew it! Nothing good ever happens with you. Damn, I should¡¯ve gone with Meinan.¡± Kaiser snapped.


    Liola quietly thought,


    Who was it who said nobody would ever find them inside the freezer, and dragged him along¡­

 Volume 5, 4 : Well Deserved Pride

    Volume 5, Chapter 4 : Well Deserved Pride


    Purity and Meinan, who were also being pursued, made the right decision ¡ª found someone powerful to back them up!


    As a friend of the strongest female Blue Knight in the school, Meinan wisely decided to grab Purity and ran to the School of Knights, and followed Jasmine wherever she went.


    However, if it was just Jasmine, perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be enough to suppress all the angry students. Luckily, Jasmine always had Princess Lanski next to her.


    ¡°Sigh, you didn¡¯t do it on purpose, and everyone shouldn¡¯t pursue you like this.¡±


    Jasmine helplessly looked at the surrounding Knights who were looking at them maliciously but didn¡¯t dare to come close to them.


    Purity and Meinan both nodded desperately with tears in their eyes, but unfortunately the crowd around them wouldn¡¯t let them go so easily.


    If Purity or Meinan got any more than three feet away from Jasmine and Lanski, someone¡¯s sword will immediately accidentally¡± slip and fly towards them, or magic projectiles would curve around towards them.


    These accidents made Lanski and Jasmine extremely tired.


    Lanski, with her not-so-good temper, stared at the people angrily, and then said with a prideful voice,


    ¡°This is outrageous. Are Knights only good at fighting the weak and helpless? If you guys really are brave, then seek justice with Knight Daylight!¡±


    The surrounding Knights¡¯ faces sank, and some walked off unwillingly, but there were quite a few who stubbornly stayed behind.


    The School of Mecha Fighter students completely ignored Lanski¡¯s speech, because they weren¡¯t Knights, so of course they didn¡¯t have to obey the Knight¡¯s code of not harming the weak.


    ¡°Hmmph!¡±


    Lanski saw there were many people who remained, and her mood worsened. She grabbed Purity by the hand and dragged her,


    ¡°Ignore these people, let¡¯s go eat.¡±


    Seeing Lanski¡¯s actions, Jasmine laughed and also she grabbed Meinan¡¯s hand. Meinan smiled at her gratefully. They had been good friends ever since they were young, holding hands wasn¡¯t anything strange to him.


    ¡°Though people probably wouldn¡¯t dare to confront Daylight, but¡­¡± Meinan was seriously worried about his companion as he walked,


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him for a whole day. I hope he didn¡¯t run into trouble he couldn¡¯t handle.¡±


    Jasmine let out a resounding laughter.


    ¡°No one would dare to cause Daylight any trouble¡­ Ah, correction, no Knight would dare to trouble him. A few days ago, there were a few idiotic Mecha Fighter students who plotted against him, but after being beaten to the ground by Daylight, he gave them a two hour lecture about how ¡®plotting to harm someone is against the Knight¡¯s code¡¯. Since then no one has ever dared to mess with him, or even look at him in disdain.¡±


    Lanski nodded in agreement. ¡°Sir Daylight¡¯s Knightly Spirit is quite exemplary.¡±


    ¡°But still not as good as Silver Mask, right?¡± Jasmine interrupted with a smile, and her statement immediately made Lanski blush.


    ¡°Sigh, if Lanski and Jasmine end up finding out Liola-dage is Silver Mask, then¡­¡±


    Purity felt sorry for the two girls who were best friends and, though they didn¡¯t know it yet, rivals in love.


    * * *


    ¡°Barbeque, the most delicious and most outlandish meat are all here in ¡®Delicious Barbeque Restaurant¡¯. Pretty miss, don¡¯t leave, inside we have the most handsome and pretty man who would cook for you. Not only will you get the best meal of your life, you can also satisfy your eyes. If you¡¯re brave enough, you can even go touch the handsome cook¡¯s hands!¡±


    ¡°Really¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe, of course it¡¯s real.¡± That is, if you could move fast enough to touch that man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you in another secret, this handsome guy used to be an Assassin, so he looks cold yet arrogant, definitely not something many people would see in their life time. Listen to how many girls are screaming inside, just seeing the beautiful man would make girls blush and scream, if you don¡¯t go in to take a look, you¡¯d be missing an opportunity of a life time!¡±


    ¡®Cold, arrogant, handsome, and used to be Assassin¡­¡¯


    Meinan and Purity started to feel those adjectives were becoming rather familiar, and the guy who advertising had an even more familiar tone of voice and choice of words.


    The two reflexively looked towards the voice, a head of green hair and a face that made people want to punch him the moment they see him, appeared in their sights.


    ¡°Kaiser?!¡± Meinan and Purity both yelled at the same time.


    Purity continued hastily, ¡°Kaiser, what did you do to Liola-dage? Don¡¯t tell me¡­ To make money, y-you told Liola-dage to sell his body¡­¡±


    After Kaiser heard the familiar voice, he turned his head to look at Meinan and Purity, then said in a laid back tone,


    ¡°Aiya, you guys are finally here? I thought you two were hiding to the point where you weren¡¯t even going to eat. But you guys were clever; you hid behind the Princess and Jasmine.¡±


    Kaiser babbled on and on for a while, but said nothing about Liola.


    Purity raised her voice a full octave and yell, ¡°Kaiser, what about Liola-dage?!¡±


    Kaiser smiled, and his flashing white teeth made Purity and Meinan shiver.


    Kaiser pointed at the ¡®Delicious Barbeque Restaurant¡¯ behind him, ¡°Inside, but if you guys go in and don¡¯t order you guys will be damned.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, why are you advertising for this restaurant?¡± Meinan was shocked. It would be fortunate for them if Kaiser didn¡¯t destroy the restaurant, but he¡¯s actually helping them advertise?


    Hearing this, Kaiser¡¯s face sank again and again, and then said a word that sounded like a mystery.


    ¡°Auntie¡­¡±


    ¡°Auntie?¡± Meinan was stupefied. He began to think of who they would call ¡°Auntie¡±. Furthermore, how was the person able to compel the lazy Kaiser to stand obediently at the door and advertise?


    ¡°Liola is inside?¡± As soon as Jasmine heard Liola¡¯s name, she ignored everything else, dragging Lanski and Purity to charge inside the restaurant.


    The moment she walked in, like the other girls in the restaurant, she stared blankly at the center of the barbeque stand where Liola was.


    Liola stood inside a circular barbecuing station. He had a shovel in each of his hands, and the clothes he wore were the same one from when he and Jasmine had a date.


    On his upper body, he wore a tight shirt, and the middle of which had a pentacle sewn on it with gold lining. On his lower body, he wore a pair of undecorated, tight-fitting pants. Along with his black boots, his black outfit accentuated Liola¡¯s night-like temperament.


    In one moment, Liola looked like an unmoving constellation in the dark night sky, in the next he started to move at the speed of a shooting star. The simple act of turning the meat to cook the other side looked like a sword dance in the hands of Liola.


    Liola used the shovel in his left hand to toss the meat, and the beef lightly flew and spun in the air. His right hand didn¡¯t sit idle either. After lightly putting the vegetables into the cooking station and a few dexterous moves later, the vegetables were cooked and lined up perfectly.


    At this time, Liola paused briefly, and the crowd¡¯s breath seemed to have paused as well. The real show was just about to start.


    Liola¡¯s hands moved quickly, sometimes they would cross one another and sometimes they would draw circles, and the food on the station seemed to happily dance in the air. Then even the seasoning joined the dance atop of the cooking station.


    The food dance not only looked elegant, it even had a fatally delicious scent drawing everyone closer to the station.


    Finally, Liola flung his finger, and a clean, white plate crossed paths with the dancing barbecue, catching the dancing food one by one.


    Liola swung his hand around and securely set the plate on the table next to the cooking station.


    Next to the table sat a Knight with a clean white uniform. Judging by the lining of the uniform, the person was actually a Blue Knight. He used his silverware and grabbed a bite from the plate. After chewing slowly for a while, he turned and gave a thumb up towards Liola.


    ¡°This is practically the most colorful, most delicious, and best smelling dish, Liola.¡±


    Liola smiled at Daylight, and then started the barbecue dance again and again. Because the restaurant was completely packed, it didn¡¯t allow him to have even a little bit of time to rest, and waiters beside him also anxiously waited for him to cook, so they could bring the meals to the customers.


    ¡°Daylight, why are you here? And what is L-Liola-dage doing?¡±


    Purity was so shocked; her mouth was hanging wide open. Liola being so busy, he had to greet them with nothing but with his eyes after hearing their voices. Thus, Purity could only throw all her questions at Daylight who was eating leisurely.


    ¡°Are you guys here for dinner too? Come sit with me, let¡¯s eat together.¡± Daylight heard Purity¡¯s voice, and beckoned everyone to eat together.


    Purity sat down next to Daylight, and a pink face got closer to closer to Daylight, to the point of almost touching his face.


    ¡°Tell me! What the heck is Liola-dage and Kaiser doing?¡±


    Seeing Purity¡¯s face almost on top of his, Daylight felt rather awkward, and tried to back up, but Jasmine¡¯s fist was on his back, and she looked like she was saying ¡°get away¡±:


    ¡°Sir Daylight, could you explain why Liola is here selling meat, please?¡±


    [T/N: ¡®Selling meat¡¯ is a double entendre here, it could mean literally selling meat, or it could mean prostitution]


    Though Jasmine had been satisfied after seeing Liola¡¯s performance, and even excited because she saw Liola¡¯s smile.


    However, the moment she saw Liola surrounded by blushing and screaming girls, it made her unhappy, as if her personal belonging was being shown off in a museum to the rest of the world.


    Under the pressure of these two girls, Daylight had no choice but looked at Purity¡¯s big glasses and said, ¡°Liola and Kaiser are working here, I heard it¡¯s for Baolilong¡¯s meals.¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage perhaps would work for Baolilong, but the lazy bum Kaiser would never do that!¡± Purity grabbed Daylight¡¯s shoulders with her hands and started to shake him.


    Daylight hurried to explain. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know either. That¡¯s what they said. I was just walking by, on my way to get dinner, and I saw Kaiser advertising outside, so I walked in.¡±


    Purity stared at Daylight, trying to figure out if he was lying. But as soon as she remembered Daylight¡¯s exemplary Knightly spirit, she thought it would be impossible for him to lie.


    Purity moved her face away, and settled her attention on the plate before her. It was then when she realized Meinan was zealously munching away. Seeing Liola¡¯s food being quickly exterminated by Meinan, Purity hastily joined him. She completely didn¡¯t notice Daylight sighing in relief, but also seemed to be blushing.


    ¡°You¡¯re working to feed the baby? Okay.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s reason, Jasmine thought of the last time she and Liola went out to eat and the bill from all the steaks Baolilong ate¡­ She had to live off of Lanski for a whole month after that.


    Although she didn¡¯t like Liola attracting other customers, and thus getting her countless love rivals, but since it was all for the baby¡¯s terrifying appetite, Jasmine pouted and joined the barbecue extermination squad. Since she couldn¡¯t get Liola to bite, she could only take a bite of his food as way of comfort.


    ¡°Why does this look¡­ very familiar?!¡± Lanski looked at Liola¡¯s dance with shovels and food, and felt his moves looked very familiar, as if¡­


    Everyone (except Jasmine, of course) heard Lanski, and almost choked on the barbecue in their mouths. All of their eyes widened, worried that Lanski might have discovered Liola was the same person as Silver Mask.


    In fact, telling Jasmine and Lanski about the truth wouldn¡¯t have mattered much considering they had been well-acquainted with Liola, and these two people could keep secrets well, but just as luck would have it, they were both in a love triangle they weren¡¯t even aware of.


    This situation made Daylight, who told everyone not to lie, choose to temporarily play dead, to try to avoid the deadly love question. But Lanski became more suspicious, and things made a turn for the worse.


    ¡°Of course it would look similar. This barbecue move was taught by Silver Mask himself. That idiot Liola had to train for ages before he could do this. Had I not been too cute and thus lack an imposing aura when I do it, I would have told Liola to move over and let me do it.¡±


    Kaiser sat down next to them, forgetting his job as a waiter in the restaurant, and actually started to grab silverware to eat the meat meant for the customers.


    Lanski was shocked for a moment, then she hurriedly turned her head to ask, ¡°Silver Mask is back?¡±


    ¡°No, he taught Liola before he left.¡±


    Kaiser continued to lie without flustering at all.


    As for Daylight, who was strongly against lies, did nothing except frown, then lowered his head and continue eating. Even for him, someone who didn¡¯t understand feeling and love, it would be difficult to have an ideal outcome for all of this.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Lanski couldn¡¯t seem to cover her disappointment.


    ¡°Silver Mask has an important order, and for a long time will be traveling around the world. He wouldn¡¯t have any free time to himself, let alone time for a girlfriend. I think he probably wants to be single for the rest of his life.¡±


    Kaiser purposely sighed and shook his head, and at the same time trying to hint at Lanski.


    Sure enough, Lanski¡¯s body briefly shook intensely. Her otherwise bright face looked darkened.


    She remembered that, ever since meeting Silver Mask, she hadn¡¯t actually been with him many times, and Lanski¡¯s heart felt even more bitter. Her eyes began to water, and Lanski immediately stood up to say goodbye,


    ¡°S-sorry, excuse me¡­¡±


    Before she even finished, her voice started to choke. As a Princess, she would never allow herself to cry in front of others. Before she actually completed her farewells, she rushed out the door.


    Jasmine, who saw her good friend being heartbroken, and immediately left to catch up to her. Before she left, Jasmine turned around to look at Liola one more time, and at the same time feel happy the man she loved was as ordinary as him, and didn¡¯t need to run around the world because of some important orders. At the same time, she also felt a heartache for her friend Lanski, who loved such an extraordinary person; Silver Mask.


    Having seen everything, Liola frowned and thought, could the barbecue he cooked taste so bad that Lanski had to rush out the door?


    ¡°Hey, Kaiser, you made the Princess feel bad.¡± Purity felt the need to correct the injustice done to the Princess.


    ¡°Hmmph, feeling bad now would be better than turning those two good friends into enemies in the future, right?¡±


    Kaiser grunted, and then continued, ¡°Especially now that Liola lost all his Kung Fu, and would never disguise himself as Silver Mask again. It would be better for the Princess to give up on her hopes. The longer it drags on, the more heartbroken she will be.¡±


    When Kaiser finished talking, he realized everyone was staring at him strangely.


    Kaiser felt an itch in his back and yelled, ¡°Why are you looking at me like that? Are you all in love with me? Let me say this out straight, I¡¯m not interested in any of you three! But if big boss Purity is interested in providing for me, then I might be a little bit interested in you.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, don¡¯t be rude to the customers.¡±


    Alongside with the deep soft voice and a giant shadow, Kaiser was picked up like a kitten.


    The others raised their heads to the point where their necks were forming a right angle with their body before they were able to see the face of this person.


    When they saw the person¡¯s face, their eyes widened, and their mouths became ¡°O¡±-shaped, plus their bodies felt petrified. They all looked like they were little clay dolls.


    ¡°Auntie, I was wrong¡­¡±


    Kaiser performed a 180 degree turn in the air he seemed to have gotten used to, and then looked at Auntie with his sparkling eyes.


    ¡°Auntie, I will go help immediately. Ah, look over there, I think they don¡¯t have enough waiters. Auntie, let me down, I have to go over there to help.¡±


    As if he was trying to convey his willingness to help, Kaiser¡¯s arms and legs were waving in the air, and Auntie nodded with satisfaction.


    She put Kaiser back down on the ground, and Kaiser planned to run back to the restaurant door to continue the easiest job: running his mouth.


    Who knew the back of his collar would be grabbed by Auntie, and Kaiser¡¯s escape plan failed.


    He let out a bitter laugh, widened his eyes innocently, and asked, ¡°Auntie, what else do you need from me?¡±


    Auntie cracked open her mouth with a smile, ¡°Remember to free up some time next weekend. Auntie will bring you guys to a grand occasion.¡±


    ¡°Grand occasion?¡± Kaiser asked hesitatingly.


    Ever since he had known Liola, hadn¡¯t he seen enough of those? He was afraid that with Liola and himself there, they might end up in the history books.


    ¡°Yeah. The leader of every world will be gathering at Aklan Academy. Our restaurant was asked by the principal to provide 30 dishes. You two can act as accompanying waiters~.¡±


    Auntie¡¯s elongated syllable at the end with her deep voice gave everyone goosebumps.


    ¡°Papa/Mama will be here?¡± Meinan and Purity both stood up and asked in unison.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Auntie¡¯s big eyes looked towards the two, and questioned loudly.


    Meinan and Purity looked at each other uneasily.


    Though the two had no interest in their parents¡¯ position or power, but at least they knew that unless something important affects the world had happened, they would never meet each other like this. After all, their relationship wasn¡¯t the greatest, but now they are actually going to meet?


    ¡°Something¡¯s up, I have to go ask papa.¡±


    Meinan felt uneasy, and immediately ran out the restaurant without saying anything else, leaving Purity behind, who felt just as uneasy, but couldn¡¯t run back to the Commerce Alliance.


    Kaiser, who understood the world¡¯s situation, frowned as well, but instead he wondered if he should attend?


    If he goes, Kaiser was honestly worried he and Liola might mess up the meeting, then they really have to run to another world to hide. If he doesn¡¯t, Kaiser secretly felt they would eventually be caught up by whatever the issue was¡­


    ¡°Auntie, can our classmate come with us?¡± Kaiser calmly pointed at Daylight, and thought if he¡¯s going, at least he will be dragging along a bodyguard.


    ¡°Of course he can.¡± Auntie smiled as she touched Daylight¡¯s head, and it almost pushed Daylight¡¯s head into his neck like a turtle.


    Daylight was slightly stunned by Kaiser¡¯s request. But when he thought of Liola who lost all his Kung Fu, letting them go by themselves was indeed not the best idea. Daylight therefore did not protest to Kaiser (ab)using him as such.


    Kaiser suddenly laughed with his teeth showing, ¡°Then to not make a fool out of yourself, Daylight, come here and enjoy the feeling of being a waiter.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Daylight suddenly remembered what Kaiser said to advertise¡­


    ¡®He¡¯s not going to add something about a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to see an Aklan Academy Blue Knight being a waiter or something like that, right?¡¯


    * * *


    Jasmine finally caught up to Lanski, but she saw the string of tears on the ground. Knowing Lanski¡¯s stubbornness, Jasmine could only grab Lanski and walk her to the only quiet place she could think of; the place where Jasmine met with Liola for the first time.


    After it all quieted down, the only thing Lanski saw with her head held down, was a blurry field of grass. She probably understood Jasmine must¡¯ve brought her to somewhere deserted.


    Lanski finally gave up caring about Princess¡¯ etiquette. She knelt down on the grass, and put her head between her knees, with her shoulders twitching.


    Jasmine knew it was rare for Lanski to cry, and decided not to stop her. Jasmine thought it was time for Lanski to let all the tears out.


    ¡°Jasmine¡­ a-am I hated by everyone?¡±


    Lanski didn¡¯t even raise her head, and her voice grew quieter after each word, fearing the answer would be ¡°Yes¡±.


    Instead, Jasmine burst out laughing.


    ¡°What is there to hate about you? If you act obnoxious and everyone hated you, why would I treat you as my best friend? Unless you think I¡¯m using you to increase my status?¡±


    After saying so, Jasmine even sported an angry face, and Lanski hurriedly raised her head to deny,


    ¡°Of course you¡¯re not. Jasmine¡¯s nobility is not any less than Sir Daylight¡¯s Knightly spirit.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha¡­ nobility? Lanski, you make it sound like I¡¯m a hermit. Should I go take a string and live in the mountains?¡±


    Jasmine started laughing, and Lanski could finally let go of the uneasiness she felt.


    Lanski heard Jasmine¡¯s compliment and her face blushed. Since she had just cried, Lanski¡¯s long lashes supported a few droplets of tears. She seemed a far cry from the cold, prideful Princess she usually was. She was now an adorable, delicate girl.


    Jasmine tenderly wiped away Lanski¡¯s tears as she said,


    ¡°Tsk tsk, if you run into Silver Mask in your current state, even if his heart was made out of ice, you would be able to melt it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I could. If I am in his heart, then why would he never look for me when he had gone to the academy several times?¡± Lanski laughed bitterly.


    Thinking every time she saw Kaiser and others, she was asking them about Silver Mask, to the point where she felt shameful every time she opens her mouth to talk to them.


    A girl asking about a man every time she opens her mouth, ¡°I must be¡­ very obnoxious, right? I must be an arrogant and self-centered Princess.¡±


    Jasmine seemed to disagree and said,


    ¡°Are those the rumors spread by those girls who were jealous of you? Lanski, I¡¯ve been around you for almost ten years, and nobody understands you better than me. You are absolutely the cutest girl I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Whenever Jasmine spoke to her this way, Lanski would usually smile. But now, she started to wonder, was she really as adorable as Jasmine claimed she is?


    Jasmine nodded again and again, and she started counting Lanski¡¯s merits on her fingers,


    ¡°You have the perfect Princess etiquette. Though I don¡¯t really like your cold face, but if you were a spoiled Princess, it would be even more obnoxious. Even though you act arrogant, it actually suits you. Your arrogance is well-deserved, not like some spoiled brats from some rich families.¡±


    After having said so much continuously, Jasmine tried to catch her breath. She smiled as she remembered the sparring between the two of them.


    Though Lanski lost more than she won, but which of those times did she give up easily? And then she thinks back at the time she spent improving herself. And as for taking revenge, she believed Lanski had never even thought of it. To the Royal, arrogant Lanski, losing was because she wasn¡¯t serious enough, or she didn¡¯t try hard enough. If she were to hate anyone, Lanski would probably only hate herself.


    ¡°And you are very kind, don¡¯t deny that. Don¡¯t forget, the reason that I¡¯m still alive is because of you.¡± Jasmine earnestly looked at her good friend Lanski.


    Lanski quickly rebutted, ¡°No, it¡¯s because of your own hardships.¡±


    Jasmine laughed bitterly, remembering what had happened once upon a time during a snowy day¡­


    Because her parents died as a result of being in debt, and those people whom her parents owed money forced her into a corner. Just as she was about to be caught and sold off as a slave, Lanski, who walked by coincidentally, was like an angel¡­ no, more like a Goddess of War.


    She took out a thin sword, a sword so delicate but was unexpectedly tough, just like Lanski herself. She used a few delicate sword moves to drive off the debt collectors, and her thin body walked arrogantly towards Jasmine.


    What was unexpected was Lanski actually took off her expensive white mittens, and then said as she put those on to Jasmine¡¯s frozen hands,


    ¡°You have to take care of your hands, because you are going to go with me to the beginner¡¯s Knight School, and be a maid for me in the school. However, if you can beat me, then I will pay off all your debts and tuitions. I will also treat you as equal and a friend. Otherwise, you will be my maid for the rest of your life, and I will forever look down upon you. Do you understand?¡±


    The two grew closer and closer to each other, but Lanski had never gone easy on her during their duels.


    Jasmine had even complained about Lanski was merciless, thinking she would never let her win. But when Jasmine was finally able to win against Lanski using her own strength, Jasmine¡¯s tears immediately rolled down her face. However, Lanski smiled as she walked to her and said,


    ¡°I lost, and from now on, you are truly my friend.¡±


    Jasmine finally completely understood the person in front of her was a real Princess, and her best friend in this life.


    ¡°Jasmine?¡± Lanski woke Jasmine up from her recollection.


    Jasmine turned around to look at Lanski, then climbed up on Lanski¡¯s back and yelled, ¡°Lanski is the person I like the most.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Though Lanski was baffled by the action, but she still felt warm in her heart.


    Jasmine said while smiling,


    ¡°Lanski, since the person you like is Lancelot¡¯s apprentice, and you are practically the closest girl to him. Remember, Lancelot is a Knight for the Dragon Empire, and you are royalty. Wouldn¡¯t it be easy to go ask him where his apprentice is?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ what if Silver Mask doesn¡¯t like me at all?¡± Lanski quietly replied.


    ¡°Then just keep pestering him, and never give up until he¡¯s yours. Just like when you were learning Kung Fu, never give up until you¡¯ve mastered it! The Lanski I know is the most persistent person in the world!¡±


    Jasmine jumped up and yelled in excitement.


    Lanski smiled as a result. She raised her head to look at the star-filled night sky.


    The dark night looked like Silver Mask¡¯s black hair wavering in the sky. Lanski reached out her hand toward the sky, as if in doing so, she could control the night sky in her hand¡­

 Volume 5, 5 : The Broken Seal

    Volume 5, Chapter 5 : The Broken Seal


    In a typical morning, all the Aklan Academy students planned on going to class as usual. All except a few Sorcery students, who had no choice but stay in a place called ¡®Delicious Barbecue Restaurant¡¯. They did however, receive a week¡¯s worth of lessons on How to be a barbecue restaurant waiter.


    ¡°Luckily you guys know Auntie, otherwise we would have to constantly stay with the Princess and Jasmine-jiejie*.¡±


    Jiejie is the counterpart of the Japanese word ¡®onee-san¡¯.


    Purity lazily lay down on the table. Because it wasn¡¯t time for lunch yet, there weren¡¯t many customers, and therefore Purity could afford to idle about for a bit.


    ¡°Yeah, though it¡¯s safe to be with them, but whenever I go to class with Jasmine, all the Knights seem to be staring daggers at me¡­¡±


    Meinan thought about the week when he had to attend a week¡¯s worth of Knight¡¯s lesson, and the instructor almost called him up to demonstrate how Knights can quickly defeat Sorcerers. Correction! It wasn¡¯t how to defeat Sorcerers, but how to do it in the fastest way possible.


    ¡°Hmmph, Auntie is invincible. It¡­ he¡­ okay fine, she could use her hand and grab her enemies like a kitten.¡±


    Kaiser crossed his leg and comfortably lain on a chair, while laughing at the students, who wanted to harm them, being kindly thrown out of the restaurant by Auntie. Of the number of students thrown out, students who were sent to the infirmary on an account of cracked tail bones were not in the minority.


    As for Liola, he calmly sat on a chair as he always did. He had been satisfied with the calm life he had been living for the past two weeks, and at the same time secretly wishing his calm academy life would continue.


    ¡°Little children~¡±


    Speaking of Auntie, her soft voice was immediately heard. Since they had spent a long time (two weeks) together, they could tell her tone of the voice had a sense of worry.


    ¡®Could troubles be brewing again? Can¡¯t be.¡¯


    According to their experiences, the students from other schools wouldn¡¯t dare to skip class, so most of them would only come to cause trouble after classes have ended.


    Auntie walked over, and her heavy body caused the ground to shake slightly as she did so. Auntie¡¯s muscle-filled face seemed to form a frown.


    According to Kaiser¡¯s guesses, it should be a face of worry. Kaiser immediately used the best of his bootlicking skills. With sparkly eyes, he jumped in front of Auntie, and yelled with a high pitched voice.


    ¡°Auntieee, what¡¯s wrong, what has you worried? Tell me, and Kaiser will definitely do everything for you¡­ (-r payment of a gold coin a day) even if it means death!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser-bun is a good boy.¡±


    Auntie sighed, and the air coming out of her mouth blew Kaiser¡¯s hair and made it look like weeds, then she said,


    ¡°Turn on the TV and look at today¡¯s news.¡±


    Purity obediently turned it on, and the holographic host continuously reported the biggest news of the day.


    ¡°¡­ about the Dragon Emperor wanting to have a meeting between the three Kingdom leaders, Aklan Prime Minister had given a response, and hope for the meeting can take place in the Aklan Academy. Regarding this, Violet Academy had been in serious protest, citing that, in the previous ranking matches, Aklan Academy had formally lost its position as the top academy, and was replaced by Violet Academy. Therefore, this meeting should be held at Violet Academy. We have sent reporters to get both principals¡¯ statements.¡±


    The holographic host disappeared, and the image of the Violet Academy principal with his mustache appeared. After touching his own Dali mustache and clearing his throat, he said,


    ¡°The fall of Aklan Academy didn¡¯t happen overnight. Every principal on Aklan Continent decided on the ranking matches, and using it as a confirmation on which academy is the best. The representatives from Aklan Academy ran off during the final match due to fear, and it¡¯s the biggest insult in the history of academies! Aklan Academy had already lost the its reputation as the top academy, therefore I strongly suggest to Prime Minister Qiusi, for this meeting to be handled by us Violet Academy!¡±


    ¡°All I hear is you talking shit!¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ large face suddenly appeared on the screen, ¡°F¡ª¡ªing Qiusi, if you dare to take away my name as the top principal, then don¡¯t blame me for spilling your secrets!¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Meinan, and Kaiser asked curiously, ¡°Meinan, what are you dad¡¯s secrets?¡±


    Meinan laughed awkwardly.


    ¡°My dad used to be Aklan Academy Sorcery student, and I heard he was classmates with Barbalis, so¡­ it¡¯s possible for Barbalis to have some hold over my dad.¡±


    Now the screen was suddenly divided into three regions: the one on top was the solemn Aklan Prime Minister Qiusi. Although he had a vague smile, he had an indescribable imposing presence emanating from him.


    His appearance was far different than when he was in the Dark Arena Pyramid. Had Meinan not acted normal during all this, everyone would almost believe the Qiusi on the screen was an imposter.


    And the two screens below were Barbalis and the Violet Academy principal. Both of them were angry to the point of their faces being warped.


    Perhaps they were cursing too much for public television so they both were muted. Nevertheless, their mouths kept moving, regardless of no sound being heard.


    But it was obvious Qiusi could hear those two people talking, evidenced by his face continuously sinking, and his smile getting colder and colder.


    Finally, he waved, and announced, ¡°You two academies fight for your fame then! A week from now, the winner will obtain the right to hold the leader meeting!¡±


    Finally, the Prime Minister walked off angrily, and a murmur could be vaguely heard, ¡°With deary baby¡¯s protective shield, no one should be able to harm him¡­¡±


    Barbalis and the Violet Academy principal heard Qiusi¡¯s announcement, and then yelled in unison, ¡°Watch me destroy your rubbish academy!¡±


    * * *


    After seeing the report, the restaurant was in complete silence.


    Knowing Barbalis¡¯ personality of wanting chaos in the world and his stubbornness to his title as the top principal, there would definitely be a fierce battle¡­


    Just as they thought, the restaurant door was suddenly kicked open. Barbalis charged in with his warped face. The surrounding powerful magic force actually formed a series of rainbow-colored light and surrounded Barbalis¡¯ body.


    Barbalis looked around, and after seeing Liola and others, he charged at them like a bullet train!


    ¡°Auntie, quick and save your Kaiser-bun!¡±


    Kaiser yelled and hid behind Auntie. Meinan hurriedly put up his protective shield, Purity desperately screamed, while Liola¡­ still calmly sat where he was.


    ¡°Meinan!¡±


    Barbalis first called out Meinan, and scared him to the point of putting away his shield and shrank into the sofa, while desperately yelling, ¡°Nooo! Don¡¯t use me to threaten my dad!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Hearing this, Barbalis suddenly stopped, and thought carefully, ¡°Right, you are Qiusi¡¯s only son. Using you to threaten him would be a good idea, why didn¡¯t I think of that¡­?¡±


    Meinan was scared out of his mind, and waved his hands to say,


    ¡°It would be useless to kidnap me! Though my dad looks a bit mischievous, but he would never go back on his words. Principal, you should know that well.¡±


    Barbalis tilted his mouth, and he knew full well Meinan was telling the truth. So he fiercely said to Meinan,


    ¡°You better use your ancestral protective shield to its best, otherwise I will kidnap you, and see if Qiusi really doesn¡¯t care about his son¡¯s life!¡±


    Meinan desperately nodded.


    Barbalis then set his attention on Purity, whose face was already covered with tears.


    ¡°PURE-RI-TY! You better get out that ultimate Mecha you have stored in the academy storage unit. Otherwise, even if your mom is the Red Leader of the Commerce Alliance, I will still expel you!¡±


    Purity, whose tears were falling like water out of a facet, nodded like Meinan.


    ¡°Kaigleser, stop hiding.¡± Barbalis suddenly turned his head to look at Kaiser, and called out his full name. He then stated his threat,


    ¡°Kaigleser, you better use your real power, otherwise¡­ you know what will happen!¡±


    Unexpected to everyone, the thing Barbalis used to threaten Kaiser wasn¡¯t the usual money, expulsion, or Mizerui, but instead, a baffling phrase.


    When Purity and Meinan were both scratching their heads, Liola glanced at Kaiser and saw his eyes flashing with danger the moment he heard what Barbalis had said.


    At that moment, Liola thought he saw Kaiser¡¯s eyes seemed to have change colors?


    Looks like his identity as an Assassin might be simplest out of the group. Liola suddenly felt curious: ¡®What¡¯s the story behind Daylight?¡¯


    Barbalis seemed satisfied with the response he got from Kaiser. He completely ignored Kaiser and then walked towards the last person, Liola.


    Liola, who had been acting as if none of this concerned him, raised his head to look at Barbalis.


    With a frown, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve already lost all my Kung Fu.¡±


    Barbalis didn¡¯t respond, and instead he stared at Liola, as if he was making some sort of painful decision.


    Barbalis¡¯ expression constantly changed for a while: worry, pain, helplessness, seemingly dawning on an idea¡­ Almost every imaginable expression crossed his face at least once. Finally, he looked like a person who just lost the most important match in their life, and his old arrogant presence was completely gone.


    Barbalis looked helpless as he said, ¡°Maylee, what do you think I should do?¡±


    ¡®Maylee?¡¯


    Everyone wondered who he was calling, but Maylee used her deep voice and softly answered, ¡°Give the future to these youngsters, Bartercup¡±


    ¡®Maylee was Auntie, and Bartercup was Barbalis?¡¯


    Though everyone was in disbelief, but Maylee and Bartercup were staring at one another. This terrifying truth almost made Kaiser and others vomit out the barbecue they had yesterday.


    ¡°Mizerui also puts his hope on the youngsters. This can be both good and bad. Good because it could cultivate new talents, and the world could no longer depend on us old geezers. But the bad part is, this world may end up being destroyed! This is practically a gamble in which the wager is the entire world!¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ face suddenly looked older than usual, and those tired eyes seemed to reflect a deeper worry.


    Maylee started to laugh, and as a result, even the on the ceiling began to rain down.


    ¡°Who was it who wagered the world against the Devil Gle, and bet on a Silver coin? Is he really going to be afraid to gamble?¡±


    Barbalis felt a bit awkward at first when Maylee mentioned his mischief during his younger days, but then he also started to laugh with her. Their leisurely heroic laughter almost made the young ones feel inspired.


    ¡°Okay, Liola, I will help you break your seal.¡± Barbalis said.


    Before Liola had a chance to say anything, Purity already yelled out in shock, ¡°Principal, you can release the Paladin¡¯s seal?¡±


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you help Liola earlier?¡± Meinan frowned, unhappy with the principal lack of action.


    Barbalis snapped.


    ¡°You really think Lancelot is weak?! The best Holy Knight¡¯s seal couldn¡¯t possibly be easy to break, and forcefully removing the seal will cost me 50 to 70 percent of my power, and I won¡¯t be able to get it back in years. What¡¯s worst is, even when I get it back, I¡¯ll only be at about 70 percent of my original power.¡±


    Hearing that Barbalis¡¯ sacrifice, Purity and Meinan scratched their faces, and could no longer say anything else about Barbalis¡¯ lack of action.


    ¡°Okay, I will release Liola¡¯s seal here. With Maylee here, it¡¯s the safest place, uh well, not counting under Qiusi¡¯s perfect protective shield.¡±


    Barbalis adjusted his magic power as he walked towards Liola. When he was about to put his hand on Liola¡¯s forehead, Liola suddenly raised his right hand to block Barbalis¡¯ arm.


    Everyone was just about to ask Liola why he blocked Barbalis¡¯ arm, they noticed Liola¡¯s silver eyes were burning with a cold flame.


    ¡°Liola-dage?¡± Purity timidly called out to Liola.


    ¡°You guys discussed the situation happily, completely forgetting whether the sealed person wanted to be unsealed.¡± Liola said unexpectedly.


    What was even more terrifying was Liola had never spoken with this tone of voice before. Brimming with sarcasm, sounding cold but it was actually filled with rage.


    Barbalis was not surprised, but said lightly, ¡°Liola, did you plan on running away? Escaping the mission Princess Anise left you with?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t use Anise¡¯s name to force me!¡± Liola yelled furiously, but in his head, Anise¡¯s face and words kept flashing.


    ¡®Don¡¯t run away from our fate, don¡¯t run¡­¡¯


    ¡°This was originally Princess Anise¡¯s responsibility, but now everything is on you, or did you plan on pretending it has nothing to do with you?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Liola covered his ears.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Kaiser also jumped out from behind Auntie, and stood in front of Liola.


    Kaiser said with sarcasm, ¡°If taking the necklace requires him to save the world, then I¡­ as the son of the Devil Gle, who wanted to destroy the world a few hundred years ago, am I to inherit the will of my father to destroy the world?¡±


    Barbalis didn¡¯t expect for Kaiser to admit the truth of his own identity. As an old geezer who lived a few hundred years, even Barbalis didn¡¯t know what to do now.


    ¡°Devil Gle¡¯s son?¡± Meinan lightly yelled out.


    Anyone who had lived in this world would have heard Devil Gle¡¯s name, but no one would dare call out his name.


    Legend has it, if you call out his name, he would hear your voice¡­


    * * *


    It was the dark age of this world. Even history lessons in school would completely skip those years, and they were effectively blank in history.


    It was also a world where tremendous gaps existed, and a world where Knights and Magicians could not co-exist.


    Because of the appearance of the strongest Sorcerer, Gle, Knights and Magicians took opposing sides. It wasn¡¯t until later, some magicians noticed Gle¡¯s crazed ambitions, and it was him who started the propaganda of opposing the Knights, with the goal of destroying the world.


    Once the Magicians realized this, they in turn helped the Knights to destroy Gle.


    The real battles started then.


    The knowledge of what exactly happened during those battles was now long gone, but the final result was Gle¡¯s obvious failure. However, most of the high ranked Knights and Magicians died, and therefore the Knights and Magicians as a whole had weakened.


    Legends had it, the current strength of the Gold Knights was only comparable to a low Silver Knight back then. The weakening of Knights and Magicians also allowed the appearance of Mechas.


    The Magicians¡¯ predicaments were especially bad.


    All the Magicians on Gle¡¯s side were obviously slaughtered, but the Magicians who helped Knights also didn¡¯t have it much better. Many of them were still mistaken by the common folks as people who worked for the Devil Gle, and they would often be persecuted.


    In those years, there was a wide witch hunt for Magicians. Until finally, the word ¡°Magician¡± became archaic. Now all Magicians share a title with anyone who had special abilities¡ªSorcerers.


    There had always been people who theorize Gle didn¡¯t die, but instead, was just waiting for the right moment, and as soon as his powers return, the world would sink into chaos once again¡­


    * * *


    ¡°So what if you¡¯re Gle¡¯s descendent? Just because I was friends with him, don¡¯t think I wouldn¡¯t send you to the battle with Violet Academy!¡± Barbalis said fiercely.


    After telling the truth, Kaiser lowered his head, and didn¡¯t dare to look at Meinan or Purity.


    Liola didn¡¯t seem to care, although this guy must not even know who the heck Gle was, but hearing Barbalis¡¯ response, Kaiser was stupefied of Barbalis¡¯s strange declaration.


    Barbalis looked at Kaiser¡¯s shocked expression, and he sported a deep-in-thought face and said,


    ¡°Son, legends are legends, the amount of truth in those is less than 30%. I agree for you not to tell anyone your real identity, since it¡¯ll only cause you nothing but endless trouble. You should never feel sorry or sad for being Gle¡¯s son. Gle was a hero, a failed one, and a failed hero would often be called the Devil.¡±


    Kaiser, Purity, and Meinan couldn¡¯t even be bothered to listen to all this. They were all shocked. And if what Barbalis had just said would be spread, it would be regarded as blasphemy. But since this came out of the old monster, Barbalis, it did seem somewhat believable¡­


    ¡°You¡­ Auntie said you had a wager with Gle, what was that all about?¡± Kaiser asked with hesitation.


    ¡°Hehehe, it was a heaven shaking, earth shattering, never-before-heard, moving, sad but beautiful story that would drive gods and devils alike to tears¡­¡±


    Barbalis shook his head and sighed, and then made a deal with Kaiser, ¡°How about this, if you¡¯re willing to go attack Violet Academy, and successfully make them surrender, then I will tell you free of charge.¡±


    ¡®That¡¯s not free anymore, right?¡¯ Kaiser held back the desire to grit his teeth, contemplating between trouble and knowing about his ancestor.


    Suddenly, a thin strand of white light shot out from Barbalis¡¯ index finger, and the white light instantly disappeared into Liola¡¯s forehead.


    Kaiser worriedly asked Barbalis, ¡°What did you do to Liola?¡±


    ¡°Releasing his seal, of course.¡± Barbalis smiled bitterly, and drops of sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead.


    ¡°What? That was it?¡± Kaiser said in shock.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it involve a large magic circle, then gathering massive amount of magic element from the surroundings, and everything would look grand. And then principal, you would painfully concentrate your energy and transfer it to to Liola-dage, then say, ¡®It¡¯s all up to you now¡¯, and then the principal would faint. Liola-dage would then say solemnly, ¡®I will never let you down¡­¡¯¡±


    As she spoke, Purity sank into her own fantasy of a fairy tale.


    ¡°Uh, even though Purity¡¯s description was a bit exaggerated, but isn¡¯t a small light stream a bit too simple?¡± Meinan asked skeptically.


    ¡°What else do you want? Should I make a big bang for you guys to watch, and lure Lancelot here, then he and I could duel then perish together?¡± Barbalis snapped.


    Kaiser laughed sinisterly,


    ¡°Principal, if you don¡¯t mind, then perish with him. The world would be far more peaceful, and everyone will thank you two¡­¡±


    ¡°Go to hell!¡±


    ¡°Hmmph!¡±


    Liola, who was standing still in shock, suddenly started convulsing intensely. His normally calm face also seemed a bit twisted. He forcefully held back moans of pain, and cold sweat ran down his face. The blood vessels in his body felt like they were being forced through by a metal chain. Series of explosive pain forced the Assassin to lie on the sofa, and his face was scarily pale.


    ¡°Liola-dage? A-are you okay?¡± Having never seen Liola like this, Purity was scared and her tears came streaming down her face.


    ¡°I forgot to tell you, forcefully removing the seal is very painful.¡±


    Barbalis looked like he was saying ¡°Be a man, don¡¯t mind such little pain¡±.


    After sported such expression, Barbalis¡¯ body began to fade, and at the same time he said,


    ¡°Now would be the time for me to run. In a while this Assassin will recover all of his strength, but I will only have half of mine¡­ What a joke, I still want to live for a few hundred more years.¡±


    Barbalis actually ran away, leaving Liola in pain behind. Everyone else was worried but there was nothing they could do.


    Auntie, who was standing there like a mountain, suddenly reached out and grabbed Liola by his waist, and then moved towards the kitchen.


    ¡°Okay, let this little child release his seal quietly. Boys all like to act tough, and he wouldn¡¯t want to show he¡¯s in pain in front of everyone, hehe.¡±


    ¡°Is Liola-dage going to be okay?¡±


    Purity was worried but couldn¡¯t do anything. She cried as Auntie carried Liola off, and stood there trying to get Kaiser to reassure her.


    ¡°Uh¡­ as long as Auntie doesn¡¯t accidentally break Liola¡¯s waist, he should be fine.¡±


    * * *


    Putting down the boy lightly from her hand onto a wooden bench in the corner of the room, Auntie looked at the quiet Liola. After a long while she finally began to speak,


    ¡°Liola, if you can¡¯t run away, then why don¡¯t you thoroughly take care of it altogether. Once and for all, wouldn¡¯t that be better?¡±


    Having said that, Auntie seemed to vaguely hear some rumbles outside, so she took large steps and left to see what had happened.


    * * *


    Though his body was in extreme pain, Auntie¡¯s speech clearly echoed in Liola¡¯s mind. If he couldn¡¯t run away, then maybe he¡­


    An intense headache suddenly came to Liola, and a large bubble in his head seemed to suddenly burst. His sealed Ki spread towards his arms and legs like a flood.


    Liola felt his body warming up. He jumped off the wooden bench, and stretched as far his could. His arms and legs made a cracking noise as he did so.


    Having stretched his muscles and bones, Liola gracefully jumped up and spun in the air. His thin, long leg easily pulverized the sturdy wooden bench behind him. He jumped up again and, after a backflip, stood on top of a single glass cup on the table on one of his legs. His body was still enough for people to mistake him for a statue, except his black hair still drifted lively in the air, and his star-like sparkling silver eyes.


    When Kaiser rushed into the kitchen, and saw this strange scene, he couldn¡¯t help but open his mouth to say,


    ¡°You wasteful bastard! Do you think your son doesn¡¯t spend enough money? Why the hell would you dismantle a bench for no reason? This bench is enormous and must be worth a lot of money. Hey, hey, don¡¯t you forget, your money is my money. You¡¯re not allowed to waste my money!¡±


    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡± Liola turned around to look at that bench, and he felt a bit of regret for his money-wasting action¡­ Wait, why was he thinking like a certain somebody?


    ¡°Oh! Oh!¡± Kaiser suddenly started to yell,


    ¡°Forget about the bench. Things are getting crazy outside, and it feels like the sky is going to fall!¡±


    Liola elegantly jumped off the table, and asked nonchalantly as he stood in front of Kaiser, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡®Sky is falling?¡¯


    Now that his seal was broken, Liola couldn¡¯t help but feel¡­ ¡®So what if the sky was falling?¡¯


    ¡°Ugh~ Violet Academy is attacking us!¡± Kaiser felt like he was going crazy.


    ¡°Those bastards are insane. They came here with several hundred Mechas, and more than a hundred Knights with mounts. Damn, what¡¯s even worse is the Yiyu guy brought a dozen Sorcerers and used some spell to blow up our academy gate.¡±


    ¡°Purity and Meinan rushed out to help Daylight, Jasmine, and Lanski. Do you think we should¡­ go and hide?¡±


    Liola carefully examined the situation, then said to Kaiser, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Though Kaiser didn¡¯t know what Liola planned, but thinking about Liola¡¯s depressed state, he thought Liola would be returning to the most ¡°powerful¡± dorm to sleep.


    Kaiser followed Liola with ease, considering the latter had gotten his Kung Fu back.


    Surely enough, Liola kept walking through shadowed corners and avoided all battles, and the direction he took was obviously towards the Sorcerer dorms. Before long, the Assassin took Kaiser back to their room, and Liola went into the room first.


    In the room, there was a little White Dragon lying on the bed in deep sleep, and its nostrils were blowing bubbles.


    Suddenly, the White Dragon opened its eyes, and after its pink little eyes rolled around to look at the room, the Dragon jumped up and rubbed itself affectionately against papa¡¯s leg.


    Liola let Baolilong grab his leg, and walked to his dresser.


    He opened the drawers, and there were quite a few sets of simple clothes: two Sorcery robes, one set of white clothes he wore to see Lanski, and he was wearing the black clothing he wore to see Jasmine. The rest of the clothes looked identical: they were all white, silver-lined Knight uniforms, which Liola often had to throw away every single time he wore them.


    Due to the amazingly high rate at which Liola burnt through them, Barbalis decided to throw a couple of dozen more of these to Liola.


    Being back at his beloved dorm, Kaiser already hurriedly wrapped himself in sheets. Thinking about being pursued for the past couple of weeks, he had no choice but to leave early and come home late, and his time spent with the sheets was drastically reduced, to the point where Kaiser began to miss his sheets.


    As he lay there, Kaiser suddenly heard the sounds of someone changing clothes. He turned around to look, and saw Liola putting on the Knight uniform.


    Kaiser was shocked, then he asked, ¡°Why are you changing clothes?¡±


    Liola was just about to finish buttoning his uniform, then he turned and asked Kaiser, ¡°Where¡¯s the mask?¡±


    Kaiser was stupefied, but he still took out the silver mask out of his pocket.


    Liola grabbed the mask, and said as he put it on, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kaigleser¡±


    ¡°Huh? Where to?¡± Kaiser stared at Liola as he carried Baolilong, as if they were planning on jumping out the window.


    A light smile appeared on Liola¡¯s mouth. He turned around, and the moonlight behind him reflected off the side of his face, which made his smile that much more mysterious.


    If Liola was seen by girls like this, Lanski would certainly have quite a few more love rivals.


    ¡®Damn! The cursed smile again! Terrible bad luck is coming my way, and¡­ it looks like it¡¯s going to be really bad this time.¡¯


    Kaiser¡¯s face was suddenly 30% whiter.


    ¡°Violet Academy, of course.¡± Liola¡¯s smile grew larger.

 Volume 5, 6 : Storm of Blood

    Volume 5, Chapter 6 : Storm of Blood


    A giant White Dragon suddenly appeared in the night sky, contrasting the darkness. It stood out, especially since the giant Dragon seemed to fling and turn in the air like a wild horse.


    Bystanders would get dizzy and wanted to vomit just from looking at it, not to mention the Knight on it. But strangely, not only did the Knight stay securely on the Dragon, he was even standing. This was only possible for one, and one person only¡ªSilver Mask!


    ¡°Kaigleser, so you actually know Flying Magic?¡± Silver Mask looked at Kaiser, who was flying next to Baolilong.


    Kaiser¡¯s face turned pale and snapped.


    ¡°Go find a few Sorcerers to ride Baolilong, and I promise you at least 8 out of 10 will perform better than expected, and learn the secrets of flying spells.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Silver Mask maintained his smile, but he didn¡¯t pursue his inquiries further.


    One day, he thought, Kaiser will be forced to show his true strength, especially since Silver Mask had already planned on tying the knots of many loose ends.


    ¡°Baolilong, fly towards the center of the battle.¡±


    Silver Mask used telepathy to give orders to Baolilong, who responded back,


    ¡°Okay, papa~¡±


    * * *


    Although everyone in Violet Academy knew Silver Mask belonged to Aklan Academy, no one dared to challenge him.


    Last time, all the Violet Academy students suspected Silver Mask was an imposter, and not really the Paladin¡¯s apprentice.


    However, during the ranking matches, the Paladin appeared and took Silver Mask, so practically everyone in the world knew the Paladin had an apprentice who wore a silver mask and had a Sacred White Dragon.


    Silver Knight, Sacred White Dragon, and the Paladin¡¯s apprentice¡­ who would dare challenge Silver Mask?


    Silver Mask rode the Sacred White Dragon and was completely unhindered, as if no one was there, and they flew to the center of the aerial battle.


    They immediately found Daylight, Jasmine, Lanski, and Meinan, locked in an intense battle with Yiyu and other Violet Academy students.


    Meinan was desperately trying to keep up his protective shield, which blocked all the magic attacks from Yiyu¡¯s army of Sorcerers.


    ¡°S-Silver Mask?!¡± Daylight saw Liola heading towards him, and his heart was filled with both shock and worry. He didn¡¯t know Liola had already been unsealed, and he yelled anxiously,


    ¡°I-is your body okay? Silver Mask.¡±


    Liola smiled, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ve completely recovered.¡±


    Hearing this, Daylight was at first shocked, but then excitement flashed across his face, and he gave Liola a thumb up.


    ¡®Silver Mask¡­¡¯


    Lanski practically forgot she was in a battle. Neither the explosions nor the swords of the opposing Knights caught Lanski¡¯s attention. The only thing she saw with her blue eyes was Silver Mask¡¯s long, slender body.


    Suddenly, Silver Mask looked towards Lanski, leaped onto Flames, and grabbed Lanski by her waist.


    Before a sword could hit Lanski¡¯s shoulder, Liola quickly whirled and moved her out of harm¡¯s way. Liola then spun around and kicked the Knight who attacked Lanski off his mount.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Liola frowned slightly, wondering why Lanski would suddenly be in a trance in the middle of battle.


    Lanski had never been this close to the person she liked, and Silver Mask¡¯s hand was still on her waist. Half of her body was in Liola¡¯s arms, and she could felt the warmth from Silver Mask¡¯s chest¡­


    ¡°Damn! We work so hard to block the enemies¡¯ attack, but this guy is actually busy holding girls?¡±


    Kaiser mocked Liola the best he could, but he still continued to shoot at Yiyu and other Sorcerers with his magic gun, in order to help relieve the pressure from Meinan who was maintaining his protective shield.


    Daylight and Jasmine both had an ambiguous smile, but it was obvious to see they were both blessing Silver Mask and Lanski.


    Suddenly, Silver Mask¡¯s feet left Flames¡¯ back. He looked back, and saw that Baolilong was grabbing him by his collar.


    Baolilong said with dissatisfaction via telepathy, ¡°Papa can¡¯t ride anything else except Baolilong!¡±


    Liola smiled, and jumped back onto Baolilong¡¯s back with a flip. After letting Lanski stand still on Baolilong, Liola used his Ki to magnify his voice.


    In the crowded battlefield, Liola¡¯s voice sounded like it was being delivered by gales into everyone¡¯s ears,


    ¡°Aklan Academy students, listen, we can¡¯t keep being on defensive! Please hear me out. Let the Mecha Fighters keep our academy safe, and Knights follow me to attack Violet Academy!¡±


    The Knights all raised their weapons and yelled ¡°Yes¡±, but the Mecha Fighters were obviously not satisfied.


    At this time, a strange Mecha appeared, and it looked near identical to a real girl. It had a circular disk underneath its feet, and the disk emitted air to propel the Mecha towards the center of the battle, the place where Liola and others were.


    When it was attacked on the way, the Mecha used unbelievable agility to either duck or counter the attack. If it weren¡¯t for the fact the Mecha couldn¡¯t possibly be human, people watching would have thought it was a girl with incredible Kung Fu.


    When the girl Mecha kicked Violet Academy Mechas one by one, the edge of the disk underneath showed blades on its rim, and it split another Mecha into halves.


    The girl Mecha elegantly landed on the disk again, both Academy¡¯s Schools of Mecha Fighters were in shock. The girl Mecha¡¯s agility was unimaginable. If every Mecha had the same level of dexterity, they would have beaten the School of Knights a long time ago.


    Not to mention, the person controlling the Mecha was actually controlling two different Mechas, and they were each performing their own attack.


    How skilled must the pilot¡¯s be to be able to maneuver a Mecha in such manner? Could the pilot have two heads and four arms?


    Both Schools of Mecha Fighters felt respect towards the pilot, but since the control panel was not visible from the outside, no one knew who was controlling it.


    However, the following yell immediately answered everyone¡¯s question.


    ¡°Understood. Silver Mask, go ahead and don¡¯t worry. Purity and other Mecha Fighters will defend Aklan Academy with our lives!¡±


    The girl Mecha even waved at Liola and others, and it practically looked like what Purity would normally do.


    ¡°The safety of the academy is in your hands, School of Mecha Fighters!¡±


    Silver Mask yelled, and Purity responded with ¡°Okay~¡±.


    Aklan Mecha Fighter students stared at each other briefly, but determination surfaced on their faces.


    ¡°Hey! This time we will leave the fun to the School of Knights, but the next time it will be our turn!¡±


    Some Mecha Fighter shouted, then quickly headed back to Aklan Academy for defense, and other Mecha Fighter students followed.


    The Knights, however, quickly gathered around Silver Mask, preparing their counterattack against Violet Academy.


    ¡°School of Knights, if you guys lose then don¡¯t come back!¡± The Mecha Fighters all yelled in unison.


    The Knights didn¡¯t back down and yelled back, ¡°School of Mecha Fighters, if the school is destroyed, then you guys better control your Mechas and be the construction workers!¡±


    Silver Mask¡¯s mood was unexpectedly good. Hearing the threats between the schools, Silver Mask laughed out loud, which made Lanski, who was standing behind him, curiously observe his every action.


    ¡°Kaiser,¡± Liola suddenly called Kaiser.


    Flying by Baolilong, Kaiser snapped at Liola with a terrible tone, ¡°What?¡±


    Liola¡¯s finger pointed at the ground below, where a few Sorcerer students stood, waving their arms to try to catch their attention.


    When Kaiser saw them, he frowned and said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go down and ask them what they want to do.¡±


    Kaiser flew down slowly. As soon as he arrived, and before he had a chance to say anything, the Sorcery students already began to talk.


    ¡°Wow, Kaiser, you knew Fly Magic? We didn¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, let us go with you. We will definitely be useful, though we don¡¯t know how to fly¡­¡±


    ¡°What happened last time made us upset, and we learned various attack magics. I promise that we will be useful.¡±


    Drowning in the students¡¯ voices, Kaiser yelled loudly to stop them, ¡°Fine, I know. All in all you guys want to come along. Fine, let me discuss this with Silver Mask.¡±


    Kaiser flew back to Liola¡¯s side, and explained that the School of Sorcery wanted to go along.


    Liola found it was strange: the Sorcery students became timid after what the principal had done to them, so they would often hide whenever they see trouble, and they still wouldn¡¯t come out after the trouble was long gone. But this time, they actually took the initiative to say they wanted tag go, so it looked like they had the determination this time.


    Liola paused briefly, then asked Baolilong to fly to Daylight. Liola said to Daylight, ¡°The School of Sorcery wants to come along, can you find a few Knights who will carry them along?¡±


    Daylight nodded, ¡°No problem.¡±


    ¡°And Princess Lanski, you should go with Daylight.¡± Liola said to Lanski behind him.


    ¡°W-why?¡± Lanski asked anxiously. At the same time she thought, could Silver Mask think of her as a burden?


    Seeing Lanski anxiousness and disappointed, Liola, who didn¡¯t know how to comfort people, said with a blur, ¡°I still have something else to do in a moment.¡±


    Lanski¡¯s clear big eyes stared at Silver Mask, with her mind set on something. Unlike her usual demeanor, she said willfully,


    ¡°Only if you promise me that you will go with me to the dance after the leaders¡¯ meeting.¡±


    ¡®A dance?¡¯


    Though Liola knew something of it, but seeing her familiar face, Liola couldn¡¯t resist. He nodded his head, and agreed.


    Lanski sighed in relief after Silver Mask agreed to her wish. With an elegant jump, she went onto Flames¡¯ back. She then said after a moment of hesitation,


    ¡°No matter what you¡¯re going to do, p-please be careful. And, where do I go to find you?¡±


    ¡°Just ask Kaiser.¡± Liola pointed at Kaiser, whom kept murmuring, ¡°I¡¯m a messenger again.¡±


    After everything was taken care of, Daylight was seen yelling at the Knights surrounding him.


    Though those Knights looked unwilling, but after Daylight¡¯s persuasion, they agreed. They then flew to the ground and carried the Sorcerers back to their group.


    ¡°Hmmph, those Knights actually carried the Sorcerers? Looks to me like they got upset because of Daylight¡¯s lecture on chivalric codes.¡±


    Kaiser waved his hands, because he didn¡¯t want to hear such lectures from Daylight.


    ¡°Kaiser, do you think Violet Academy went full out? Or do you think some students would stay in their academy for defense?¡±


    Liola frowned slightly. He was unclear on how strong Violet Academy really was.


    ¡°Hey, there were more than two hundred Mechas, and more than a hundred Knights with Mounts. Even for us, the best academy, we barely have three hundred Mechas and two hundred Knights. You really think these schools are easy to get into¡­? Uh, well, it was easy to get into the School of Sorcery. Anyway, even if these aren¡¯t all of Violet Academy¡¯s forces, it should be near 80-90%. Oh, right, we didn¡¯t see Yizhou, so perhaps he is on defense.¡±


    Kaiser finished with his saliva flying every which way, and then suddenly suspiciously asked the Assassin, ¡°Why are you asking this?¡±


    ¡°I want to stay to prevent the Violet Academy students from going back to help. I think Daylight and others should be enough to conquer Violet Academy.¡± Liola smiled lightly.


    ¡°Oh, hehe, then I will go with Daylight and others to Violet Academy.¡± Kaiser smiled, and immediately started to run away.


    However, Baolilong¡¯s big mouth opened, and it picked Kaiser up. Kaiser struggled and yelled,


    ¡°What are you doing, let me go! If you want to be an one man army, don¡¯t drag me into it! I¡¯m just a little Sorcerer, and I can¡¯t really help you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at long-ranged attacks, so that¡¯s up to you.¡±


    Liola ignored Kaiser¡¯s yells.


    Since he was already tailing behind the Knight forces, he decided to turn around to face the Violet Academy students who were chasing them.


    Facing the dozens of enemies, Liola really did feel like a one man army.


    ¡°Waaahhh, why do I feel like I¡¯m about to become cannon fodder?¡±


    Kaiser was practically weeping. He was even closer to the enemies than Liola who was on Baolilong¡¯s back¡­


    ¡®What the hell, Sorcerers should be hiding behind the Knight and provide support, why do I have be in front? Damn Liola must have not learned the art of war.¡¯


    Though he was complaining, but for the sake of not seeing his father before his time, Kaiser pulled out his gun to face his enemies.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± Liola slowly opened his mouth.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s a little too late to discuss tactics now.¡±


    Kaiser looked at the opposing Violet Academy students. Though they were scared of Silver Mask because of his identity, but with the pressure of the Knight forces who were on their way to their academy, and their numerical advantage, many students looked like they were about to attack, and the only thing they were missing was a cue.


    ¡°How do I emit an aura?¡±


    Liola thought, if he doesn¡¯t use an aura this time around, his identity may be questioned again. So he had to ask Kaiser on the spot.


    ¡°Damn you, let¡¯s forget the fact that you treat me like an encyclopedia, but why the hell are you treating me like a Kung Fu manual too?¡±


    Kaiser tried to withhold his desire to roll his eyes. He was a Sorcerer, how would he know how Knights emit an aura?


    ¡®There was actually something that Kaiser didn¡¯t know?¡¯


    Liola was in shock, and he had no choice but to figure it out on his own. With his familiarity and talents with Kung Fu, he believed he could learn the way Knights emit their auras from the dozen of Knights who stood before him.


    The cue for the start of battle actually came out of Baolilong.


    As a Sacred White Dragon, Baolilong saw there were a few Dragons on the other side who dared to oppose it, and its Sacred White Dragon pride was ever so present.


    Baolilong opened its mouth. After letting out a Dragon¡¯s roar, in front of its mouth,¡­ and unfortunately, at Kaiser¡¯s back, a ball of lightning appeared.


    The sparkles proved to be Kaiser¡¯s worst nightmare: his green hair stood straight up after he got electrocuted, and they looked like weeds growing on his head.


    ¡°S-Silver¡­ m-mask, i-if you don¡¯t l-let me¡­ get up, I-I-I will never forgive you!¡¯


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s stuttering after being electrocuted, Liola grabbed Kaiser and placed him on Baolilong¡¯s back. When he turned his head, Baolilong already shot out the lightning ball, and the strong electricity charred some poor Dragon along with its master.


    This lightning ball acted as a declaration of war. The Violet Academy roared in anger, and a dozen Mechas fired their cannons at once.


    When more than twenty shots headed towards Silver Mask, Kaiser yelled,


    ¡°My God, my God! Silver Mask, why didn¡¯t you make Meinan stay too, waahh. Meinan, I was wrong, when you¡¯re not here I finally understand how precious you truly are! I only know how to use the most basic protective shield!¡±


    The shots came towards them from all directions. Though Baolilong dodged as much as it could, and Kaiser opened fire to detonate the shots before it reached them, there were still a few shots landing on Baolilong.


    Baolilong¡¯s continuous cries of pain via telepathy made Liola frown.


    Usually, if it were just Liola, he wouldn¡¯t care about these shots, because they weren¡¯t able to penetrate through his protective Ki. But Baolilong and Kaiser didn¡¯t have Ki like him, so what should he do now?


    Liola blocked the shots with his body whenever he could, but the resulting explosion still injured Baolilong and Kaiser.


    Seeing the red and blue blood scattered throughout their bodies, Liola¡¯s fury inside was steadily rising. He decided to charge into the center of Violet Academy¡¯s Knights, so the Mechas wouldn¡¯t be able to fire at will. Unfortunately, though they didn¡¯t dare to fire the more powerful missiles, they then fired some weaker ones.


    ¡®Why are they like this? Do they not fear harming their own?¡¯


    As Liola was thinking, a missile missed its target, and headed towards a Knight with a giant eagle.


    The Red Knight¡¯s body exploded with a red aura, and when the missile hit the aura, it exploded. The force of the explosion was completely kept outside of the aura, so the Knight and his mount were completely unscathed.


    ¡°Liola, before the next battle, I will definitely help you find out about how to emit auras.¡± Kaiser¡¯s pale face had a few strings of blood oozing from his forehead, and he looked particularly pitiful.


    ¡®Emit aura¡­ emit¡­ emit?¡¯


    An idea flashed across Liola¡¯s mind. Liola¡¯s force inside him was called Ki, and the Knights¡¯ force came from aura, so if Ki was equivalent to aura, then wouldn¡¯t emitting aura be the same thing as emitting and expanding his own Ki?


    ¡®All right, let¡¯s try it!¡¯ Liola yelled,


    ¡°Kaiser, hold on tight to Baolilong¡¯s back.¡±


    Kaiser immediately lied face down on Baolilong¡¯s back, and held tightly to the spikes on Baolilong¡¯s back. At the same time, he murmured,


    ¡°Though Mizerui placed a bit of excitement magic on him, but isn¡¯t this guy a little too excited? I hope my life won¡¯t end like this.¡±


    Liola quickly exerted the Ki in his body, then he tested it by letting his Ki ooze through his palm. When he saw a red aura from his palm, Liola knew he had succeeded, and he felt the joy of success.


    But, Liola didn¡¯t realized the surprise and belittlement from the Violet Academy students.


    ¡®Red aura? Isn¡¯t it the same aura from Red Knights?¡¯


    The Knight ranks were, from lowest to highest, Green, Red, Blue, Silver, and Gold. Red was the most common rank among the academy students.


    Wearing a silver-lined uniform, Silver Mask actually emitted a red aura. This truth put the Violet Academy students in shock, ¡®Silver Mask was a Red Knight?¡¯


    Kaiser also raised his head to look at the aura in Liola¡¯s palm, but he wasn¡¯t as oblivious as the students around them and mistaken Liola to be a Red Knight.


    In fact, being so close to Liola, Kaiser could clearly distinguish the red aura in Liola¡¯s palm from that of an ordinary Red Knight.


    The usual Red Knight¡¯s aura was a very bright, fiery-red, but Liola¡¯s aura was a dark red, similar to the color of blood when it¡¯s almost dry.


    That blood-like color pressured Kaiser. But Kaiser, who would talk even if he were about to die, said to Liola,


    ¡°Hey, your aura¡¯s color is quite strange. Are you sure you¡¯re emitting an aura and not just your own blood?¡±


    Liola thought about it, ¡°It¡¯s probably because my Ki is called Blood Fluttering Ki.¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask! You are a Red Knight, but you¡¯re wearing silver Knight uniform. Cross-rank dressing is absolutely forbidden. Take off your Silver Knight uniform.¡± Some Knight yelled angrily.


    ¡°Someone is rooting for you to put on a strip show. You might as well do it, and it would be beneficial to the females present.¡± Kaiser laughed with his teeth showing.


    Liola raised his brows, and didn¡¯t respond to Kaiser. At the same time, he began to intensely manage his Ki, and planned to let these Knights see the power of his red aura.


    Gradually, an aura of Ki surrounded Liola. The dense Ki was true to its name: it looked like blood fluttering around in the air.


    The surrounding Knights began to notice something was wrong. The blood-red Ki was far different from the aura of a Red Knight, and they¡¯ve never heard of an aura with such color.


    A strange idea floated in the minds of these Knights, could the man before them have his own unique aura like the Paladin and Dark Knight?


    Liola toughened his body, and the blood-red Ki exploded.


    The immense power enveloped the Violet Academy students. The dozens of auras from the Knights were fractured and pulverized, and even the Mechas¡¯ hulls began to crack.


    Under such terrifying power, no one even had the ability to fight back¡­


    Kaiser, who was on the Dragon¡¯s back, also felt the destructive force. He saw something was wrong, and he immediately reached out and grabbed Liola¡¯s ankle, while yelling on the top of his lungs,


    ¡°Liola, STOP!¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s yell, Liola finally shifted his attention from emitting his Ki and noticed the situation of his surroundings.


    Most Knights could not stop the power of Blood Fluttering Ki, and fell to the ground, with blood running out of their mouths and noses.


    The Mecha Fighters who had to use escape pods to save their lives after their Mechas exploded were in a worse condition. Without the protection of their Mechas, the aura-less Mecha Fighters were almost all severely injured.


    ¡®I must not kill!¡¯ Liola felt his heart skip a beat.


    The powerful blood Ki suddenly disappeared, and this sudden release and retraction of Ki also shocked Liola. He spit out a mouthful of blood, and dizziness overcame him. Liola fell on his behind on Baolilong¡¯s back, and couldn¡¯t move for a moment.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kaiser asked with a bit of surprise.


    Liola slowly opened his mouth,


    ¡°Looks like I still can¡¯t control this aura well. When my Ki returned to me, it even hurt myself. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to move for a while. Sorry, Kaiser, everything is up to you now.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, up to me? Okay, then up to me.¡± Usually, Kaiser would have thrown a tantrum if he heard anyone depended on him. But now¡­


    ¡°That is, if these guys who are about to pee their pants would even dare to come up again.¡±


    Liola looked left and right, and the situation was horrific.


    He saw the ground was covered with bleeding Knights, and debris from Mechas. There were also Mecha Fighters who were sitting in their escape pods and, like what Kaiser said, looked like they were about to pee in their pants. What¡¯s more was, bright red blood soaked the earth around them¡­


    Ignoring his own injuries, Liola forcefully used his other skill, Heart of Consciousness. After scanning through the entire field, Liola finally felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders.


    ¡®Luckily¡­ luckily no one died.¡¯


    ¡°Liola, how about we give a name to your new aura?¡± Kaiser sinisterly laughed and suggested.


    ¡°A name?¡± Liola thought helplessly, he seemed to have already said it¡¯s called Blood Fluttering Ki.


    ¡°Yup. Look, your aura¡¯s color is like blood, and after you use it, the ground really is covered in blood. Let¡¯s call it Storm of Blood, how about that? Fitting, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡®Storm of Blood?¡¯ Liola laughed bitterly. Kaiser¡¯s naming sense seemed to always¡­ hit the mark.


    * * *


    ¡°What a terrifying Storm of Blood.¡±


    The scene of Liola naming his aura could be seen on a giant television, and Barbalis, who was sitting in front of the television observing the status of the battle, took a long sigh.


    But the large office had more than just Barbalis. There also was a gold-haired man with glasses.


    Mizerui frowned, which was unlike his normal demeanor. Lastly, there was a man with a warm and gentle smile pouring more tea into their teacups¡ªthe Aklan Prime Minister.


    ¡°This is nothing. If you guys were in the Dark Arena Pyramid, Liola¡¯s ¡®KNEEL!¡¯ was far more entertaining.¡±


    Qiusi smiled, but his eyes seemed even more sunken than Mizerui.


    Mizerui frowned, ¡°Ah, though I still hate him for being a Knight, but I¡¯m starting to agree with him.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Barbalis felt a bit tense, considering he had to waste his own power to release Liola¡¯s seal.


    ¡°Liola¡¯s power had always been strong, yes, but he coincidentally bonded with the Sacred White Dragon Prince. He had already learned healing magic, which means he could feel magic elements, and thus he will, sooner or later, learn Dragon magic. Now he learned how to use aura too. Perhaps even I am not a match for his powers anymore.¡±


    It was rare for Mizerui to admit he¡¯s weaker, but he believed that other two people present wouldn¡¯t dare to underestimate Liola.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m more worried about the problem with the Dragon Empire succession. Out of the three sons and one daughter the Dragon Emperor has, none of them had become a Sacred White Dragon¡¯s master, but instead they let an outsider become the Sacred White Dragon Prince¡¯s master. You tell me, who should the throne of the Dragon Emperor go to then?¡±


    Qiusi, being a Prime Minister, worried more about politics rather than Liola¡¯s strength.


    Barbalis slowly stood up, looked out the window and said,


    ¡°Compared to the future, I¡¯m more worried about now. My good friends, I have a feeling the leaders¡¯ meeting may not end on good terms, it may even be the start of turmoil for this world.¡±


    ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t ask us to come here just to say that?¡± Qiusi slowly sipped tea.


    Barbalis didn¡¯t turn around, but his stature seemed to indicate his perseverance in the matter,


    ¡°I just want to know, when this turmoil starts, whether you two would choose to support this son of fate, or choose to exterminate him.¡±

 Volume 5, 7 : Aura Roasted Barbecue

    Volume 5, Chapter 7 : Aura Roasted Barbecue


    ¡°Damn! Could it be that our Sorcerers in the academy are tigers pretending to be pigs?¡±


    When Kaiser heard from Daylight how they actually beat the Violet Academy, Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped and he said in disbelief. Of course, his wide open mouth had another purpose. It¡¯s because they were eating in ¡°Delicious Barbecue Restaurant¡±, and Liola had just put down some barbecue.


    Kaiser used this opportunity of opening his mouth to throw more meat into his stomach.


    ¡°It was great. I didn¡¯t know until now Sorcerers are so powerful. I was far too ignorant.¡±


    Daylight said in excitement, and began to explain the situation before.


    ¡°When we got to Violet Academy, we noticed they had already made foolproof preparations. Countless cannons were mounted on top of the whole academy, so they planned well ahead. Yizhou was indeed defending at Violet Academy, and wave attack of his water Dragon was very powerful.¡±


    ¡°Enough! Get to the point, and stop complimenting others! You¡¯re just lowering our own prestige.¡± Kaiser stuck his head out and yelled angrily.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Anyway, because of those countless cannons, not only were our Knights not able to charge in, the number of people who could fight steadily decreased. When we were helpless, and could only struggle to stand our ground, the Sorcerers suddenly demanded for all the Knights who were carrying them to form a circle, and at the same time, let Meinan cast a protective shield to stop Violet Academy¡¯s cannon attacks. Sigh. Meinan¡¯s protective shield is the best I¡¯ve ever seen. Even 15 minutes worth of cannon shots did not make a dent.¡±


    Meinan who was standing on the side, blushed, waved his hand and said:


    ¡°If you did not stop Yiyu, he would have sliced me in half and it wouldn¡¯t have mattered how good my protective shield was.¡±


    Daylight laughed with modesty. Under Kaiser¡¯s urging eyes, Daylight hurried to continued.


    ¡°After 15 minutes, a magic circle appeared in the middle of the Sorcerers. 10 giant bolts of lightning shot out from the magic circle and they bombarded the Violet Academy¡­¡±


    ¡°And then? And then?¡± Kaiser curiously prompted Daylight to continue.


    ¡°And then we started the rescue mission for Violet Academy students.¡± Daylight said honestly,


    ¡°Violet Academy was crumbling, and the students inside were moaning in pain, many of which were severely injured. Because their healing Maxuns were damaged by the lightning attacks, we had no choice but carry them back to Aklan Academy.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why Liola and I saw you carrying a bunch of Violet Academy students back to Aklan Academy.¡± Kaiser was now satisfied having heard the whole story.


    ¡°Daylight has the kindest heart. Many Knights did not want to carry the Violet Academy students, and Daylight had to persuade them by citing the Chivalric Knight Code, only then did they carry the wounded back.¡±


    Purity stared at Daylight with admiration. Daylight felt embarrassed, and at the same time he said,


    ¡°Everyone who saw to situation would have done the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh really? Why do I get the feeling I would have chosen to step on those bastards?¡± Kaiser muttered with a disdained expression. Why should he be courteous to people who brought nothing but trouble?


    ¡°Hey, Baolilong, are you a pig?! You just finished another plate filled with meat!¡±


    Kaiser yelled in dissatisfaction. Baolilong, who was chewing a large piece of meat, ignored Kaiser.


    Ever since Kaiser grabbed a piece of meat from Baolilong¡¯s mouth and gotten himself electrocuted, Kaiser deeply understood grabbing meat from a Dragon¡¯s mouth was definitely unwise.


    ¡°Liola! Another plate of meat¡­ Hey, stop playing with your aura.¡±


    Kaiser turned to yell at the Assassin, who was staring at his own blood-red aura. His slight frown indicating he was confused.


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s yell, Liola raised his head to glance at Kaiser, and then quickly flung the largest piece of meat into the air. When the meat was falling, Liola raise his hand and enveloped the meat with his blood-red aura.


    Now, it wasn¡¯t just Kaiser who had his mouth wide open. Everyone was beginning to suspect Liola had gotten an addiction with playing with his aura. He could not attack people, so he was using his aura to vent on the meat instead¡­


    But what happened next made it clear to everyone that Assassins don¡¯t play around, especially Liola. He was only focusing on ¡®practical usage¡¯.


    A piece of meat, the size of a human head fell into the plate Liola had prepared. Unlike the charred piece of coal everyone expected it to be, it was a juicy piece of meat. Its alluring aroma consistently challenged everyone¡¯s restraint. Liola took the knife beside him. After a few flashes, the head sized meat had been cut into slices.


    ¡°Aura¡­ barbecue?¡± Daylight was extremely shocked. As a Knight, he was proud of his aura. But who would use their own aura to roast meat?


    Liola carefully examined the cross section. The redness of the meat indicated that it was not fully cooked, and it looked like he had to use a little bit more aura.


    Liola quickly calculated the ratio between the size of the meat and the amount of aura he used. At the same time, he toss the slightly undercooked meat; but a Dragon¡¯s favorite kind of meat, to Baolilong.


    ¡°This is great! Holy cow, aura roasted barbecue! I¡¯ve never eaten anything like it in my life.¡±


    Kaiser jumped up and yelled. ¡°I want aura roasted barbecue. Liola give me some aura roasted barbecue.¡±


    ¡°Purity wants some too!¡± Purity jumped up too.


    Though Meinan cared about his image, and therefore did not jump up and down screaming he wanted meat, but with his flashing eyes, his desire for meat was practically written across his forehead.


    Liola didn¡¯t disappoint his companions. He threw a few pieces of meat into the air, and started using both of his hands. A few flashes of red light appeared in the air, and the pieces of meat fell into the plates Liola had instantly placed on the table.


    Everyone saw the delicious meat, and started yelling, ¡°Long live aura roasted meat!¡±


    Still, Liola didn¡¯t hand the plates to everyone, but instead he grabbed a handful of vegetables and threw them into the air.


    ¡°Oh oh, Purity loves veggies!¡± Purity cheered


    ¡°Veggies are good, they are healthy!¡± Meinan seemed to have forgotten everything about his image, and started cheering with Purity.


    Likewise, a few flashes of red light appeared in the air, and the vegetables, like the meat, were also¡­ Wait, no, the vegetables disappeared from the air.


    Everyone looked and saw that a bunch of pitch black powder landed on the meat they were salivating over moments ago, and practically covered the pieces of meat, as if the pieces of meat were telling them,


    ¡°Eat me, do you want to eat me? Come if you dare¡­¡±


    Their cheers froze.


    Liola also silently looked at the pieces of ash-covered meat, and slowly stated the truth, ¡°I failed.¡±


    After a while, Kaiser finally recovered from shock. He pretended to be at ease and said, ¡°How about another dish? Let me say this first, I don¡¯t want vegetables!¡±


    Purity and Meinan also desperately shook their heads and yelled, ¡°No veggies, no veggies.¡±


    Before Liola had time to explain he hadn¡¯t fully learned the technique, so the vegetables were a failure, and it wouldn¡¯t happen again next time, Auntie¡¯s thunder-like voice had stormed into the room.


    ¡°Little children~~ Hurry, hurry, leader from every continent had already arrived at your academy. Bartercup already called me and rushed me to deliver all the food over to the academy. For an entire week, everyone in your academy will be waiters and hosts for our guests. Bartercup says that every student must be an unpaid waiter.¡±


    ¡°This damn old geezer, he must hide all the money used for waiters.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told Bartercup he should send all of you to come here to be cafeteria workers.¡±


    Auntie anxiously stomped the ground, ¡°Aiya, I don¡¯t know if this is enough people?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re responsible to provide food?¡± Daylight asked curiously.


    Though Liola¡¯s roasted meat was indeed good, it didn¡¯t seemed delicate enough to be presented to the leaders of every continent. To cater to all the leaders, it really didn¡¯t seem like Delicious Barbecue Restaurant would be chosen.


    ¡°Yes, okay, everyone follow me to fetch the best meat. We have to make preparations to go.¡±


    With Auntie¡¯s gong-like voice, everyone obediently followed her orders, and started to work like busy bees after following Auntie into the freezer.


    They worked hard to move the meat from the freezer to the Maxun responsible for transportation. They went back and forth many times. When everyone was tired to the point of almost collapsing, Daylight felt a bit suspicious.


    Although there were six or seven people present to help moving the meat, but Liola, Auntie, and he, moved far more meat than the rest.


    Daylight could move more than 100kg per trip. Liola was even more amazing, had it not been the fact he had nowhere else to hold meat on his body, he probably could¡¯ve moved more than 150kg per trip.


    Auntie, on the other hand, moved an unimaginable amount of meat. Her body was massive, and the weight didn¡¯t seem to bother her at all. She probably moved as much meat per trip as everyone else combined.


    When Daylight raised his head as high as he could to see the top of the meat mountain, he seriously questioned. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t this mountain-like pile of meat be too much?¡¯


    ¡°Okay, I will drive the Maxun to your academy. You guys walk and rendezvous with me there.¡±


    Auntie jumped up to the cockpit designed for two people, but her large body made it impossible for even the thin Purity to squeeze in, so everyone had no choice but nod in agreement.


    When everyone walked out of Delicious Barbecue Restaurant, they realized there was quite a rumble outside. There was a sea of people desperately pushing one another, and they were heading towards the Aklan Academy.


    The crowd had gotten more and more crazy as what originally was a little dot in the sky slowly came closer, and became evident that it was a row of Dragons. Many people yelled,


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor is here!¡±


    Daylight saw they couldn¡¯t squeeze through the crowd, so he sighed and called for Flames via telepathy. When the Fire Dragon, Flames, heard its master¡¯s call, it immediately flew out of the window of the dorm, and coincidentally flew past the row of Dragons that had just landed.


    * * *


    ¡°What a nice Red Dragon. It¡¯s got nice colors, and its flying posture is beautiful. Looks like it has a good master.¡±


    A man with white, gold-lined Knight uniform jumped down from his Dragon as he saw Flames fly by. He smiled and enjoyed the scene of Flames passing by.


    ¡°Roar~¡±


    The Dragon next to him seemed dissatisfied, and roared loudly, while desperately rubbing its head against its master. Coincidentally, this Dragon was also a Red Dragon.


    The man couldn¡¯t hold back his laughter. He patted the Dragon¡¯s head and said, ¡°I know, Little Fireball is the best Red Dragon, how is that?¡±


    ¡°Sovereign younger brother, please mind your etiquette.¡± Another man wearing black, gold-lined Knight uniform, who looked majestic and calm, seemed to be dissatisfied with his brother¡¯s demeanor.


    ¡°Oh, understood, second elder sovereign brother.¡±


    The younger man immediately withdrew his smile after being criticized, but the corner of his mouth was still tilted, making it obvious his was only pretending in front of his brother.


    Sure enough, as soon as his elder brother turned, he began to kick Little Fireball or used his hand to pull the Dragon¡¯s beard, making Little Fireball feel quite awkward at its master¡¯s childishness.


    The dozen or so Dragon Knights quietly waited for the most important person. A snow white Dragon slowly landed from the sky. The Dragon¡¯s elegant posture eclipsed the other Dragons, and the person on top of awed every Knight below.


    Though as a Knight, the person riding the White Dragon did not wear a Knight uniform, but instead wore a purple robe. He stood quietly on top of the Dragon¡¯s back, and his long silver hair was tied up behind him.


    His purple eyes were even more beautiful than the robe he wore. His extraordinarily delicate face made everyone skeptical of his identity, but the Dragon crown atop his head would stomp any doubt of him being the leader of the Dragon Empire, the Dragon Emperor.


    When the snow white Dragon slowly landed on the ground, all the Dragon Knights got on one knee. The two men with gold-lined Knight uniforms also quickly stepped up, bowed, and said at the same time, ¡°Welcome, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± The Emperor seemed to be a bit absent-minded. ¡°You may rise.¡±


    After hearing the Emperor¡¯s permission, everyone stood up. The servants from the side immediately went up, and unrolled a white carpet. The carpet reached from where the Emperor stood all the way to the entrance to a large building.


    Both sides of the entrance already had many people standing there: Qiusi and three people all wearing military uniforms of varying color. Barbalis also stood there, but a bit in front of the others to welcome the Dragon Emperor.


    The Emperor seemed to have snapped out of his daze, stepped down from the white Dragon, and slowly walked on the white carpet. When he passed by his two sons, he glanced at his second son¡¯s chest, and saw a cross necklace with Dragon wings.


    He looked at his son, but his son showed a stubborn expression. The Emperor slowly turned his head back, and continued to walk towards Qiusi and others without saying a word.


    The second Prince smiled slightly, declaring his victory, and the third Prince curiously yet worriedly looked at his second elder sovereign brother and his cross necklace.


    Barbalis and Qiusi also saw the necklace and the Emperor¡¯s reaction. At the same time they thought,


    ¡®So it really wasn¡¯t the Emperor who ordered Lancelot to rob Liola of his necklace, but instead it was the second Prince.¡¯


    Even though they were thinking this, but they would never present any neglect to the Emperor of the Dragon Empire.


    There were five Gold Knights and ten Silver Knights. They were strong enough of a force to destroy the Aklan capital.


    Barbalis immediately went up, and his face was all smile as he said,


    ¡°Your Majestic, welcome to our humble shop¡­ no, humble academy, and it will be our honor to have your presence.¡±


    Qiusi withheld the desire to punch the smile out of Barbalis¡¯ face, and maintained his demeanor as the country¡¯s Prime Minister.


    He said calmly, ¡°Long time no see, Your Majesty.¡±


    The Emperor¡¯s gaze moved towards Qiusi. For the first time today, emotion surfaced on his face.


    He smiled and said, ¡°It has indeed been a long time, Aklan Prime Minister, and the three Leaders of Commerce Alliance.¡±


    A tall man wearing Yellow military uniform said heartily, ¡°This is my first time seeing the Dragon Emperor, and he surely has the demeanor of a King.¡±


    The thin man in Green military uniform smiled shyly, and said with a stutter, ¡°H-hello, Your Majesty.¡±


    Lastly, a woman wearing bright Red military uniform playfully smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve always heard the adjectives describing the Dragon Emperor were majestic and royal, but now that I see you, you look just like a pretty boy, and not at all like a father of several children.¡±


    Hearing this insulting mockery, a few Knights behind the Emperor seemed to have gotten furious, and put their hands on the handle their swords.


    However, the Dragon Emperor smiled, and held up his right hand, indicating for his Knights to stop what they¡¯re doing.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the Red Leader had always been straightforward, and now that I¡¯ve met you, it seems like the rumors were true.¡±


    Hearing the Dragon Emperor, the Red Leader laughed like a silver bell.


    ¡°Okay, everyone, let¡¯s go in. Standing at the door is not how Aklan Academy treat their guests.¡±


    Barbalis beckoned loudly. The Leaders first stepped in the door, followed by the two Princes, then finally their respective guards.


    Barbalis looked at the Red Dragon Flames circling at the academy gate, and thought in his mind,


    ¡°Maylee, Maylee, I hope you look after that silver-eyed punk. But honestly, if fate forces him to do something, how could you possibly stop him?¡±


    * * *


    On the other side, though Daylight called forth Flames and it would indeed allow them to enter the academy, but when they saw Barbalis was greeting the Leaders, they did not approach.


    Had they done so, they might be swatted like flies by dozens of Knights, or stepped on like roaches by those rank-X Mechas. With their principle to keep living, they could only circle around in the air, while waiting for the Leaders to finish their salutations.


    ¡°Hey, Meinan, everyone else brought a ton of forces, why did your father bring nothing at all?¡± Kaiser asked curiously.


    Meinan replied, ¡°Oh, our strength lies with defense. Though my father probably couldn¡¯t beat anyone, but no one in the world could harm him, so he doesn¡¯t need any guards.¡±


    ¡°Says who? Can protective shields block swords?¡± Kaiser said in disdain.


    Meinan seriously replied, ¡°Ordinarily, protective shields can¡¯t block physical attacks, but our ancestral comprehensive protective shield can, and my father sets this shield around him 24/7, so even ambushes are useless.¡±


    ¡°COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTIVE SHIELD!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face lit up with a blinding light, and at the same time Meinan seemed to feel he had said something he shouldn¡¯t have.


    With Kaiser¡¯s habit of (ab)using everyone he could, he said with a smile, ¡°Then from now on, my safety is entirely in your hands. If I were to lose so much as a hair, you will have to pay!¡±


    Meinan¡¯s face turned pale, and waved his hands to say, ¡°I¡¯m not my dad. I can¡¯t maintain comprehensive protective shield all the time, and even if I were to use it, I can¡¯t hold it for long¡­¡±


    Kaiser patted Meinan¡¯s back,


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry. Liola is quite strong. All you have to do is hold the comprehensive protective shield until Liola finish off the enemies.¡±


    Meinan¡¯s face was quite bitter, and he felt like a lamb in front of a wolf¡¯s mouth¡­


    Compared to Meinan and Kaiser¡¯s playfulness, Liola¡¯s heart was in turmoil.


    Originally, he had no hope of ever retrieving Anise¡¯s necklace. He thought he could use the impossibly as the reason to not retrieve it. But now, had his powers had returned to him, and the necklace may very well be on the Dragon Emperor¡­


    Liola¡¯s otherwise calm heart had been agitated again. He almost wanted to put on his mask to take back what belonged to him.


    ¡°Liola.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank as he called out to Liola. He probably guessed what Liola was thinking, but to grab the necklace from the Dragon Emperor? Kaiser wasn¡¯t blind. He saw the dozen of Silver Knights or higher, and the three rank-X Mechas.


    When Kaiser yelled, Liola snapped of his daze and saw Kaiser¡¯s warning eyes. Liola sighed, and lightly nodded, indicating he wouldn¡¯t do anything ridiculous.


    ¡°Little children, hurry, Auntie will bring you to work.¡±


    Before Flames even reached their destination, Auntie begin to use her gong-like voice to beckon them.


    Daylight ordered Flames to fly as fast as it could towards Auntie. However before they landed, something strange happened. The dozens of Dragons standing outside suddenly all turned towards them, and looked at the human-shaped Baolilong.


    All of them seemed puzzled until the Dragon Emperor¡¯s White Dragon elegantly walked over, and then knelt towards Liola and others. The other Dragons saw its action, and they copied it and knelt along with the White Dragon.


    ¡°Hot damn, Dragons actually know how to kneel. Never seen this before in my life.¡±


    Kaiser was shocked. He thought about it, then turned around and said to Liola, ¡°This is probably because of you. Are you some kind of deity of abnormality?¡±


    Liola lowered his head to look at Baolilong and asked, ¡°Why are they kneeling?¡±


    Baolilong opened its innocent pink eyes and said, ¡°Don¡¯t know, but everyone is kneeling at Baolilong.¡±


    Hearing Baolilong¡¯s useless reply, Kaiser poked its egg-like forehead and said, ¡°Could Dragons have a habit of kneeling to the Dragon with the lowest intelligence?¡±


    Auntie ran over to them and nervously said to Liola, ¡°Little child, you better ask your Dragon to order the other Dragons to get up. If anyone sees this, things could turn worse.¡±


    Liola¡¯s calm eyes flashed with a sense of warning, ¡®This Auntie¡­¡¯


    Liola didn¡¯t raise any questions for Auntie, and said to Baolilong, ¡°Baolilong, tell them to get up. Also, ask the White Dragon to come here and explain.¡±


    Obeying what papa said, Baolilong yelled a few times at the Dragons. Then, the Dragons looked at each other a few times, then turned around to look away from Baolilong. But the White Dragon¡¯s reaction was rather strange. It looked like it had received some sort of shock, and its mouth opened wide, completely devoid of its previous elegance.


    Kaiser pushed his shoulder against Baolilong, ¡°Hey, chowhound, what did you say? Why does this Dragon look like it¡¯s about to go insane?¡±


    Baolilong said triumphantly, ¡°Baolilong said, ¡®What are you looking at! Never seen a Dragon? If you haven¡¯t, why don¡¯t you look at yourselves!¡¯¡±


    ¡°Aiya, little runt you sure know how to talk now, but why your tone sound so familiar?¡±


    Kaiser tilted his head to try to remember where he had heard such a tone before.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze landed on Kaiser, and only the culprit was still wondering whose tone it was.


    Baolilong yelled again, this time at the white Dragon. Baolilong would always follow every word of what papa said. Though how things would end up by following papa¡¯s orders was never something little Baolilong would ever consider.


    The White Dragon heard Baolilong¡¯s yell, and seemed to have snapped out of its daze and closed its mouth. The White Dragon nodded elegantly at Baolilong, and said with a soft voice, ¡°Prince¡¯s master, what would you like for me to explain?¡±


    The Assassin began to think. Prince¡¯s master was definitely referring to himself, and he had only been master to one Dragon, so his Dragon, Baolilong, was the Prince. The reason why all the Dragons knelt was because Baolilong was the Dragon Prince!


    Liola¡¯s face sank. He had previously refused to be a Prince, but now he¡¯s the Prince¡¯s master¡­


    ¡°Does the Dragon Prince have any responsibilities or obligations?¡± Liola asked.


    Comparing to find out one day in the future of him having responsibilities as the Dragon Prince¡¯s master, he¡¯d rather find out now, at least¡­ Liola couldn¡¯t lighten up his distressed face, so at least he could make preparations.


    The White Dragon was stunned, and said hesitantly, ¡°Ordinarily, only one person in the world would own one of us Sacred White Dragon, and that would be the Emperor of the Dragon Empire. Other than him, Dragons don¡¯t have any special responsibilities, and the same goes for the Prince, unless Dragons face the danger of extinction.¡±


    Great, Liola¡¯s mood dampened even more. His predicament actually changed from whether he wanted to be the Dragon Empire¡¯s Prince to whether he wanted to be the Dragon Empire¡¯s Emperor. With his luck, Dragons may very well face extinction soon.


    ¡°Aiya, anyhow, little child, cook these meat for Auntie. We have to feed their Dragons to full before the Knights come back out!¡±


    When they saw Liola¡¯s expression, everyone had gotten more and more worried about him. But with Auntie¡¯s high decibel scream, Liola¡¯s attention seemed to be back on her. He asked with confusion,


    ¡°Feed the Dragons?¡±


    ¡°Yep. This week, we¡¯re responsible to feed the Knights¡¯ Dragons. Is there a problem?¡±


    Auntie blinked her eyes, with her eyelids looking like they¡¯re as firm as her bicep. Her square face got closer and closer to Liola¡¯s, as if a Military Sergeant asking a Foot Soldier if he had a problem with her orders.


    Even Liola had to take a step back. He shook his head expressing there was no problem.


    ¡°Great!¡± Auntie put her hands on her waist and yelled, ¡°Liola and I are responsible for cooking the meat, and everyone else take the Dragons to the sport fields. Let them stay wherever they want there, but remember where they are. Come to the kitchen in a while, and bring the meat back to the Dragons.¡±


    Other than Daylight¡¯s spirited reply, everyone else gave a feeble response, then each started to determine which Dragon was more tame.


    The Fire Dragon was something everyone avoided. If they¡¯re not careful and it breathes fire, then they would become the barbecue.


    Kaiser circled around the White Dragon to avoid it. He had already had enough fun with Baolilong¡¯s electrocution, and he didn¡¯t want to taste the same thing from a mature Dragon.


    Purity was already hiding behind Meinan as soon as she saw the Dragons larger than Flames, and wouldn¡¯t come out.


    Meinan¡¯s mood was slightly better, considering he was the person who was able to stop the Black Dragon King Miluo¡¯s attack, but¡­ he still kept his distance from the Dragons. Although he didn¡¯t fear Dragon magic, he was still afraid Dragons might flatten him into a pancake with their feet.


    The only person who was truly not afraid, was the person who spent day and night with a Dragon¡ªDaylight. He took Flames, who shrank into a small Dragon, to meet new friends.


    To the Dragons, Flames was still a little boy, so they were fairly friendly with Flames. As Knights¡¯ mounts, the Dragons also seemed to respect Daylight, whose Knight etiquette was exemplary. Without saying much, the Dragons quietly followed Daylight to move to the sport fields.


    Seeing Daylight handling the situation well, Kaiser and others didn¡¯t have anything to worry. They decided to follow the Dragons, so they could ascertain their position, then come back to the kitchen to fetch the meat.


    Before Kaiser left, however, he suddenly stopped and turned his head to say to Liola, ¡°Never leave the kitchen, and especially not to go to the meeting!¡±


    Liola wanted to answer he would never go to the Leaders¡¯ meeting, but then thought about the accidentsthat had happened before.


    Liola calmly said, ¡°I¡­ will try.¡±


    Although unhappy with Liola¡¯s reply, Kaiser did understand fate seemed to like to play games with them, and there were always accidents forcing them one way or another. What would happen this time?


    * * *


    Liola then turned around to follow Auntie, while with a thought in his mind:


    ¡®Anise was an important companion, and her possession is very important as well. But his companions who are still alive are more important, and I can¡¯t harm my companions because of Anise¡¯s possession.¡¯


    Auntie walked through a small humble door leading to the busy kitchen. The chefs in the kitchen allocated a small corner of the kitchen for them, it was a small room used to boil water.


    The room was so small, Auntie couldn¡¯t even go in, so she had no choice but let Liola do the cooking. Auntie stood at the door to pass the meat to Liola, whom then cooked them into rare steaks (Dragons loved their food rare).


    Originally, Liola planned to behave and use fire to cook. Problem was, every piece of meat was as large as half of Liola¡¯s body. Even for an exceptional cook, it would take quite a while to cook such humongous piece of meat. At this rate, when the others come here to fetch the meat, only one piece of meat would barely be rare.


    Liola wanted to cut the meat into smaller pieces to cook, but Auntie stopped him because Dragons loved to tear the pieces of meat apart by themselves. The size they had was already rather small for Dragons, so they can¡¯t cut them into smaller pieces. But if Liola were to turn up the fire, the surface of the meat would definitely get burnt.


    Liola frowned, and looked around him. He was in a very small, remote room, and there was only one window located fairly high up. Unless someone put their face against the window, no one could see what¡¯s going on inside.


    Liola immediately turned off the stove, and threw the large piece of meat into the air. After a flash of red light, the half body-sized meat had been cooked to rare.


    Liola threw the meat out, and started to work on a new piece of meat. This kept going for a couple of pieces until Auntie poked her head in with suspicion, but after watching, she didn¡¯t say anything to stop him. Thus, Liola felt relieved, and then continued to use his aura to cook meat.


    During this time, only Kaiser would dare to poke his head in and say, ¡°Liola, cook one to well done, I want to eat.¡±


    Liola threw a piece of well-done meat out, and said, ¡°Remember to help me feed Baolilong.¡±


    Kaiser, however, gave him a glare,


    ¡°Yeah right! The dozen pieces of meat you¡¯ve cooked were all eaten by your Dragon. Your Dragon Prince isn¡¯t full yet, and other Dragons wouldn¡¯t even dare to touch the meat!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­

 Volume 5, 8 : Declaration of War

    Volume 5, Chapter 8 : Declaration of War


    ¡°Little Fireball? Little Fireball? Your master is looking for you~.¡±


    A man trotted towards the sport fields while yelling ¡°Little Fireball¡±.


    The man wore a white, gold-lined Knight uniform, and inherited a head full of silver hair from his dad. What was different was this man¡¯s hair was short. As for his eyes, he had the same blue eyes as his sister Lanski. Along with his relaxing smile, he would make the people who look at him comfortable.


    Though being unable to find where his Dragon was, the man didn¡¯t look like he cared. After all, he was only using the excuse of looking for his Dragon to be outdoors.


    To him, it was sunny outside with a light, cool breeze, it would have been foolish to stay inside a building and not come out for a walk!


    Of course, this was something he wouldn¡¯t say out loud. To say it out would be the same as calling his elder brother, and more importantly, His Majesty foolish. It wouldn¡¯t matter for him to call his brother foolish, but definitely not the Emperor.


    The man smiled slightly, and then began to yell again, ¡°Little Fireball, where art thou? Are you playing hide-and-seek with your master?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for Little Fireball?¡±


    Kaiser happened to walk by with a cart full of meat, and he kept glancing at this man. He thought,


    ¡®Was this man really the master of the enormous Dragon aptly named ¡®Little¡¯ Fireball, or was he an escapee from an asylum?¡¯


    But, a madman probably couldn¡¯t get his hands on a gold-lined Knight uniform easily, so Kaiser had no choice but unwillingly admit the man who was laughing like an idiot was indeed Little Fireball¡¯s master.


    As soon as Kaiser heard the Dragon calling itself Little Fireball, he already felt its master must be a little brain-damaged. At least, in the part of the brain that came up with names.


    ¡°Hmm? You know where my Little Fireball is?¡± The man finally withdrew his relaxed (or, in Kaiser¡¯s words, idiotic) smile.


    He curiously looked at the boy who didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of him at all. Shouldn¡¯t normal people revere Gold Knights?


    ¡°Yup, I do know, and I¡¯m about to deliver some meat over there. I can lead you to it.¡±


    Kaiser pushed the cart full of meat, and walked slowly, slacking off. Since Meinan and Purity had already rushed over, plus Auntie said, don¡¯t go too quickly, so no one would become suspicious, didn¡¯t she? Therefore, Kaiser¡¯s slacking manner was fair and square.


    The man became even more curious. The boy didn¡¯t revere him at all!


    As the third Prince of the Dragon Empire, and a man who had gotten to Gold rank at such a young age, the man had never had anyone who didn¡¯t venerate him. But he was easygoing, and therefore not angry, but just curious.


    The truth was, Kaiser didn¡¯t do it on purpose. Though he may have never really respected anyone, but to avoid trouble, he would definitely pretend to be.


    The main reason was he had seen some very important people lately. X-ranked criminal Mizerui, followed by Barbalis who had unknown powers, but guaranteed to be quite strong.


    ¡®Hmm, Princess Lanski also counts as one of them.¡¯


    Then he ran into the Black Dragon King Miluo, and Dark Knight Blood Wolf, not to mention the Paladin Lancelot who kept causing them trouble again and again. Finally, they had a run-in with The Adorning Flowers, and saw their Gold Knight leader, Gladiolus¡­


    Compared to all them, what was a gold Knight to him?


    Kaiser wouldn¡¯t even fake a smile for Lancelot, he threatened his principal, called Blood Wolf a bro, and rescued a man Gladiolus was going to kill¡­


    ¡°Sorcerer? Sorcerer? What¡¯s your name? I can¡¯t just keep calling you Sorcerer, right?¡± The man called Kaiser several times.


    ¡°Kaiser.¡± He lazily answered.


    ¡°Oh, Kaiser.¡± The man laughed for a while, and then finally asked when he saw Kaiser not having any response, ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask me what my name is?¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, ¡°Knowing another name means having one more trouble.¡± Everyone who told him their names had all been big trouble!


    The man seemed to feel a bit awkward, but continued to implore, ¡°Ask me, please ask me~¡±


    ¡®Damn! Does being Gold rank Knight not involve some sort of IQ test?¡¯ Kaiser sported an agitated face, but considering the gold lines on his shirt, he forced his mouth open and said,


    ¡°What is your name then?¡±


    Hearing Kaiser finally asked, the man was very excited. He straightened his back, pumped up his chest, and declared, ¡°I am Cappuccino Zhuogen.¡±


    The man finished his introduction, and kept his imposing demeanor while continuously glancing at Kaiser.


    Seeing Kaiser stupefied, the man thought he was shocked by his name, since the only people with the Zhuogen last name were the Dragon Emperor and his children. Even if this man was a Sorcerer, and would therefore ignore his identity as a Gold Knight, he would at least be shocked of his identity as a Prince, right?


    ¡°Your brother¡­ isn¡¯t called Latte or something, right?¡± Kaiser¡¯s face looked like he was saying ¡®I hope not, I¡¯m just making conversation.¡¯


    ¡°So you know, my second elder brother is Latte.¡± Cappuccino said with excitement, and his face looked like he was saying ¡®So you actually know the names of us three Princes.¡¯


    ¡°Second elder brother? So you have an eldest brother? Kaiser was in shock, and after some though, asked suspiciously, ¡°Your eldest brother is¡­ Mocha?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± Cappuccino nodded fervently.


    So coming up with bad names was actually a genetic disease. Kaiser started to feel sympathy to a certain someone who named his move ¡°Failed Lecture ¡ª Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls¡±.


    (Mizerui suddenly felt his body trembling: Who? Who used magic to glimpse into my heart?)


    ¡°Sigh Well, you should restrain your grief.¡± Kaiser sympathetically patted Cappuccino¡¯s shoulder.


    Cappuccino, who wished to see admiration or reverence, would have never imagined Kaiser¡¯s response. His mouth began to twitch. When he finally snapped out of it, Kaiser had already walked far away, and Cappuccino hurriedly followed him.


    As Kaiser walked, he chewed on the well-done meat Liola cooked, and performed the words ¡®slacking on the job¡¯ to its fullest.


    Cappuccino caught up to Kaiser, and asked with shock, ¡°Why are you eating this? Isn¡¯t this for the Dragon? Don¡¯t you know meat meant for Dragons are usually not fully cooked?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s reaction was rather direct: he tore off a piece of meat, and stuffed it in Cappuccino¡¯s mouth, whose face was, at first, awkward and looked like he was about to vomit, but then his taste buds started telling him the meat in his mouth was actually quite delicious.


    Cappuccino finally tried chewing a couple of times, and then his face suddenly turned into the expression of ¡®God! Why is this so tasty? I¡¯m afraid that I may never have something this good again, then what will I do?!¡¯


    After finishing the meat in his mouth, Cappuccino reached up and tore off several more pieces of meat and ate them as if the meat moved his heart. He licked his fingers as he asked, ¡°Why is this so tasty? It looks like it was simply roasted.¡±


    ¡°This is cooked with a very special method.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes flashed, and began to trick this guy in front of him, who looked like an idiot,


    ¡°Do you honestly think this is ordinary meat? This is the very best meat. The animal from which this meat came had grown up in a world filled with music, and an environment where servants filled their every need. The only thing they ate were organic corns grown on the plains, and as soon as they were slaughtered, their meat was immediately delivered to us. But, what follows after is the most important part! Our cooking method is top secret, but I can tell you a bit about it, and it is ¡®instant heating¡¯. The meat is cooked thoroughly in less than 0.001 second, so no juice from the meat is lost, and the meat is not damaged by long hours of cooking, only then can such delicious meat be achieved!¡±


    Cappuccino held his mouth wide open. He listened carefully to Kaiser¡¯s explanation, and he thought, ¡®I can¡¯t believe Little Fireball eats better than me!¡¯


    Kaiser said triumphantly, ¡°Had I not been well-acquainted with the chef, I wouldn¡¯t be able to get this piece of meat, and you wouldn¡¯t be able to eat it. Hey, such delicious meat, I¡¯ll sell it to you for cheap, how about¡­ 50 gold coins, it¡¯s a steal, right? Hey, even if you¡¯re not going to buy, you still have to pay for the few bites you had just now! At least ten gold coins!¡±


    Cappuccino was stunned. He scratched his head, and then took off a button from his sleeve, ¡°I didn¡¯t bring any money with me. How about I use this to pay for it?¡±


    Kaiser suspiciously examined the button. It looked a bit old, and it seemed to be made out of wood. But since Kaiser was someone who would take anything over nothing, he grabbed the button with a swoop, and he said, ¡°Fine, fine, it¡¯s my loss, but I will still take the deal.¡±


    Cappuccino said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s yours, but you have to introduce me to the chef.¡±


    ¡°No, thanks!¡±


    Kaiser wiped the button over and over again. It was indeed made out of wood, and a pattern seemed to be carved into the button, the background of which looked like a Dragon, and the foreground had a sword going through it. According to Kaiser¡¯s memory, this pattern closely resembled some royal insignia of some empire. Wait, Cappuccino Zhuogen¡­ Zhuogen!


    Kaiser¡¯s body froze, and his face went dark. He asked with a trembling voice, ¡°What¡¯s Ms. Lanski¡¯s relation to you?¡±


    ¡°Lanski is my only baby sister. You know her?¡± Cappuccino became even more curious. The boy in front of him even knew his only sister.


    ¡®Just my motherf¡ªing luck¡­ why would the third Prince of Dragon Empire not be at the meeting, but instead running around with his idiotic smile?¡¯


    Kaiser swore and swore in his mind, but he eventually put on his fakest smile, then turned around to look at the Prince,


    ¡°Your Highness, are you planning on looking at your Dragon? Let me take you there then?¡±


    ¡°Uh?¡± Cappuccino didn¡¯t believe that it was possible for someone¡¯s attitude to change that quickly. To him, Kaiser seemed as lazy as a student back from summer vacation just a moment ago, but now he suddenly seemed like a butler who had worked for him for ages.


    After Cappuccino¡¯s shock, he said, ¡°Okay, you lead. But, I¡¯d rather go meet the chef first.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank a bit, but then he piled on more smile, ¡°What¡¯s the point of meeting chefs? They are all fat, short, big bellied, and hairless? Your Highness, it¡¯s best you don¡¯t harm your own eyes.¡±


    Cappuccino looked at Kaiser and laughed loudly, ¡°So in other words, that chef must be tall, slender, and a head full of soft, beautiful, long hair!¡±


    ¡®H-he found out!¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s body completely froze.


    Kaiser¡¯s shocked expression confirmed Cappuccino¡¯s guess: that chef was definitely a beautiful woman! A tall, slender, beautiful woman who could cook was the image of his ideal girl.


    [T/N: In Chinese, the word ¡®he¡¯ and ¡®she¡¯ sounds the same.]


    Cappuccino knew that he would never let go of this opportunity, ¡°Beauty, beauty, here I come.¡±


    Kaiser had been a worried this Prince might just be acting, and in fact had already know the whole truth from Lancelot, but his expression¡­ made it impossible for someone to guess what Cappuccino was thinking.


    Cappuccino was laughing so much, his eyes narrowed, and his smile was somewhat perverted. He even occasionally started dancing. He puffed his mouth as if he were about to kiss someone, and anyone who saw him would want to give him some fierce slapping.


    Even an idiot would know this guy was in heat! Kaiser looked at Cappuccino in disgust, but he then suddenly returned to normal, and Kaiser¡¯s disgust immediately returned to a smile.


    Cappuccino said directly, ¡°If you don¡¯t take me to the chef, I will go to the kitchen and look myself!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face suddenly changed. If someone saw Liola roasting meat with his aura, then things would be bad¡­ of course, the bad thing about it was not to have someone finding out about aura roasted meat (Kaiser basically thought, if this guy found out aura can be used to cook delicious meat, he¡¯d be the first person to use it!), but instead Liola¡¯s true strength would be seen.


    ¡°No!¡± Kaiser said solemnly, and before Cappuccino could respond, Kaiser continued,


    ¡°Think about it, a beautiful woman is wearing an ugly apron and cooking with sweat running down her face. How could she possibly let a Prince see her like this?¡±


    Cappuccino nodded. The woman¡¯s love for beauty was something he understood well.


    ¡°Therefore¡­¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes rolled, ¡°Let¡¯s meet at the dance after the meeting. You give me an invitation for the dance, and I will help you deliver it to the chef.¡±


    Cappuccino nodded, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need an invitation. Just take my button with you. I will tell the people at the door to let you through. Also, come with the chef, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t know who she is.¡±


    Kaiser nodded seriously, thinking he could just drag Purity along, because nobody would know whether Purity knew how to cook. Besides, with Purity being a Commerce Alliance leader¡¯s daughter, she would pair quite well with a Prince.


    ¡°Great!¡± Cappuccino cheered, and at the same time, his face suddenly changed, ¡°Crap, I didn¡¯t think I would run into my dream girl, and I actually didn¡¯t bring my formal clothes. No, I have to go buy one right now!¡±


    After saying so, Cappuccino ran like a wind towards the academy gate, and he turned to yell to Kaiser, ¡°Remember! I will wait for you at tonight¡¯s dance. See you there!¡±


    Kaiser nodded.


    Cappuccino was so happy, he jumped for joy. When Cappuccino disappeared from the gate, Kaiser showed his true face: a face full of disgust. At the same time, he noticed the students around him looked at him ambiguously, and then looked at the direction Cappuccino went.


    ¡°What are you looking at?! Never seen a man? If you haven¡¯t, why don¡¯t you look at yourselves?!¡±


    * * *


    Like Kaiser running into a Prince, Liola also seemed to be having bad luck. While he was busy cooking meat with his aura like a machine, he suddenly heard Baolilong¡¯s anxious screams. Baolilong¡¯s cry for ¡°papa¡± made Liola frown, and he asked,


    ¡°Baolilong, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Papa, waahhh~ bad men are bullying Baolilong, they are taking Baolilong away, papa come quick.¡±


    Baolilong continued to cry, and didn¡¯t respond to Liola¡¯s inquiries about who the bad guys were. Liola ignored what Kaiser had said. He turned to run out of the little room.


    Auntie was blocking the door, and she had no intention of letting Liola pass. Liola raised his head to look at Auntie, who sighed and said,


    ¡°You run into trouble even during peaceful times around the academy. Now the academy is filled with trouble, are you sure you want to go out?¡±


    Liola slowly raised his head further. His silver eyes no longer had any sign of running away. He stared blankly into Auntie¡¯s eyes,


    ¡°If I don¡¯t go out, what would you have me do? Stay here forever?¡±


    ¡°If you can face any and all difficulties, Auntie would rather have you fly freely outside.¡±


    Auntie smiled with her teeth showing, but then her face sank, ¡°But if you run into trouble again and then hide, then you better stay here.¡±


    Liola thought about everything he had done up to now: he promised Anise he would no longer run away from the real reason why they met, but while looking for peaceful days, hadn¡¯t he always been running away ever since he left Anise? He ran to a foreign world, ran to the academy, and even ran to the Dark Street¡­ The irony of this was the more he ran away, the more involved he became. If he would no longer run away¡­


    ¡­ Then he should face his troubles, and defeat any who oppose him!


    Liola¡¯s silver eyes shone, and calmly yet confidently said to Auntie, ¡°I¡¯m going out, and I won¡¯t be coming back again.¡±


    Auntie was pleased and nodded, at the same time moved her body away, ¡°Yeah, you are not the kind of person to be a chef. Go, little child, find where you belong in the sky.¡±


    For some reason, seeing Auntie¡¯s kind eyes, warmth crept into Liola¡¯s heart. After nodding earnestly to Auntie, Liola walked out of the narrow room.


    When he was out of the kitchen, he saw no one was around, so quickly took off his Sorcerer robe, revealing the silver-lined Knight uniform underneath. He put on his mask and threw his robe onto a nearby tree, then Liola used his fastest speed without hesitation and rushed towards Baolilong.


    Considering Assassins win almost purely by speed, Liola¡¯s full speed was beyond amazing. When he passed another person in his path, the person could only feel a breeze passing by, and therefore completely unaware someone had passed them. Liola instantly reached where Baolilong was, and also saw the situation.


    A few Silver and Gold Knights surrounded Baolilong while it was in the shape of a small Dragon. One of the Gold Knight was angrily yelling at Baolilong.


    Baolilong was crying, and at the same time it desperately yelled, ¡°No! No! Baolilong doesn¡¯t want to go with you, and Baolilong doesn¡¯t want to change masters! No, waahhh¡­¡±


    A man wearing black, gold-lined Knight uniform said furiously, ¡°Nonsense! As a Sacred White Dragon, you must pick a person from the Dragon Empire¡¯s Royal Family as your master, how could you pick a random outsider as your master!¡±


    ¡°Sigh, though I¡¯ve heard this Sacred White Dragon was naive and childish and lack the temperament of Sacred White Dragons, but I would¡¯ve never imagined it would have made such a grave mistake¡­¡± Another Knight shook his head and sighed.


    ¡°This is bad, this Sacred White Dragon seems like it can¡¯t be given such important responsibilities.¡±


    Baolilong heard everything, and although it could only understand some of it, it knew they were scolding no one but itself. More and more tears rolled out of its pink big eyes.


    Other than the Knights surrounding Baolilong, Liola suddenly realized his companions were also there. But what really shocked him was that, Daylight was lying on the ground, unconscious.


    Purity lay on Daylight¡¯s chest with her shoulders twitching, and she was clearly weeping. Meinan, on the other hand, was staring at the Knights with a never-before-seen rage in his eyes.


    After examining the surrounding, Liola was certain something big happened, probably those Knights found out about Baolilong¡¯s real identity, and decided to kidnap Baolilong or force it to choose another master.


    Daylight, being the chivalric Knight and a good friend, would naturally never allow them to bully Baolilong. However, Daylight was a Blue Knight, and was therefore no match for these Gold and Silver Knights, thus, he could only end up defeated.


    Seeing his companions injured because they were trying to protect his Dragon, Liola felt worse than when he was injured. He quickly circulated his Ki, and his agile body instantly stood in front of Baolilong¡¯s body. He picked up Baolilong, then instantly moved away.


    During all this, though a few Gold Knights were able to see him, they had no time to stop him, so they couldn¡¯t do anything except watch him carry Baolilong back to Daylight and others.


    ¡°Li¡­ Silver Mask!¡± Meinan was in shock when he saw Liola suddenly appearing before his eyes, and he had Baolilong in his hand.


    After the initial shock, Meinan yelled to Liola without any hesitation, ¡°Silver Mask! Teach these bastards a lesson! They¡­ not only did they beat Daylight unconscious, they broke Purity¡¯s wrist because she was controlling Mechas.¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Purity¡¯s hand from the corner of his eyes. Sure enough, Purity¡¯s right wrist was bruised and swollen like a bun, and looked like there were bone fractures.


    At the same time, Purity raised her head; tears flowed out of her red eyes as she said to Liola,


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, but they broke Daylight¡¯s sword, and Flames was also severely injured. Daylight was very sad. Li-Li¡­ dage, please avenge Daylight!¡±


    Hearing Purity, Liola was thoroughly infuriated. A terrifying flame burned in his eyes, but he didn¡¯t say anything else. He placed Baolilong into Meinan¡¯s arms, and said to him,


    ¡°Meinan, use your protective shield. I will not let any physical attacks harm you.¡±


    Though there were two Gold and five Silver opposing Knights, Meinan didn¡¯t doubt Liola for a second, and he believed Liola would definitely right this injustice. What he must do now was to maintain the shield to protect his companions, so Liola wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anyone but himself.


    Meinan started chanting, and a light blue protective shield firmly wrapped around him and his companions.


    ¡°You? A silver Knight?¡± The Silver Knight standing in front laughed ridiculing Liola.


    Though the man in front of him was wearing a mask, but he could judge his age was below 30, at most he was someone who barely made it to Silver rank. The Silver Knight smiled, because he was someone who had been a Silver Knight for ten years.


    ¡°Second Prince, Your Highness, would you please let me handle this arrogant Silver Knight?¡±


    The Silver Knight turned and pleaded to Latte, who was in the center of the group of Knights, but Latte¡¯s gaze was fixed on Liola¡¯s mask. His face seemed strange, but after a brief moment of thought, he waved his hand and granted the Silver Knight¡¯s request.


    The Silver Knight walked towards Liola in high spirits, wondering how to beat his opponent in the most gruesome way possible but still make it appear easy. But he had no idea Latte had already known he would lose, and he was sent only to test Silver Mask¡¯s abilities. After all, the Paladin Lancelot had said Silver Mask was the most powerful Kung Fu prodigy he had ever seen. Judging from their innate abilities, Liola had far surpassed Latte, perhaps even Lancelot himself.


    When Liola saw the Silver Knight stepping up, he didn¡¯t seem to care at all.


    One-on-one duels, he dared to guarantee no one present could be a match for him. Even group fights were an Assassin¡¯s a strong. Unless these Knights could cooperate, there was no possibility stand a chance of defeating him.


    Liola knew in his heart, cooperative Knights may be able to make a formidable formation, but these Gold and Silver Knights would never be able to. The strong always fancied themselves unmatched by anyone else in the world, and why would they know how to stand in formation with others?


    Liola pulled out Broken Silver. He had the urge to unsheath it, because these people injured his companions, the only friends he ever had.


    The Silver Knight also unsheathed his sword, and released his pride ¡ª his Silver Aura. The edges of the aura had a slightly different color, and he thought he would be ten years away from Gold rank, at most.


    Liola was finally able to control his urge. Not unsheathing Broken Silver would let him fight to his heart¡¯s content, so he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about accidentally killing these damn Knights.


    ¡®Can they be even called Knights?¡¯ Liola remembered Daylight. He¡­ was the only true Knight!


    ¡°I, Silver Knight Kalaka hereby challenge you to a Knight¡¯s duel.¡± The Silver Knight unwillingly went through the formality of a Knight¡¯s duel with the man in front of him.


    ¡°I accept.¡±


    These simple two words slowly came out of Liola¡¯s mouth as if they were a judge¡¯s declaration at the end of a trial. The opposing Silver Knight shivered as he heard, ¡®Why did this man¡¯s words carry such cold feelings?¡¯


    As soon as he finished, a light flashed across Liola¡¯s eyes.


    The Silver Knight saw Silver Mask standing still, but what was strange was he saw another Silver Mask right in front of him.


    While he was still pondering, Broken Silver had already landed heavily on the Silver Knight¡¯s entire body. Yes, his entire body. He could only feel he had received a severe beating throughout his body, but he could not distinguish where he was hit first or last.


    Correction, he did know where he was hit last, because Liola¡¯s palm landed heavily in his abdomen, sending his body flying off.


    The direction he flew was the place where the other Knights stood, and it was headed directly at Latte. A few Knights panicked as they stepped up to try to stop the Silver Knight¡¯s body from reaching the Prince.


    When the first person tried, he immediately realized something was wrong, and he couldn¡¯t stop the body, so he put his back against the Silver Knight, and his arms on two Knights next to him. These two Knights soon realized the same awkward situation, and helped him to stop the Silver Knight¡¯s body. Even with all three of them, they still took a step back from the momentum.


    The only word that could describe Latte¡¯s eyes would be ¡°terrified¡±.


    Silver Mask didn¡¯t even release his aura, and he already made these Silver Knights look this bad.


    Could it be what Lancelot said was true? Even if he were to fight with his full power, he wasn¡¯t confident he would win?


    Liola¡¯s eyes grew cold, and he pointed at all the Knights, ¡°I, Silver Mask, hereby challenge all of you to a Knight¡¯s duel!¡±


    This shocked every Knight present. The other Gold Knight yelled furiously at Silver Mask, ¡°A tiny little Silver Knight had the nerves to challenge a gold rank, and even challenge this many Knights at once. Are you completely ignoring a Knight¡¯s rank?!¡±


    Liola stood straight, and put on a strange smile, ¡°What? Are you worried you might still lose to me with so many of you, and then wouldn¡¯t know where to hide your shame?¡±


    The Gold and Silver Knights could not bear with such insults, and drew their swords.


    The only person who did not move was the second Prince, Latte. Knowing the person in front of him may very well surpass Lancelot in terms of strength, he would never start a fight would him. Dragon Empire Prince can never be defeated!


    ¡°No!¡± Latte yelled out at the Knights, ¡°Chivalric code does not allow us to all attack one person. Let¡¯s forget it. His Majesty is still in this academy, and I don¡¯t want to cause any more trouble. Let¡¯s stop here.¡±


    The other Gold Knight¡¯s face went pale, but still followed Latte¡¯s orders, and angrily sheathed his sword.


    At the same time, he yelled to Liola, ¡°You are lucky this time, the magnanimous Prince has pardoned you.¡±


    Liola found this all funny. Perhaps the Knights didn¡¯t see Latte¡¯s expression because they had their backs to him, but Liola saw it clearly: Latte¡¯s terrified expression could never fool Liola. Looks like this second Prince did indeed know of his true strength.


    Should he let them go? Liola was still thinking, but something strange suddenly happened.


    The originally clear skies were suddenly covered with dark clouds, and lightning flashed from these clouds. Then, a few bolts of lightning struck down at the space between Liola and Latte. The Knights realized something was wrong, and all drew their swords and released their Gold and Silver Auras.


    After Latte released his aura to protect himself, he yelled at Liola, ¡°What the hell are you doing? Are you going to make a move against me, the second Prince of the Dragon Empire?¡±


    Considering the only thing Liola knew about magic was his half-baked healing spell, Liola had no idea what was happening. He turned around to check on his companions, and he saw Meinan was completely puzzled, but the protective shield remained intact.


    Liola had just as much trust in Meinan¡¯s shield as his own Kung Fu, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about the lightning harming his friends, and he concentrated on observing this strange phenomenon.


    The crowds around also seemed to started to cause a commotion. Everyone in Aklan Academy and even the entire Aklan capital saw this shocking scene: a large pitch-black cloud gathered above Aklan Academy.


    ¡°I, the Black Dragon King Miluo hereby announce to the world, I will lead Mechas and Magicians , and declare war against the whole world!¡±


    Everyone in the capital saw Miluo¡¯s mountain-like body hanging in the air. The day had suddenly been turned into night. His shiny scaled rivaled the beauty of the stars, and his giant claws looked like it could easily tear the sky apart. His size, beauty, and terrifying sovereignty announced the strength of the Black Dragon King to the world, at the same time it was announcing the end of peace.


    A giant bolt of lightning struck down, and it looked as if it was splitting the sky into two halves.


    Having predicted where the lightning would hit, Liola quickly backed up, and into Meinan¡¯s shield. At the same time, Meinan increased the strength of the shield to its highest, and forcefully stopped this lightning.


    The opposing Knights didn¡¯t have Liola¡¯s speed allowing them to escape, nor did they have someone like Meinan who could stop the lightning.


    Under the blinding column of lightning, moans of pain and screams continuously cried out, and a few of them sounded shrill. The voices themselves were trying to convey the terror and sadness of death.


    Liola was an Assassin. He could clearly identify the cries people make before death. After a dozen of seconds bathed in the column of lightning, Liola was certain¡­ no one was alive.


    Miluo¡­ had gotten stronger. The attack was almost unimaginably powerful.


    Liola could completely feel the horror of this attack. This enormous power even made the Assassin tremor a little. Even if he hadn¡¯t promised Anise not to kill, he feared he wouldn¡¯t be able to win against Miluo, and perhaps he was had a long way to go before being able to do so.


    Liola worriedly looked towards Meinan. The attack enough to kill two Gold Knights, could Meinan really stop it? But what was strange was Meinan didn¡¯t seem strenuous or in pain, but instead he was puzzled. He seemed like he wanted to say something to Liola, but did not do so because he was concentrating on maintaining his magic.


    Though Liola didn¡¯t know what Meinan was puzzled about, but seeing Meinan didn¡¯t seem to have any difficulties, he felt relieved.


    After a while, a deep bitter voice yelled, ¡°My son, Latte!¡±


    Liola sensed another immense power approaching from above.


    And as this power attacked, the giant lightning had disappeared. It was only then that Liola and others could see outside.


    They saw the Dragon Emperor, Barbalis, and Commerce Alliance Leaders were standing not too far away. Everyone¡¯s face was hard to look at.


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s delicate face was filled with pain and sorrow. A man walked to Latte¡¯s charred corpse, and picked up the necklace in disbelief, a Dragon cross necklace.


    ¡°Second elder Sovereign brother¡­¡± The man who picked up the necklace was the person whom Kaiser had just met, Cappuccino.


    His face was filled with disbelief, but the necklace in his hand was solid proof of the lifeless corpse in front of him did indeed belong to the Dragon Empire¡¯s second Prince, Latte.


    Liola was in shock, because of the Dragon cross necklace, Anise¡¯s possession. Liola finally understood how hard it felt to have the necklace leave him.


    Before, even without seeing it, at most he would feel empty. But now, seeing the necklace in front of his very own eyes, every emotion Liola had ever had towards the necklace and Anise exploded.


    He desperately wanted to put it back to his neck, but Liola knew deeply the situation would never allow him to do so. Liola lowered his face, held his fist tight, to the point where his nails sank into his flesh.


    Then, the Dragon Emperor raised his head, and said with a hoarse voice to Miluo,


    ¡°Miluo, you have caused me many problems, and I did not voice a word of complaint. After all, it was my mistake that cost Bairui, your wife, to lose her life, but why must you take your anger out on others? Why must you kill my innocent child and a dozen Knights? Have you lost your Dragon¡¯s pride?¡±


    Miluo¡¯s earthshaking laughter reverberated in the air, and stopping after a long while,


    ¡°What is Bairui to me anyway? NOTHING. When I conquer the world, EVERYTHING will be mine!¡±


    ¡°What an unreasonable Dragon!¡± The Red Leader angrily scolded.


    Miluo mercilessly shot a bolt of lightning toward her, but an elegant purple light blocked the lightning attack. Everyone noticed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s aura was also a unique color ¡ª purple.


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s face sank, ¡°Black Dragon King Miluo, if you don¡¯t realize your mistake now and turn back, the Dragon Empire will issue another order to kill you!¡±


    Miluo, however, looked down on everyone and said, ¡°Come, everyone. You will realize my friends are far more common than you imagine. Traitors crawl amongst you. Who are your allies and who are the traitors? You will never know until you report to the devil, in hell.¡±


    Before people even had time to respond, the Black Dragon King disappeared as quickly as he appeared. The only thing remained was the sunny skies, and a few black clouds scattered here and there.


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s call caught Liola¡¯s attention, but when Liola looked towards Baolilong, he realized Baolilong was not looking at him, but instead at the foreboding black clouds in the sky¡­

 Volume 6 1: Unclearable Suspicion

    Volume 6 Chapter 1: Unclearable Suspicion


    ¡°So, in other words, you were having a conflict with the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, and suddenly Miluo appeared out of nowhere to declare war on the whole world? Finally, Baolilong went as far as calling papa into the air, and now we¡¯re not allowed to leave Aklan Academy before they clear us of the suspicion!¡±


    Kaiser wanted to go insane. Can they be serious? Why was it, as soon as he slacked off a little, the moment he came back, he was told he was now a terrorist and must stay within Aklan Academy¡¯s ground.


    Kaiser suddenly stood up, ran up to Meinan and started shaking him, ¡°What the hell! Isn¡¯t your dad the Aklan Prime Minister? Why don¡¯t you just tell him to cover for us?¡±


    Meinan, acting a bit unusual, struggled to escape Kaiser¡¯s grasp and sat far away.


    He said with a cold expression, ¡°That¡¯s how my dad is. Nothing is more important to him than his country. Even if the prime suspect is his son, he wouldn¡¯t do anything about it.¡±


    Seeing Meinan¡¯s unusual reaction, Kaiser was stunned, but then he immediately ran up to Purity.


    Purity started to tremble, ¡°M-my mother is only responsible for inventing Mechas. S-she never cared about anything else, and she can¡¯t do anything about it now.¡±


    Seeing the two shrinking away like turtles, Kaiser, who didn¡¯t even do anything but gotten involved, started to yell,


    ¡°Basically, you two don¡¯t care! It must be nice to be you; one is the Prime Minister¡¯s son, and the other is a Commerce Alliance Leader¡¯s daughter. No one would ever dare to touch you! In the end, the scapegoat will be us; innocent commoners!¡±


    Meinan suddenly turned around to face Kaiser, and Purity held her hand into a fist tightly, then stood up and yelled,


    ¡°Kaiser, how could you say that! Meinan and I-I have always been with all of you! We¡¯ve never shrunk away from anything, no matter how dangerous it was. How could you talk like that, Kaiser?¡±


    Meinan also sported a long face and walked next to Purity. Though he hadn¡¯t said anything, but judging from his face, Meinan was also mad at what Kaiser had said.


    Under the gaze of these two people, Kaiser felt slightly apologetic, but he still wouldn¡¯t back down. After all, what he said was the truth: if this continues, Liola, Daylight, and he would become the sacrifice, unless Daylight had some hidden identity no one knew about.


    ¡°Stop fighting.¡± Daylight suddenly got up from his bed. Though he was still dizzy, he knew the three were fighting. He held up his weak body, and stood between them, trying to convince them to stop.


    ¡°Daylight!¡± Kaiser said angrily, ¡°Unless you have someone important to get you out of this?¡±


    Daylight was surprised, ¡°Important? Nope.¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly, ¡°Then why do you stop me? If I don¡¯t resolve this now, who knows when we will be put up to the guillotine? This time, it¡¯s for real. None of that righteousness, hotheadedness, nor swearing on your Knight¡¯s honor is going to save us.¡±


    Daylight frowned, and replied weakly, ¡°Then we will sit down and discuss this calmly. Don¡¯t yell at your companions.¡±


    ¡°How can I not be mad?! These two don¡¯t even understand how terrible our situation is!¡±


    Purity listened to Kaiser¡¯s complaint, and she seemed anxious and frustrated, to the point where she didn¡¯t even know if she was mad at herself or at Kaiser.


    Meinan was also bothered. He knew what Kaiser said was right, but he was mad at Kaiser for thinking the situation had nothing to do with him or Purity. He opened his mouth several times to try to speak to Purity, but he stopped himself.


    Finally, Kaiser grunted and climbed up to his bed to wrap himself like a sushi roll, with only his green hair showing, and completely ignored them both.


    Seeing the atmosphere in the room had gone from bad to worse, Daylight forced his body to move towards his last resort. Although Daylight himself had no confidence in his backup, he said.


    ¡°Liola say something. Don¡¯t let them fight on like this.¡± Daylight sound like he was about to pass out.


    Liola had been quietly sitting on his bed, while Baolilong was snoring on his legs. As Liola stroked Baolilong¡¯s head softly, he looked outside of the window, as if he was daydreaming, though his silver eyes often flashed with light. It wasn¡¯t until Daylight said something to him did he turn his head around, and said something shocking.


    ¡°I want to get the Dragon Cross Necklace back.¡±


    Hearing this, Daylight completely lost it and fainted. Luckily he stood right before Kaiser¡¯s bed, so he simply fell back onto the bed.


    Meinan¡¯s and Purity¡¯s expression were alike: both of them were in danger of losing their jaws to the ground.


    Kaiser flipped out of his sushi roll, and jumped onto Liola¡¯s bed on the other side of his. He reached out and grabbed Liola¡¯s collar and yelled angrily, ¡°You are insane!¡±


    ¡°I must get the necklace back.¡± Liola stared into Kaiser¡¯s eyes, and asked gently, ¡°Are you going to help me? If not, we¡¯re better off going separate ways, so I would not be a burden to any of you.¡±


    Kaiser stared at Liola¡¯s silver eyes, but he couldn¡¯t find a bit of hesitation. He knew the Assassin was serious. Though things had gotten worse, but strangely Kaiser calmed down. He let go of Liola¡¯s collar, and sat down next to Liola, turning from a cat furious for its tail being stepped on back to a lazy cat bathing in the sun.


    Purity and Meinan glanced at each other, and then both slowly walked to Liola¡¯s bed and sat down. The small single bed had four people and one Dragon on it, making all four of them sit shoulder to shoulder.


    ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯ll see how it goes. If push comes to shove, we¡¯ll annoy the principal, and let him lead us?¡± Meinan seemed a bit more relaxed, and asked tentatively at Kaiser.


    Purity immediately added, ¡°R-right. We could also jump into Purity¡¯s black hole, and then nobody could ever find us again.¡±


    Half of their faces blackened as they turned to look at Purity.


    Kaiser said mockingly, ¡°Right, perhaps we could jump straight to hell, and the Dragon Emperor would save the money for executing us.¡±


    Purity felt she has been treated unjustly and murmured, ¡°We got away from Miluo last time.¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, and gestured at Purity, ¡°First, Miluo, as a Dragon, he has incredibly thick skin, thus he was not torn into shreds by the chaotic space. Second, think about it, have we, the Troublemaking Squad, ever had any good luck? Considering our never-ending bad luck, I think we will probably warp right into a jail.¡±


    ¡°I agree with Kaiser.¡± Meinan felt haunted. Ever since he met Liola and Kaiser, the terrifying bad luck had never ceased.


    ¡°What the heck.¡±


    Purity got angry and started hitting Kaiser and Meinan, but they didn¡¯t fear Purity¡¯s pink fists, and they started laughing as they let Purity punch as she willed. It wasn¡¯t until Kaiser said stop while laughing that Purity stopped with a pout.


    ¡°Fine, since we all have to run, grabbing the necklace is probably not too far off our path.¡± Kaiser raised his brows, as if he wanted to make the most before he dies.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, we must help Liola-dage get his necklace back!¡± Purity held up her pink fist and yelled firmly.


    Liola nodded and said. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    His expression of gratitude, however, made everyone else have goose bumps. And it was quite a while before they started to help Liola plan on how they¡¯re going to get the necklace back.


    ¡°Judging from the current situation, the necklace is probably in Cappuccino¡¯s hands. If that¡¯s the case, this should be a piece of cake, as long as he wasn¡¯t pretending when I talked to him.¡±


    Kaiser carefully examined. But judging from what he saw of Cappuccino, he didn¡¯t look like he was pretending: he really acted like a pig.


    ¡°Cappuccino, the third Prince? I heard before Princess Lanski was born, he had the highest support to succeed the Dragon Emperor, but unfortunately the Sacred White Dragon didn¡¯t choose him.¡± Purity explained as she filled her mind with the fantasy of a Prince.


    ¡°That guy, Latte, is obviously hopeless. But, normally speaking, shouldn¡¯t the eldest Prince have the most support?¡± Kaiser had trouble understanding a pig of Prince could have the most support. What would the eldest Prince be then? Pig poop?


    Purity, who was familiar with the Princes, immediately explained, ¡°That¡¯s because the eldest Prince is not a Knight, but instead a Fortune Teller. He practically lives in the stargazing tower, and barely anyone had ever seen him!¡±


    ¡°Fortune Teller?¡± Kaiser¡¯s face seemed shocked, then yelled, ¡°No wonder the Royal family is so rich. He must have won every week¡¯s lottery!¡±


    ¡®This has nothing to do with it¡­¡¯ Others thought with cold sweat running down their faces.


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Purity suddenly yelled, ¡°Can¡¯t you just ask Princess Lanski to get your necklace back?¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes at Purity, and even Liola shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to drag Lanski into this.¡±


    Kaiser added, ¡°Oh, please, Lanski¡¯s chivalry is only a teeny bit worse than our Daylight, do you really think Silver Mask could seduce her into betraying her own father and brother?¡±


    Purity thought for a moment, and shook her head, depressed.


    Kaiser murmured, ¡°Speaking of seducing Lanski, we¡¯d be better off seducing the pig of a brother of hers¡­ Speaking of Cappuccino, I almost forgot about the dance!¡±


    Kaiser suddenly jumped out and yelled. He almost forgot, the pig Cappuccino invited Liola to the dance. Wasn¡¯t this their best opportunity?


    Kaiser immediately pulled everyone together, and explained his meeting with Cappuccino.


    After hearing Kaiser¡¯s story, Meinan already had an idea of what Kaiser was planning.


    He said, ¡°You plan on asking Purity to pretend to be a beautiful chef, and then steal the necklace back?¡±


    ¡°M-me?¡± Purity opened her eyes wide, and pointed at herself in disbelief.


    ¡°Of course not. Do you honestly think Purity possessed the beauty to seduce him? Or the skills to pickpocket without being noticed?¡± Kaiser immediately denied, and completely shattered Purity¡¯s confidence.


    ¡°She has neither.¡± Meinan answered honestly.


    ¡°Why are you guys¡­¡± Purity felt wronged.


    ¡°So who are you planning on asking?¡± Meinan asked curiously, but then seemed to have remembered something and waved his hand,


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me to look for Jasmine! She isn¡¯t extraordinarily beautiful, and she will never agree to steal something for you. Kaiser, e-even though she acts casually all the time, she follows the chivalric code quite close to the letter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Jasmine either.¡±


    Kaiser let out a big grin, as if he had this whole thing planned perfectly, but everyone else was baffled.


    Kaiser slowly raised his finger, and pointed at the expressionless Assassin. While the other two people were widening their eyes, Kaiser explained his plan,


    ¡°Since Liola wants the necklace back, then of course he should go get it himself!¡±


    Purity was a bit lost, ¡°But Liola-dage is a guy. Though he does look beautiful, but¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing! He looks beautiful.¡± Kaiser interrupted, and then excitedly grabbed Liola¡¯s oval face,


    ¡°Look, oval face, thin, long eyebrows. Nice, tall nose ridge, and his skin is white and soft. His body is also slender. Other than the fact he lacked two balls of fat in his chest, Liola is practically an earth-shaking beauty! Seducing a pig should be a piece of cake.¡±


    Meinan and Purity followed Kaiser¡¯s ¡®presentation¡¯, and stared at the Assassin¡¯s face. Every feature Kaiser described, they both nodded again and again.


    ¡°I am male.¡± Liola felt it a bit necessary to declare his gender.


    Kaiser smiled, and patted Liola¡¯s shoulder for comfort, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll put two water balloons on and you will be a girl.¡±


    Disregarding Liola¡¯s reaction, Kaiser had already begun to direct his companions,


    ¡°Meinan, you¡¯re responsible for a formal dress. Purity, you are a girl after all, you should have some makeup and such, right?¡±


    ¡°A formal dress? Where am I going to get that? I have a lot of Tuxedos, but clothes for girls¡­¡± Meinan seemed a bit bitter, since he didn¡¯t have a fetish of collecting female clothings.


    ¡°Go talk to Jasmine.¡±


    After he finished giving advice, Kaiser immediately pushed Meinan out the door, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t come back until you get one.¡±


    Kaiser slammed the door in Meinan¡¯s face, leaving Meinan with a long face at the door. He then walked towards the Knights¡¯ dorm, trying to think of an excuse to say to his good friend.


    Seeing Meinan¡¯s situation, Purity gulped and said, ¡°Uh¡­ Kaiser, I don¡¯t have any makeup.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re a woman and you don¡¯t even have makeup? Are you sure you¡¯re a girl?!¡±


    Kaiser scratched his head, and also kicked Purity out of the room, ¡°Go find Jasmine with Meinan.¡±


    * * *


    Having kicked both people out of the room, Kaiser clapped his hands, and then turned towards the Assassin,


    ¡°Liola, what are you planning to do after you get the Dragon Cross Necklace back? Please don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t have any plans. Our situation is bad enough, and when the necklace is stolen, we¡¯ll definitely be the prime suspects. Let¡¯s not talk about whether or not we¡¯re really criminals, but even where we hide the necklace is a serious problem. Don¡¯t forget Dragon Emperor can sense the person who holds the necklace.¡±


    Liola went quiet for a bit, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I feel that the necklace has been calling out to me, so I must get it back.¡±


    ¡°But you have no plans afterwards whatsoever?¡± Kaiser raised his eyebrows and asked.


    Although he already knew Liola could never have any plans, hearing it made Kaiser feel helpless.


    Liola remained quiet. He knew not having a plan at all wasn¡¯t the right thing to do, but he didn¡¯t know what he could do. The only thing he was certain of was he must get the necklace back.


    Kaiser waved his hand, ¡°Whatever, I already knew you¡¯re the type of guy who doesn¡¯t think about what happens next. Just leave the planning part to me. Do note that as soon as we get the necklace, we have to run. And when we run, we have to bring Daylight. He doesn¡¯t have anyone who could help him, and if he stays he will be dead. However, Meinan and Purity probably should stay since they¡¯re both related to important figures, and nothing should happen to them.¡±


    Kaiser then murmured, ¡°If we bring Meinan, we could suddenly have a Prime Minister on our tails. If we bring Purity with us, then it will be even more horrific, because we would have offended all three of the strongest countries in the world, and we will die even faster!¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes set on the Daylight on the bed, thinking he still would bring harm to one person¡­


    ¡°I will protect you two.¡± This was the only promise Liola could make.


    Kaiser scratched his face and said,


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much. The place we will be hiding, no one should be able to find it. Seeing the situation now, chaos will befall this world soon, and we will probably be safer hidden.¡±


    ¡°And one more thing.¡± Kaiser frowned and murmured,


    ¡°Such an important time, Mizerui is probably somewhere here watching the show. Whatever, let me yell first.¡±


    Then Kaiser jumped up, raised his hands up in the air, and yelled as if he was calling UFOs,


    ¡°Mizerui, man, I have a request for you, come out, come out! If you don¡¯t come out soon, the readers are going to forget you soon!¡±


    ¡°Coming, coming, let me brush my hair first¡­¡±


    A golden light suddenly flashed in the middle of the room. After the light subsided, a mysterious silhouette appeared.


    The gold-haired gentleman had his arms behind him, and he looked out into the night sky through the window. He occasionally pushed up his gold-framed glasses, and one could sense his sentiments from the eyes.


    ¡°Nice eyes and posture. 80 points.¡± Kaiser judged on the side.


    The gold-haired man immediately turned around, and said unbelievably, ¡°My perfect appearance gets only 80 points? Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Aiya, look at your strange black and white robe, failure! And who wears gold-framed glasses? Sunglasses are trendy now. Haven¡¯t you seen mission X? Failure among failures! Also, you¡¯re pretending to be cool. Can you ever be as cool as our protagonist Liola? Acting cool in front of the book¡¯s coolest main character Liola, I¡¯d be sorry to Liola if I don¡¯t deduct points for it¡­ 80 points left, it¡¯s pretty good.¡± Judge Kaiser carefully explained his reasoning for the points.


    ¡°Sh¡ª!¡± Mizerui waved his hand unhappily, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    Judge Kaiser suddenly turned into beggar Kaiser. He dragged onto Mizerui¡¯s shirt and said, ¡°Just kidding, bro, you are worth 100 points! 100! How is that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Mizerui, whose lower half had already faded away, summoned it back again. He pushed his glasses and asked,


    ¡°So, what do you want? And please don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s because I appear too little in the book and you¡¯re trying to get me some screen-time. You, Kaiser, would never do anything that doesn¡¯t benefit you somehow.¡±


    Kaiser went ¡®tsk tsk¡¯ and said, ¡°You are definitely Boss Mi, and understand this little brother too well.¡±


    ¡°You even said ¡®Boss Mi¡¯. Just tell me what you called me here for. First things first, I can¡¯t help you clear your status as suspects. Who knew you were going to appear at where Latte dies, and happened to be in a conflict with him. Not to mention you had Miluo¡¯s son with you.¡±


    Mizerui snapped, ¡°If you guys could clear your suspicions, then I could probably usurp the Dragon Emperor¡¯s throne already.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know.¡± Kaiser curled his lips. He already knew about this, so he didn¡¯t even go look for the principal; why in the world would he go to Top Ten Wanted criminal for like this?


    ¡°Then what do you want from me?¡± Mizerui had now gotten curious.


    ¡°This is how things went¡­¡±


    Already knew Mizerui was very curious by nature, Kaiser shamelessly laughed, and told him everything about Liola¡¯s plan to seduce Cappuccino.


    Mizerui relished the idea, and even occasionally yell out ¡°Nice!¡±. Before Kaiser said anything about what he wanted, Mizerui had already excitedly took out numerous contact lense cases and a very elegant pearl necklace.


    ¡°Green, blue, black¡­¡± Mizerui fumbled through different contact lense cases while murmuring their colors.


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes were fixated on the pile of boxes, and then he grabbed one of them, ¡°Let¡¯s go with purple. Purple will go well with Liola¡¯s black hair.¡±


    Mizerui nodded, then threw the pearl necklace to Liola and said, ¡°Magic has been applied to this necklace, and it will let you make the most crisp, alluring female voice in the world.¡±


    Liola looked at the necklace full of large and round pearls. He still felt somewhat helpless at the thought of crossdressing to seduce someone.


    Kaiser, instead, looked up and down strangely at Mizerui, ¡°Do you have a habit of crossdressing or something? Why else would you carry these around?¡±


    Mizerui knocked Kaiser¡¯s forehead hard, and explained while Kaiser was howling in pain,


    ¡°I am a wanted man after all, and the contact lenses are for my disguises. As for the necklace, I had, once upon a time, listened to a female star sing, and then I accidentally noticed she was cheating with this necklace. So I conveniently stole it. Who knew the woman was actually a dangerous Assassin, so I killed her conveniently.¡±


    ¡°Conveniently¡­ Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s how you got on the top ten Wanted list?¡± Kaiser was sweating.


    ¡°Oh, one of the reasons. After all, that woman was famous as the best singer in the world at the time, and no one knew she was an Assassin.¡± Mizerui said casually.


    ¡°Assassin?¡± Kaiser scratched his face, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me she has something to do with Gladiolus and all them?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s known as Anthurium from the Six Forbidden Sins, and as a result I can¡¯t go to the Dark Arena to gamble, not to mention I owe Gladiolus a favor now.¡± Mizerui said naturally.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve already taken out one of the Six Forbidden Sins¡­¡±


    Mizerui suddenly turned to look at the door, and said with a smile,


    ¡°Looks like your friends are back. I¡¯m going to leave for now, but you guys better put on a great show for me to watch.¡± Mizerui¡¯s body faded away like he usually did.


    The moment Mizerui disappeared, Meinan and Purity both barged in. Meinan had a formal dress in his hands, and Purity was holding a little box. As soon as they entered the room, Purity started to complain,


    ¡°Meinan, why did you have to say I¡¯m going to the dance with Daylight? Now Lanski and Jasmine both said they will be there to watch us. What are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice. I had to find an excuse to borrow things from those two.¡± Meinan said grievingly.


    Kaiser ran up and grabbed the things from their hands, and said, ¡°Forget about it. Come here and help me dress up this guy.¡±


    All three of them each took a tool and closed in on the Assassin.


    Liola faced Meinan with the dress, Purity with the hair dryer and comb, and Kaiser with mascara.


    For some who had been in countless battles, Liola felt his instincts screaming at him to run away. He had a feeling this would fail¡­ but them three did not give Liola the chance to run, and pounced at him like wolves on a sheep.


    ¡°Aiyo, why is this mascara so hard to use?¡± Kaiser complained.


    He didn¡¯t know how to correctly use mascara, but it probably shouldn¡¯t be stabbed like a spear.


    Liola had to use his Ki to block Kaiser¡¯s ¡®stabbing¡¯ mascara. If all women used mascara like this, every woman in the world would¡¯ve been blind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s style your hair¡­¡± Purity grabbed Liola¡¯s black hair, and turned the hair dryer on its highest.


    ¡®HOT!¡¯


    Liola immediately protected his scalp with his Ki, to prevent his own head from emitting a charred skin smell¡­ No wonder Purity always tied her hair up with a rubber band.


    ¡°Huh? Why is there a skirt in a skirt? Which side is inside? Which side is the front? Why is there armor inside?¡± Meinan fumbled the shirt left and right.


    ¡°That¡¯s called a vest, and it¡¯s used to contour the body.¡± Purity glanced in his direction, and then continued to mess with Liola¡¯s hair.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Meinan tilted his head while looking at the vest. ¡®Was this something to be worn inside or the outside? Armor¡­ was usually worn outside, right?¡¯


    ¡°Hey, Meinan, don¡¯t forget to stuff something near the chest.¡± Kaiser poked his head out to remind Meinan.


    ¡­ After hours of frustration, Liola deeply felt being a woman was more dangerous than being an Assassin. Not only could he go blind, get burnt, he might even suffocate from the tight vest.


    ¡°Sigh~¡± Three of them all sighed in relief, and declared success. They all took a few steps back to examine their guinea pig.


    They saw an unknown lifeform with a ponytail, and on it there was a pink large bowtie.


    His face had a layer of ¡®flour¡¯, and his cheeks had two large, bright red circles. His red lipsticks extended outside of the lines of his lips, and he wore a blue and ugly, puffy dress with a bowtie. He even had an vest on the outside of his dress.


    The three of them stared at the unknown lifeform for quite a while before Purity awkwardly said, ¡°The pig Prince isn¡¯t too picky, right?¡±


    The room echoed the sound of someone dying of laughter, but no one could see the person laughing. The laugh, of course, sounded like it came from that certain person with 100 points for his posture.


    Daylight was awoken by the laughter. Since his bed was directly facing the unknown lifeform, as soon as he sat up, he saw this unsightly scene.


    His face immediately turned pale. He took a very deep breath and screamed, ¡°Ghost!¡± Daylight then fainted back onto the bed.


    The three people finally couldn¡¯t refuse to admit the lifeform before them looked more like a ghost than a beautiful woman.


    Seeing their efforts had created a monster, they stared at each other and didn¡¯t know what to do¡­


    ¡°Purity, why did you take mommy¡¯s makeup kit? How can mommy go to tonight¡¯s dance¡­ Holy! What evil spirit dares to perturb this ground!¡±


    Everyone heard and turned to look at the door, and they saw the Red Commander straightened her finger and pointed at Liola, and the cannon on her left arm looked like it was about to fire.


    ¡°Mommy!¡± Purity immediately rushed up to stop her,


    ¡°No, that¡¯s my classmate. We¡¯re helping with the dressing up for tonight¡¯s dance, but I think we failed¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible to fail so much for it would look like this?¡±


    The Red Commander restrained herself from her desire to blow this monster to smithereens. She carefully walked up to the monster, and carefully examined ¡°it¡±. ¡°It¡± looked back at the Red Commander with helplessness.


    It wasn¡¯t until then the Red Commander realized, the monster in front of her had a pair of beautiful eyes. If it weren¡¯t for the flour on the face, the zombie-like blush, and the sausage lips, Red Commander suddenly realized the person would¡¯ve been absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a beauty?¡± Red Commander murmured, and at the same time turned to look at her daughter. Sigh!


    The other two were guys, so it was understandable. But her own daughter somehow managed to turn a beauty into a monster, sigh¡­


    The Red Commander accepted her fate and started to clean up this monster her daughter had created.


    She commanded, ¡°You, go wash off everything on your face. Purity, you, Meinan, and Child Face go get my #8, #10, and #13 boxes.¡±


    ¡®C-child Face?¡¯ Kaiser pointed at himself unbelievably. ¡®What the hell, it¡¯s called delicate, okay?!¡¯


    Before Kaiser had a chance to protest, Purity and Meinan had already dragged Kaiser out of the room. Purity turned her head to say to her mom as she was leaving, ¡°It¡¯s all up to you, mommy.¡±


    ¡°No problem, no problem.¡± The Red Commander waved her hand to hurry them, then urged the monster again to wash its face.


    * * *


    Our monster, Liola, was a bit hesitant. But since the Red Commander pushed him into the bathroom, Liola had no choice but wash his face.


    He frowned as he thought; did those three forget ¡°he¡± was actually a man? When he washed off the makeup on his face, and showed up in front of the Red Commander with a bowtie dress, would she open her cannon to blow him away?


    Liola finished washing his face, but didn¡¯t know what to do next. The Red Commander had already impatiently pushed open the door and barged in. Liola was still considering whether he should be running away, but she had already rushed up to him, and grabbed Liola¡¯s face to examine it.


    She then admired and complimented, ¡°Such a classic beauty!¡±


    ¡°Uh?¡±


    Even the calm Assassin couldn¡¯t stop feeling strange, but the Red Commander didn¡¯t give Liola the chance to hesitate.


    She grabbed him and ran outside, then forcefully made Liola sit down on a chair. She was 100x more skilled than Kaiser, and she skillfully began to apply different kinds of makeup on Liola¡¯s face, while she explained what she was doing¡­ or perhaps it was more accurate to say she was talking to herself.


    ¡°Aiya, your skin is really nice. We just need a thin layer of foundation.¡±


    ¡°A little too pale, but this seem even more classic! I think I should skip the blush.¡±


    ¡°Tsk tsk, your eyelashes are so long they¡¯re going to scare people to death! Let¡¯s skip the mascara, and I think it would be enough to curl them.¡±


    ¡°Your eyes are purple, that¡¯s really pretty. So let¡¯s use purple eye shadow then.¡±


    Liola helplessly listened, and he finally concluded: Kaiser¡¯s noisy chatter actually had a female version!


    At this time, the door opened again. Three people walked in, each with a box about half as tall as them. Purity yelled, ¡°Mommy, we¡¯re back with the boxes.¡±


    The Red Commander stopped putting things on Liola¡¯s face, and nodded at them three, telling them to put the boxes down. She immediately started to fumble through the boxes, and finally she took out a light violet formal dress, a black long wig, and some accessories.


    After searching for a long while, the Red Commander wiped the sweat off her forehead, and found everything she was looking for. She frowned and look at them, then yelled,


    ¡°Go on. Women are changing, what are you men doing here? Meinan and Child face, go change your clothes. The dance is about to start. Oh and, take the one on the bed with you too.¡±


    Kaiser and Meinan had to shake Daylight to wake up, and then they awkwardly walked out of the room. As they left, they all curiously turned around to see if the Assassin had turned into a beauty.


    Unfortunately, Liola was also curious himself, and he was looking into a mirror with his back towards them, so they had to leave without seeing what Liola had looked like.


    Fortunately, they would be able to see soon.

 Volume 6, 2: The Moonlit Beauty Lila

    Volume 6, Chapter 2: The Moonlit Beauty Lila


    ¡°Hey, have you heard? The Dragon Emperor decided on a crusade against the Black Dragon King Miluo. He also wanted an alliance with us Aklan and the Commerce Alliance to deal with him together.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not strange for the Dragon Emperor to be this angry. After all, his son was slaughtered¡­¡±


    Because they were waiting at the banquet door waiting for the ¡®ladies¡¯ to arrive, Kaiser, Meinan, and Daylight heard many people chattering about various rumors.


    Kaiser didn¡¯t seem to care. After all, he would have to be on the run soon, so why would he care so much?


    Meinan did knit his brows when he heard them, while Daylight seemed to have gotten angry, murmuring something about Miluo being outrageous and took the lives of many innocent people, as well as other righteous things.


    ¡°Ahhh choo~¡± Kaiser sneezed for the eighteenth time, and he uncomfortably pulled the red bowtie on his neck and complained,


    ¡°I¡¯m never wearing suits like this again. It¡¯s making me itchy everywhere. And why is this tie so tight, what the hell! If Liola doesn¡¯t come soon, I¡¯m going back to sleep. It¡¯s so late, why did these crazy insomniacs decide to have a banquet¡­¡±


    Kaiser kept complaining, and did not notice the crowd talking about the rumors had suddenly gotten quiet. Everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed in the same directions.


    Meinan was the first among them to look in the direction of the crowd. As he did so, Meinan acted exactly as everyone else did: He took a deep breath and stared with his jaws open for a long time before he gulped and said,


    ¡°God, too beautiful, this is simply the most beautiful work of art I¡¯ve ever seen. Its beauty rivals the Goddess Venus, or maybe an angel.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you! Did you see your Mona Lisa walk out of a painting?¡±


    Kaiser said as he turned his head in the direction of Meinan¡¯s gaze. He saw a woman slowly approaching them.


    Her facial details were delicate and picturesque, and her mysterious slender eyes intoxicated everyone with its purple, star-like light, but her sword-like thin brows made her seem majestic and untouchable. Her dark, straight hair was embroidered with a violet hair clip. The moonlight softly overlay on her light purple dress, making her seem like a fairy born out of the moonlight.


    The purple-eyed beauty had another refreshing beauty next to her: she was wearing a puffy dress with blue bowties. Her large eyes looked around uneasily, with a shy blush on her face. Though she couldn¡¯t bring people to their knees like her companion, but she still could make one feel a sense of sympathy and affection.


    The two different beauties slowly walked to the banquet entrance under the gaze of everyone present. The refreshing beauty seemed to smile after she looked around for a while, then she grabbed the Moon Fairy and walked.


    Every man present stared with danger in their eyes, wanting to figure out who dared to be the date of their Moonlit Beauty.


    When the two beelined towards Kaiser and others without any hesitation, they suddenly noticed they were surrounded by murderous eyes. Three of them stared as the two beauties walked heading their way, and then all three of them all did the same thing: turned to look at the other two, and asking with their eyes, ¡°Do you guys know them?¡±


    They kept their pose until the two beauties stood still in front of them.


    The refreshing beauty opened her mouth, ¡°Did you guys wait long? Sorry~, mommy forced me to dress up, so it took some time.¡±


    ¡°Purity?!¡± Their jaws dropped to the floor.


    Although a girl was said to change significantly as she matures into womanhood, but they had only been apart for a bit over an hour, how could she have changed this quickly?


    Three of them stared at Purity in astonishment for a long while before they finally remembered there was an even more earthshaking beauty next to her.


    They moved their sluggish gaze to the Moonlit Beauty, and their feelings were quite mixed. Although the person in front of them was definitely a ¡°him¡±, they were unwilling to admit the beauty was a ¡°him¡±.


    ¡°Li¡­¡± Kaiser forced himself to open his mouth to confirm this person¡¯s identity, but he saw every man tilted their heads to listen, Kaiser had to change his words mid-sentence, ¡°Li¡­ la?¡±


    The Moonlit Beauty¡­ also known as our ¡°male¡± protagonist Liola, though skeptical at Kaiser¡¯s abbreviation, still nodded.


    Though they already knew who this person probably was, but seeing him admitting to his identity, Kaiser and others took a very deep breath. Alas, this world was now one beauty less than it would have!


    Being stared at by countless eyes, even Liola felt a bit uneasy, but his companions were still enjoying the look of his face.


    Liola helplessly said, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and go in to look for Cappuccino to get this over with. I put Baolilong in the dorm to sleep. When it wakes up and can¡¯t find me, it¡¯s going to throw a tantrum.¡±


    Who knew as soon as he spoke, Kaiser, Meinan, and Daylight fell even deeper into a trance. Liola¡¯s voice was completely different than before, and his voice was as clear and wonderful as the sound of wind chimes. Despite of the boring nature of what he said, it sounded like music to those who heard.


    Seeing his companions¡¯ minds were completely vacant, Liola frowned. Who knew his frown made all the men take several deep breaths again.


    There were a few fascinated men walking towards him, Liola glanced coldly at them, vaguely showing the imposing manner of an Assassin. Those few men shivered, and they were immediately ¡®awakened¡¯ by Liola¡¯s coldness, then took a few steps back.


    ¡°Kaiser, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Liola impatiently grabbed Kaiser and walked. Having received stares of admiration from his own gender, even Liola, who usually would completely ignore it, had a hard time bearing with it. He just wanted to quickly get the Dragon cross necklace back, and then dress down from his disguise.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, oh.¡±


    Kaiser finally seemed to have woken up from his daze when he was grabbed, remembering the person in front of him wasn¡¯t some beautiful, soft beauty, but instead a ridiculously strong Assassin.


    After Kaiser remembered who the person was, he looked at Liola¡¯s face again. This time, he no longer saw some moonlight Goddess¡¯s face, but instead, an impatient Assassin freezing everyone around him with his eyes.


    ¡°Hey! You have to seduce Cappuccino, not to freeze him into an ice cube, okay? Then smile¡­ no wait! Don¡¯t laugh. Every time you smile, something bad happens, even though what we¡¯re doing isn¡¯t exactly something good.¡±


    Kaiser demanded Liola, whom although unwilling, still softened his expression a bit.


    ¡°Beautiful art! My Goddess Venus!¡± Meinan was still fully immersed in his fantasy as he walked behind Liola¡¯s skirt, and he continued to murmur as he did so, which made the Assassin want to kick him to get him out of it.


    It wasn¡¯t just Meinan who was following Liola¡¯s skirt. In fact, Liola¡¯s skirt was like a magnet, and a pile of paper clips were uncontrollably following them.


    A long line of male beings were following Liola with the same expression as Meinan, trying to walk with their moonlight Goddess. Had the Goddess¡¯s ¡®frozen rays¡¯ not been as powerful, every male would¡¯ve already rushed up to take Kaiser¡¯s place.


    * * *


    As Liola disappeared into the dance, the originally crowded entrance was suddenly completely empty, leaving behind only Purity and Daylight to stare at one another.


    Purity timidly opened her mouth to ask, ¡°Uh¡­ Daylight, why aren¡¯t you going in?¡±


    Daylight forced a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t have an invitation. Meinan was supposed to take me in, but he seemed to have completely forgotten.¡±


    As soon as he finished, Daylight seemed to have remembered something. He added, ¡°Right, Purity, you look beautiful today.¡±


    Hearing this, Purity shook her head and said, ¡°Not at all, Liola-dage is the one who¡¯s truly beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Haha, if Liola heard what you¡¯ve said, he probably wouldn¡¯t be too happy.¡± Daylight let out a laugh.


    Purity laughed as well, and she added, ¡°Liola-dage was already unhappy, because my mommy was so slow she didn¡¯t realize he was a guy. A little while ago, she kept pestering Liola-dage to marry my brother Feir.¡±


    ¡°Uh? Are you serious?¡±


    Daylight paused for a moment, and pictured in his mind the scene of Feir and the ¡®beauty¡¯ Liola standing together¡­ It did seem like they would make a good couple. After looking at Purity, they both realized the other had the same thought, and they both shared a laugh.


    Purity said as she laughed, ¡°Daylight, be my date for this dance. Let¡¯s hurry and go see Liola-dage seduce the Prince. If they were judged purely on appearance, they would be like a beautiful Princess and a Prince!¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Daylight smiled, but then said awkwardly, ¡°But¡­ in a bit, you have to dance with me.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Purity laughed. Her pure, unadulterated smile almost made Daylight stare.


    * * *


    Liola had just entered the dance, but the situation turned out to be the same as outside. The place was originally filled with people chattering, but starting from the entrance, the place where Liola and Kaiser stood, silence began to fan out until finally, the whole place began to be eerily quiet.


    ¡°Where?¡± Liola asked calmly as always.


    Kaiser had already been looking around to find their target, but he hadn¡¯t been able to find traces of Cappuccino. Kaiser knitted his brows, thinking if he stood up the girl of his dreams.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look around.¡± Kaiser said lightly, then led Liola into the dance.


    Since the dance took place at the practice fields of the School of Knights, it spanned over quite a large area. There were also many champagne pyramids and bouquets of flowers, obstructing their views, not to mention the sheer amount of people present. Perhaps Cappuccino was in the crowd, and therefore Kaiser couldn¡¯t find him.


    At first, Kaiser could easily take Liola through a pile of frozen male statues, but as more and more of them woke up, the path became harder to traverse. Had it not been Liola using his cold eyes and freeze rays, they would have already been surrounded.


    Seeing they could barely move, Kaiser became more anxious. If this weren¡¯t elegant dance, Kaiser would have screamed Cappuccino¡¯s name¡­ but if he did so, would the waiters think he¡¯s ordering coffee?


    While Kaiser and Liola were walking in circles, the music started to play.


    A few men unwillingly grabbed their dates¡¯ hands and walked into the dance floor, but they still occasionally glanced at Liola from the corners of their eyes. Some men even ignored their dates complaints and hammerings, and stared at Liola blankly. A few men even walked up to them, even Liola¡¯s freeze rays couldn¡¯t stop the passion in these men¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Beautiful miss, may I have the honor of this dance?¡±


    A few men said at once. People surely needed some pioneers before they would do the same. As soon as these few men spoke, others immediately followed. In an instant, the dance floors were filled with sounds of invitation. They all seemed to fear Liola was deaf, and each yelled louder than the previous.


    Liola¡¯s face got colder and colder as the invitations piled up. Kaiser, however, was almost pierced by the gazes of disdain and jealousy.


    Kaiser¡­ started to laugh sinisterly. Did these rich people really think they could scare him with their eyes?


    ¡®Hmmph! I will make you all die of jealousy!¡±


    Kaiser, without a single bit of concern, grabbed the Goddess in everyone¡¯s eyes and headed straight to the dance floor.


    Although Kaiser didn¡¯t know how to dance, and Liola didn¡¯t even know what dance even was, Kaiser looked at the couples near them and imitated them by putting his hand on Liola¡¯s waist, and said playfully,


    ¡°Hey, put your hand on my shoulder.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡±


    Liola did as Kaiser asked, but judging from the dancers next to them, Liola didn¡¯t understand why he should do so, especially since the taller person placed their hands on the shorter person. Logically speaking, shouldn¡¯t he have put his hands on Kaiser¡¯s waist?


    ¡°Trying to lose the crowd, discuss what we¡¯re going to do, and dance with you so those who dared to glare at me can die in jealousy.¡± Kaiser said, and then looked proudly at those jealous, disappointed, and depressed emn.


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s gloating expression as he danced with him, Liola had a feeling the order Kaiser stated seemed to be incorrect.


    Though Liola felt helpless, he had no choice because he couldn¡¯t find Cappuccino, and if he were to leave the dance floor, there probably would be another pile of men trying to invite him to dance.


    ¡°Excuse me, may I exchange dance partners with you?¡±


    As soon as he heard, Kaiser immediately turned his head and said in the most condescending tone, ¡°Sorry! Not in a million years¡­ uh! Your Majesty?¡±


    When his head fully turned around, Kaiser¡¯s eyes almost popped out. The delicate man in front of him was definitely the Dragon Emperor! The partner he wanted to exchange was Lanski in a black formal dress.


    Lanski was trying to use her eyes to hint at Kaiser. But after seeing Kaiser still confused, Lanski decided to walk up and grabbed Kaiser.


    Before she left, she threw a smile at Liola and said, ¡°Let me borrow your date, and please have a dance with my father.¡±


    No, he can¡¯t leave Liola with the Dragon Emperor! Though Kaiser desperately struggled, but how could a weak Sorcerer break away from a Knight¡¯s grasp? Tears rolled down Kaiser¡¯s face as he was dragged away by Lanski.


    Was Kaiser¡¯s face trying to tell him not to get into trouble or not to dance with the Dragon Emperor? Liola contemplated. It was far too difficult for anyone to guess Kaiser¡¯s meaning from tears, rolling eyes, and a frown.


    ¡°Hello.¡±


    As if he were afraid of scaring the girl before him, the Dragon Emperor did not carry his usual solemnness, but instead with a faint smile, which made him look even more like a handsome young man. Liola didn¡¯t know what he should do, so he frowned as he looked back.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand. I¡¯m actually very old.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly,


    ¡°And I have no fetish with younger ones. The reason I¡¯m here is because you look very similar to my wife who had passed away, so I presumptuously asked you to dance with me.¡±


    ¡®The Emperor wanted to dance simply because I looked like the Queen.¡¯ Liola thought and relaxed.


    ¡®This shouldn¡¯t cause any trouble, right?¡¯ Liola nodded lightly at the Emperor, whom elegantly bowed to Liola, gesturing an invitation to dance.


    Liola confoundedly look at the Emperor as he bowed and then put his right hand in front of Liola, but he didn¡¯t know how to respond. Kaiser didn¡¯t seem to do something like this a moment ago?


    Right as Liola was at his wit¡¯s end, Kaiser ran back with Lanski. Lanski was no longer trying to pull Kaiser away, and all she did was curiously look at her father and the woman who looked extremely similar to her mother. It looked like these two had come to some sort of agreement¡­


    In reality, however, it was because Kaiser understood the reason and promised Lanski not to disturb her father. Lanski herself really wanted to watch his father dancing, so she came back with Kaiser.


    Seeing the Emperor had already bowed with his right hand reaching out for more than ten seconds, Kaiser hurried Liola with his eyes, but the Assassin had no idea of the rules to a dance, and his eyes were still filled with confusion.


    After Kaiser scratched his head, Kaiser bowed towards Lanski and reached out his right hand. Lanski, who knew the formalities well, naturally placed her hand into Kaiser¡¯s, and Liola finally understood what he should do.


    Liola imitatively placed his hand on the Emperor¡¯s hand. The Dragon Emperor, who had waited for quite a while, didn¡¯t seem impatient at all, but instead naturally put his hand on Liola¡¯s waist.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not familiar with dancing.¡± Liola said calmly. Compared to letting the Dragon Emperor find out the hard way, he¡¯d rather admit it first.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why. Then try following my lead. When I back up, you take a step forward.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor took a step back with his right leg, and Liola followed a step forward with his left.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled and said, ¡°Great, now take one step to your right, and then one step back. Follow these steps along, and I will lead on you everything else.¡±


    Liola did as the Dragon Emperor said. At first, they were just dancing at one spot, but then the Dragon Emperor started to speed up, and at the same time led Liola to dance in circles. Liola¡¯s purple dress and the Dragon Emperor¡¯s purple robe seemed to be intertwined into two beautiful, purple circles.


    * * *


    ¡°Kaiser, who is that beautiful woman?¡±


    Lanski couldn¡¯t refrain from asking. As soon as this woman entered, Lanski noticed her father, whose heart was like calm water, was actually staring at the woman.


    At first, Lanski thought her father was captivated under the glamour of her beauty as well, but his eyes didn¡¯t seem like he was fascinated. Instead, his face was filled with surprise and nostalgia.


    Lanski carefully examined the beautiful woman in purple, she realized the beauty looked practically identical to her mother¡¯s portrait in her father¡¯s room!


    ¡°Her¡­ She¡¯s Liola¡¯s sister.¡± Kaiser answered timidly. Fearing Lanski would notice ¡®she¡¯ looked like Liola, so he decided to tell her she¡¯s Liola¡¯s sister.


    Siblings looking alike, no one would be suspicious of that, right?


    Hearing she¡¯s the sister of someone Lanski was familiar with, she was quite surprised, and at the same time realized the woman¡¯s facial features were indeed similar to Liola¡¯s.


    ¡°So it turns out she¡¯s Liola¡¯s sister, then I can finally relax. It¡¯s good that she¡¯s not someone of an unknown origin.¡±


    Lanski took a deep breath, and lowered her guard down towards the woman. She happily looked at the two purple circles on the dance floor with some unspeakable anticipation.


    ¡°Relax? What do you mean?¡± Seeing Lanski¡¯s indescribable expression and hearing her strange words, Kaiser had a very bad feeling about all this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think she¡¯s quite a match with my father?¡±


    Lanski smiled as she pointed at the couple everyone admired. She was agreeable to the idea of her father finding another woman, and even encouraged it. After all, her mother had been dead for more than twenty years, and her brother had just passed away yesterday in such a tragic manner.


    Thinking about this, Lanski¡¯s mood sank a bit. Though she hadn¡¯t been on good terms with her brother, and they weren¡¯t even born from the same mother, but knowing her brother was electrocuted to death, Lanski still felt uneasy in her heart, and she could only imagine how her father could possibly feel.


    Lanski remembered ever since yesterday, her father hadn¡¯t shown even a sign of a smile. If it weren¡¯t for the fact he had to discuss the possibility of an alliance with Aklan Republic and the Commerce Alliance to fight against Miluo, her father probably would have already left this sad place¡­


    ¡°A match?!¡± Kaiser finally understood what his bad feeling was!


    What the hell! They were here to seduce Cappuccino, but why the heck did they end up seducing Cappuccino¡¯s father instead?!


    This felt just like going to the kitchen to grab food to eat during the middle of the night and getting caught by Auntie, and then she jammed the entire pail of food down his throat.


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s mouth open so wide a chicken could fit inside, Lanski immediately started to explain on behalf of his father,


    ¡°Don¡¯t dislike my father because you think he¡¯s old. My father has already reached the stage where he could maintain his age. Although he¡¯s already several hundred years old, but he could probably live a few hundred years more.¡±


    ¡®Not only is he homosexual, but he¡¯s a really old guy hitting on a young person?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s expression became stranger.


    * * *


    ¡°We¡¯ve been dancing for quite a while, but I still haven¡¯t caught your name?¡±


    The Emperor didn¡¯t know his daughter was trying to find him another wife, but he did feel a strange connection to the girl in front of him. Considering she looked so much like his wife who passed away, she should have some relation to her, right?


    ¡®Name?¡¯ Liola remembered the abbreviated name Kaiser called him, and answered, ¡°Lila.¡±


    ¡°Lila?¡± The Dragon Emperor repeated this name, and his eyes flashed strangely.


    ¡°Do you know where Cappuccino is?¡±


    Liola suddenly asked, and the Dragon Emperor paused briefly before asking, ¡°You know my third son?¡±


    Liola nodded and explained, ¡°I have a date with him.¡±


    ¡°A date with my third son, is it? Unfortunately, he had been depressed due to the death of my second son, and therefore did not attend this dance.¡±


    Though the Emperor talked in a gentle voice, but for some reason, Liola felt coldness flashing by. When he looked curiously at the Emperor, he still maintained a light smile, making it impossible for Liola to guess what he was thinking.


    ¡°You learn quite quickly, and you can still follow me even though I¡¯m dancing quickly.¡± The Emperor complimented.


    It wasn¡¯t until then that Liola noticed the speed at which they were dancing had already far surpassed the limit of an ordinary person. Liola was shocked. As the best Assassin, how could he have easily been lead to expose his secrets?


    Liola raised his head again, and the Dragon Emperor still had a smile on his face, as if he had a smiling mask on at all times.


    Liola suddenly stopped and pushed the Emperor away. Although Liola knew this would raise his suspicions even more, but the Assassin, who had never feared his opponents before, feared this unfathomable man.


    ¡°Are you tired?¡± The Dragon Emperor was not angry for being pushed away, but instead asked in a caring manner.


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Being a bit away from the Dragon Emperor, Liola could finally maintain his calmness. Even if the Emperor realized his true identity, Liola thought, getting away shouldn¡¯t be a problem with his current strength.


    The Dragon Emperor nodded and said, ¡°Then, Lila, rest for a while, and I should be leaving. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning. It was a pleasure meeting you, Lila, and if you want to see Cappuccino, please come the place where we¡¯re currently staying. It will be our honor to have you as our guest.¡±


    Liola did not understand what the Dragon Emperor had planned. He obviously lead Liola into showing his strength, but now he was pretending he didn¡¯t know anything and even invited him to be his guest. He was confused¡­ he was definitely not suitable, he thought, so he¡¯d rather discuss it with Kaiser later.


    ¡°Understood. Thank you for your invitation.¡± Liola could only reply in such manner.


    After the Emperor elegantly bowed to Liola, he slowly walked out of the dance floor. When he passed Lanski, he even nagged a few things, such as ¡°Don¡¯t stay too late¡±, ¡°Rest early¡±, etc.


    After the Emperor left, Lanski impatiently and anxiously grabbed Kaiser and ran up to Liola. Even the perverts around her couldn¡¯t rush as fast as she could.


    Lanski¡¯s face was filled with jubilance, and said happily to Liola, ¡°Hello, Lila-jiejie. I am Lanski, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s fourth child, and I¡¯m friends with your brother!¡±


    ¡°My brother.¡± Though Liola was confused, but he kept calm and used a declarative sentence to hint at Kaiser so Lanski wouldn¡¯t become suspicious.


    ¡°Right, Lila-jiejie, Lanski is good friends with your brother, Liola.¡± Kaiser blinked, and quietly informed Liola he had become his own brother.


    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you, Lanski.¡± After receiving Kaiser¡¯s hint, Liola calmly answered.


    ¡°Lila-jiejie, isn¡¯t my father a great guy?¡± Lanski asked happily while shaking Liola¡¯s hands.


    ¡®I think he¡¯s terrifying¡­¡¯ Liola didn¡¯t say his thoughts. Though he wasn¡¯t good with interpersonal relationships, but at least he knew not to say something bad of a girl¡¯s father in front of her.


    Although Liola didn¡¯t say anything about the Emperor, Lanski saw her best candidate as her father¡¯s new wife didn¡¯t seem to like her father much, and she began to feel anxious. She grabbed Lila¡¯s hands, trying to convince her of all the good qualities of her father.


    However, Liola had no time to listen to Lanski.


    Standing in the center of the dance floor were two of the most beautiful women at the dance, and the surrounding floor showed signs of corrosion from saliva.


    Not to mention the dishonorable Kaiser had already ran off, and he was standing outside of the blockade of people and waving at Liola. He tried to put on some compassion on his face to pity Liola¡¯s circumstances, but the exaggerated way he went about it showed he was actually rejoicing in Liola¡¯s misfortune.


    Seeing the situation was getting out of control and Lanski was still endlessly talking about how good her father was, Liola interrupted Lanski and said awkwardly, ¡°Lanski, this isn¡¯t the best place to talk.¡±


    Lanski suddenly stopped, and she realized the circle of perverts was closing in on them, to the point where they were only a few steps away.


    Lanski obviously had a better handle on this than Liola, who had little experience being a beautiful woman. Lanski acted with the imposing manner of a royalty and waved her right arm, ¡°Back off!¡±


    Everyone around seemed to have woken up, and suddenly realized this may be the only Princess of the Dragon Empire, but with the Dragon Emperor being in Aklan Academy at this very moment, had they so much as touched her hair, they wouldn¡¯t have enough lives to answer to the Emperor.


    No matter how much they want to hit on the hot girls, their lives were at stake! The crowd parted like the Red Sea.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lila-jiejie.¡± Lanski smiled and dragged Liola out of the dance.


    Liola had no choice but follow Lanski. Lanski didn¡¯t forget to ask Kaiser to come along because she had something to say to Kaiser.


    Lanski walked with Liola into the forest near the academy, and stopped next to a little lake.


    Liola was very familiar with this place, since it was where he and Jasmine first met. He didn¡¯t expect Lanski would also know of this place, and he guessed it must¡¯ve been Jasmine who brought her here.


    ¡°Kaiser, I have a message I want you to tell Silver Mask.¡± Lanski suddenly turned around and said to Kaiser.


    ¡°Uh? What is it?¡± Kaiser was surprised.


    Lanski said carefully,


    ¡°Please tell Silver Mask, because of my brother¡¯s sudden death, I was with my father last night and all of today, and so I couldn¡¯t wait for him in the School of Knights. Please clear this up with him for me, otherwise¡­ I forced him to agree to go to the dance with me then I stood him up, he might hate me for it.¡±


    As she explained, Lanski¡¯s face seemed more and more depressed.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, Silver Mask wouldn¡¯t get angry over something so small.¡± Kaiser said carelessly, considering Silver Mask himself didn¡¯t make it, why would he be mad? Kaiser glanced at Liola and hinted with his eyes.


    After that, Lanski said to Kaiser with embarrassment, ¡°Kaiser, I have something to say to Lila-jiejie. Uh¡­ could you give us a minute?¡±


    Kaiser scratched his face, and threw an inquiring look at ¡®Lila-jiejie¡¯ whom, after a moment of thought, slightly nodded.


    Kaiser shrugged at Lanski, indicating he didn¡¯t care, and then turned around in preparation to go back to the dorm to have a long-term intimacy with his pillow and sheets.


    After Kaiser left, Lanski had an apologetic face towards Lila, ¡°Lila-jiejie, I¡¯m really sorry, asking you to stay like this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Liola really didn¡¯t mind. Although he knew the person in front of him wasn¡¯t the person he had been missing, Liola did enjoy looking at Lanski¡¯s face and thinking about his past.


    Lanski sat down, and Liola followed. Lanski began saying what she wanted to say to Lila,


    ¡°Lila-jiejie, please don¡¯t think my father is happy because he¡¯s always laughing. In reality, my father has rarely been truly happy ever since mother passed away.¡±


    Lanski laughed awkwardly, ¡°Of course, this is what my third brother told me. After all, I hadn¡¯t seen my mother, but he had always told me when mother was still alive, father would often laugh heartedly, unlike how he is now.¡±


    Liola found it hard to imagine the Dragon Emperor with a hearty laugh. His mysterious nature had already been imprinted in Liola¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Hard to imagine, right?¡± Even Lanski herself couldn¡¯t fathom it,


    ¡°So I really want to see how he looks like with a hearty laugh. But father really loved mother, and he hasn¡¯t looked for a new wife in twenty years.¡±


    ¡°Do you know? You are the first woman my father stared at in twenty years.¡± Lanski said with excitement, but then she seemed a bit embarrassed as she added,


    ¡°Of course, not including me.¡±


    ¡®Unfortunately I¡¯m a man, so your father still hadn¡¯t stared at a ¡®woman¡¯¡­¡¯ Liola thought in response to Lanski.


    ¡°So, Lila-jiejie, if possible, please consider my father. He is truly a good man.¡± Lanski held Liola¡¯s hands tightly.


    ¡®Consider¡­ what exactly?¡¯ Though Liola didn¡¯t understand, but he understood there were leeways involved with ¡®consider¡¯. Nothing could go terribly wrong if he agrees, right? Liola nodded lightly.


    ¡°This is great!¡±


    Lanski smiled brilliantly. It was unlike the Lanski Liola remembered, but rather more like Anise¡¯s smile. This made Liola smile without noticing.


    ¡®This is not great at all! What good can come from deceiving the Emperor¡¯s feelings?¡¯


    The four people eavesdropping behind a nearby tree ¡ª Kaiser, Meinan, Daylight, and Purity ¡ª had a feeling it would be better off if they start running now.

 Volume 6, 3: Blood Wolf’s Bad News

    Volume 6, Chapter 3: Blood Wolf¡¯s Bad News


    ¡°I think this entire event is quite strange. Just because Miluo suddenly appeared and disappeared, the 3 Great Powers have to join forces to fight him? That¡¯s an overkill. No matter how strong Miluo may be, he is still just a Dragon¡±


    ¡°Idiot! Didn¡¯t you hear Miluo say he has allies?¡±


    ¡°Allies? What kind of allies would be able to resist against the 3 great countries?¡±


    ¡°Nobody knows whether there is a 4th great power in this world. Right, Miluo said there was a traitor, who knows it might just be you Aklan guys! First tell us what those students are doing wandering aimlessly about the place.¡±


    ¡°What did you say! The Black Dragon is from your Dragon Empire, but you want to push the blame on us?!¡±


    ¡°Are you saying we¡¯re the traitors? Such a fat lie! Is the sacrifice of our second Princes fake?! If not for the alliance, we would have already gone back to the palace to hold a national mourning for the Prince. And you still haven¡¯t answered my question about your students!¡±


    ¡°Knock it off, our Commerce Alliance should find out the truth first. We can discuss alliance matters all we like afterwards.¡±


    The conference hall was triangular. On each side sat the Aklan Empire, the Dragon Empire and the Commerce Alliance respectively. Above the 3 vertices sat the Prime Minister Qiusi, the Dragon Emperor, and the 3 Leaders.


    Since the start of the meeting, the 3 Great Powers had been arguing endlessly, the contents of their argument were none other than whether they should join forces to fight against Miluo.


    Although the leaders of the 3 powers had not spoken, you could tell from their subordinates¡¯ words that the Aklan Empire was not interested in the alliance; the Commerce Alliance was just going to wait and see what would happen and only the Dragon Empire, who had lost a Prince and a few gold and silver-ranked knights, stubbornly wanted to form an alliance.


    As for the leaders of the 3 powers, Qiusi had been listening seriously the whole time.


    Among the 3 commanders of the Commerce Alliance, only the Green commander¡¯s eyebrows were knitted and he looked like he was pondering what had been said, whereas the Yellow commander was all muddled up by the conversation, and the Red commander didn¡¯t stop yawning.


    However, everyone knew that within the Commerce Alliance, the Green commander is responsible for public affairs, the Yellow commander is in charge of training military and the Red commander¡¯s job is to develop new mechas, so no one bothered with their bad conduct.


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s face grew darker and darker. Finally, he slammed his fist down on the table. The loud bang echoed around the large hall and in an instant the 3 agitated parties were silent. Despite his black face, the Dragon Emperor still managed to restrain himself and said,


    ¡°Prime Minister Qiusi, Green commander, let¡¯s not allow our subordinates to continue spouting nonsense. Just state clearly whether or not you want to form an alliance.¡±


    There was a flicker in Qiusi¡¯s eyes. As an experienced Prime Minister, he was very familiar with dodging official decisions.


    ¡°About this¡­ Your Majesty, I am but a Prime Minister, but the authority I have is nowhere near yours. If my subordinates do not wish to form an alliance, then no matter what my choice may be, nothing will change.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor shot an icy glance at Qiusi, which seemed to say, ¡°I do not believe your words one bit.¡±


    However, Qiusi just gave a little innocent and apologetic smile in return.


    When the Dragon Emperor turned to look at the Green commander, the commander sported a hesitant look and said, ¡°Well, I would rather find out the truth first before deciding.¡±


    The two leaders¡¯ quibble really infuriated the Dragon Emperor. His face and tone turned to ice. Coldly, he said,


    ¡°If you do not want to join forces, that¡¯s fine, nobody will know who the traitor is and we would be vulnerable to sneak attacks. The Dragon Empire might as well fight alone!¡±


    With that, the Dragon Emperor stopped talking and stared out of the window, ignoring everything else. His speech about the traitor descended like a black cloud over the other 2 parties.


    They looked at each other nervously, thinking who could the traitor be? Or maybe the traitor was actually their own country, but the higher-ups kept mum about it so their subordinates would firmly deny any accusations?


    Qiusi face remained unchanged, it still had its Prime Minister dignity, neither soft nor hard, and a slight smile. He stared at the Dragon Emperor, not knowing what he actually wanted.


    The Green commander was kneading his temples, not knowing what to do.


    ¡°An alliance must be formed to fight against Miluo!¡±


    There was a sudden loud roar and a black shadow flew in from the window, scattering shards of glass. In an instant, the 3 Great Powers each took up their spears and armored guns to guard their leaders, fearing the uninvited guest harbored bad intentions.


    Only the Aklan Republic sat calmly in their seats. All of them had been promoted by Qiusi and had experience in managing countries. Their one flaw was they were neither Knights nor Mecha Fighters. Although considering the circumstances, it was strange the only ones without firepower would be the calmest, but maybe it was because they knew their Prime Minister¡¯s defense was unbreakable.


    However, the uninvited guest was someone everyone knew. Even if some did not, they would have at least heard of him. The man rode on his trademark, a giant black wolf. Once the black wolf was identified, there was almost no one who did not know who the man was, for he was as renowned as Holy Knights ¨C the Dark Knight Blood Wolf!


    ¡°Blood Wolf?¡±


    Blood Wolf¡¯s sudden appearance surprised Qiusi. He initially thought the Dragon Emperor would get the more appealing Lancelot to advise them to form an alliance, so why would Blood Wolf come rushing out of nowhere?


    Blood Wolf was an infamous Knight for not upholding the code of Knights, and he had never really obeyed the Dragon Emperor¡­ Or maybe it was the exact attribute which would allow him to produce remarkable results concerning the alliance.


    Qiusi¡¯s eyes did not stop gleaming, but for now he could only listen to what Blood Wolf had to say.


    Blood Wolf had an anxious expression and he did not waste time, ¡°At Yaron Plains, I felt a great amount of magic. In my whole life, I have not witnessed such complicated magic since I¡¯ve fought with Gle.¡±


    The hall was suddenly quiet. A voice whispered,¡±Gle?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor coldly said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Miluo appeared in Freesia right from the start?¡±


    The moment the Emperor¡¯s words were heard, the entire room raged with questions and discussions.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Freesia the nearest place to the Yaron Plains?¡±


    ¡°Heavens! Miluo ¡­. and G, Gle are acquainted, could the allies he talked about have been ¡­¡±


    The speaker¡¯s mouth was immediately covered by the people beside him. Too much was at stake, and nobody dared to conclude about anything, much less think about concluding!


    ¡°Prime Minister Qiusi, what are your views about this matter?¡± A single sentence from the Dragon Emperor placed all the attention on Qiusi, the person who was the most familiar with magic, being a Sorcerer himself.


    Qiusi coolly asked Blood Wolf, ¡°What did the magic look like?¡±


    In one leap, the giant wolf was beside Qiusi. Blood Wolf handed Qiusi a piece of white paper and explained,


    ¡°I have drawn the general shape and incantation of the magic, but I wasn¡¯t able to capture the details. After all, I am not a Sorcerer.¡±


    Qiusi casually replied, ¡°Even if you were a Sorcerer, nowadays there aren¡¯t many who can recognize this kind of large scale magic. Right, how large was the magic symbol?¡±


    Blood Wolf replied, ¡°The magic symbol was circular, roughly 500 meters in diameter.¡±


    ¡°500 meters?¡±


    Qiusi suddenly had a strange expression. Other people would just think a 500 meter long magic is ¡°gigantic¡±, but as a Sorcerer, Qiusi knew such larger-scale magic would have an enormous magic-consumption rate, hence it could not be the work of a single Sorcerer.


    Qiusi was doubtful as to whether the magic could even activate. There would have to be many Sorcerers, but in recent years Sorcerers had been fading out. Also, these Sorcerers would have to be comprised of ¡ª as they were called in ancient times ¡ª Magicians, not just people with special abilities. The Magicians would then need to fully understand the magic¡­


    Qiusi frowned and explained to the terrified audience, ¡°This is a summoning magic ritual, but it is just too big, I suspect it has another way to activate.¡±


    ¡°What if it¡¯s him?¡±


    Someone asked shakily. Everyone had the same question, no one doubted ¡®he¡¯ could activate the magic. After all, they all believed ¡®he¡¯ was an omnipotent Magician.


    ¡°If it¡¯s Gle, he wouldn¡¯t even need to draw the symbol.¡± Qiusi said coldly. He was not going to use ¡®he¡¯ to address Gle. He despised those people. They look down on Sorcerers, but when it came to the most powerful Sorcerer named Gle, they didn¡¯t even dare to say his name, and for that he scorned them.


    Blood Wolf scratched his head and asked, ¡°So this magic symbol wasn¡¯t drawn by Gle?¡±


    ¡°Gle is no longer in this world.¡± Qiusi calmly stated the fact.


    Blood Wolf scratched his head again and seemed relieved. ¡°Really? So have I been making a big fuss over nothing?¡±


    ¡°A fuss? This is such a gigantic magic symbol and you say you¡¯re just kicking up a fuss? Maybe, maybe it¡¯s Gle¡¯s descendent, who may possess the same powers as Gle¡­ Ye, yeah, I once heard about the Aklan Republic sheltering his offspring.¡± Someone from the Commerce Alliance shouted.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes once again turned towards Qiusi, now filled with suspicion and shock. That year, Gle¡¯s unfathomable power had really scared them speechless, and no one was willing to overlook this matter.


    ¡°The Aklan Republic didn¡¯t shelter Gle¡¯s offspring.¡± Despite the suspicious glares, Qiusi still maintained his disposition and replied calmly.


    ¡°Really?¡± The Dragon Emperor said. ¡°Although it is rumoured Miluo first appeared in the Freesia, I know I had sealed him below the Yaron Plains, hence his first appearance should have been in the Yaron Plains. Now we have suddenly discovered a gigantic magic symbol in the Yaron Plains. I can¡¯t help but think these events are all connected. Prime Minister Qiusi, since it¡¯s come to this, do you still want to refuse to form an alliance?¡±


    There was a glint in Qiusi¡¯s eyes, and he replied,


    ¡°I already told you, Your Majesty, I am no King, only a simple Prime Minister. If my subordinates are not willing to¡­¡±


    Before Qiusi could finish speaking, he was interrupted by his own subordinates. Some of them said cowardly,


    ¡°Prime Minister, we feel it is better to form an alliance? If, if Miluo and Gle are really working together¡­¡±


    Qiusi¡¯s icy glare swept towards them. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, Gle is no longer in this world.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor glanced at Qiusi and gently said, ¡°Not in this world? Why didn¡¯t you say he¡¯s dead?¡±


    Everyone gasped. Qiusi had indeed been using the strange phrase ¡®not in this world¡¯. Although it had the same meaning as ¡®dead¡¯, it could also imply other things.


    Qiusi still kept his collected look and said plainly, ¡°Your Majesty, please do not nitpick at my bad wording.¡±


    Till now, the two leaders both had a bit of a cold face and the atmosphere was stiff. However, based on the audience¡¯s immense reaction towards Gle, the situation seemed to be moving towards forming an alliance.


    Blood Wolf scratched his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand, what¡¯s wrong with forming an alliance first? It won¡¯t even matter if there isn¡¯t anything wrong.¡±


    All who were shocked at the mention of Gle immediately nodded their heads fervently and looked at Qiusi, who was most against forming an alliance. Qiusi almost couldn¡¯t resist shooting a sharp glare at Blood Wolf.


    ¡°I think we can look at this from a long-term perspective¡­¡± Qiusi answered tactfully, since he did not want to be guilty of a public outrage.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to! My Dragon Empire is willing to fight alone.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor coldly admonished Qiusi, and stormed out of the conference hall. The rest of the Dragon Empire followed their leader, not forgetting to give the other 2 groups some disdainful looks first.The alliance was broken. Not only was the Commerce Alliance disappointed in Qiusi, there were even some from the Aklan Republic who wanted to hate their leader for it.


    Deep down, Qiusi laughed a bitter laugh. He had really lost the bout badly.


    * * *


    Qiusi wasn¡¯t the only one mulling over matters, his son Meinan and company were also considering a tough question: Should they continue looking for Cappuccino?


    Although Kaiser was all for giving up, the Assassin showed a surprising amount of stubbornness, he was even willing to disguise himself up as the female tormentor again, and insisted the Dragon Cross Necklace must be retrieved.


    ¡°What if we bump into the Dragon Emperor again? Even his daughter told you to consider her father!¡± Kaiser looked straight at Liola.


    Even though Liola knew what ¡®consider¡¯ really meant based on Kaiser¡¯s previous explanation, he didn¡¯t think it was much of a problem.


    He coolly said, ¡°We can get the Dragon Cross Necklace and leave.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say so¡­ ¡± Kaiser thought they should cause more trouble since they were going to run away anyhow, otherwise wouldn¡¯t it seem to belittle their prestige as the Aklan Troublemaking Squad?


    ¡°No! You¡¯re forgetting something very important.¡± Meinan said suddenly and seriously raised a finger.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaiser immediately leapt up and asked, worried.


    ¡°As long as he has the Dragon Cross Necklace, the Dragon Emperor would know about us like the back of his hand, didn¡¯t the principal say that?¡± Meinan exclaimed.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Kaiser lazily spread himself out on the bed once again. ¡°Calm down, calm down. I¡¯ve already considered this problem.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got an idea? What is it?¡± Meinan asked curiously.


    ¡°Secret!¡± Kaiser purposely laughed mysteriously, which really sparked Meinan¡¯s curiosity. Kaiser scratched his face and said,


    ¡°However, the fact that the Dragon Emperor knows the location of Dragon Cross Necklace where ever we go is a problem. Once we grab the Necklace, we must immediately use Baolilong to run away, otherwise we will be in big trouble.¡±


    Kaiser then took a deep breath and said, ¡°Let me be clear, Daylight, you have to leave with us. As for Purity and Meinan, we might have to part ways¡±


    The moment Kaiser said it, everyone fell silent. Purity reluctantly asked, ¡°Do you guys really need to leave?¡±


    Kaiser said, ¡°If we don¡¯t leave, then should we wait until we are arrested and then try to jailbreak?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave, I haven¡¯t completed my studies.¡± Daylight firmly opposed Kaiser¡¯s advice.


    Kaiser stayed silent for a while, then said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to force you to run. Purity and Meinan should be fine since their family background is prestigious. However, you have no family to back you up whatsoever, so the situation will be much worse for you.


    Daylight frowned, ¡°But I haven¡¯t done anything wrong, so I should be fine¡­¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a question of whether or not you have done anything wrong.¡± Kaiser said somewhat annoyed.


    ¡°This whole situation needs someone to shoulder the blame, and if we run away without you, you will definitely be the one who has to do the shouldering!¡±


    Liola had been silent for the whole time. He did not know what to do altogether. The words ¡°The Dragon Cross Necklace must be retrieved.¡±, echoed with steadily growing voices in his heart, and Liola could not ignore them.


    However, towards his tired comrades, Liola¡¯s heart was one of remorse and self-accusal, but he knew even if he wanted to shoulder the entire blame, all of Aklan Academy knew the few of them were almost always together, which would make Kaiser and the rest accomplices.


    ¡°But my studies¡­¡± Daylight had a troubled expression.


    ¡°Just listen to me.¡± Kaiser mercilessly interrupted him. ¡°I have a feeling Miluo is not faking and the situation will continue to escalate. Once a war breaks out, do you think that you can still continue studying?¡±


    Daylight however, was even more insistent than before. He almost roared,


    ¡°If a war breaks out, then I would have a duty to take part in it and prevent Miluo from doing whatever he wants!¡±


    ¡°Hey hey, just how~~ big an impact do you think a single Blue Knight would be able to make on the war? Or maybe you¡¯re thinking of annoying Miluo to death with your mouth? That might really be possible. After all, nobody can stand you of preaching the code of knights for hours.¡± Kaiser shot out a stream of his finest sarcasm.


    Upon hearing Kaiser¡¯s sharp sarcasm, Daylight¡¯s face turned red, and he shook with anger. His mouth twitched furiously but stayed soundless, his hands clenched and loosened up. At last, Daylight stormed out of the room without looking back and slammed the door shut.


    ¡°Just a slam of the door and that¡¯s it? I thought he would have punched me, or at the least lecture me for a bit. In the end there is nothing¡­ Who exactly instilled in him the Knightly-spirit?¡± Kaiser asked in amazement.


    ¡°I know it is all for Daylight¡¯s own good, but even so you still shouldn¡¯t phrase it so outrageously.¡± Meinan grimaced.


    ¡°Exactly. What you said was really too much, Kaiser.¡± Purity balled her fist to help Daylight hammer Kaiser, but the latter comfortably got out of the way.


    ¡°Alright alright, Purity you should also stop hitting Kaiser. Go out and check on Daylight.¡±


    Meinan was urgently trying to separate the two, but when Purity noticed Kaiser was not hurt and instead seemed to be enjoying it, she got furious and kicked Kaiser in the leg, hard. Then, she stomped out of the room after Daylight.


    Ignoring Kaiser¡¯s howls of pain, Meinan suggested, ¡°Maybe my dad can protect him, after all he is a Blue Knight and the time he spent with us was the shortest. If he wants to join the fight against Miluo, he probably won¡¯t get tangled up in this matter.¡±


    Kaiser wasn¡¯t interested in the suggestion. Without even lifting his head off the pillow, he said, ¡°A Knight who is overflowing with knightly-spirit wouldn¡¯t survive the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Meinan finally realized Kaiser¡¯s true intentions in making Daylight leave. He stood up and said,


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find Jasmine so she can arrange for Cappuccino to meet with us and advice Daylight to leave with you.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Kaiser finally lifted his head off his pillow and stopped Meinan.


    ¡°Your dad and Purity¡¯s mom wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to let you two naive fellows on the battlefield, right?¡±


    Kaiser really couldn¡¯t change his tawdry mouth! As expected, he was awkward.


    Meinan couldn¡¯t resist laughing and said, ¡°Rest assured, the Red commander wouldn¡¯t dare to send Purity to war, and as for me, it¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t seen how my father treats me, do your think he would send me to the battlefield?¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± Kaiser didn¡¯t say anymore and immediately buried his face back into his pillow, as if he wanted to hide his queasy expression.


    When Meinan saw him, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud. Even Liola chuckled lightly, which made Kaiser¡¯s ears turn red.


    Finally, Kaiser jumped up with his face flushed and shouted, ¡°What are you laughing about? You¡¯re so noisy I can¡¯t sleep! Meinan why haven¡¯t you gone to look for Jasmine and Daylight! And Liola you go cook some meat to feed your son, why are you just staring into space!¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll go immediately, hahaha!¡± Meinan laughed as he skipped out of the room. Kaiser angrily ground his teeth in frustration and even threw his beloved pillow across the room.


    ¡°Papa, Kaiser¡¯s face looks as red as fresh beef.¡±


    Baolilong drooled as it stared at Kaiser¡¯s ¡°Fresh-beef¡± face. Kaiser fiercely glared at Baolilong, who did not know what it had done. Baolilong¡¯s eyes watered, and it grudgingly hid behind Liola and buried its head into Liola¡¯s chest.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking Baolilong to eat now. Should I bring some meat back for you?¡± Liola grinned and asked.


    ¡°Rubbish! Would you rather I starve to death?¡± Kaiser pretended to be angry and turned away.


    ¡°Got it.¡± As Liola carried Baolilong out of the room, he couldn¡¯t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards.

 Volume 6, 4: Mystery of the Past

    Volume 6, Chapter 4: Mystery of the Past


    Due to the fact he wasn¡¯t allowed to leave Aklan Academy, Liola held Baolilong and planned to grab a few pieces of frozen meat from Auntie¡¯s meat transportation Maxun. However, considering Baolilong¡¯s terrifying appetite, Liola changed his route to look for a cart to retrieve meat from the transportation Maxun.


    Before he even got to the Maxun, he saw Auntie¡¯s mountain-like body. Liola pushed the cart along with Baolilong, who was playing on the cart, towards Auntie. Instincts told Liola Auntie was waiting for him here.


    ¡°Is everything all right, little child?¡± Auntie asked caringly.


    Liola paused briefly, and then nodded.


    ¡°Do you have any plans?¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t think anything of it. His instinct told him Auntie was trustworthy, so he told her everything, including his plan to take back the necklace, preparing to run for their lives, and taking Daylight with them, etc.


    Auntie nodded again and again, and finally smiled. She then took out an egg-shaped emerald from her laced apron, and placed it on Liola¡¯s hand.


    She said, ¡°This is for that child, Kaiser. But don¡¯t blame Auntie for being biased. Auntie really had nothing to give you that would be of any use to you.¡±


    Liola shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Auntie laughed and added, ¡°That old geezer Barbalis asked me to tell you, with the current situation you guys may be better off running first. After all, the few of you will come back some day, and that day isn¡¯t too far away.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t refute anything, and nodded in agreement, ¡°I will definitely be back.¡± ¡ª At least, to see how Purity and Meinan are doing.


    ¡°Right.¡± Auntie suddenly seemed to have remembered something,


    ¡°If you have a girl, remember to tell her good bye and give her a few words of comfort. If you run away without saying a word, it would be very irresponsible!¡±


    ¡®Girl?¡¯ Liola thought about it briefly. He should indeed say something to Jasmine and Lanski before he left.


    As soon as Liola thought about it, he decided to do it soon. He didn¡¯t know when he would be on the run, so it was better if he said goodbyes sooner rather than later.


    Liola grabbed a few pieces of meat and cooked it immediately. He was no longer afraid someone would see him, considering he would be on the run soon. Even Kaiser didn¡¯t care about causing trouble because their escape plan, so why should he?


    Liola gave the meat to the mouth-watering Baolilong.


    After parting with Auntie, he pushed Baolilong on the cart ¡ª now filled with meat ¡ª to go to the School of Knight to look for Jasmine and Lanski. He didn¡¯t seem to care how strange it was for him to be pushing a cart with a child swallowing down pieces of meat left and right.


    In fact, this strange scene gave Liola quite a bit of attention on the way, but Liola simply kept walking his own path, and Baolilong was also tearing apart large pieces of meat on the cart without care.


    With stares along the way, Liola had finally arrived at the School of Knights. He held Baolilong and entered the School. People in the School of Knights looked at the Sorcerer with arrogant glances as usual.


    Without anyone¡¯s help, Liola had no choice but wander around the School of Knight to see if he would run into Jasmine. Who knew he didn¡¯t run into Jasmine, but someone he was familiar with.


    ¡°Liola? What are you doing here?¡± Lanski walked up to him with a strange expression, at the same time tenderly and lovingly touched Baolilong¡¯s head.


    Liola answered honestly, ¡°I¡¯m looking for Jasmine.¡±


    Lanski answered with an ¡°Oh¡±, and then laughed,


    ¡°Meinan came looking for her just a moment ago, and then those two mysterious left for something¡­ Ah, but Liola, please don¡¯t misunderstand. They have always been very close friends.¡±


    Of course he wouldn¡¯t misunderstand, considering he didn¡¯t know how he could have.


    Liola was certain Meinan and Jasmine were off to look for Cappuccino. Since he couldn¡¯t find Jasmine, Liola wanted to part ways with Lanski, but then he remembered something and said to Lanski, ¡°Silver Mask wanted me to tell you, please meet him next to the little lake.¡±


    ¡°Eeek?¡± Lanski yelled in surprise, and slowly but surely cheerfulness filled Lanski¡¯s beautiful face. Lanski¡¯s heart-felt smile practically made her face glow, and Knights passing by all stopped to enjoy her beauty.


    Even Liola felt her smile was attractive, but Lanski didn¡¯t give him much time to enjoy it. As soon as she knew Silver Mask wanted to see her, Lanski practically wished she was a Sorcerer and knew how to teleport so she could immediately move to the lake to see her beloved.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go look for Silver Mask. I think Jasmine will be back soon, and you can go to the lobby to wait for her.¡± Lanski said hurriedly, and she turned around to leave, almost to the point of being discourteous.


    But for some reason, after having taken only a few steps, she turned around again. She said with her face filled with worry, ¡°Right, there¡¯s something I have to tell you. I heard during the meeting today, because of your conflict with my brother before Miluo¡¯s attack, and the fact you came out of his attacks unscathed, everyone seems to think you guys are the traitors Miluo spoke of.¡±


    Seeing Liola beginning to frown, Lanski immediately added,


    ¡°Of course I will always believe you. In fact, many people don¡¯t think you actually are. After all, Miluo finding allies in students who were still attending the Academy seemed completely pointless, but¡­¡± Lanski then began to stutter.


    ¡°But someone has to be blamed for all this!¡± A clear and loud voice stated the truth.


    Liola turned his head to look at the source of this voice, and saw the person who had been missing for a while ¡ª the ¡°bad-boy¡± Knight with black uniform, Blood Wolf.


    His otherwise careless face had been filled with all kinds of worry. He walked up and grabbed Liola, and laughed at Lanski, ¡°Pretty little girl, let me borrow this guy for a minute; I will return him shortly.¡±


    Considering it was the Dark Knight Blood Wolf, Lanski didn¡¯t even have the choice to refuse. She saluted in surprise, and humbly said, ¡°Sir Dark Knight, in fact, I was just about to leave to see Silver Mask.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Blood Wolf frowned, and said hurriedly, ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll return him to you shortly.¡±


    Blood Wolf dragged Liola by the arms without paying any attention to a Knight¡¯s etiquette. On the way, many Knights had surprised looks on their faces as they saluted at Blood Wolf, but Blood Wolf had the right not to, and was too lazy to, return the salute.


    After leaving the School of Knight, Blood Wolf dragged Liola towards a deserted place. It wasn¡¯t until they were deep in a forest that Blood Wolf let go of Liola¡¯s hand. He turned around and faced Liola; his tone was as harsh as the police interrogating a prisoner,


    ¡°Liola, tell me the truth. Are you the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son?¡±


    His question baffled Liola. He didn¡¯t understand why Blood Wolf, who knew the truth about all of his fake identities, would ask a question like this. But he saw Blood Wolf was serious, so Liola had no choice but to shake his head to deny the question, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°How can you be sure you¡¯re not? Do you know who your parents are?¡± Blood Wolf pressed on bluntly.


    Liola knitted his eyebrows tightly.


    He was indeed unsure of who his parents were. He even had no memory of ever meeting with his Leader. In fact, it seemed his memory did not begin until after he had met the Leader.


    According to what Yasha said to him before, the Leader found him when he was about five years old, and he was lying alone on a large rock.


    ¡°Perhaps it was actually a triplet and not twins back then. And perhaps the accident happened before the Dragon Emperor even saw the children. Perhaps¡­¡± Blood Wolf looked at Liola again with suspicious eyes.


    But Liola knew it was complete nonsense. He explained with a frown, ¡°I am not the same age as Anise and Lanski. I¡¯m several years older than them.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Blood Wolf answered suspiciously, but he couldn¡¯t explain why they would¡¯ve had different ages. He paced around in frustration.


    ¡°Why would you suspect I¡¯m the Dragon Emperor¡¯s child?¡± Liola pointed out his own doubts. He looked nothing like the Dragon Emperor, so Liola couldn¡¯t understand where Blood Wolf¡¯s suspicions came from.


    Blood Wolf glanced at Liola strangely, and started to explain,


    ¡°Anyone who saw you in a female disguise would be suspicious. We are people who knew the Dragon Empire¡¯s Queen, Susanna. You, in a female disguise, looked practically identical to Susanna. Don¡¯t you see, even the Dragon Emperor invited you to dance because you looked like her?¡±


    Liola frowned. He already knew. Based on what Lanski said, he looked like her mother. But he had never thought of the possibility he was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son.


    ¡°Strange, really strange! You are not the same age as Lanski, so you aren¡¯t born with her. If you looked like the Dragon Emperor, it would¡¯ve been fine. It wasn¡¯t terribly strange if the Emperor had a mistress who had given birth to you. But strangely enough you look like Susanna! She had never so much as taken a step away from the Dragon Emperor, so how is it possible she could be pregnant, gave birth to you, and no one even knew about it?¡±


    Liola thought this was all just a coincidence, but how did Blood Wolf knew the girl was really him? If Blood Wolf knew, didn¡¯t it mean the Emperor knew? If he knew, then his son Cappuccino probably knew as well?


    ¡°How did you know the girl was me? Were you there at the dance?¡± Liola asked. After all, out of everyone around, Liola still trusted this Knight.


    Blood Wolf snapped, ¡°Idiot! Barbalis told me later. I hope you didn¡¯t think there wouldn¡¯t be any security cameras at the dance!¡±


    ¡°Right, speaking of Barbalis, he wanted me to tell you to do whatever you are going to do quickly, and then run away. The female you had already attracted the attention of many people, especially the Dragon Emperor. Plus, a certain idiot fell into a trap and thought Gle was somehow here again. All of this could pose a threat to Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°A certain idiot?¡± Liola asked.


    Blood Wolf glared at Liola, then casually said while pointing at himself,


    ¡°Yup, this idiot. But it¡¯s not my fault. That guy Lancelot is stupider than me. He was fooled. I stupidly believed him and follow him to investigate some strange energies at Yaron Plains. That¡¯s where we found a super large magic circle. I really thought Gle was back. Lancelot said he was going to hold position there, and asked me to hurry here to tell everyone¡­¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s real?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fake!¡± Blood Wolf didn¡¯t maintain Lancelot¡¯s opinion, and denied it without hesitation,


    ¡°If it were Barbalis telling me, I might believe he was just fooling around, but Qiusi would never do such a thing. Qiusi said, with Gle¡¯s power, it would have been an easy task to hide a magic circle, and he would never place it there to show the world. Plus, bigger magic circles aren¡¯t always better. No Magician in their right mind would use such a large formation, unless maybe it was some magic to destroy the entire world. But it was just a summoning spell. Even if the thing it was summoning was 500 meters wide, they wouldn¡¯t need such a large magic circle.¡±


    Having explained thus far, Blood Wolf regrettably scratched his head, ¡°I should¡¯ve discussed this with Mizerui, but I couldn¡¯t find him at all.¡±


    ¡°Are you familiar with Mizerui?¡± Liola didn¡¯t understand much about the magic circles, but he was curious about the relationships between Mizerui, Blood Wolf, and Lancelot. Mizerui obviously hated Lancelot, and the latter probably hated the former even more. Strangely enough, Blood Wolf seemed to be on good terms with both of them.


    ¡°Oh, we both work for the Dragon Empire.¡± Blood Wolf explained, ¡°But we support different Princes. Lancelot mainly answers the the Emperor and the second Prince. I personally like the third Prince. Mizerui, on the other hand, supports the eldest Prince. Generally speaking, we all have to answer to the Dragon Empire. Of course, we have to listen to what he says, but whether we follow what he says is another matter.¡±


    The third Prince, Liola thought¡­ according to Kaiser¡¯s description, would probably get along with Blood Wolf.


    ¡°Ugh! I really don¡¯t understand!¡± Blood Wolf started pulling his hair again,


    ¡°Why did things become so messy?! Lancelot has been getting stranger lately. Mizerui and Barbalis are always mysterious. And unfortunately the third Prince isn¡¯t a fortune teller like the eldest Prince; other than running around and picking up chicks, he knows nothing.¡±


    ¡®But the only reason you would follow the third Prince is because he loves playing, right?¡¯ Liola thought to himself.


    ¡°Whatever. Anyway, Liola, if you have to run you better do it soon, or otherwise you might not be able to get away.¡± Blood Wolf looked somewhat worriedly at the Assassin he was fond of.


    ¡°If it¡¯s just escaping, no one can stop me.¡± Liola stated plainly. He wasn¡¯t showing off, it was just a matter of truth.


    ¡°Well, that is true. You are fairly strong.¡± Blood Wolf murmured, but then said with worry,


    ¡°But your friends aren¡¯t as strong. If either the Dragon Emperor or Miluo decides to kill you, and use a few of their ultimates, you probably won¡¯t die, but your friends next to you would vanish into thin air without leaving even ashes behind.¡±


    Liola went silent. Even though he had learned to expand his Ki to block an attack, but ever since his last experiment, he hadn¡¯t practiced it much. Whether it would be of any use in a fight with Miluo or Dragon Emperor, both of which were unfathomably strong, was something Liola wasn¡¯t sure about.


    ¡°If you are really the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, then things will be bad. He will never let you live.¡± Blood Wolf murmured.


    Liola was very confused. Could the Dragon Emperor really hate his own son?


    Blood Wolf saw the confusion in Liola¡¯s eyes, and he started to explain,


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t know this. The eldest Prince is a fortune teller. When Susanna was pregnant, he had a prophecy the children Susanna carried. The son she was carrying will one day kill the Dragon Emperor. This prophecy caused a major commotion throughout the Empire, and then an accident happened: out of the two twins, one went missing. Fortunately the person left behind was a girl, otherwise we could only imagine the horror the child¡¯s fate would have been.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t seem to have an opinion about the matter, ¡°Anise is a girl. There was no son.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly why it¡¯s very strange!¡± Blood Wolf shrugged, ¡°But the eldest Prince¡¯s prophecies had never not been fulfilled.¡±


    Liola, who didn¡¯t understand nor believed prophecies, didn¡¯t seem to care about it at all. Just judging from his age, it was impossible for him to be the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, thus there was nothing for him to worry about.


    Blood Wolf was obviously very concerned, ¡°We were sure the other child was a boy, and that was why Susanna asked the Sacred White Dragon to take him away.¡±


    ¡°Sacred White Dragon?¡± Liola suspiciously looked at the little guy in his arms, who was asleep and saliva was dripping out of its mouth.


    ¡°Of course not the one in your arms. He was still an egg back then. It was his mother, who was also the Dragon Emperor¡¯s mount at the time.¡± Blood Wolf shrugged, ¡°She was also Miluo¡¯s wife.¡±


    Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat,


    ¡°Could it be the Dragon Emperor wanted to kill the child, but the Sacred White Dragon wouldn¡¯t let him? And as a result, the Emperor killed the Sacred White Dragon? In other words, what Miluo said about the Emperor killing his wife was true?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the exact story. Basically, before you appeared and brought the news of Princess Anise, everyone thought of it as such.¡± Blood Wolf said casually,


    ¡°But the Dragon Emperor himself says he didn¡¯t have any plans to kill his son. The Sacred White Dragon and Susanna both misunderstood him, and all he wanted to do was to raise the child back in the Dragon Empire where he belonged. He further states the Sacred White Dragon had misunderstood him and used her own life force to send away the child, and therefore losing her life.¡±


    ¡°So now you know how strange this all is. If the other child was a girl, Susanna had no need to send away her own child, since the prophecy obviously stated a son.¡± Blood Wolf turned around and said to Liola.


    Liola, whose head didn¡¯t work better any than Blood Wolf¡¯s, had no explanation to offer. He looked at the sky, and avoided the subject, ¡°I have to go see Lanski.¡±


    Hearing this, Blood Wolf almost fell face-first onto the floor as he realized the confidential history he had said were all for nothing. The little runt in front of him had no idea how terrible his predicament was.


    Blood Wolf scratched his face, and thought he should forget about it, considering they were about to run for their lives, and Liola was still backed up by both Barbalis and Mizerui, so it should not be too big of a problem for him.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Go, and don¡¯t forget to run soon.¡± Blood Wolf waved his hand helplessly.


    Liola nodded, and said to Blood Wolf, ¡°I will talk to Kaiser about what you said. He¡¯s quite clever, perhaps he will find a solution to all this.¡±


    Blood Wolf shrugged, and Liola hurriedly rushed with Baolilong toward the lake after a simple goodbye, leaving Blood Wolf to murmur to himself,


    ¡°Okay. I guess I¡¯ve done my part, and I should just go back to Cappuccino, so he wouldn¡¯t suffer the same fate as Latte, and I would have one less buddy to drink with!¡±


    * * *


    Seeing he was close to the lake, and a graceful girl stood quietly next to the lake, Liola knew he made Lanski wait for a long time. He hurriedly woke Baolilong up and asked it to transform into a Dragon. Then he took off his Sorcerer robe, which showed his Knight¡¯s uniform underneath. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t forget his mask. ¡°Silver Mask¡± then rode the Sacred White Dragon and slowly approached the girl by the lake.


    Lanski didn¡¯t know how long she had been standing there, and she wouldn¡¯t dare to think about it. She was afraid if she thought about it, she might then think about the possibly Silver Mask stood her up. She stood there and quietly looked at the lake and the sparkling starlight reflected off the lake, and of course she thought of no one other than the person who was supposed to be there.


    ¡°Sorry, I made you wait. Something suddenly came up¡­¡± Liola suddenly appeared behind Lanski, and at the same time explained he had been late.


    As soon as she heard something, her shoulders shook. When she turned around to face Liola, Lanski¡¯s otherwise flawless face had been covered with two streams of tears. Her eyes looked as if they were full of sadness and accusation. Any man who saw her would feel sympathy in their hearts and tightly hold the girl in their arms.


    Liola, however, thought, even if he made Lanski wait for almost an hour, but could it be t-this be so serious for her to burst into tears? But he did ask her to be there and ended up late, so he didn¡¯t say anything other than apologizing again,


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡±


    Lanski, too, felt her tears were inappropriate to her dignity as a Princess, but she couldn¡¯t hold them back. She remembered what her good friend Jasmine had said. She gritted her teeth, and threw herself into Silver Mask¡¯s arms. Originally, Jasmine said, she should just go straight for the kiss, but Lanski couldn¡¯t do it; a ¡°forceful hug¡± was her limit.


    Liola was in shock. There had been practically nobody who had hugged him ever before, other than the ¡°super glue¡± Baolilong. Liola didn¡¯t understand why Lanski wanted to hug him, and didn¡¯t know how he should respond. So he just stood there, frozen in place.


    Lanski bravely held Silver Mask tightly. At first, she felt warmth in her heart; as a Princess, she had never done anything as audacious as this before. But as time passed by, Lanski felt a bit clueless, and didn¡¯t know what she should do next.


    If Silver Mask had any reaction at all, the situation wouldn¡¯t been as awkward, but instead he stood still and didn¡¯t make any sounds, which made Lanski completely helpless, unsure whether she should continue to stay in his arms, or just run away altogether.


    Liola, who was frozen in place, suddenly felt that his pants were being dragged. He lowered his head, only to see the Dragon-shaped Baolilong biting tightly to the corner of his pants, while using its little forearms to try to climb up Liola¡¯s calves.


    Lanski also noticed the Dragon¡¯s actions, and asked curiously, ¡°What is it doing?¡±


    ¡°It wants me to spoil it by hugging it.¡± Liola answered without hesitation.


    After having spent a long time with Baolilong, by now he naturally knew what the little guy wanted. The only ¡®person¡¯ who hugged Liola up to this point was Baolilong, and when it saw Lanski taking its place, little Baolilong was a bit unhappy.


    Lanski said ¡°Oh¡±, and then awkwardly left Liola¡¯s arms.


    As soon as Baolilong saw no one was in Liola¡¯s arms, it started clawing Liola¡¯s pants and desperately made some moaning noises. Liola picked it up so Baolilong wouldn¡¯t throw a fit.


    After putting Baolilong in his arms, Liola finally remembered the purpose of his visit. He said to Lanski straightforwardly, ¡°I am here to say goodbye.¡±


    Lanski was stunned, and she made no response.


    ¡°I have to leave for a long period of time. I won¡¯t be back in the academy in the foreseeable future.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Lanski felt as if she had been hit by a pail full of cold water. She trembled as she thought she might have scared Silver Mask to the point that he decided not to see her anymore.


    Liola was silent for a moment, then said evasively, ¡°Running away from trouble.¡±


    Hearing his answer, Lanski felt her heart sank into a frozen lake. She said with a shiver, ¡°I-I am trouble to you?¡±


    Liola looked at her with surprised eyes, ¡°It¡¯s not you. I¡¯ve just ran into some trouble.¡±


    Seeing Liola¡¯s surprise, Lanski immediately knew she misunderstood him, and her frozen heart began to beat again. Nevertheless, Lanski still felt heavy in her heart.


    The moment she saw the person she liked was the time she heard goodbye from him. Lanski really didn¡¯t know how she should respond. She can¡¯t decide if she should be depressed because Silver Mask would be gone for a long time, or feel lucky he at least came here to say goodbye.


    ¡°Your trouble¡­ is it something I can help you resolve?¡± Lanski¡¯s mind wandered, and then finally carefully asked. She knew many Knights wouldn¡¯t prefer a helping hand when they run into difficulties, especially from someone like her: a girl and, furthermore, a Princess.


    Liola thought even the son of the Prime Minister and daughter of a Commander couldn¡¯t resolve this, and therefore Lanski probably couldn¡¯t be of help.


    Liola shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±


    Lanski signed in disappointment. It was indeed something she couldn¡¯t help¡­ Lanski laughed bitterly in her heart, ¡°So when will you be back then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Then can you at least occasionally send me a mail?¡± Lanski practically begged.


    Although Liola wasn¡¯t one who frequently had been a refugee, but at least he knew a large part of why he would have to run was the Dragon Cross Necklace. When he gets his hands on the necklace, it would be the Dragon Empire who would hunt him the most, and the person in front of him happened to be the Dragon Empire¡¯s Princess. Sending letters to her seemed like it was¡­ Even if it weren¡¯t extraordinarily stupid, it was something that would make Kaiser go nuts.


    Although Liola often would not deny Lanski¡¯s request, especially when she pleaded with Anise¡¯s face, however this time, her request was too much for him. It would probably significantly increase the risk of Kaiser, Daylight, and his chance of being caught. If it were just him, Liola probably wouldn¡¯t have cared, but any actions may lead to harm of his companions was something Liola wouldn¡¯t dare to do.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Rejection finally came out of Liola¡¯s mouth. He then saw Lanski¡¯s darkened face and watery eyes. Seeing the sad face, Liola reflexively wanted to comfort Lanski: he didn¡¯t want to see her sad.


    Liola reached out his hand, and used his long fingers to wipe away Lanski¡¯s tears, at the same time he promised her, ¡°I will be back. I will definitely come back to see you.¡±


    Bitterness and happiness intertwined in Lanski¡¯s heart. It was bitter because the person she liked was about to leave for a long time, and she didn¡¯t know when they could see each other again, but his promise to see her again made Lanski feel, to Silver Mask, she was¡­ definitely special, right?!


    ¡°I will wait for you.¡±


    Even though tears ran down her cheeks, but she still sported a light smile, and her heart was also as conflicted as her expression.

 Volume 6, 5: Recovering the Dragon Cross Necklace

    Volume 6, Chapter 5: Recovering the Dragon Cross Necklace


    ¡°Lanski! Why did you run out by yourself? Don¡¯t know you it¡¯s really dangerous outside right now?¡±


    As soon as they heard the voice calling out, both Lanski and Liola were shocked. After turning around, Lanski yelled in surprise, ¡°Third brother, why are you here?¡±


    ¡®Third brother?¡¯ Liola carefully examined the man jogging towards them. ¡®So this is the third Prince, Cappuccino?¡¯


    The silver-haired, blue-eyed man had a face filled with worry, but his relaxed atmosphere was still present. Liola felt the man in front of him didn¡¯t seem to fit Kaiser¡¯s description of an annoying pig Prince. It must be Kaiser¡¯s own bias¡­


    When Cappuccino ran to his only sister, he realized her face was covered in tears. As far back as Cappuccino could remember, he had practically never saw his independent little sister cry.


    He asked anxiously, ¡°Why are you crying? Did someone bully you? Is it this strange guy with a mask?¡±


    Cappuccino turned his angry eyes towards Liola, and he stood in front of her, as if he was the kind of brother who would protect his little sister from any and all harm. But his sister didn¡¯t appreciate his gesture, and instead she hurriedly pushed him aside to apologize to Silver Mask,


    ¡°Sorry! My brother is always like this. He always jumps to conclusions before finding out what¡¯s really going on; please don¡¯t blame him.¡±


    Seeing Cappuccino being pushed aside by his little sister and then acted as if he was really hurt, Liola found it funny to the point of laughing out loud.


    His laugh seemed to entrance Lanski, and also surprised Liola himself. It dawned on him of Kaiser¡¯s warning about the excitement magic on the mask, not being fake. The magic was quite strange to make him laugh like this.


    ¡°Is this guy, Silver Mask?¡±


    Cappuccino saw his sister was acting cutesy, and was a bit jealous. He loved his little sister so dearly, but she had never treated him well in return. This man, however, captivated her with just a simple laugh. Cappuccino suddenly felt like he was marrying off his own daughter.


    Seeing the guy may very well become his brother-in-law, Cappuccino started commenting and complaining about Silver Mask,


    ¡°He¡¯s wearing a mask and you can¡¯t even see what he looks like. What if he¡¯s really ugly? Or maybe he¡¯s an old man. Sister, before you see what he looks like, do NOT marry him!¡±


    ¡°Brother!¡±


    Lanski¡¯s face was burning red, and she was very close to kicking her own brother into the pond so he would stop talking nonsense. But since her crush was there, Lanski warned her brother with a vicious look.


    ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll stop.¡± Cappuccino didn¡¯t dare to continue. His sister had never really been respectful to him. She always held up a sword and chased him around the palace. He didn¡¯t want to be chased around the entire academy now.


    Though he said he¡¯d stop complaining, Cappuccino seemed to be interested in something else. He looked up and down Liola¡¯s body and said, ¡°Tsk tsk, too thin. He looks like he doesn¡¯t have any strength. So how is he going to protect my little sister.¡±


    ¡°Brother! I thought you were going to stop?!¡± Lanski was almost enraged by her own brother.


    Cappuccino put on a rascal smile, and said innocently, ¡°I¡¯m not complaining, I just want a spar.¡±


    ¡®A spar?¡¯ Lanski suddenly remembered the only thing her brother was more interested in than being a playboy was his obsession with Kung Fu!


    Before Lanski had time to stop her brother, Cappuccino had already rushed to Liola. He had no plans for an ambush, but instead he just wanted to push Liola a bit, to remind him the fight was starting. However, as soon as Cappuccino¡¯s hand reached where Liola¡¯s chest was, he suddenly disappeared.


    ¡®On the side!¡¯ Cappuccino took one step back, and saw Liola standing leisurely on the side.


    ¡°Such amazing speed.¡± Cappuccino couldn¡¯t hold back a praise, but he didn¡¯t stop there. He unsheathed his sword, and reminded his opponent, ¡°I¡¯m about to attack.¡±


    Perhaps it was Cappuccino¡¯s lack of malice, or perhaps it was his reminder to his opponent before his attack, but whatever it was, Liola didn¡¯t seem to mind the person who suddenly started attacking him. He even had a bit of desire to spar with him to see who was stronger, which was rather rare for an Assassin who advocated not having any meaningless fights.


    Liola put Baolilong down from his arms, and used telepathy to tell it to stand back. He took out Broken Silver from his boot, and blocked Cappuccino¡¯s sword just as it was about to strike.


    Liola¡¯s leisure in the fight made Cappuccino¡¯s eyes shone, and at the same time, decided not to underestimate his opponent.


    Countless lights then suddenly flashed between the two: Cappuccino attacked fiercely, but Liola¡¯s defense was absolutely impermeable. However, neither one of them used their true strengths; they were just exchanging moves to determine each other¡¯s true strength.


    Lanski, who was anxious before, had now gone quiet. Being a little obsessed with martial arts herself, she really didn¡¯t mind the opportunity to observe two strong warriors fight. Her beautiful eyes opened widely, afraid she would miss something. Even though Lanski may not be able to distill the essence from watching and learning their moves, but she would still benefit greatly from doing so.


    ¡®Formidable Indeed!¡¯ Cappuccino didn¡¯t dare to underestimate his opponent. Even though Lancelot wasn¡¯t very close to him, but his warnings to Latte did reach Cappuccino, that this man¡¯s powers may rival even Lancelot¡¯s. This warning was enough to make Cappuccino spar with Silver Mask no matter what.


    Cappuccino took one step back, and his body was suddenly surrounded by a gold aura. His eyes flashed with passion and anticipation of a good fight. He quietly stood still, waiting for Silver Mask to release his aura. If everything went as he expected, it would be at least a gold aura, rather than the silver uniform that Silver Mask wore.


    ¡°Brother¡­¡± Lanski saw her brother released his aura, and she was a bit worried. Despite worrying about her crush¡¯s safety, she still wanted to see the complex Kung Fu moves they could do, so even her yell was rather empty.


    Liola was rather happy. He never had the chance to use his newly-learned aura in actual combat. But now the strength of a Gold Knight presented itself before him and they could spar, and Liola wasn¡¯t going to let go of this opportunity either.


    As he closely observed and sensed Cappuccino¡¯s way of controlling his aura, Liola imitated him and released his own aura. This time, however, his Ki did not explode out of control from within him, instead, it slowly encircled him like an air current.


    As soon as Liola¡¯s aura materialized, Cappuccino and Lanski were both in shock. ¡®Red Aura?!¡¯


    Cappuccino¡¯s observational skills were much better than those of the academy students, and therefore would never mistake the man in front of him as a Red Knight like they did.


    In fact, Cappuccino had already noticed the color of this aura was far different from a Red Knight¡¯s: the dark red color of the aura looked as if it was made out of dried blood of his victims, and it was imposing like the feeling of impending death.


    Cappuccino observed for quite a while before he sighed and said, ¡°This reeks of blood, and not like an aura a Knight should have. But then again, that guy Blood Wolf¡¯s dark aura isn¡¯t much better than this.¡±


    ¡°Damn! My dark aura is way more normal than his.¡±


    A complaint suddenly came out of the surrounding thicket, and scared Lanski. She looked around but was unable to find the source of the sound, but the other two weren¡¯t surprised at all.


    Cappuccino already knew Blood Wolf was secretly hiding himself, and Liola had already noticed with his Assassin instinct someone was around watching them.


    Then, more complaints came, ¡°Hurry up and fight! If you¡¯re not going to, I¡¯m going to fight with him. I¡¯ve been itching for it.¡±


    Cappuccino immediately yelled, ¡°No, you¡¯re not allowed to steal my opponent. If you want to fight him, you could look for him another day. Unlike you, I can¡¯t run everywhere I want every day.¡±


    No more complaints came from the trees, and Cappuccino rushed forward without anymore delays, so Blood Wolf wouldn¡¯t come down and fight because he can¡¯t hold his itch.


    At the same time, Cappuccino knew casual attacks like before were completely meaningless, so he practically started off with his ultimate, ¡°Dragon Sword Dance!¡±


    This move deeply shocked Lanski. When she first met Silver Mask, this was the move that almost took his life. Although Lanski knew Silver Mask purposely took the hit, she was still very concerned about her crush.


    ¡®Time to experiment with my aura.¡¯ Liola thought as if he wanted to get beat up.


    Even if the aura he emitted can¡¯t stop it, his internal Ki should prevent the attack from seriously injuring him. Subconsciously, Liola started calling the energy he emitted as aura, and the energy within as Ki, even though they both refer to the same power.


    In an instant, Cappuccino unleashed 88 streams of Dragon Ki. These Dragon Kis were far different than Lanski¡¯s attacks back then: hers were rudimentary and only shaped somewhat like serpents, where as his Dragon Kis looked like real Dragons with their sharp teeth, which would drive fear into any observers.


    These 88 streams of Kis converged on Liola from all directions. The reason why the Dragon Sword Dance was one of the most feared skill was the fact that its attacks were far too dense, and there was almost no possible of dodging all of them.


    With the spirit of experimenting, Liola did not plan on dodging at all, not even from just a few of the streams. He stood still in the center where every stream of Ki could hit him.


    Liola immediately released more aura, and the red light surrounding him immediately expanded, which even forced Cappuccino to take a few steps back. It was then when all 88 of the Dragon Kis mercilessly collided with the red aura.


    As soon as they hit, Liola realized something was wrong: it looked as if his aura could not withstand the Dragon attacks. It seemed as if¡­


    Liola began to wonder why this was the case; his strength was undoubtedly above Cappuccino, and the energy from his aura exceeded that of the Dragon Kis.


    Cappuccino was shocked. From what he could see, Silver Mask¡¯s aura could never block the Dragon Sword Dance. But since he had already launched the attack, and it was one of his strongest moves, so he could not withdraw his attack and had to watch as the Dragons hit collide with Liola.


    ¡°What the hell is this little runt doing?!¡± A dark shadow flew down from a tree, and sped towards Liola.


    Lanski also noticed something was wrong, but there was nothing she could do other than scream in panic.


    ¡®Right!¡¯ It was because the density of his aura was too low; it was like a fluffy ball of cotton, so of course it couldn¡¯t stop the needle-like Dragon Ki. Liola finally understood.


    In an instant, Liola contracted his aura, and the cotton-like aura was compressed into a thin sheet. The Storm of Blood¡¯s already dark color intensified to the point where it was near impossible to see Liola¡¯s body.


    The Dragon Kis had already arrived at Liola¡¯s body. The needle like Dragon Kis collided with a thin layer of Storm of Blood in the form of sheet metal. After continuous sounds of explosions, dust flew at where Liola stood, as if a large bomb had been set off.


    Before the explosion settled, Lanski ran up recklessly, but she was promptly stopped by Cappuccino. Lanski yelled desperately,


    ¡°Brother, Sir Blood Wolf, please, you have to go save him!¡±


    Blood Wolf, however, lazily raised his eyebrows. He had just dropped down from the tree and was about to race towards Liola when he realized his aura had been compressed to the point of being capable of stopping the Dragon Ki.


    The only thing the Dragon Kis caused was just a bunch of light and sound effects.


    ¡°Lanski, don¡¯t worry. Your crush is completely fine.¡± Cappuccino hurried to explain to his sister, otherwise, seeing Lanski had drawn her sword, she might stab her own brother for her lover momentarily.


    Hearing this, and seeing Blood Wolf sitting there and waiting, she finally calmed down a bit. She held her gaze in the direction of Silver Mask. After the dust slowly settles, a figure appeared, and Silver Mask stood there, unscathed.


    ¡°Hahaha, little runt, what did you do to yourself?¡±


    Blood Wolf saw Liola¡¯s situation, and started to laughing rudely.


    Liola¡¯s Silver Knight uniform had been badly torn, and it was missing sleeves and cuffs on his pants. He was practically covered by just a torn rug. Liola looked at his clothes with frustration: he compressed his aura so closely to him that most of his clothes were not protected by his aura, and therefore destroyed by the Dragon Ki.


    Cappuccino started murmuring, ¡°Tsk tsk, too skinny, how is someone like him going to protect my sister.¡±


    While Lanski lowered her already flushed face, trying to avoid looking at Silver Mask at all cost.


    ¡°Papa, necklace necklace!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in Liola¡¯s heart, and Baolilong¡¯s pink big eyes stared straight at Cappuccino¡¯s chest. Reflecting the moonlight, the Dragon Cross Necklace was glimmering light onto Liola¡¯s face, as if it were telling him to quickly take it back.


    Liola¡¯s heart remained very calm. He knew what he had to do. He said lightly to Cappuccino, ¡°Now, it¡¯s my turn.¡±


    Hearing what Liola said, Cappuccino¡¯s eyes shone. With his body completely surrounded by his golden aura, Cappuccino faced his immensely strong opponent without any fear.


    Liola withdrew his aura back into his body. Although he finally understood how aura could be used for defense, he was unclear on how to use it to attack. Since this fight involved getting back the necklace, Liola did not plan to use something he was unfamiliar with.


    Even though he had no idea why Silver Mask would withdraw his aura, but Cappuccino did not dare to lower his guard, and he carefully examined his opponent. He noticed Silver Mask¡¯s figure blurred slightly¡­


    ¡®No! That was a mirage!¡¯ Cappuccino immediately realized the figure standing where Liola was standing was actually an afterimage.


    Just as Cappuccino realized, a stream of practically unnoticeable Ki was headed towards the back of his neck. It was already too late for him to dodge, so Cappuccino had no choice but to concentrate his aura at where he felt was the point of attack. The attack collided head on with Cappuccino¡¯s protective aura, and the enormous momentum forced Cappuccino to take a step forward.


    He immediately turned to face Silver Mask, but when he saw Silver Mask from the corner of his eye, he noticed it too was an afterimage. This attack was on his left side, and Cappuccino maneuvered his aura to, once again, block the attack.


    Aura was quite troublesome to Liola, and after two attacks without any result made Liola a bit frustrated. As the best Assassin, ever since he was 18, he had never had to repeat an attack to the same person, unless he wanted to mutilate the corpse.


    Liola knew, however, it wasn¡¯t hard to break through Cappuccino¡¯s aura, but to do so without seriously injuring Cappuccino was a bit of a problem.


    Blood Wolf was, at first, curious why Liola would attack so aggressively, but as soon as he saw the little Baolilong staring at Cappuccino¡¯s chest and the necklace there, he understood Liola¡¯s true intent.


    Liola had already attacked five times, and these five failures made Liola impatient. Cappuccino, however, was extraordinarily happy: fighting with a stronger opponent was one of the main ways that he could become stronger, especially since he had already reached Gold rank. To him, whose power was reaching a plateau, it was an once-in-a-life-time opportunity to gain experience.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use my ultimate.¡± Liola¡¯s eyes flashed.


    ¡°Tsk tsk, looks like you¡¯ve made quite a lot of progress, to the point where you can actually force him to use his ultimate, considering he¡¯s on par with us.¡± Blood Wolf had gotten excited at the thought of being able to watch a new move.


    Cappuccino was, too, unusually excited. It¡¯s not because he hadn¡¯t sparred with Blood Wolf or Lancelot, but neither would ever use their ultimates. Even if Cappuccino used his Dragon Sword Dance, both of them would just sit there and take a beating.


    This badboy Blood Wolf would even often crouch on the floor and yawn as the Dragon Kis land on him. Being able to force Silver Mask, who was on par with Blood Wolf and Lancelot, to use his ultimate, was something that made Kung Fu fanatic Cappuccino happier than anything else in the world.


    ¡°It¡¯s just an ultimate. Didn¡¯t third brother just use Dragon Sword Dance?¡± Lanski asked with confusion.


    Blood Wolf laughed, ¡°Little Princess, you have not reached that level yet, so you do not understand. For a Silver Rank to reach Gold, or for a Gold to reach an even higher level, it all depends on the individual¡¯s ability for apperception. Being able to see a stronger person¡¯s ultimate skill is undoubtedly the best way for apperception. However, very few people would use their ultimates toward others, and the fewer people knowing about their ultimates the better. Otherwise, as soon as your enemies find a way to counter your ultimate, things could get really ugly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why all you Dragon Empire Royalties use Dragon Sword Dance,¡± Blood Wolf pouted, ¡°Your brother isn¡¯t even willing to exchange another move for my ultimate.¡±


    Cappuccino awkwardly explained with grievance,


    ¡°I want to exchange too, but we are not allowed to use other moves unless absolutely necessary; this is the commandments passed down from my forefathers. If my dad knew I exchange ultimate moves with you, he will definitely use me as target practice. Blood Wolf, you don¡¯t want to lose a wingman who drinks with you, right?¡±


    Blood Wolf grunted.


    ¡°Can we start already? I have to beat you in one move.¡± Liola frowned.


    Blood Wolf burst into laughter, ¡°I hope you¡¯re not doing this because you¡¯re too lazy to keep fighting? I didn¡¯t think you were this lazy. I thought only the green-haired little runt would be the lazy one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the reason. I can¡¯t move too much.¡± Liola said straightforwardly.


    ¡°Can¡¯t move much?¡± Blood Wolf paused, ¡°Why? Were you hurt by the Dragon Sword Dance?¡¯


    Liola shook his head and lowered his head to look at his left hand. The others followed, and realized Liola held a fist at his belly.


    ¡°Do you¡­ need to go?¡± Blood Wolf asked stupefied.


    ¡°You can go to the bathroom first, I can wait for you.¡± Cappuccino said with the same stupefied expression as Blood Wolf.


    Liola remained silent briefly, then lightly said, ¡°No, the belt broke, and my pants will fall if I don¡¯t hold onto it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Lanski lowered her head even more, until Cappuccino anxiously yelled, ¡°Stupid sister, there¡¯s an ultimate move coming, and you have to watch! You¡¯re not even allowed to blink!¡±


    Lanski struggled a bit, but the Dragon Empire royalties¡¯ obsession with martial arts finally won against a girl¡¯s shyness. Lanski raised her head, and her blue eyes opened as wide as they could, without even blinking at all.


    Liola raised his Broken Silver in his right hand (left hand, of course, was still holding onto his pants), and Cappuccino emitted his brilliant gold aura over every bit of his body.


    Liola kicked the ground behind him, and his body flew forward like a rocket. In the short distance he travelled, Liola kicked the ground two more times, each of both left a deep shoe mark on the ground. When he reached Cappuccino, the enormous momentum forced Cappuccino¡¯s Gold aura to flicker like a candle light in a hurricane.


    When Liola¡¯s white rocket-like body reached Cappuccino¡¯s face, Cappuccino felt countless fears in his heart. His Gold aura was torn apart like paper, and he felt like he was standing naked on a boulder by the beach, seeing a brutal tsunami heading towards him.


    His years of training did not help him react to this danger, and the only thought was in his mind was, ¡®Am I going to die?¡¯


    Although Liola was going to be running soon, he did not plan to add a ¡®Prince¡¯s murderer¡¯ to his list of charges.


    He didn¡¯t aim for Cappuccino from the start, but just the force of passing by him was more than enough to scare him. He was practically knocked onto the ground by Liola¡¯s charge. When Liola finally stood still a dozen meters away, Cappuccino had already been lying on the ground unconscious. Of course, Liola could have kept him conscious, but it would have gone against his original intentions.


    Liola quietly put Broken Silver back into his boots. At the same time, there was another thing being put into the same boot ¡ª the Dragon Cross Necklace.


    ¡°Third brother!¡±


    Lanski ran to her brother with fright. It wasn¡¯t until she ascertained her brother was only unconscious did she relaxed a bit. When she turned around, only Blood Wolf remained next to the little lake.


    Lanski immediately yelled, ¡°Where¡¯s Silver Mask?¡±


    ¡°Probably went back to change his pants!¡± Blood Wolf shrugged, ¡®but it¡¯s going to take him quite a long time to change his pants.¡¯

 Volume 6, 6: Identity Exposed

    Volume 6, Chapter 6: Identity Exposed


    As soon as Liola had gotten ahold of the Dragon Cross Necklace, he raced back to the dorm. He didn¡¯t know when the Dragon Emperor would realize the necklace was back with him, so Liola used the fastest speed he could, and returned to the dorm practically instantly.


    When he jumped into the room through the window, he realized there was no one there; even Kaiser, who was just lying down on the bed not too long ago, was gone.


    ¡°Crap.¡± Liola felt truly anxious, but he didn¡¯t know where he could go to look for everyone. Perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have gotten the necklace back so recklessly¡­


    Liola put on a new Sorcerer robe as he instructed Baolilong to fly out to Auntie to see if Kaiser was there. As soon as Liola put on the robe, the door was opened. Liola sighed in relief as he looked at the door, but to his surprise, the person opening the door was not Kaiser and company, but Jasmine instead.


    ¡°Jasmine, do you know where Kaiser and others are?¡±


    Liola asked worriedly, but Jasmine froze. At this time, Baolilong also barged in, and said, ¡°Papa, Baolilong couldn¡¯t find Kaiser.¡±


    Liola looked at Baolilong in his Dragon form, and had no time to stop it before Baolilong spoke all it had to say.


    Liola turned to look at Jasmine, and flustered to explain, ¡°Baolilong i-is the Sacred White Dragon, and Silver Mask had asked me to take care¡­¡±


    Before he finished, the bag full of groceries had fallen out of Jasmine¡¯s hands, and a few pieces of meat had fallen out. She slowly walked to Liola, and she lightly put her hand on Liola¡¯s face. Liola¡¯s body trembled intensely ¡ª he hadn¡¯t taken off his mask!


    Jasmine slowly took off the mask, and put her hand on Liola¡¯s face. Jasmine closed her eyes, and said unsteadily, ¡°Why? Why did you lie to me and Lanski?¡±


    Liola stood still, not knowing what to do. Seeing Jasmine¡¯s sad face, Liola felt waves of guilt in his heart. After all, Jasmine had been nice both to him and Baolilong, and Liola did indeed really like being with this straightforward girl.


    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t do it on purpose.¡± Liola said, and then quietly held his gaze at Jasmine.


    ¡°Do you know how much this will hurt Lanski and me?¡± Jasmine held Silver Mask¡¯s mask in her hand. Her heart was full of indescribable feelings. She finally helped her good friend uncover the identity of her love, only to realize he was her own crush. How was she going to face Lanski now?


    Liola had no choice but said softly, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Jasmine laughed bitterly. This ¡°sorry¡± was not going to resolve the awkward situation between her and Lanski.


    ¡°Liola! Damn it, you¡¯re still being slow.¡±


    Liola was shocked, and Mizerui had already appeared in the room out of thin air, with a flustered and exasperated expression on his face. Liola, on the other hand, stared blankly at him.


    ¡°Blood Wolf already told me you got the necklace back. Why are you still here, are you waiting for the Dragon Emperor to come here and catch you?¡± Mizerui said as he quickly glanced at Jasmine, but he seemed to have completely ignored her presence.


    Liola said with hesitation, ¡°I couldn¡¯t find Kaiser or Daylight.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser is with Barbalis, and Daylight¡­ I¡¯ll help you look for him. You should go immediately to Barbalis.¡± Mizerui frowned, and then suddenly disappeared.


    Liola knew every second was important. He turned and said to the frozen Jasmine, ¡°I have to leave for a long time, but I will definitely be back.¡±


    Jasmine heard this, but she was even more shocked, She hurriedly asked, ¡°Where are you going? What did other guy meant with what he said?¡±


    Suddenly, a sound of explosion could be heard from afar. Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed. Without responding to Jasmine, he grabbed Baolilong, and jumped out of the window without any further hesitation. He was worried perhaps one of his companions was caught by the Dragon Emperor.


    Jasmine could only follow to the window, and she saw the gray robe disappear into the night. She couldn¡¯t hold back her streams of tears, and she murmured,


    ¡°What is this? Not even a bit explanation. How am I supposed to explain this to Lanski, and how are we supposed to feel while we¡¯re waiting for the same person¡­¡±


    * * *


    Liola did not know how depressed Jasmine was, as he had already ran out of the room. Completely forgetting about Mizerui¡¯s instructions to look for Barbalis, Liola went straight to the origin of the explosion sound.


    When he could finally see two people at the place of the explosion, Liola stopped. He realized it wasn¡¯t Kaiser and others there, but instead Barbalis and the Dragon Emperor. Looks like the Dragon Emperor was locked in a confrontation with Barbalis.


    Liola hesitated as to what he should do now, but the Dragon Emperor had already noticed him. His purple eyes glanced at Liola, then gazed back on Barbalis. He said lightly, ¡°Barbalis, are you planning on harboring traitors?¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ face suddenly changed, but then it changed back to a smile, ¡°What do you mean? At most, I¡¯m just helping a thief escape. Dragon Emperor, your skill of assigning blame on the wrong person is quite amazing!¡±


    Liola was shocked when he realized Barbalis was helping him hold the Dragon Emperor back. Liola hesitatingly looked at Barbalis, wondering if he was going to have an all-out fight with the Dragon Emperor?


    Even though Barbalis had caused much trouble to him and Kaiser, and he liked to do all sorts of weird things, but after all, he did take Liola and Kaiser in.


    Barbalis suddenly yelled, ¡°Liola, are you still daydreaming! You stole it, so why are you still here?¡±


    ¡°As long as you carry the Dragon Cross Necklace, it¡¯s impossible for you to hide from me.¡± The Dragon Emperor said lightly,


    ¡°Give the necklace back to me, and I will give you a fair trial. If you¡¯re really not a traitor, I will not count stealing the necklace against you.¡±


    Whether what Dragon Emperor said was true, there was no way for Liola to return the necklace. He glanced at Barbalis, and thought he probably had some unfathomable power, so he shouldn¡¯t be defeated easily by the Dragon Emperor. However, his companions didn¡¯t have such strength. Liola decided, and turned immediately to run towards Barbalis¡¯ office to find Kaiser.


    ¡°Stop him!¡± The Dragon Emperor yelled, and a Gold Knights behind him charged towards Liola.


    Liola grabbed ahold of Baolilong next to him, and flew out like a falling star. In an instant, the Gold Knights were left far behind.


    Liola got to the principal¡¯s office and, knowing that he was followed by a whole group of Knights behind him, kicked down the door, only to find a shocked Kaiser inside.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Daylight?¡± Liola yelled.


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank, ¡°Mizerui told us to leave first. He said he¡¯ll be responsible for fetching Daylight.¡±


    Liola calmed down a bit, ¡°Is that okay?¡± He didn¡¯t like to think so he threw the problem to Kaiser.


    Kaiser knitted his brows tightly, ¡°No. If it¡¯s possible, I want to take Daylight with us. We can prevent Daylight from joining the fight. If it¡¯s necessary, you could knock him out and carry him, but Mizerui probably wouldn¡¯t have the patience.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Liola didn¡¯t have time to hesitate. He grabbed Kaiser and jumped out the window, at the same time releasing his aura for defense. As soon as his figure peeked outside, the Gold and Silver Knights outside immediately attacked him with varying skills, but when they hit Liola¡¯s Storm of Blood, the attacks did not do anything.


    ¡°Baolilong, turn big immediately!¡±


    ¡°Okay, papa.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?¡± Kaiser widened his eyes and asked.


    ¡°Barbalis is holding the Dragon Emperor back to let us escape.¡±


    After a simple explanation, Liola took out Broken Silver and flew onto one of the Knight¡¯s Dragons.


    The Silver Knight was deeply shocked and immediately tried to unsheath his sword to fight back, but Liola had already blinked behind him.


    Knowing he could not afford to be merciful now, his palm landed heavily on the Knight¡¯s body. Though judging from the outside, this Silver Knight didn¡¯t seem to suffer much injuries, but the insides of his body had already been damaged by Liola¡¯s Ki.


    Even though it wasn¡¯t fatal, but it would take a long while of healing before he could return, especially when healing Maxun¡¯s effectiveness on internal injuries was rather limited.


    Knowing it was now a life and death situation, Liola utilized all of his powers, and his speed reached a whole new level. Even the Gold Knights could not handle such a terrifying speed. As soon as they saw their companions suddenly falling, a pair of cold eyes appeared behind them, and saw nothing else.


    Before long, Liola had already beaten these Gold and Silver Knights to the ground. But in this short period of time, three rank-X mechas had already surrounded Liola in a triangular formation.


    ¡°We¡¯re so dead.¡± Kaiser took a deep breath.


    Liola jumped back onto Baolilong and observed these three mechas. One of them was a gold Mecha with a giant shield and blade, plus two giant cannons on its shoulders; compared to the gold, giant Mecha, there was a green dwarf-like Mecha, and it was laughably small; finally, there was a red Mecha in the shape of a female, and it was shaped quite similar like the one Purity had, with a giant bow in its hands.


    A ¡°huh¡± sound could be heard from the red Mecha, and then the Red Commander¡¯s voice could be heard, ¡°Why are you here, Liola.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t have time to answer such a question. The three Mechas in front of him were imposing a sense of danger to him. He remembered what Kaiser had said before, rank X Mechas were practically identical to Lancelot and others in terms of power. Facing three Lancelots, and without breaking his promise, Liola was not confident that he could win.


    ¡°Little Red, you know this man?¡± The Yellow Commander asked with hesitation.


    ¡°What man? That¡¯s a girl.¡± The Red Commander corrected with blame in her voice.


    ¡°Uh?¡± The giant gold Mecha tilted its head, as if it were examining Liola, and then the Yellow Commander¡¯s murmur could be heard, ¡°He looks like a man to me, how is he a girl?¡±


    The Green Command said in a high-pitched voice, ¡°He IS a man. Little Red is confused again.¡±


    ¡°How am I confused?! It¡¯s definitely a girl. You just didn¡¯t see how pretty she looks in a dress, so you¡¯re saying it¡¯s a guy.¡± The red feminine Mecha put its arms on its hips.


    ¡°Wrong! Liola is a man, and that¡¯s the exact reason why we must run!¡±


    Kaiser, who had been sitting quietly on Baolilong, suddenly screamed and got the three Commanders¡¯ attention.


    ¡°What do you mean? We got news a traitor was stealing treasure from the Dragon Emperor and came here.¡± The green dwarf asked suspiciously.


    ¡°This is how the truth goes.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face sank as he began to explain the ¡°truth¡±,


    ¡°Because Liola had a bet with a scrupulous friend, and if he lost the bet then he would have to crossdress at the dance, but who knew all the misunderstanding would start there.¡±


    ¡®A scrupulous friend?¡¯ Liola glanced at Kaiser, ¡®Well, it IS a proper description¡­¡¯


    Kaiser took a few deep breaths, which made the three rank-X audience anxious to hear what happened next. Seeing he had ignited their curiosity, Kaiser suddenly screamed, ¡°The Dragon Emperor¡­ h-he, fell in love with Liola at the first sight!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The Red Commander took a deep breath, but remembering how pretty Liola was in a dress, she didn¡¯t think it was impossible for the Dragon Emperor to be infatuated with Liola.


    ¡°Liola! Take out your Dragon Cross Necklace and show them!¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly at Liola, and the latter slowly took out the Dragon Cross Necklace from his boots.


    ¡°This is the token of love that the Dragon Emperor gave to Liola! You all should know the meaning of this necklace to the Dragon Empire royalties, right?¡±


    All of them slowly nodded, and Kaiser shook his head with a sigh,


    ¡°But, Liola is a man, and he is already deeply in love with someone! No matter what, he can¡¯t be with the Dragon Emperor, but the Emperor wouldn¡¯t give up, and swore even if Liola is a man, he will definitely marry him!¡±


    At this time, all three rank-X Commanders dropped their jaws.


    ¡°But, this was something that can never happen. Liola can¡¯t turn his back on his lover. If the Dragon Emperor married Liola, he will become the laughingstock of the world.¡± Kaiser sighed deeply, ¡°Therefore, we have no choice but to flee.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is, such a tragic love story. I can¡¯t believe the Dragon Emperor has a side of him like this.¡±


    The Red Commander sadly wiped away her tears, even though there was no tear on the Mecha.


    ¡°So, please let us go!¡± Kaiser showed a begging expression and said his ultimate intention.


    When the Yellow and Green Commanders were hesitating, Cappuccino had already arrived on his Dragon with Lanski, Blood Wolf, and other Knights.


    Blood Wolf gave them a ¡°why-the-hell-are-you-still-here¡± look.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let them escape. They¡¯re the thieves who stole the Dragon Cross Necklace!¡± Cappuccino yelled angrily.


    A boy with questionable background strange love story, and the Dragon Empire¡¯s third Prince simply stating the truth¡­ the former obviously fell apart.


    The Green and Yellow Commanders readied themselves for battle again, and Cappuccino led the Knights and surrounded Liola.


    Lanski also resentfully said, ¡°I was wrong about you, Liola; Jasmine is way too good for you.¡±


    Seeing a battle was begin, Kaiser said as he pulled out his giant gun, ¡°Had I known we will still end up fighting, I shouldn¡¯t have wasted that much time coming up with a story!¡±


    Liola glanced at Lanski and Jasmine, then said slowly, ¡°Are we really going to fight?¡±


    Cappuccino coldly responded, ¡°Although I have no idea how you had gotten ahold of the necklace, that necklace is an heirloom of the Zhuogen family. Since you dared to steal it, now you have to pay the price!¡±


    Though he was surrounded by powerful enemies, but Liola did not think anything about it; instead, the only thing he could think about was the sadness and despair in Jasmine¡¯s eyes.


    However, Liola didn¡¯t have a choice; Kaiser and Baolilong were behind him. He slowly pulled out Broken Silver from the place he hid it in his sleeves. Other people may look at this as a strange weapon, but to Lanski and Cappuccino, who had just sparred with Silver Mask, this thin stick represented Silver Mask¡¯s identity!


    Lanski was completely frozen, and the only thing she could see was a stick with silver lights shining off it.


    Cappuccino also stared blankly at the stick, and said with a stutter, ¡°Y-you are Silver Mask?¡±


    Silver Mask did not respond. Facing such strong opponents, Liola planned to give it his all. He twisted the silver stick, and after a click, it turned into a silver dagger.


    Broken Silver flashed with a brilliant light, as if it were trying to warn everyone to never underestimate such a thin weapon.


    The atmosphere froze a bit. Despite the fact Liola had unsheathed his weapon, Cappuccino was stunned; as for the rank-X Mechas, the Red Commander knew the person was her daughter¡¯s friend and therefore a bit unwilling to attack.


    Even though nobody moved, they all knew, as soon as Liola attempts to escape, even the Red Commander would be forced to stop him.


    As such, Liola didn¡¯t dare to move. Despite the fact he was the best Assassin, but facing three X Mechas, he felt a bit powerless, especially since he was with his companions. If they were caught, he would have no choice but to put down his weapon.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything; listen to me quietly.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s body shook, but he saw nobody else seemed to have any reactions. Kaiser immediately knew only he could hear this voice, and this voice was quite familiar to him.


    ¡°I found Daylight and others. I told them to stay at the roof of the Sorcerers¡¯ dorm. Purity will put up a black hole there. You guys hurry to the roof and escape through the black hole.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s irises immediately dilated. ¡®Jumping into a black hole? My god, are there any other choices with a higher survival rate?¡¯


    The person acted as if he saw Kaiser¡¯s face, and explained uneasily, ¡°There are no other choices. Barbalis is holding the Dragon Emperor back, and it¡¯s hard to say if he could even get away whole. I can¡¯t do anything because I work for the eldest Prince, and I can¡¯t betray the Dragon Empire.¡±


    As there were no other choices, Kaiser sported on a long face.


    ¡°In any case, no matter where the black hole send you, be sure to hurry to a place to hide. Barbalis will do whatever he can to hold the Dragon Emperor back.¡±


    Kaiser quietly nodded, and the voice disappeared.


    Kaiser patted Baolilong¡¯s back, who looked back at him with its confused, pink eyes. Kaiser said quietly, ¡°Baolilong, can you communicate with your dad with telepathy?¡±


    Seeing Baolilong¡¯s long neck move up and down, Kaiser continued,


    ¡°Tell your dad to charge towards the Sorcerers¡¯ dorm, and Purity is on top of it ready with a black hole for us.¡±


    Baolilong nodded, and repeated Kaiser¡¯s words verbatim to Liola. Liola¡¯s figure seemed to have shook slightly, and Baolilong¡¯s face seemed to be filled with dissatisfaction as it unwillingly nodded.


    When Kaiser saw Baolilong act like such, he wanted to ask about it; but before he had a chance, Liola began to attack; he charged directly at the Red Commander.


    ¡°Liola, you¡­¡± Kaiser opened his mouth wide, not knowing why Liola would attack first.


    As Liola attacked, the previously frozen situation suddenly exploded. The Red Commander deserved every right to be the best inventor and controller of the Mechas.


    Despite Liola¡¯s blazing speed, the Red Mecha had plenty of time to dodge. But after the Red Commander dodged the attack reflexively, she began to regret it: she should¡¯ve pretended she couldn¡¯t dodge it and act injured, so she could use that opportunity to leave the battle; how else was she to explain all this to her precious daughter?


    Liola acted as if he had read the Red Commander¡¯s mind. He charged at the Red Mecha as if he couldn¡¯t even see anyone else.


    This second attack, however, was the same ultimate move used against Cappuccino. The Red Commander was in shock, and blocked Liola¡¯s rocket-like attack. The rank-X Mechas were, of course, not on the same level as Cappuccino, and it was able to withstand Liola¡¯s attack directly, even though the arm and shield which came in contact with Liola were slightly cracked.


    The Red Commander decided to act like she couldn¡¯t stop such an attack, flew back a short distance, and then lied on the ground, pretending to be dead.


    ¡°Little Red!¡±


    The Gold Giant yelled worriedly, but the Green Dwarf obviously noticed what the Red Commander was up to, but he thought it best not to reveal it.


    While Liola was entangled in his battle against others, Baolilong immediately opened its wings to fly away. Kaiser yelled surprisingly, ¡°Baolilong, what are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°Papa told Baolilong to rush over first, and he will catch up.¡± Baolilong said with dissatisfaction.


    Kaiser paused, and then turned to look at Liola, who, coincidentally, turned his head to look at Kaiser.


    Seeing Baolilong was already close to the dorm, and a black hole was materializing above the dorm, Liola, who had little interest in continuing to fight, immediately charged out of the battle with his ghostly haste, heading towards the dorm with a long tail of pursuers.


    When Baolilong reached the edge of the dorms, Kaiser saw Mizerui was holding Meinan and Purity in each of his hands. When they saw Kaiser, they both waved their hands wistfully, while desperately pointing at the black hole as well as Flames, who was carrying an unconscious Daylight.


    Kaiser gave an ¡°OK¡± gesture to them, and Mizerui beckoned Kaiser with his hands. And then Mizerui, Purity, and Meinan all disappeared.


    Obviously, Mizerui wanted to take the other two away from this, so that they wouldn¡¯t be tried as traitors¡¯ accomplices after.


    ¡°Baolilong! Tell Flames to follow us.¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly. When they passed by Daylight, Baolilong obediently yelled at Flames, and then the two people and two Dragons charged into the black hole with unknown destination.


    * * *


    At this time, Liola had also reached the dorm. After a few jumps, he reached the roof. Seeing the black hole was already beginning to shrink, Liola increased his speed towards it. His pursuers were still quite a distance away, and it looked like their escape was going to be a success.


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡±


    This yell made Liola stop, even though he knew clearly he shouldn¡¯t have done so. He turned his head and saw Lanski was crying a few dozen meters away. Her face was filled with depression.


    Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and then said towards Lanski, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Lanski saw Liola stopped because of her, and said something, but Lanski couldn¡¯t hear what he had said.


    When she wanted to recklessly run up to ask what he said, a familiar purple figure suddenly appeared in front of Liola, and its purple aura was burning brightly like a fire.


    ¡°No! Father!¡±


    Lanski screamed painfully, but the Dragon Emperor had already made his move. In an instant, the purple aura surrounding him concentrated at his right hand, and his right fist landed heavily on Liola¡¯s chest.


    Liola felt an immense power rushing into his body, and then suddenly exploded from within his body. The destructiveness of the power made Liola bleed from every inch of his body, and his entire body was bathed in blood.


    ¡°Sure-kill ultimate ¡ª Purple Tornado¡­¡± Cappuccino trembled as he said, as if he had trouble breathing.


    Seeing her love bathed in blood, and hearing it was a sure-kill ultimate, Lanski faded into unconsciousness. Had it not been Cappuccino¡¯s fast eyes and hands, Lanski might have fallen out of the sky.


    After the explosion in his body, the Dragon Emperor had no intention of letting Liola go easily, and he continued to lay waste to Liola¡¯s body.


    Liola used every bit of Ki and power he had left to protect himself, and he didn¡¯t even have the strength to take one step back. He felt the black hole behind him was almost gone, and Liola felt helpless. He looked at the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes filled with hatred, and he was planning to attack again¡­


    Feeling his death was near, Liola felt time was slowing down. He saw the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes were seeping out endless amount of killing intent.


    Liola could not understand why the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hatred towards him ran this deep. He saw the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand collided with his head along with his purple aura, but the necklace hanging in front of chest suddenly exploded with a white light.


    Liola felt a strong yet tender force pushing himself a step back, then he lost consciousness.

 Volume 6, 7: Becoming another world’s, Two People, Two Dragons

    Volume 6, Chapter 7: Becoming another world¡¯s, Two People, Two Dragons


    Kaiser rushed into the black hole and started praying fervently; it didn¡¯t matter whether it was to Allah or to Jesus. Beneath him, Baolilong struggled to flap its wings, but within the endless darkness where you couldn¡¯t tell left from right, Baolilong¡¯s effort seemed useless.


    Indeed, Kaiser didn¡¯t see any exit. Suddenly, there was a violent burst of white light. Kaiser quickly clamped his eyes shut and moaned in pain for a long while before he was able to open them again.


    Kaiser immediately started ascertaining the situation.


    First, he was still riding on Baolilong, who was straining to open its big pink eyes and seemed fine.


    Secondly, Daylight was groggy but was sitting on Flames, so there were three ¡®people¡¯ beside him who were still okay. Only then was Kaiser relieved, and he started observing the surroundings.


    ¡®Blue sky, white clouds, big grasslands¡­ Good, we haven¡¯t fallen into the eighteen levels of hell or the Dragon Emperor¡¯s prison, etcetera.¡¯ Kaiser felt a load lifted off his chest.


    Baolilong wiggled its body, making Kaiser fall off. It then transformed back into its child form and desperately divided the grass around it, searching high and low.


    Finally, when it didn¡¯t see anyone else, it started bawling, ¡°Papa! Papa is gone.¡±


    When Flames saw Baolilong crying non-stop, it also transformed into its small Dragon form and ran forward to console Baolilong.


    Kaiser finally realized something was not right and frowned, ¡°That rascal wouldn¡¯t have stayed there, right?¡±


    ¡°Oof!¡±


    Daylight was thrown off Flames while still in a daze and didn¡¯t manage to land lightly like Kaiser. His whole body collapsed on the ground without being cushioned by aura, and the pain immediately shocked Daylight wide-awake.


    Upon opening his eyes, Daylight suddenly realized he was in an unknown place and panicked slightly. Then, he recalled that Mizerui had knocked him out of his senses because he refused to leave.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Kaiser squatted next to Daylight, and asked somewhat annoyed, ¡°Do you know where we are?¡±


    Daylight replied in disgruntlement, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Kaiser glanced at Daylight, whose face had a shadow of anger. However, Kaiser was not worried, because Daylight was easy to handle.


    Kaiser said simply, ¡°Liola is missing.¡±


    As expected, Daylight immediately forgot about his anger and his expression changed to one of anxiety and concern,


    ¡°What happened to him, did he not manage to escape?¡±


    Kaiser frowned and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure, there wasn¡¯t any response when Baolilong called for him, so he¡¯s probably knocked out.¡±


    Daylight was extremely worried, ¡°Then we should quickly go back to rescue him.¡±


    ¡°Rescue my foot! I don¡¯t even know what kind of weird place we ended up in.¡± Kaiser snapped.


    He had just examined the surroundings, and there was only grass after grass.


    Upon hearing Kaiser¡¯s words, Daylight also frantically looked all around, but he didn¡¯t recall there being such large grasslands in the Aklan Continent.


    Daylight knitted his eyebrows and said, ¡°Maybe we¡¯re in the Dragon Continent?¡±


    When Kaiser heard his most undesired, albeit most reasonable guess, he laughed weakly,


    ¡°Hahaha, or maybe it¡¯s the Commerce Alliance!¡±


    Even Daylight knew Kaiser was putting up a hopeless struggle; technology was far more widespread in the Commerce Alliance compared to Aklan, it would be harder to find a spot in the Commerce Alliance without a Maxun than it would be to find a grade-A Mecha. So a place as large as this grassland without any Maxun could never exist in the Commerce Alliance.


    Just when the two were racking their minds to find out where they were, the sky was blurred and a jet-black hole spat out a ¡°blood-soaked object¡±. If he hadn¡¯t known the ironclad object couldn¡¯t spit blood, Kaiser would have thought it was injured.


    However, Daylight had already ran over. After gasping several times, he seemed to be at wits end.


    Kaiser thought Daylight¡¯s reaction to the bloodied object was quite weird, but once Baolilong ran over and started wailing ¡®Papa¡¯, Kaiser immediately followed and realized the ¡°blood-soaked object¡± was actually the missing Liola.


    Kaiser immediately started checking Liola¡¯s wounds, but strangely enough, there weren¡¯t any wounds, it was as if the blood had all been squeezed out of the veins.


    Daylight also felt something was amiss, and he could also sense an overbearing force coming from Liola¡¯s body, which seemed different from the usual strength Liola displayed.


    After wiping off all the blood from Liola¡¯s face with his sleeves, Daylight suddenly realized there was a purple aura being emitted on Liola¡¯s face,


    ¡°Purple aura¡­ it was the Dragon Emperor who injured Liola!¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who injured him, what matters is whether you can heal him?¡± Kaiser anxiously shook Daylight¡¯s shoulders.


    Daylight awkwardly said, ¡°I, I still haven¡¯t learnt healing magic¡­¡±


    Kaiser could only frown and reply, ¡°Wake Liola up, let him heal himself.¡±


    Daylight nodded, shook Liola lightly and continually shouted at him, but Liola didn¡¯t show the slightest reaction.


    ¡°Papa can¡¯t be woken up!¡± Baolilong sat at the side and bawled incessantly.


    Kaiser¡¯s face grew darker, ¡°It seems useless, Baolilong has definitely been shouting at Liola using telepathy, if this noisy Dragon can¡¯t wake Liola, nothing will.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Liola was heavily injured, so he went to sleep to let his body heal itself?¡±


    Daylight suggested unconvincingly. Kaiser shook his head in confusion, shrugged his shoulders and said,


    ¡°Looks like he is no longer spitting blood. Since he won¡¯t wake up, and at worst he won¡¯t die, then let¡¯s not care about him. If we do not figure out where we are and the Dragon Emperor catches us, none of us will be able to escape.¡±


    Kaiser turned to Baolilong, ¡°Brat, turn back into a Dragon and carry us, we are going to run.¡±


    Baolilong twitched, it knew they had to leave, and transformed back into a 10-meter tall Sacred White Dragon.


    Daylight carried Liola and hopped onto the enlarged Flames. Baolilong and Flames flew up high into the sky. They could vaguely make out a city, and under Kaiser¡¯s signal, the two Dragons both flew towards it.


    Once they drew close to the city, Baolilong transformed back into its child form and Flames transformed into a miniature Dragon.


    The group of 3 people and 2 Dragons then walked towards the city. When they got near the city, groups of people appeared around them, wearing weird outfits.


    They mostly wore tops with overlapping lapels, their trousers were coarse and rough, and held up at the waist by tied cloth. Even if they were called belts, they were still only pieces of cloth.


    When they reached the city¡¯s entrance, it was unexpectedly made by stacking up stones, and you could tell at a glance the doors were made of wood.


    There was a plaque above which read ¡°Sky City¡±, but what almost made Kaiser breathless was the two guards stationed at the sides. They were wearing armor which neither Kaiser nor Daylight had ever seen before. The armor seemed to be made of rattan, and they also held 2 big spears in their hands.


    No matter how ridiculous the Dragon Continent might be, it wouldn¡¯t use a material like rattan to make armor, right?


    2 people, 1 Dragon stayed at the entrance and did some sizing up. In turn, they too were sized up. Kaiser, who would rather die than to admit they were in the Dragon Continent, laughed,


    ¡°Heh¡­ Dragon Continent natives really dress weirdly, don¡¯t they?¡±


    Daylight knew that Kaiser was just doing some self-consolation. Even if it was the Dragon Continent, it wouldn¡¯t be like this. Since when did Knights from the academy dress so weirdly? Moreover, the passers-by spoke in a language totally foreign to Daylight.


    Although the Dragon Continent would have its own language, but it was the language all Knights had to learn, and it was impossible for Daylight, a Blue Knight, not understand a single word!


    ¡°Why do they say we are strange?¡± Baolilong widened its eyes and asked Kaiser.


    Kaiser was even more confused and asked, ¡°You can understand them?¡±


    Baolilong nodded its head. Kaiser was frustrated. He initially thought he had travelled to another world, same as Liola.


    However, if Baolilong could understand them, then how could they be in another world? Or maybe it was actually a Dragon haven, and all the people they could see were actually transformed Dragons?


    ¡°I think I know where this is.¡± Daylight suddenly said, making Kaiser stare at him.


    Daylight laughed bitterly and explained, ¡°After forming a contract with a Dragon, there are a lot of things that can be transferred between the 2 minds, including language¡­ ¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped, what it meant was Baolilong could understand the regional language because its master Liola also could, and Liola could understand it because¡­ , simply because this was the world Liola originally lived in!


    ¡°This is so humiliating.¡± Kaiser said feebly after thinking everything through.


    Daylight smiled wryly, ¡°At least we don¡¯t need to hasten to flee, no matter what, the Dragon Emperor won¡¯t chase us across worlds.¡±


    Baolilong tugged on Kaiser¡¯s Sorcerer robes and said as it pointed at the two door guards, ¡°They said we are very weird, so they are coming over to question us.¡±


    Once Baolilong said it, the two door guards really did walk over, and all the curious onlookers made way for them to pass, then followed behind them.


    ¡°%[email protected]%%*¡± The guards shouted.


    Kaiser pulled on Baolilong and asked, ¡°Hey! What are they saying?¡±


    In the same tone, Baolilong said, ¡°Where are you from and why have you come here? Does that red beast bite? Is the person you are carrying still alive?¡±


    Kaiser frowned and paused for thought. Where they were from couldn¡¯t be revealed, and neither could he answer why they had come; the ¡®red beast¡¯ would probably refer to Flames? It could also mean there were no Dragons in this world.


    Right, Kaiser remembered when he first met Liola, he too did not know what Dragons were.


    The guards got impatient. They started upbraiding loudly and pointed their long spears at the small Flames, who got enraged and shot out a 10cm size fireball.


    The small fireball was hardly lethal, and Flames meant it as a warning shot. However, it made the guards and the onlookers scream and run away. When it landed on a guard and kindled a small fire, the guard started jumping up and down madly.


    ¡°Liola had not used magic before, he didn¡¯t even know there was something called magic¡­ ¡± Kaiser just remembered the detail.


    ¡®Oh no! This world definitely doesn¡¯t have magic.¡¯


    The epiphany was too late, everyone frantically squeezed back into the city and soon there was an uproar. 10 people riding on a 4-legged creature which Kaiser had never seen before slowly approached them.


    Daylight frowned and asked Kaiser, ¡°What should we do?¡±


    Kaiser showed a powerless expression and spread his hands out, ¡°Let¡¯s see whether Baolilong can communicate with them.¡±


    However, he didn¡¯t think communicating could accomplish much.


    Daylight nodded, he did not want to fight over a misunderstanding. He leaned forward and told Baolilong,


    ¡°Baolilong, tell them that we mean no harm, we only want to enter the city to recover. We are unable to fight as we have an injured person.¡±


    Baolilong tilted its head and thought for a bit. After all, it was its first time speaking in Liola¡¯s language.


    After it thought it through, Baolilong said out a stream of words at the 10 people. The ten people each frowned and started discussing amongst themselves. After which, one of them, who was dressed somewhat differently and was probably the leader, spoke.


    Baolilong translated, ¡°You use strange magic, are¡­ ¡± Baolilong thought really hard then reluctantly said, ¡°Are you Magicians?¡±


    ¡®Magicians?¡¯ Kaiser was surprised, didn¡¯t this world not have magic? Why would the term Magician arise? Kaiser asked, ¡°Are you sure they said ¡®Magicians¡¯?¡±


    Baolilong pouted its mouth, ¡°It seems different, but Baolilong couldn¡¯t find a better word.¡±


    ¡°It Looks like it¡¯s a unique occupation around here.¡± Daylight eventually understood.


    Kaiser¡¯s head spun faster. What would the reputation of this unique occupation be? But no matter how bad it was, it couldn¡¯t get any worse, right? At most they could flee.


    Kaiser asked Daylight, ¡°How strong are these ten? Can you beat them?


    Daylight frowned, ¡°They¡¯re not even as strong as a Green Knight.¡±


    It meant there was nothing to be afraid of. Kaiser grinned and told Baolilong, ¡°Just tell them we¡¯re Magicians and observe their reaction.¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s innocent child voice sounded again.


    The 10 people¡¯s eyes widened, and the stared at Kaiser and the others, showing a hint of respect.


    Kaiser almost wanted to leap up and make a V sign! After having a string of bad luck, since anyone who entered the black hole would just be sent back, only they were lucky enough to score big on the first try.


    Finally they struck big. Kaiser almost wanted to kowtow to heaven, but then he remembered there were 10 people staring at him, and decided to leave the bowing for later.


    Kaiser nudged Baolilong, ¡°Hey, tell them we want to enter the city.¡±


    Baolilong listened round-eyed and told Kaiser, ¡°Kaiser, some of them don¡¯t believe you¡¯re a Magician.¡±


    Kaiser looked at the ten people, and just as Baolilong had said, they were debating amongst themselves.


    Kaiser scowled and chanted a short incantation. Immediately, a small fireball appeared in his hand. Kaiser juggled it about casually, which made the ten people gape and stare.


    Kaiser had gotten into it, he nudged Daylight, ¡°Hey, release some aura for them.¡±


    ¡°Aura? Are we fighting?¡±


    Daylight was not sure how to react until he saw Kaiser nodding, and decided to follow Kaiser. Once he released his blue aura, no one doubted them anymore.


    The probable leader dismounted and respectfully walked over and spoke a string of words. This time, Baolilong didn¡¯t need to be reminded. It immediately assumed the role of a little translator,


    ¡°May I ask if master Magicians have come to seek audience with other Magicians from Skyward Overlook?¡±


    ¡°Skyward Overlook?¡± Kaiser hesitated, but nonchalantly pushed his hesitation to the back of his mind. Why bother, besides, they had to enter the city first?


    ¡°Tell them yes, Baolilong.¡±


    Baolilong said a simple sound, and the leader nodded his head and said an even simpler sound.


    ¡°Please.¡± Baolilong¡¯s tender child voice translated again.


    The dozen looks of respect put Kaiser on cloud nine, and he walked into the city like the biggest gangster.


    Daylight followed, looking worriedly at the unconscious and blood-soaked Liola whom he was carrying. He could only hope there would be something like a Healing Maxun inside the city.


    As he walked, Kaiser really had an eye-opener. In his life he had not seen so many wooden things, Aklan only used metals and plastics.


    Here, the houses were almost completely made of wood, and were all very short, the tallest Kaiser had seen so far was only 3 levels tall, much shorter than Aklan¡¯s usual 100. Also, each level here was also smaller than Aklan¡¯s.


    The roads were all narrow, and there weren¡¯t any Transportation Maxuns. There were some people riding on 4-legged creatures, the same kind as what the 10 people had ridden, except they had all dismounted to walk, in order to adjust to Kaiser and the others.


    Right from the start, the leader hadn¡¯t stopped chattering, and Baolilong had to keep translating. However, eventually there were too many things it couldn¡¯t find the right word for, and with an angry pout of the lips, it refused to say anything. When the leader saw Kaiser¡¯s confused face, he too rubbed his nose and stopped talking.


    They walked until they reached a special room, where the leader stopped, pointed at it and said something.


    Kaiser examined the room, it was more appealing than the previous wooden houses, however, it was made of a cheaper material ¡ª stone.


    Kaiser was baffled, why would such a large room be made of such a cheap material? Probably because the room was so big and they couldn¡¯t afford so much wood, Kaiser shrugged, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to guess.


    ¡°He said this is the Skyward Overlook.¡± Baolilong finally helped translate a sentence.


    This is Skyward Overlook, was he implying Skyward Overlook was something like a Magician¡¯s association?


    Kaiser had all sorts of doubts, but when he saw the leader had already retreated to the side, he had no choice but to go forward.


    He stopped before the door and looked all around, with a bitter face, he asked Daylight, ¡°There¡¯s no doorbell, what should we do?


    Daylight frowned and examined the door, the wooden door was all smooth and shiny, except for a spherical object hanging in the middle. Indeed it looked as if there wasn¡¯t a doorbell, Daylight was perplexed and said,


    ¡°Patting the door would do.¡±


    ¡°Baolilong, pat the door.¡± Kaiser said, he didn¡¯t want to abuse his hand by patting the hardwood door.


    Baolilong found it fun and immediately rushed forward, its two tiny hands patted the door strongly, until the door clanged and banged.


    Just when Kaiser realized handprints appearing on the door and wanted to stop Baolilong, the door made a scary creaking sound. However, Baolilong didn¡¯t care, with one last pat, the right door crashed down on the ground, raising dust clouds.


    There was a person inside who looked as if he was going to open the door, but instead just stared wide-eyed at the fallen door.


    Kaiser also stared wide-eyed, and asked hesitantly, ¡°Daylight, do you suppose their doors¡­ have a different opening method from ours? Like, it falls down then is pulled up afterwards?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so.¡± Although he didn¡¯t know how things worked over here, but from the shocked expression of the person inside, Daylight could immediately refute Kaiser¡¯s nonsense.


    Just when everyone was stunned, more people came running out, many of which were old people with long, white beards. Everybody looked grimly at the door, finally, a younger person walked over with an angry expression, shouting.


    However, Baolilong lost its temper and refused to translate. Under Kaiser¡¯s anxious urges and when even Daylight opened his mouth, Baolilong reluctantly translated,


    ¡°Baolilong doesn¡¯t know how to say it, they said we are here to kick their house, but Baolilong used hands, and not feet.¡±


    ¡°Kicking houses?¡± Kaiser¡¯s face grew wrinkled as a bittergourd, it¡¯s over, the phrase was definitely not translated literally.


    Then, Daylight carried Liola and walked forward. As he was unable to do the proper knightly formalities, he could only bow respectfully and asked sincerely,


    ¡°My friend is heavily wounded, please may I ask if you can heal him?¡±


    However, they could not understand what Daylight had said until Baolilong rushed over with a shriveled mouth and flowing tears, saying a long phrases of words Kaiser couldn¡¯t understand.


    Kaiser was not worried, just from Baolilong¡¯s expression, he knew Baolilong was pleading for someone to heal Liola.


    Upon seeing Baolilong weeping, a woman in her 30s walked over with a pained expression and took out a handkerchief to wipe its tears while comforting it. However, when she moved to hug it, Baolilong hid behind Daylight¡¯s leg, refusing to be hugged.


    The middle-aged woman turned around and spoke to the oldest man, who also had the longest beard. She pointed at Liola, then at Baolilong.


    The old man thought for a while before walking towards Daylight and glared at him, but Daylight looked back at him with impressive perseverance. The old man nodded in appreciation and said some words.


    Hiding behind Daylight¡¯s leg, Baolilong immediately said with teary eyes, ¡°They said they will look at papa¡¯s wounds! They want us to follow them.¡±


    Daylight was overjoyed and followed the old bearded man inside the premises. Kaiser also breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily their chances hadn¡¯t been ruined by a door, he immediately followed Daylight in.


    When they reached a certain room, the people on either side of the elder promptly opened the doors respectfully and the elder entered. He knew they spoke different languages, so he silently pointed at Liola, then at the bed.


    Daylight got the hint, he immediately laid Liola down on the bed and stood beside it, waiting for the elder to heal Liola¡¯s injuries. To the contrary, Kaiser walked in obstinately, sat down at a table and started observing a weirdly shaped water bottle placed on the tabletop. He did not realize everyone else was standing and giving him displeased looks.


    However, the elder didn¡¯t say anything. He simply lifted up Liola¡¯s right hand and pressed his thumb on Liola¡¯s wrist.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think he is doing?¡± Kaiser appeared at the bedside, he was worried the old man did not know what to do. The only thing Kaiser knew about healing was dumping people into Healing Maxuns, as for the old man¡¯s inexplicable actions, he could only ask the Knight beside him.


    Daylight shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not a Priest.¡±


    Daylight¡¯s empty answer meant Kaiser could only continue watching the old man, in case the old man does harm to Liola.


    From the start, the bearded old man had a heavy expression, but after a while he looked enlightened. He lowered Liola¡¯s wrist and spoke a long string of passage to Baolilong.


    As it was a matter regarding its papa, Baolilong paid full attention. Afterwards, it ran to Daylight and Kaiser.


    ¡°He said there is a strong force destroying papa¡¯s body, but papa is very formidable and is resisting the force. With some good rest, papa will wake up by himself.¡±


    ¡°He just needs some sleep? That¡¯s all?¡± Kaiser stared blankly and listened. However, he suddenly realized the important question, to sleep, there needs to be a place to sleep!


    Kaiser looked at Liola lying on the bed and snickered. He nudged Baolilong, ¡°Hey, ask them if we can stay here until Liola wakes up.¡±


    Baolilong immediately asked, but the elder looked slightly uneasy. When Baolilong realized the elder was unwilling, the corners of its mouth instantly drooped and tears fell from its eyes.


    When she saw Baolilong¡¯s pitiful looks, the same middle-aged woman immediately walked over and hugged it lovingly.


    This time, Baolilong knew the woman could help them, so he could only grumble and reluctantly let her hug it. The woman said a lot of words to the elder, and the moment someone else opened their mouth, they were immediately pushed back by her words.


    In the end, the bearded old man helplessly nodded his head.


    Kaiser couldn¡¯t refrain from complaining, no one could understand him anyway, ¡°Cheapskate, can¡¯t we stay for a bit, there were so many empty rooms, what¡¯s wrong with letting us use some for a few days.¡±


    However, Kaiser soon understood that the elder wasn¡¯t being stingy, the reason the elder had been uneasy was¡­ because he and Daylight stayed long enough for them to learn the language of this world.

 Volume 6, 8: Taoist

    Volume 6, Chapter 8: Taoist


    His consciousness slowly floated along. He didn¡¯t think at all, he only turned over comfortably once in a while. He had not experienced such a serene life before. He did not want to think, no, he did not have to think. He just drifted along, not even knowing what he himself was.


    ¡°Liola, Li.¡±


    A familiar voice yet filled with fear shouted repeatedly. This was the word he didn¡¯t want to hear the most, his consciousness anxiously floated faster, hoping to distance itself from the voice.


    ¡°Liola¡­¡±


    The same name, but a different voice, so very familiar, so very sad. He hesitated, not knowing whether to continue drifting, but the voice had made him unable to leave.


    ¡°Liola, do not kill, alright?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± He couldn¡¯t resist shouting. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill. I haven¡¯t killed anyone anymore!¡± Finally, he floated back, floating towards the voice. He could vaguely feel a cross-shaped light, a very warm white light.


    ¡°Liola, find me.¡±


    ¡°Who are you? Who are you?¡± His consciousness kept asking.


    ¡°I am¡­ Anise.¡±


    ¡°Anise!¡± His eyes shot open.


    He felt disoriented, as if he was still drifting. He could only feel his eyelids, but he knew clearly he now had a body, and he could feel warmth coming from something in front of his chest. He concentrated on feeling, feeling the warmth, then regaining the rest of his senses.


    From his chest to his shoulders, to his hand, to his fingers, then his fingertips twitched. Slowly, his hand opened, clenched, opened.


    His sense of touch gradually returned, but he couldn¡¯t summon any strength, what exactly had happened to him? No, who was he?


    Anise¡­ no, not right, he wasn¡¯t Anise, he was the one who caused her death. He was¡­ Liola, the number one Assassin.


    He forced a smile. He remembered now, he and Anise were being chased by the organization, Anise died but he alone escaped to DuanChang Cliff, but what happened after?


    Liola¡¯s head ached, the name Kaiser suddenly leapt into his mind, right, he met Kaiser, Purity, Meinan, Daylight¡­ and many, many others. He was sent to another world, met a lot of people, and many things happened.


    Liola finally remembered, but when his vision cleared up, he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, his clothes!


    He was wearing a normal cloth robe, not the comfy metallic grey sorcerer robes and not the dazzling white knight uniform, but a cloth robe, an overlapping lapel and a cloth belt. He looked at the bedside and sure enough, there were a pair of cloth shoes there.


    Liola slowly raised his eyes. It was a familiar room; the wooden table, the bamboo bed he was lying on and the mud teapot.


    ¡®What happened?¡¯ Liola¡¯s heart was shrouded, and filled with even more panic.


    A scary thought suddenly jumped into his mind and shouted wickedly, ¡°Actually, you weren¡¯t transported to another world! There¡¯s no Kaiser, and also no Purity, Meinan, Daylight, not even Anise¡¯s twin sister! It was all your imagination! You wanted to leave this world so badly, so you had a long and ugly dream! There isn¡¯t such a thing as other worlds!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Liola held his head and growled, he wasn¡¯t dreaming, Kaiser, Purity, and everyone else were real!


    The scary voice shouted, ¡°Then how do you explain this? No room can get more ordinary than this one, you were probably heavily injured after jumping off the cliff and were carried here, everything else is a dream. It was all a dream!¡±


    ¡®Not a dream! Not a dream¡­¡¯


    Liola clenched his head, he was so scared, he made a dent on the bed frame. He didn¡¯t dare to get off the bed, or to open the door, he didn¡¯t want to see his own world, much less believe everything was a dream!


    ¡®Papa!¡¯


    A call came from his heart, but Liola was still a bit muddled, was it¡­ Baolilong? Or was he¡­ just fantasizing?


    ¡®Papa?!¡¯


    The voice called out again. Liola couldn¡¯t help wanting to go find Baolilong, but the moment his foot met the ground, he felt the roughness of it, totally unlike the smooth floor of the Aklan Sorcery dormitories.


    He fearfully pulled his leg back, what if he ran out of the room, only to see his own world, yet unable to find Baolilong?


    Liola once again withdrew from the bedside, he hugged his knees tightly and buried his head into them, not seeing, not listening.


    But things turned out differently, the door was forced open ferociously, and a realistic voice shouted, ¡°Papa!¡±


    With his face buried between his knees, Liola¡¯s shoulders jolted intensely. He was too afraid to raise his head, not until a tiny body climbed onto him did he look up unsteadily. A pair of big pink eyes looked back at him, shedding large teardrops.


    ¡°Why did Papa ignore Baolilong?¡± Baolilong sobbed.


    These pink eyes would not be found in his own world, right? Liola desperately told himself.


    ¡°Liola, you finally woke up!¡±


    Liola instantly raised his head and saw a teenage boy with sea-blue eyes and a head of grass-green hair gaping at him with an exaggerated expression. Beside him stood a blue haired, golden-eyed male, also with a shocked expression.


    Liola carried Baolilong in his arms and supported his weak frame over to the two. He looked at the teenager and the male.


    ¡°What, what are you crying about?¡± The teenage boy looked at Liola as if his eyeballs were going to fall out.


    ¡°Kaiser?¡± Liola asked uncertainly.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Regardless of the teenage boy¡¯s shocked expression, Liola hugged Baolilong with his left hand, his right reached out and hugged the boy tightly. This action shocked the teenage boy so much that he almost stiffened to plaster.


    Liola released the teenage boy and turned to the blue haired, golden-eyed male, this time more calmly, ¡°Daylight?¡±


    The blue-haired male nodded hesitantly, and Liola hugged him too. After confirming the 2 big ones and 1 small one in front of him were all real, he was sure there really had been Kaiser, and Daylight, and everyone else.


    * * *


    In this most ordinary of rooms, Liola, Kaiser and Daylight sat around the round table while Baolilong sat on Flames¡¯ back, swinging his legs. Daylight poured tea for everyone, after which he took the lead and drank first, he was really liking the drink more and more.


    Kaiser tapped the table and squinted at Liola, ¡°You are saying that when you first woke up, you saw everything around you was from your own world and hence thought your travel to another world was fake? Including me, Purity, Meinan and so on were all part of your imagination?¡±


    By now, Liola was fully awake and he nodded awkwardly.


    Liola had really nodded, Kaiser was mad, he slammed the table,


    ¡°Are you an idiot or are you mentally retarded?! You think you are Nanke, don¡¯t think about why I would know Nanke! You son of a b¡ªtch, you slept for a full year, now I can speak the language of this world even more fluently than you!¡±


    [T/N: Nanke is a reference to ¡®a fond dream¡¯. It was often used in discussing life was like a dream, and everything comes and goes.]


    Liola breathed a sigh of relief, this was definitely Kaiser¡¯s tone. After voicing the reasons for his disorder, Liola curiously wondered where he was, so he asked Kaiser.


    Kaiser snapped, ¡°This is Skyward Overlook, one of the strongholds of the Yellow Faction Taoists. Let me tell you first, we are staying here as Taoists from afar. Our master is called Taoist Barbalis, and our faction is the Aklan Faction. We are the disciples. Daylight is the eldest disciple, you are the second, and I¡¯m the youngest. Tsk tsk, it¡¯s because I look too elegant, so I had to be the youngest.¡±


    Daylight grinned and took over, ¡°We were following our master¡¯s orders to travel around the world when we were ambushed by a demon near Mt. Sky. (The Dragon Emperor is the demon?) Liola, you were heavily injured, so we brought you to these Taoists for help, and ended up staying here.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right.¡± Kaiser only remembered Baolilong after being kicked by its tiny leg, ¡°Baolilong is an orphan we picked up from a village looted by demons along the way, as you found him first, so Baolilong calls you Papa.¡±


    When Kaiser brought up Baolilong, Daylight thought of his own Flames, and immediately added, ¡°Also, Flames is a demon I converted, so it now follows my command.¡±


    Flames knew what a demon was, it bit its owner¡¯s trousers in dissatisfaction and Daylight smiled at it apologetically.


    Upon hearing the pair¡¯s explanation, Liola nodded, ¡°You already fully understand this world.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Liola haughtily, ¡°Of course! If you hadn¡¯t been unconscious the moment you came here, we wouldn¡¯t have suffered so much! Do you know we spent 2 months before finding out that we are actually ¡®Taoists¡¯, not Magicians?¡±


    Daylight scowled slightly, ¡°Once they saw me with a pike, they kept wanting to give me a wooden sword use.¡±


    ¡®Daylight using a wooden sword?¡¯ Liola wanted to laugh, but then he noticed their garments.


    Daylight had his hair tied up into a bun, as was the local custom, and he looked somewhat scholarly.


    In contrast, Kaiser¡¯s hair was still looking like overgrown weeds, his long sleeves had been turned into short sleeves and his cloth belt was tied with a bow.


    Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, Kaiser casually said some poppycock, ¡°Come in, everyone is clothed, even if we¡¯re not, there¡¯s no worry, we¡¯re all male.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser what nonsense are you spouting again.¡±


    A woman around 30 years old walked in carrying a platter of food and smiled at Kaiser reprimandingly. She looked at Liola gently and put down the food, ¡°After sleeping for so long, you must be hungry? Eat some food quickly.¡±


    Liola nodded, only after smelling the taste of food did he realize he was hungry. He bluntly picked up his chopsticks and immediately dug in.


    The pretty woman fondly looked at Liola eating and said, ¡°I am Lee San Niang, the daughter of


    the head of this Taoist Overlook. You are called Liola?¡±


    [T/N: The ¡®San¡¯ in her name means the number three. It is a common name in olden day China. It could mean she¡¯s the third child, or the third daughter of the family.]


    Liola¡¯s eyes flashed when he heard her name and he slowly raised his head to look at Lee San Niang. Lee San Niang smiled at him and saw he had stopped eating, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Liola realized Lee San Niang¡¯s expression hadn¡¯t changed and he felt strange.


    Although his name could be said carelessly in the other world, but in his own world, the name carried the title of the number one Assassin! But Lee San Niang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t seem fake, so Liola thought back on how she had addressed him. Her pronunciation was weird, it wasn¡¯t just weird, it was exactly how Kaiser pronounced it, and Kaiser had always pronounced his name wrongly.


    Liola shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not used to eating alone.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Lee San Niang said and smiled as she got up, ¡°Got it, you¡¯re shy, don¡¯t like someone staring at you while you eat? In that case I¡¯ll leave first, I¡¯ll come back later to clear the dishes, and my father also wishes to check on you.¡±


    Liola nodded, and Lee San Niang walked out of the room laughing.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Kaiser asked suspiciously, he wouldn¡¯t believe such nonsense about Liola being shy.


    Liola glanced at Kaiser, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t reveal my real name, I am the best Assassin in this world.¡±


    Kaiser and Daylight both froze, they had completely forgotten about it. When Lee San Niang asked about it, they just said the truth.


    Kaiser asked uncomfortably, ¡°Anyway it seems as if they haven¡¯t heard of it, an Assassin wouldn¡¯t be that famous, would it?¡±


    Liola shook his head and explained, ¡°I¡¯m very infamous, everyone knows of me, it¡¯s your incorrect pronunciation that mislead them.¡±


    Daylight said, ¡°Oh, right, at the start you translated your name, so it sounded weird in our world. After coming here, I finally realized your name actually means ¡®Moonlight¡¯.¡±


    Liola shook his head, ¡°Kaiser¡¯s pronunciation was inaccurate, it means ¡®Silver Moon¡¯, not ¡®Moonlight¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why do you keep complaining about my inaccurate pronunciation, if I had pronounced it correctly, we would all be done for!¡± Kaiser argued loudly.


    Liola didn¡¯t refute Kaiser, he was really hungry so he proficiently used his chopsticks to eat the food from olden days.


    ¡°Oi, Liola, are we not able to return?¡± Kaiser asked gloomily.


    There were no Sorcerers here, and Purity with her space magic wasn¡¯t here either, and he himself didn¡¯t know space magic, so how could they return? Maybe they could try being split by lightning on a stormy day?


    Liola¡¯s chopsticks stopped once again and he murmured a sorry filled with regret.


    ¡°Forget it, anyway it¡¯s not that bad.¡± Kaiser lazily lay on the table, ¡°Luckily only the 3 of us came, Daylight is an orphan, I¡¯m also an orphan, and Gladiolus will probably look after my older sister. Anyway, us 3 don¡¯t have to worry about anything, we are fine anywhere, and if this world isn¡¯t as good it¡¯s at least more peaceful than ours.¡±


    Although Kaiser said it very casually, Liola had no way to be as casual. With the knowledge he had once again burdened two others, his heart felt like lead.


    Daylight saw Liola¡¯s face wasn¡¯t looking too good, so he immediately changed the topic,


    ¡°However, the Martial Arts of this world are very different from ours, no wonder you rarely release any aura, Liola.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, when someone released aura at the start, he was taken as a Taoist and was bugged for a year about how Taoist must use wooden swords.¡± Kaiser gloated.


    Daylight rubbed his nose, ¡°Kaiser aren¡¯t you the one who uses a wooden sword all day.¡±


    ¡°Go! Or would you rather I shoot you with a gun? The last time I fired, old man Lee bothered me for a month, talking about how he wanted to borrow my magic weapon to do some research.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face turned bitter.


    Talking about old man Lee, Daylight also said awkwardly, ¡°Master Lee is really¡­ a bit too eager to learn, if Flames didn¡¯t spit fire everytime he got near it, he would have already captured Flames for dissection.¡±


    ¡°You too! Liola.¡± Kaiser winked and said, ¡°If Baolilong hadn¡¯t guarded you to the bone, old man Lee would have already stripped you naked to study the purple glow on your skin.¡±


    However, Liola stayed quiet, and Daylight had his head lowered and was pouring tea seriously.


    When Kaiser saw the two of them as such, he immediately understood someone was coming. He lay on the table and yawned. Sure enough, voices were drawing nearer and a moment later, there was a knock on the door.


    ¡°Besides old man Lee, everyone else can come in.¡± Kaiser said lazily. However, the first to come in would not be anyone but old man Lee.


    As expected, the doors opened and there was a crowd outside, but the first one to enter was Master Lee alone. He walked in with a deity-like demeanor, and if Kaiser and Daylight hadn¡¯t already seen through old man Lee¡¯s ability to annoy, they might really have called him God Lee respectfully.


    ¡°Hahaha, congratulations on the awakening of your second brother, pity the purple glow is gone.¡± Master Lee lamented slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s great the purple glow is gone, then old man Lee you won¡¯t have to get bitten black and blue by Baolilong because you wanted to kidnap Liola.¡±


    Kaiser snickered without suppression, but the others behind Master Lee, the disciples and Lee San Niang who had come in all laughed sniggered.


    Master Lee calmly coughed twice and the disciples behind him immediately stopped laughing, but they were holding back their laughter and weren¡¯t actually afraid.


    Master Lee approached Liola and smoothly moved to feel his pulse, but Liola coolly removed his wrist, letting Master Lee grab air.


    He told Liola, ¡°This master is just worried you didn¡¯t purge all the purple aura, it might cause future troubles, so I want to check your pulse.¡±


    After he finished speaking, Master Lee once again reached out for Liola¡¯s wrist, but Liola frowned and directly put his hand back inside the sleeves, which hung at his sides.


    Master Lee impatiently stroked his beard, and behind him the disciples¡¯ suppressed laughter grew louder.


    ¡°Fine, this master won¡¯t force you, it¡¯s just a pity.¡± The pity Master Lee mentioned, everyone knew what it meant, pity he didn¡¯t get to research the mysterious purple energy.


    Although this Taoist temple was different from the ones Liola knew, but weren¡¯t they all serious with the disciples all a bit cautious of the master? However, Liola did not intend to be disrespectful, he stood up and bowed deeply, ¡°Liola thanks Master Lee for his shelter and care.¡±


    Master Lee was obviously quite pleased with Liola¡¯s politeness, he laughed,


    ¡°Little brother, no need to mind. Watching the little brothers slaying demons with their utmost efforts, this Master also wanted to help, providing a room and some food is just a small matter, not to mention your brothers helped me out a lot.¡±


    ¡°Che! Treating Daylight and me as free labor and you still dare to talk about it, one moment slaying demons there, another killing devils here.¡±


    Kaiser quietly grumbled, and this whisper was obviously clearly heard by the disciples at the back, the sounds of laughter didn¡¯t stop.


    Master Lee was not bad at playing dumb, he took Kaiser¡¯s words as a gust of wind, without a trace, he continued asking Liola and Daylight,


    ¡°I wonder what you brothers plan on doing next? If you want to continue staying, then this master would do his best as a host.¡±


    ¡°Damn! Two free labourers for a full year isn¡¯t enough, you want three free labourers for life?¡± Kaiser widened his eyes and shouted softly.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The disciples at the back cracked up, they each hugged their bellies or leant against the wall and laughed. Lee San Niang couldn¡¯t stop smiling tenderly.


    Master Lee slowly turned around, ¡°I wonder what you disciples are laughing about? Why don¡¯t you tell the master so he can have a moment of happiness too?¡±


    ¡°Che! He sure knows how to bully the disciples!¡± Kaiser desperately pulled faces behind old man Lee¡¯s back.


    Master Lee obviously snapped, in an instant he had jumped towards Kaiser. He blew his beard, glared and shouted, ¡°You brat, why exactly are you unhappy with this master?¡±


    ¡°Definitely unhappy!¡±


    Kaiser had something to rely on, so he wasn¡¯t scared. He casually chanted a short incantation and the uninteresting small fireball popped out again.


    Kaiser juggled it left and right, and Master Lee¡¯s pupils also hopped with it. He kept shouting his usual phrase,


    ¡°Too mysterious! Really too mysterious, this master researched for so long, but he still doesn¡¯t know what this fireball is, really too mysterious.¡±


    ¡°I say, Master Lee, I suddenly feel like eating candied fruit, if I can¡¯t eat candied fruit I will be unhappy, and once I¡¯m unhappy I won¡¯t be able to maintain the fireball, then you won¡¯t have anything to research.¡± Kaiser apologetically said a long line of words.


    Master Lee¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t leave the fireball, he shouted, ¡°Void, immediately go and buy all the candied fruits in town, go now!¡±


    The nearby disciples all laughed and looked at a young man wearing a white cloth robe, Void answered helplessly, ¡°Yes Master, I¡¯ll go immediately.¡±


    When he finished speaking, he couldn¡¯t resist smiling at Kaiser, immediately going to buy candied fruits, he knew Kaiser didn¡¯t really want to eat candied fruits, but it was for the many little boys and girls inside the temple.


    Liola was quite shocked by the strange scene happening in front of him, but Daylight laughed as if it were normal. Looks like Kaiser¡¯s gangster-like attitude, really is¡­ an ox transported to another world is still an ox!


    Daylight turned,and asked Liola, ¡°Liola, do you have plans on doing something next?¡±


    Liola shook his head, although this was the world he originally lived in, but in his earlier life, he really couldn¡¯t remember anything besides killing people. He did go outdoors to kill, but at that time he was as cold as ice, he didn¡¯t half remember what was between the organization and the destination. Truthfully speaking, to Liola this world was the real ¡®other world¡¯!


    Daylight nodded and said excitedly, ¡°Then we¡¯ll travel around the world of Martial Arts and on the way, we¡¯ll go to see the Martial Arts Symposium, ok?¡±


    Liola looked at Daylight in surprise. It was unexpected Daylight and Kaiser had already fully understood this world, perhaps even more so than himself¡­ Liola smiled bitterly.


    ¡°This is a temple, although the Taoists have some martial arts background, but they cannot compare to actual martial artists, I really want to see the true brilliant martial arts of this place.¡±


    Daylight got more excited as he was speaking, and in the end his eyes almost glowed.


    Liola listened to a ¡®Knight¡¯ like Daylight using terms like martial arts background and martial artists, he really felt strange.


    Liola thought for a bit, although he was the best Assassin in this world, but only a few had seen him. Even within his own Assassin organization, besides the Leader and Yasha¡­


    He suddenly remembered Yasha, the Leader¡¯s daughter. Liola smiled wryly in his heart. The one who should have come back didn¡¯t, and the one who shouldn¡¯t have, inevitably did.


    There shouldn¡¯t be anyone who knew how he looked like, except for a mountain of corpses, Liola guessed.


    Furthermore, Daylight and Kaiser weren¡¯t as fragile as Anise, plus they had the two Dragons, Baolilong and Flames. Even if they were found out by the Assassination organization, it would be very easy to run away, hence Liola nodded at Daylight.


    Daylight, who was crazed about Martial Arts, immediately stood up. If Lee San Niang didn¡¯t speak, he would have already ran into his room to pack his luggage.


    ¡°Are you really leaving?¡± Lee San Niang looked dismayed, especially towards Baolilong.


    Kaiser withdrew his fireballs (this made Master Lee whine nonstop), and flirtatiously said to Lee San Niang, ¡°Lee-jiejie~¡±


    The disciples all felt a chill.


    ¡°Back then our master asked us to travel everywhere, to expand our knowledge. Now we¡¯ve delayed for a year because of an accident, we really cannot delay anymore, but don¡¯t you worry, Lee-jiejie, we will definitely return to see you.¡±


    Kaiser widened his wet eyes and said shakily.


    Lee San Niang patted Kaiser¡¯s head with dismay, although this temporary brother was really mischievous, and in other temples would definitely be cast out for being too outrageous, but in her own temple where the rules were not as strict, Kaiser could really bring laughter and happiness to everyone.


    For this brother to leave, although Lee San Niang was reluctant, she knew men had lofty aspirations, and Kaiser, with a personality like a wild horse, couldn¡¯t remain in the temple.


    ¡°But you should leave Baolilong here, such a small child is really not fit for an adventure, very vulnerable to danger.¡± Lee San Niang looked at Baolilong with an extremely worried expression.


    What a joke, Baolilong¡¯s strength was even higher than Kaiser¡¯s.


    Kaiser kept the annoyed expression on his face, in his heart he whispered. Besides, they couldn¡¯t possibly stay. This 5 year old Baolilong hadn¡¯t grown an inch in a whole year. Some people had already begun to be suspicious. If Liola hadn¡¯t woken up when he did, Kaiser was going to have a discussion with Daylight about finding another place to stay.


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible. Jiejie, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how much Baolilong sticks to Liola, and Baolilong is so~~ restless. If Liola leaves, Baolilong would just run away to find Liola recklessly.¡±


    Kaiser opened both hands, with a helpless expression, ¡°Instead of him chase us, why not just let him follow from the start, it¡¯s also safer.¡±


    Lee San Niang recalled how Baolilong had stuck to its papa. Liola didn¡¯t wake for a year, but as a result, Baolilong didn¡¯t get closer to anyone else. Each night would even sleep only with Liola, it looks like Kaiser was right.


    ¡°Oh, then you need to take good care of Baolilong, after all he is still so little.¡± Lee San Niang looked at Baolilong pitifully.


    ¡°What?! You¡¯re leaving?! Then what will I do with my fireball research?¡±


    Master Lee became attentive and started shouting immediately, forgetting his carefully maintained poise, but then again, ever since Kaiser arrived, his poise had disappeared within the short span of one month.


    ¡°Damn geezer, I¡¯ve already told you more than a hundred times. This is my ¡®special ability¡¯, it¡¯s useless no matter how much you research!¡± Kaiser shouted rudely at old man Lee.


    Master Lee immediately showed a pathetic expression, ¡°I only wanted to research, I might not necessarily¡­ ¡±


    Kaiser instantly ignored old man Lee¡¯s looks. Old man Lee saw they really were leaving, and immediately threw away his poise and begged Kaiser to show him the fireball last time, but Kaiser obviously didn¡¯t want to hear it¡­


    When he saw Kaiser being so familiar with everyone else, and Daylight was also exuding an ¡®I am the peerless martial arts fan, give me martial arts, nothing else needs to be said.¡¯ appearance.


    Liola didn¡¯t really know if he should be feeling sorry for bringing them to this alien world. How could these two adapt so quickly? He, on the other hand, seemed to have trouble getting used to his own world¡­


    * * *


    Liola took a deep breath, looked at the door, summoned his courage and walked out of the room with determination.


    Walking down the very familiar narrow corridor, smelling the unique smell of the wood, it was much different from the metallic smell in Aklan, and Liola wondered which smell he was more accustomed to.


    Outside the room, Liola saw an even more familiar training ground. Compared to the training ground the Assassination organization had, this one had a lot less blood stench and complicated weapons. There were only a few wooden dummies and a weapons rack by the side with a lot of wooden knives swords rods, but most of them were wooden swords.


    Familiar stone walls, big wooden doors, Liola knew there would definitely be a couplet hung outside the doors, this was a temple, the couplets would have some relation to eradicating monsters.


    Everything was so familiar, yet so strange, Liola shook his head, the familiarity of a world he had lived in for 20 years actually couldn¡¯t compare to a year in Aklan.


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Upon hearing this shout, Liola looked down, Baolilong¡¯s tiny body was clung to his leg. It was too habitual, Liola sometimes forgot Baolilong was clinging to his leg.


    ¡°When papa was sleeping, mama spoke to Baolilong.¡± Baolilong widened its big pink eyes and said.


    Liola froze, he didn¡¯t understand what Baolilong meant.


    ¡°Mama said, if papa wants to stay here, then just happily stay here. But if you want to know the truth, and return to the former world, look for Anise!¡±


    Liola jarred strongly, he didn¡¯t think one bit Baolilong was fabricating stories, Baolilong would never say those kinds of things. It was definitely the result of another, to make the immature Baolilong remember, it must have been repeated a lot¡­


    Baolilong¡¯s mom, Liola instinctively stroked the Dragon Cross Necklace and recalled the gentle voice from it, was she Baolilong¡¯s mom?


    Liola frowned and habitually asked, ¡°What about you Baolilong? Which world do you want to stay in?¡±


    Baolilong raised its big eyes, ¡°Baolilong wants to be with papa¡­ ¡± But afterwards, Baolilong seemed a bit hesitant.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Liola asked in concern.


    ¡°Baolilong is a bit worried about his old papa.¡± Baolilong pouted its small mouth, ¡°The last time I saw the old papa, he was quite strange¡­¡±


    ¡®Miluo?¡¯ Liola thought back.


    The Miluo at Yaron Plains, and the Miluo who went to Aklan Academy to declare war for unknown reasons. There was a troubling feeling in his heart¡­


    Liola jiggled his head, even so, what could he do? Finding Anise was impossible, Anise had already died, she died in front of his eyes¡­


    As Liola was trapped in his frustration, there was someone stumbling towards the temple door, which was also the place where Liola was stood.


    Liola observed closely, the person seemed like the one who had just been ordered to go and buy candied fruits¡­ Void. Liola could somewhat remember this person¡¯s name.


    ¡°Quickly inform master, there is a demon at the western gate¡­ ¡± Void stopped short, his body turned weak and fainted.


    Liola hurriedly caught Void¡¯s falling body, Liola then realized Void was splattered with slimy green mucus.


    Liola immediately covered himself with a thin layer of aura to prevent the mucus from affecting him, then he carried Void and flew into the temple.


    However, an ear-splitting noise made Liola stop in his tracks and looked behind. Even Liola could see the said demon, truly, there was no word but demon to describe the monster he saw.


    A gigantic spherical green body was rolling around the city, the body was as tall as Baolilong and incited many screams. Liola coldly watched the thing in front of his eyes, why did he not know of such things existing in his world?


    Right then, without Liola needing to inform them, those in the temple each walked out and stared in a daze at the thing they saw, even Taoist who had eradicated monsters before had not seen such a strange creature.


    ¡°Horrible demon!¡±


    The first to react and said those words wasn¡¯t any of the Taoist, but the outraged Daylight. He immediately ran back into his room, intending to grab his pike.


    Kaiser lazily walked out, when he saw the thing, he received a shock, ¡°Holy crap! What the hell is that thing?¡±


    ¡°Daylight he¡­¡± Liola was very shocked by Daylight saying ¡®horrible demon¡¯, if he hadn¡¯t known Daylight was not a native of this world, he would have thought that Daylight was a righteous Warrior.


    Kaiser shrugged, ¡°This is the reason why we ended up being free labor, because there is a hot-blooded fellow. Basically, Daylight is quite famous around here. Everyone calls him ¡°Blue Sea Lancer. I think the name is quite vulgar, but Daylight doesn¡¯t really care.¡±


    Right then, Daylight hurriedly ran back out carrying a pike, dressed as a typical Warrior. He shouted once and together with the many disciples, he rushed towards the green spherical thing.


    Liola puzzledly looked at Kaiser.


    Kaiser held his cheek and said, ¡°Maybe, our little Aklan Troublemaker Squad would revolutionise this world, and the leader would probably not be either of us.¡±


    Martial Arts Symposium¡­ Would it be better to not compete? Liola started pondering this question.

 Volume 7, 1: Master Lee’s Request

    Volume 7, Chapter 1: Master Lee¡¯s Request


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    When he saw Daylight and the Taoist rushed towards the monster, Liola also focused on the nearby battlefield, in case Daylight lost to the monster and got injured.


    ¡°These days, demons have been on a steep increase, could it be an omen of disaster coming from the heavens?¡± Master Lee twisted his beard, looking worried for the country and its people.


    ¡°What he meant was, in the past year, a bunch of random monsters started running amok, and he doesn¡¯t know if he should move the entire monastery to a place deep in the mountains to escape the monsters.¡± Kaiser turned his head, and explained to Liola.


    Liola sank into his thoughts for a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t seem to remember these monsters before.¡±


    ¡°These creatures do not seem like ordinary demons, for they fear neither wooden swords, nor paper talismans or the like.¡±


    Master Lee had already been sporting a long face for some time. Had it not been for Daylight¡¯s and Kaiser¡¯s arrival (mostly the former), their Overlook would probably suffer heavy casualties while dealing with these monsters.


    It was then when Master Lee felt thankful his daughter had the foresight to let them stay, although Lee San Niang¡¯s main reason of letting them stay was Baolilong.


    ¡°What he means is, they really couldn¡¯t handle these monsters.¡± Kaiser added.


    ¡°The world of Martial Arts has also been in turmoil, so the Alliance Leader decided to hold a Martial Arts Symposium, so everyone could come together and form a plan against these demons.¡±


    Master Lee sighed in admiration for the Alliance Leader.


    ¡°That Alliance-whatchama-call-it took out some trashy sword, and a bunch of idiots risk their lives in the competition. Not to mention afterwards, they still have to break their heads to fight against the monsters. This move is practically the epitome of hiring free labour.¡± Kaiser grunted in disdain.


    [T/N: Martial Arts Symposium is, in Martial Arts novel, often depicted by someone pulling out a famous sword as the reward and then a ¡°friendly¡± competition to see which faction/person was the strongest. It often ends up being quite a brutal clash between factions and many people die as a result.]


    Liola nodded slightly. However blunt Kaiser¡¯s words were, they were direct and accurate. These words also made Master Lee seem a bit hesitant, and it looked like the Alliance Leader¡¯s noble image in his mind had been shaken.


    * * *


    In the distance, because this green ball of a monster had been too huge, Daylight had convinced the Taoists to leave the battle, and they were watching the battle from the sidelines.


    Daylight had commanded Flames back into the form of an enormous Dragon, and he had been circling in the air. Daylight looked like he was trying to figure out where to start. The monster in front of him looked like a giant green ball, and he could not figure out where its weakness was.


    Other than rolling around, flattening buildings and leaving behind some sort of poisonous slime, it didn¡¯t seem to do anything else.


    ¡°Flames, try using Blaze.¡±


    Daylight commanded Flames, and it circled around towards the green ball.


    A stream of fire spit out of its mouth aimed towards the green ball. However, there wasn¡¯t much of a reaction from the green ball, and it continued to roll around. Nevertheless, its body began to warp. Where the fire reached, it was beginning to melt, and the opening seemed to have oozed out a large quantity of green liquid.


    Daylight beckoned Flames to stop the fire. He closely examined the green ball: it looked like an apple somebody took a bite out of. It was so juicy, liquid came flowing out of it. The streets were covered in green slime, which forced the Taoists to back up even further.


    Daylight frowned as he looked at the terrifying slime. Although this monster could be easily handled, but hitting it would cause its slime to run everywhere. With only one hole in it, it had covered an entire street. If they were to melt the entire green ball, they would probably be sinking in dozens of streets in slime.


    ¡®Master!¡¯


    Daylight was shocked, and used telepathy to answer Flames, ¡®What¡¯s up?¡¯


    ¡®Its Highness, Baolilong, said its master asked it and me to catch this monster and throw it outside of the city before we melt it.¡¯


    Hearing this, Daylight looked in Liola¡¯s direction, and saw a giant White Dragon flew out from behind the Overlook, heading directly towards them.


    Having a solid plan, Daylight felt reinvigorated. After commanding Flames to rendezvous with Baolilong, the two Dragons grabbed ahold of the giant green ball with their four claws, and their four wings flapped vigorously.


    The citizens and the Taoists all widened their eyes to look at the unbelievable scene. Although they had already seen the Blue Sea Lancer commanding a demon, they were shocked to see yet another ¡®demon¡¯, and this one was even more eye-catching than the previous.


    Everyone began to praise and admire, and of course, what was said the most were things like ¡°The Blue Sea Lancer is really true to his name¡±.


    With Baolilong and Flames¡¯ efforts, the giant green ball had been slowly lifted off the surface.


    Finally, with a giant flap of those four Dragon wings, the two Dragons soared into the sky with the green ball, and they headed towards the outside of the city. The citizens and the Taoists all cheered, and everyone formed a long line of a tail, following in the direction where the Dragons went.


    It wasn¡¯t until that the green ball had been melted into a pile of slime that Daylight returned to the city with Flames.


    At this time, the citizens in the city had all gathered at the gate. As soon as they saw Daylight riding Flames, everyone cheered, ¡°Blue Sea Lancer! Blue Sea Lancer!¡±


    Daylight saw the scenery and was stunned. His face was completely red.


    Seeing everyone¡¯s cheers, Daylight awkwardly commanded Flames to stop at the city gate, but then everyone rushed up to him and made him feel completely overwhelmed.


    He shyly laughed as he answered, ¡°This is something I should do.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°¡­ Maintaining justice is something I should do. There is no need to thank me.¡± Kaiser raised his chest, pretending a steady tone.


    Liola tilted his head and glanced at Kaiser¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Psh!¡± As soon as he finished, Kaiser pouted, ¡°I know what that guy is saying by just looking at him.¡±


    Liola suddenly felt something at his leg. He lowered his head, and saw Baolilong had ran back already and tightly held onto his leg. Of course, the White Dragon in the sky was nowhere to be found.


    Everyone was busy with Daylight, and no one seemed to have noticed a ¡°demon¡± was missing.


    Daylight, with his long tail of people, walked with smaller Flames back to the Overlook. Helplessness filled his face, probably caused by not knowing what to do with the people following him, especially the one with a bright red outfit and her face was caked in makeup.


    She was carrying a couple dozen pictures of girls, and her mouth never stopped moving, boasting a dozen sentences per second. She was what the locals called a ¡°matchmaker¡±.


    Seeing this crowded scene, Kaiser leisurely raised the giant gun from his hips, and then raised it high.


    Boom!


    As he he fired a shot, successfully shutting up the endless mouths of the matchmakers. The scene went completely quiet, and Kaiser satisfactorily blew the barrel of his gun.


    He then announced, ¡°Void, close the doors!¡±


    Void was stunned, but then he obediently walked to the Overlook door, and closed the heavy, wooden doors slowly.


    Daylight took the opportunity to duck into the monastery. The matchmaker who was right behind Daylight wanted to come in with him, but Kaiser showed a devil-like smile, and pointed his mysterious weapon at the matchmaker. She got scared and withdrew her foot in the door, fearing the next boom sound would be accompanied by her own screams.


    When the sound of the Overlook doors closing reached Daylight¡¯s ears, he sighed in relief. Although he didn¡¯t agree with Kaiser¡¯s method, he couldn¡¯t help but feel thankful to him for getting him out of the mess.


    ¡°Hero Daylight is definitely righteous and benevolent.¡± Master Lee praised, but then said with concern,


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate we did not ascertain the origin of this demon, and you, Hero Daylight, are about to embark on your journey. I don¡¯t know how many demons my apprentices could hold back, nor do I know if other cities also suffered similar attacks from these demons. They may not be as lucky as us, residents of Sky City, meeting Hero Daylight and company.¡±


    Daylight¡¯s face was also filled with worry, ¡°True, after I¡¯m gone, there isn¡¯t anyone who could protect Sky City. So if those monsters come again, what is everyone going to do?¡±


    As he said so, Daylight¡¯s stare floated over towards Kaiser. He seemed to have been infected by the same habit as Liola. Whenever a problem they couldn¡¯t solve arises, they would turn to the one with the most wicked ideas.


    Kaiser rolled his eyes several times, but Daylight used his indomitable will of a Knight, and held Kaiser with his gaze, as if he was saying ¡®If you don¡¯t think of something, I¡¯ll never leave¡¯.


    Kaiser could no longer bear with Daylight¡¯s stare, and he vented his anger on others, ¡°Damn geezer! What do you want us to do, just say it, stop acting all pretentious!¡±


    Master Lee stroked his beard as he smiled. Other people might see it as a wise laugh, but in Kaiser¡¯s eyes, it was a sinister laugh after an evil man reached his goals!


    ¡°I believe that, after Hero Daylight leaves, the Overlook should still be able to withstand attacks for a brief while. I simply hope Hero Daylight could find the source of these demons. As long as the source of these demons is taken care of, the citizens will, naturally, go back to their peaceful lives.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant. I understand.¡± Daylight nodded. He had already thought of this before, so Master Lee¡¯s request was right on spot.


    ¡®Is this guy addicted to doing unpaid work?¡¯


    Veins popped on Kaiser¡¯s head, but he knew, with Daylight¡¯s nature, this was something they couldn¡¯t get away from. Kaiser¡¯s only wish was this journey to find the source of the demons wouldn¡¯t spring off other troubles.


    ¡®Devil Gle, sir, you have to protect your most precious descendant, Kaiser, and bless him with peaceful life in this new world!¡¯


    ¡°Also, I hope you can bring Void. On one hand, you can help me train this little runt, and on another, if you do manage to take care of the demons, you could tell Void to come back to report to me.¡±


    As Master Lee finished speaking, Void had an eager look on his face.


    For the year they had been here, he had seen Daylight¡¯s strength. Had it not been the fact he already had a master, Void would¡¯ve knelt before Daylight and called him his master¡­ even though Daylight was two years younger than Void himself.


    ¡°What! Let¡¯s forget the fact you¡¯ve made me an unpaid worker! And now you ask us to feed another mouth too?¡± Kaiser yelled, ¡°Never! Never EVER!¡±


    Void heard Kaiser, and was shocked. He immediately began to look at Daylight with pleading eyes, but Daylight put on a helpless expression.


    Void then hesitatingly looked towards Liola, but he was unsure if he could help him solve the problem at all¡­ If Daylight, as the eldest apprentice, couldn¡¯t convince Kaiser, how would the second apprentice, Liola, have any say in it?


    To Void, these three disciples were quite weird, because they had no concept of seniority. Even as the eldest, Daylight seemed to obey every word Kaiser said, even if he would ignore Kaiser when it came down to matters of justice.


    Liola frowned slightly, then asked Void, ¡°How familiar are you with the roads and the situation in the Martial Arts world?¡±


    This question stunned Void, until Master Lee coughed to remind him. He then immediately responded, ¡°Ve-very familiar. I travel across the Martial Arts world often. I didn¡¯t return to the Overlook until a bit over a year ago.¡±


    Liola looked at Kaiser, and said, ¡°We¡¯re not familiar with around here. It would be better to have a guide.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s words, Kaiser almost wanted to beat him up.


    For Kaiser and Daylight, it was natural for them not to be familiar with ¡°here¡±, but he could not believe the guy who lived here for twenty years was telling them he wasn¡¯t familiar with it¡­


    However, Kaiser didn¡¯t doubt what he said at all. The ice cube Liola indeed may live in a place for twenty years and not know the sky was blue.


    ¡°Understood, then let¡¯s bring him.¡± Kaiser answered unwillingly.


    Hearing this, Void was so happy he was about to jump for joy. He looked at ¡°second disciple¡± with gratitude, and said with the utmost respect, ¡°May I ask where you intend to go?¡±


    ¡°Places where there¡¯s money to be made.¡±


    ¡°Places where there are Martial Arts masters.¡±


    Void looked awkwardly at the two who spoke.


    Kaiser, whose eyes had turned into $$ signs, and the Martial Arts fanatic Daylight.


    The person he asked, Liola, didn¡¯t seem to respond at all. Void thought about the two people¡¯s requests, and suggested, ¡°The Martial Arts Symposium is the place where masters gather, and there¡¯s much money to be made if you win.¡±


    ¡°Martial Arts Symposium it is!¡± Daylight and Kaiser said in unison, which was a rare sight to be seen.


    As soon as they finished, they both sank into their own fantasies. Of course, one of them dreamt of fighting with Grandmasters of Martial Arts, and the other dreamt of being crushed to death under too much money.


    Liola began to think what his excuse would be when Kaiser forces him to enter into the Symposium competition. If he competes in the competition, there would always be a chance someone would recognize him.


    Even though most of the righteous factions wouldn¡¯t have anyone who would recognize him, but there¡¯s no telling whether Assassin organization would send someone in undercover.


    * * *


    To make it in time for the Symposium, Daylight and Kaiser both hurriedly packed their bags, and the next morning, they both stood in front of the Assassin¡¯s door. They then both began to knock on the door forcefully, and Kaiser even yelled. These noises made not only awakened Liola, they also made sure nobody in the entire Overlook could sleep.


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s loud mouth, Liola suddenly jumped up. Not being able to notice their approach before they began to knock on the door was something rare for Liola, and noticed his body was feeling weak. But for someone who had been bedridden for a year, just feeling weak was already in great condition.


    Liola ignored his body¡¯s protest, and still got up to do his morning routines. In the eyes of an ordinary person, he wouldn¡¯t look any different from before.


    When Liola was halfway through, Kaiser couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He kicked open the wooden door, and stared at Liola from the door as he washed his face, not to mention tapping his feet repeatedly on the ground.


    Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t affect Liola at all, and he continued leisurely going at his business. Finally, when Liola was slowly wiping his hand, Kaiser couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and he grabbed Liola and rushed out.


    ¡°Breakfast, breakfast!¡± Kaiser murmured as he rushed. No matter how big of a hurry they were in, he could never forget to eat!


    When Kaiser reached the dining room, Lee San Niang also came in holding a plate of breakfast. It was actually not time for breakfast yet, considering it was barely dawn.


    Since Lee San Niang knew Kaiser for a year, she knew despite the fact Kaiser looked lazy, if there were money or food involved, he will definitely be in the front line. Therefore, she got up early for this occasion and prepared breakfast for Kaiser, otherwise Kaiser wouldn¡¯t have anything to eat.


    Seeing the hot steamed buns and dishes in her hands, Kaiser couldn¡¯t help but gulped, and then dragged back the mouth-watering Dragon who flew out from behind Liola¡¯s back, otherwise, the dishes would be thrown on the ground by Baolilong¡­ Dragons didn¡¯t really care whether or not food came in dishes.


    Lee San Niang looked as Baolilong angrily grabbed Kaiser¡¯s green hair, who also began to scream and trying to get away.


    These two children¡¯s actions made Lee San Niang laugh, and at the same time, tried to intervene, ¡°Okay, okay, stop fighting, go and prepare to eat.¡±


    Kaiser said ¡°Okay¡± as he still pinched Baolilong¡¯s face once more before he walked towards the table and sat down.


    Baolilong, whose cheeks turned red from the pinching, pouted with watery eyes, and then turned around to run into Liola¡¯s arms.


    When Liola and Daylight both sat down, Kaiser, who never cared much about manners, began to gulp down food as if he hadn¡¯t eaten in years. With a steamed bun in his left hand and a meat bun in his right, he would often put his head down to drink soy milk.


    After Baolilong had cried in papa¡¯s arms, it also climbed up to the table and began to fight with Kaiser over food, where they were both ate creating a mess.


    Liola, on the other hand, chewed slowly. Daylight was hearty, but his actions were elegant nevertheless.


    Before long, Void stepped in with panic on his face. Seeing his hair was completely messed up, everyone knew he hurried here as soon as he woke up.


    He started apologizing as soon as he came in, fearing Kaiser would turn back on his decision to take him. Kaiser, however, rolled his eyes at Void, and then continued his fight for food with the Dragon.


    Then, the few people of importance in the Overlook had also gathered around, but they didn¡¯t enter the ¡°battle¡± for food.


    Seeing Baolilong and Kaiser were already at the point with open mouths and drawn guns, no one dared to come close to the dining table. They all stood on the side, watching and trying to hold back the laughter.


    When they were about done eating, Master Lee had arrived. As soon as he entered the dining room, Lee San Niang hurriedly took out a plate with specially prepared breakfast and brought it to the Master¡¯s seat.


    Master Lee didn¡¯t touch the breakfast, but instead asked, ¡°Are you leaving today?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, otherwise we might not make it to the preliminaries.¡± Kaiser said with food in his mouth.


    ¡°Kaiser, I must remind you to use that weapon of yours called a ¡®gun¡¯, less often.¡± Master Lee showed a rare, caring expression.


    Kaiser looked at the geezer strangely. Gun was his only weapon. What was he to do without a gun, fight bare-handed?


    After Master Lee¡¯s reminder, Void nodded his head too and said,


    ¡°Kaiser, I¡¯m familiar with the Martial Arts world. Most Martial Arts practitioners wouldn¡¯t be like people here, and be open minded to all sorts of strange things. Taoists, after all, come in contact with many mysterious, unexplainable things, so they could accept your strange special abilities, but for Martial Artists¡­ They may take you for someone from the wicked factions.¡±


    ¡°Wicked factions? What¡¯s that?¡± Kaiser frowned.


    ¡°They are the wicked ones in the Martial Arts world, such as Assassins. Those people are often pursued by the righteous factions.¡±


    Void was just giving an example, but he had no idea he had hit the jackpot.


    Kaiser kept calm and answered, ¡°Understood¡±.


    Daylight, who never lied, had a strange look on his face, and he buried his face in food. They all knew, Liola was the number one Assassin, and therefore practically the devil figurehead of the wicked factions.


    Kaiser was also the descendent of a devil. Lastly, Baolilong¡¯s biological father was probably about to be the devilish Dragon¡­ In reality, their team¡¯s wicked vs. righteous ratio was three to one; it was practically overwhelming with evil.


    ¡°If you really can¡¯t be accepted by the righteous factions, come back to the Overlook, and let me clarify your identities. The righteous factions should overlook it on my behalf.¡±


    Master Lee smiled lightly.


    For the first time, Kaiser did not add any explanation to Lee¡¯s words, and all he did was scratched his face uneasily.


    Daylight stood up and said earnestly on behalf of his companions, ¡°Thank you, very much, Master Lee. We are indebted to your care over the last year.¡±


    Master Lee stroked his beard, smiled and nodded.


    He looked at the two youngsters in front of them with personalities so different, they were heaven and earth apart: one is earnest, and the other was rather weird.


    The former had helped the Overlook plenty, and even if he hadn¡¯t, his righteous and amicable personalities would¡¯ve conquered the hearts of everyone at the Overlook.


    The latter, however, made everyone shook their heads as soon as they arrived. But after getting to know him, everyone understood his awkward personality. Every time Daylight would go out to fight monsters, Kaiser would always say he wouldn¡¯t care about what happens. But as soon as Kaiser heard something, he was the first one to run out.


    ¡°Daylight, Kaiser, you two need to take good care of Liola. He had just recovered from being seriously injured. If it weren¡¯t for the fact you¡¯re trying to make it to the Symposium, he should really stay here and nourish his body.¡±


    Lee San Niang said as she worriedly looked at Liola. Although he didn¡¯t look out of the ordinary, he was, after all, someone who had slept for a whole year. It was quite strange to her that Liola seemed to be free as he did.


    ¡°Who cares about him! It¡¯s more like he should be taking care of me.¡±


    Kaiser ignored everything Lee San Niang said. Liola was the best Assassin and on the same level as Lancelot and others, he would never need people like Kaiser to take care of him, right?


    ¡°Little runt, he is your second brother after all. Let¡¯s forget the fact you don¡¯t respect elders, but at least you should remember the friendship between apprentices.¡± Master Lee sighed and shook his head.


    ¡°He¡¯s my second ¡®older brother¡¯, correct. And as my ¡®older brother¡¯, he doesn¡¯t take care of me and instead wants me to take care of him? That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± Kaiser retorted tactlessly.


    ¡°You little runt¡­¡± Master Lee got so angry that he blew his beard and popped his eyes.


    They finished breakfast under the constant lectures of Master Lee and retorts from Kaiser ridiculous enough to make people spit food out of their mouths.


    Kaiser and Daylight had stayed there for far more than Kaiser had originally intended.


    After finishing their last breakfast in this place, Daylight went as far as saying goodbyes to all the people one-by-one. There were probably about a hundred people in the Overlook, and at least dozens of which were familiar with Daylight. After Daylight had finished, it was already pretty late. It was then when they started on their journey. Practically everyone in the Overlook stood at the entrance, sending these five people off.


    ¡°You have to take good care of Baolilong.¡± Lee San Niang unwillingly let go of Baolilong from her arms. If it were possible, she really wanted to keep this child, but unfortunately Baolilong was practically glued to Liola.


    Daylight showed a strange expression again. Being terrible at lying, he really could not make a proper response to Lee San Niang. Asking him to take good care of someone else¡¯s Dragon? It would be far too hard on him. He already had enough trouble taking care of Flames. As soon as he thought about it, Flames unhappily prodded its master with its head.


    Liola nodded lightly. Lee San Niang misunderstood Liola¡¯s cold personality as the possibility he was unhappy with taking care of Baolilong, and she said with a cold face,


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to take care of the child, you could leave him here. I will treat him as my own.¡±


    Who knew as soon as she said so, Baolilong began to desperately struggle out of Lee San Niang¡¯s arms. It then swung its little chubby legs to run back to Liola, and then grabbed his legs and wouldn¡¯t let go, fearing papa would really do what Lee San Niang asked and leave it here.


    ¡°Lee-jiejie, don¡¯t misunderstand.¡± Kaiser saw something was wrong with the atmosphere of the conversation, and quickly clarified,


    ¡°My second brother is just a bit introverted, so his response would be like this. Even if you were to swing a knife at him he wouldn¡¯t make a sound. But, don¡¯t worry, he will take good care of Baolilong, like he had done so for a long time before. If he really treated Baolilong poorly, then Baolilong wouldn¡¯t be as attached to him.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is true.¡± Lee San Niang looked at Liola¡¯s cold face, and remembered he hadn¡¯t said much since he woke up, so perhaps it was indeed his personality.


    Lee San Niang nodded, and then turned worriedly and said to someone else, ¡°Void, please do look after Baolilong for me. He¡¯s too playful, and I¡¯m afraid he might run away when you guys aren¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    Holding his bags, Void earnestly nodded, and promised, ¡°Jiejie, Void will look after Baolilong.¡±


    Lee San Niang seemed to have relaxed a bit, and then she looked at Kaiser,


    ¡°Kaiser, behave on the road. The world of Martial Arts is vast and dangerous, and if you keep running your mouth, sooner or later you will mess with the wrong person.¡±


    Hearing Lee San Niang¡¯s words, Kaiser still maintained his playful laugh, and said, ¡°Fine fine, I¡¯ll behave, a little.¡±


    Master Lee stroked his beard and said,


    ¡°Well, it is getting late, and you guys should hurry out of the city. If you delay any longer, the citizens will be awake and you guys will have trouble getting out.¡±


    Daylight walked in front of Master Lee and bowed with clasped hands, then said earnestly,


    ¡°Then we shall part here. We¡¯re grateful for the shelter during the past year, and Daylight will never forget your kindness.¡±


    Master Lee nodded with a smile, ¡°Not at all, and we still have to burden Hero Daylight with my little apprentice. I also hope you will keep looking out for the matters with the demons.¡±


    Kaiser interrupted the two while making a vomiting gesture, then yelled impatiently,


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! If I hear your nauseating conversation some more, my breakfast would go to waste.¡±


    * * *


    Daylight scratched his face, and then walked back to his companions. It was the team of four people and two Dragons reluctantly parted from the Overlook.


    When they walked onto the streets, the few citizens walking there had recognized the Blue Sea Lancer, and they were all rushing up to them. Kaiser and company decided immediately to let Flames shapeshift back to its giant form. Everyone jumped onto Flames¡¯ back, and they flew out of the Sky City.

 Volume 7, 2: The Sun Faction

    Volume 7, Chapter 2: The Sun Faction


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Hey, could we go down? It¡¯s boring up here!¡±


    After flying for only a short while, Kaiser had already began to complain. They were surrounded by nothing but blue skies and white clouds, so he had gotten bored quickly.


    It just happened there wasn¡¯t much to do sitting above the Dragons besides enjoying the scenery, and Kaiser didn¡¯t dare to sleep, fearing he might fall out of sky in his sleep, straight into hell to report there. It would be terrible.


    Daylight heard Kaiser complaining, so he asked Void, ¡°Would we be able to make it to the Symposium if we walk?¡±


    Instead, however, Daylight saw Void looking strange.


    He was practically lying on his stomach on Flame¡¯s back. On one hand, he grabbed a spike on Flames¡¯ back, and the other held Daylight¡¯s robe. His face was pale, his hands were trembling. Anyone who looked at him could tell he was scared for his life.


    He didn¡¯t even hear Daylight¡¯s question. It wasn¡¯t his fault, really. In this world, even if someone had the ability to fly, they could never fly this high up in the air, and their speed would never match the kings of the sky ¡ª Dragons.


    Void had, of course, never flown up so high in the air. Despite the fact he had seen Daylight flying countless of times, but it was still very different from experiencing it first-hand. Void was so nervous, his whole body was sweating.


    ¡°Void? You don¡¯t look so well, are you okay?¡± Daylight saw Void¡¯s pale face and then immediately asked in a caring manner.


    In the world he came from, most mounts could fly, and there were also countless flying Mechas; therefore, there were rather few people who would be scared of flying. Daylight didn¡¯t realize Void was pale because he was scared of flying.


    It wasn¡¯t until then that Void snapped out of it, and then forced a smile. ¡°I-I¡¯m f-fine.¡±


    ¡°Fine my ass! You¡¯re fine but I¡¯m not. It¡¯s boring as hell, I¡¯m going down!¡±


    Kaiser sat with his back against Flames¡¯ large spike, and crossed his legs with a face full of dissatisfaction.


    Liola, on the other hand, was holding Baolilong in his arms. It looked as if he was sitting quietly on Flames¡¯ back, but in fact he was busy communicating with Baolilong via telepathy. The little guy was very unhappy: not only did its master sit on another Dragon, even itself had to sit on the Dragon instead of flying freely.


    Though Liola had already clarified that, due to Void¡¯s presence, Baolilong couldn¡¯t transform into a Dragon, but Baolilong didn¡¯t care. Liola¡¯s attempts to comfort it seemed to have failed, and he feared Baolilong would forcefully transform into a Dragon, so he said to Daylight,


    ¡°Let¡¯s just walk.¡±


    Seeing two of his companions asking so, Daylight was about to ask Void about whether they would have enough time, but then Flames told its master the little White Dragon¡¯s unhappiness.


    Daylight then knew it was an emergency, so he hurried Flames towards the ground, in order to prevent Void finding out Baolilong¡¯s true identity.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The sudden descent made Void forget all his manners. He hugged Daylight¡¯s leg tightly with his eyes closed.


    Kaiser saw the usual dashing Void was now hugging onto a leg, then immediately started to laugh unsympathetically. He would even sometimes yell playfully, as if he was riding on a roller coaster.


    The child-like Baolilong also followed Kaiser¡¯s lead and began to yell, and these two let out a few crazed yells.


    When Flames finally landed on the ground, Void couldn¡¯t even move his body. He sat frozen on Flames¡¯ back with his lips trembling, and didn¡¯t say anything for a long time.


    Kaiser laughed loudly as he jumped down, and at the same time began to examine their surroundings.


    It looked like they landed within a mountain range, and they were surrounded by mountains. However, the place they were was actually a grassland, and they seemed to be surrounded by forests.


    Kaiser scratched his head, and turned to ask, ¡°Hey, Void, where are we?¡±


    Void stood up despite not being able to fully recover. He carefully examined the area for a while, and after seeing the dark brown tree trunks and nearly spherical leaves, he yelled, ¡°Crap, we¡¯re in the mountains controlled by Bandits.¡±


    ¡°Did we go the wrong way?¡± Kaiser asked impatiently.


    ¡°No.¡± Void laughed bitterly, ¡°It¡¯s even a shortcut of sorts.¡±


    Kaiser raised his eyebrows, ¡°Then what do you mean by ¡®crap¡¯? Don¡¯t yell if nothing is wrong.¡±


    Void explained bitterly,


    ¡°These mountains are plagued by Bandits. Anyone passing here is guaranteed to be robbed again and again, endlessly. Therefore, unless you¡¯re willing to pay their protection fees or hire a large amount of bodyguards, we have to go around it. It¡¯s just when we were flying, I was too nervous, and forgot to ask Daylight to turn¡­¡±


    Void began to blush as he spoke. Remember what he had done moments ago, he turned around and said to Daylight, ¡°Daylight, sorry, that was rude of me.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Daylight smiled. He didn¡¯t seem to mind what happened at all.


    ¡°Bandits? Who¡¯s afraid of them?!¡± Kaiser grunted in disdain, completely ignored any threat Bandits may pose.


    Though they may not be able to fight amongst the rank-X individuals in Aklan Academy¡­ but while they were here, even Daylight alone had not lost a single fight, and now Liola was awake too.


    ¡®Bandits? Who knows who¡¯d be robbing whom if we run into them!¡¯


    Void was still very worried. Although he knew Daylight was strong and he himself could also fight, Bandits were never alone, and they often came in hundreds.


    Void thought even enough ants would be able to bite an elephant to death, not to mention they were practically on the Bandits¡¯ turf. He had also heard the leaders of the Bandits were actually powerful people who chose to hide away from the rest of the world.


    ¡°I think we would be better off taking a detour, even if it takes more time. If we rush at full speed, we can still make it to the Symposium.¡±


    ¡°Rush at full speed? No, thanks! If there¡¯s a shortcut, we¡¯re taking it. We could walk slowly, so why would I want to rush?¡± Kaiser snapped in response.


    Seeing how stubborn Kaiser was, Void felt very helpless. He slowly understood why Daylight, as the eldest and stronger than Kaiser, would often look helpless in front of Kaiser.


    Void could only turn to look at the second eldest, who had actually convinced Kaiser before, hoping he could persuade Kaiser again.


    Liola, however, was deep in his own thoughts. He felt the scenery around here looked familiar, especially the strangely shaped trees.


    When had he been here? Did he simply pass here before, or was his target here?


    He thought about it again and again, but Liola was unable to recall anything.


    Kaiser hurried them impatiently, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I still want to go play in a few cities. There¡¯s nothing here but trees. Boring.¡±


    ¡°Playing in a few cities?¡± Void heard and his face changed, as if he was having some difficulties.


    ¡°What? There¡¯s a problem with playing too?¡±


    ¡°No, just the money Master gave i-is a bit limited, and we have to pay a fee just to go into the city¡­ I had originally planned to just stay in the villages¡­¡±


    Void¡¯s face blushed again.


    Taoists didn¡¯t make much money, especially when they often helped voluntarily, therefore losing even more than making an income.


    Despite the frequent appearance of monsters, and the thankful people in the city had donated quite a bit of money to the Overlook, but it only slightly relieved their financial problems¡­ Minus the money eaten away by Baolilong with its endless pit of a stomach, there was not much more money than usual.


    ¡°Damn, don¡¯t tell me the money that geezer gave isn¡¯t enough?¡± Kaiser looked as if pain ran through his body as soon as he talked about money. He then pointed his finger at Daylight and started blaming him,


    ¡°All your fault! Don¡¯t know you know to get money for getting rid of demons? You were unpaid each time you did it, and now, look at us! We¡¯re forced to sleep on the streets.¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s accusations, Daylight said without any hesitation, ¡°Maintaining justice is a Knight¡¯s responsibility.¡±


    Void was stunned, and murmured, ¡°I said villages, not on the streets.¡±


    Unfortunately no one heard his clarification. Kaiser glared angrily at Daylight, whom plainly looked back, not thinking he had done anything wrong.


    ¡°Don¡¯t care! I¡¯m going to play. I¡¯m in an alien world, and what the hell am I doing here if not look around!¡±


    Kaiser said without caring whether Void would find out the truth, because he cleverly spoke in the language in his world.


    Daylight frowned, and responded in his native language,


    ¡°How could we play? Master Lee¡¯s request hasn¡¯t been taken care of, and we should get to the Symposium as soon as possible to see what we could do to help. I don¡¯t want the more important business to be delayed by playing around. If those monsters use my absence to their advantage and attack around, things will be bad.¡±


    Void felt anxious too. Even though he couldn¡¯t understand their conversation, but judging from their facial expressions, Void knew they were in a heated argument. However, Void didn¡¯t know what to do to stop them.


    ¡°Some people are fighting not far from here.¡±


    Liola said after being quiet for a long while, but he sank back into silence. It seemed to have attracted Daylight and Kaiser¡¯s attention, especially Daylight, who said with an almost worried tone, ¡°It¡¯s not someone getting robbed, right? Liola, where are those people?¡±


    Hearing Daylight ask, Kaiser immediately felt something was wrong, but before he had time to stop Liola, he already pointed in a direction. Daylight had already called forth Flames, and charged towards the direction Liola pointed.


    Kaiser didn¡¯t even have time to grab Daylight¡¯s sleeve. The only thing he could do was stare at the smoke left behind by Daylight with his mouth wide open, and it was a long while before he said,


    ¡°Damn! I knew the Aklan Troublemaking Squad changed leaders.¡±


    * * *


    As soon as Daylight had gotten a direction from Liola, he went immediately. The reason why he went so quickly was, other than fearing Bandits would hurt someone, Daylight knew Kaiser would oppose him rescuing people. But he knew as soon as he was engaged in a battle, even Kaiser would back him up depending on the situation.


    Without running for long, Daylight heard the sound of battle coming from afar. He took a moment to be in awe of Liola¡¯s power. ¡®Being able to notice people were fighting from this far away, what kind of ability was that?¡¯


    Although he was in awe, he didn¡¯t stop. It wasn¡¯t long before he could see people fighting.


    Daylight was fervent in maintaining justice, he knew he had to observe the situation before jumping into the battle. So he stopped to carefully examine the situation.


    It was fortunate Daylight stopped, because the situation was a mess. It wasn¡¯t something like what Daylight had imagined: a few hundred Bandits surrounding a dozen of people.


    Instead, it was a few hundreds fighting a few dozens, and it looked like they were evenly matched.


    To be exact, the few dozens of people were wearing conforming clothes: white, short-sleeved shirt and green pants, and there was an icon in the shape of a sun on their chests. The few hundred people did not wear anything similar, and their clothing looked rugged.


    Additionally, there were two conspicuous people inside: a man and a woman. They were not wearing matching clothes, their attires were more luxurious.


    The man had outstanding looks with his elegant eyebrows and starry eyes. His face was also carrying a bit of pride. With his silk-woven white shirt, he was dashingly pushing back enemies with his long sword.


    The woman was no ordinary person, either: she was dressed in a fiery red, and she carried a long whip. The whip was ferociously beating the people with rugged clothes like a viper.


    Even though the hundreds of people had the numerical advantage, but their individual¡¯s capability to fight was inferior compared to those few dozens, and far lower than that of the man and the woman.


    Although the dozens of people seemed to be at a slight advantage, they were still facing hundreds of people. If the situation continued, when the hundreds of people were all dead, then they wouldn¡¯t have many left either. Seeing the situation, the man and the woman seemed a bit panicked, but at the same time also helpless.


    Daylight, who was observing on the side, couldn¡¯t seem to decide. He wasn¡¯t sure which side he should be helping.


    He¡¯d help the ones losing, but they were the ones who had the bigger numbers, and they didn¡¯t look like they were the friendly kind of people. He could also help the other side, but helping the ones who had advantage wasn¡¯t something Daylight could do. So he simply stood there, trying to resolve his dilemma.


    ¡°Hey, w-what troubles did you run into?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s high-pitched voice suddenly exploded behind Daylight. Although he was trying to catch his breath, his loud voice didn¡¯t change. It was loud enough to draw the attentions of those hundreds of people. They had not originally noticed Daylight there, but now they were all looking in his direction. The battle had frozen temporarily.


    Kaiser saw these few hundreds of people looking at them, and he immediately yelled unhappily, ¡°Look, look! You troublemaker, now you¡¯ve messed with hundreds of people.¡±


    ¡®Did I mess with them?¡¯


    Daylight was yelling injustice in his mind. Despite the fact arriving at the scene first, the person who drew their attention wasn¡¯t him. Even Void and Liola both thought the person who caused all this was someone else.


    Some of the people there used this opportunity to attack their opponents. In an instant, the battle resumed.


    Since the two sides were almost evenly matched, no one really seemed paid any more attention to the few of them on the side, especially since one of them looked simply like a child, and thus probably no one strong.


    ¡°Wow, a few hundred people battling each other is quite a good show.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes shone as he looked around.


    Daylight asked strangely, ¡°Haven¡¯t we already seen a few people in battle? Did you forget the time when Violet Academy ambushed us?¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes at Daylight,


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same. It was either Mechas or Knights fighting one another, and it wasn¡¯t nearly as good of a show as this. These people are fighting with fists and knives, and they are using all sorts of moves. Haha, look over there, they¡¯re even using ¡®Monkey Steals the Peach¡¯.¡±


    [T/N: A martial arts technique where one drops on his knees with one arm up to block, and the other hand is thrust into the opponent¡¯s crotch, often resulting in the end of the fight.]


    Daylight was just about to criticize Kaiser¡¯s immature mentality when Void suddenly yelled in shock, ¡°People from the Sun Faction?¡±


    As he yelled, the man and woman both looked in their direction. But due to the tense situation of the battle, they didn¡¯t look for long.


    ¡°Sun Faction?¡± Kaiser seemed very curious.


    Void nodded and answered, ¡°It¡¯s a quite famous faction in the world of Martial Arts. The sun on their clothing is the symbol of their faction.¡±


    Daylight looked towards the battle, and surely enough there were a sun symbol on their white shirts.


    Daylight asked immediately, ¡°Then the other sides are Bandits?¡±


    Void looked towards them, then nodded with certainty, ¡°Judging from their outfits, they should be a group of Bandits in these mountains.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! Despicable Bandits.¡±


    Daylight yelled as he grabbed the pike from his back. And after another rush Kaiser couldn¡¯t respond to, Daylight had jumped into the fray.


    At first, neither side know whether he was a friend or foe; but after Daylight swung his pike around a few times and beat the Bandits onto the ground, the people from the Sun Faction cheered, while the Bandits grunted.


    Void saw Daylight had joined the battle, and thought the Sun Faction actually had a decent reputation in the Martial Arts world. Considering he had been involved in Martial Arts for years, he felt it was necessary for him to help the Sun Faction, and thus he drew his long sword and went in after Daylight.


    At first, neither side didn¡¯t seem to care about two young men who had joined the fight, because they thought it wouldn¡¯t have affected the battle much, but they soon realized their mistakes.


    Void¡¯s strength was already comparable to the man and woman there, not to mention Daylight, whose power was considerably beyond Void¡¯s, especially because he was holding a pike with a wide attack range. He would swing it around and put many people to the ground. Had it not been Daylight¡¯s merciful heart, he would¡¯ve used all his power and aura, and the battle would¡¯ve ended in an instant.


    Nevertheless, this was enough to swing the battle towards the Sun Faction¡¯s favor.


    The Bandits saw something was wrong. If they let Daylight and Void continue to participate in this battle, they would lose for sure. They glanced around, and saw Kaiser and Liola standing on the side.


    The former had a child-like face, despite being twenty. They thought he looked sixteen, seventeen at most. Liola also looked like the delicate type, and if anyone had to guess, most would say around twenty, not to mention the five-year-old child on Liola¡¯s back.


    These three people, in the Bandits¡¯ eyes, were the best people to be taken hostage to get the two out of battle.


    After looking at each other, about a dozen of them broke off from the battle, and charged towards Liola, Kaiser, and Baolilong.


    The man in the battle who saw their intent, he yelled, ¡°My friend, your companions are in danger.¡±


    Daylight and Void heard and looked towards Kaiser.


    Sure enough, a dozen or so Bandits held their blades and charged at him. Void was a bit worried. If Kaiser used his fireball, would the Sun Faction become suspicious of such supernatural spells?


    Daylight glanced at them, and said a few prayers for those Bandits, then went back to fighting.


    Kaiser looked at the people charging at them, and said with raised eyebrows, ¡°Hey, Liola, you do it. I don¡¯t want to use magic and then get treated like a monster. Don¡¯t forget, old man Lee asked me not to use fireball, right?¡±


    Liola nodded, and took a few steps forward.


    When the dozen Bandits reached him, they pressed all their weapons against his neck. Then Liola¡¯s figure warped a bit, and after a dozen cracks, the Bandits were all frozen. Then their bodies all fell to the ground along with the noise of their weapons hitting the floor. Liola was once again standing next to Kaiser.


    Unfortunately, very few saw this spectacular scene. Even the man who warned them before had not noticed anything because he had his own battles to fight.


    In the place where yells and shouts covered the air, the sounds of a dozen bodies and weapons fell to the ground was far too miniscule to be heard. Everyone just realized the dozen Bandits had been defeated, and secretly said to themselves the two standing on the side were not as harmless as they seemed.


    After a while, the Bandits could no longer continue with their losses. The few leader-like Bandits yelled loudly, ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡±


    These Bandits had been wanting to run for a while because they couldn¡¯t handle their opponents, and they feared they would receive cruel punishments for doing so. But now they heard their leaders asking them to retreat, they ran faster than they had ever ran before.


    After the command for withdrawal was given, every Bandit dropped everything they did and ran.


    ¡°Damn! You damn Bandits, don¡¯t run!¡±


    The woman yelled with rage, but no Bandit would even acknowledge her. After she pursued them for a while, the delicate man yelled at the woman, ¡°Sister apprentice, stop, don¡¯t forget these are the Bandit Mountains.¡±


    The woman stopped with dissatisfaction on her face, but she had no choice but obey her brother apprentice¡¯s orders.


    Seeing the Bandits had backed off, the Sun Faction people sighed in relief, and showed how exhausted they were. The man said something to his people, and a few dozen of them moved to rescue the injured, then put up a few tents to treat the wounded.


    After commanding the others, the man immediately walked towards Daylight and others. Kaiser and Liola had already walked to where Daylight was. The man showed a very handsome smile, he then bowed and said,


    ¡°Thank you, everyone, for lending us a hand. I am Auyan Dri of the Sun Faction, and on behalf of everyone, thank you for what you have done here today.¡±


    Knowing the people behind him don¡¯t know anything about the Martial Arts world, Void stepped forward to be their spokesman.


    He knew this man should not be neglected, because Auyan Dri was the son of the leader of Sun Faction, and also one of the young prodigies in the Martial Arts world.


    Void immediately returned the formalities, and said courteously, ¡°No, no, Hero Auyan Dri, we are both in the same Martial Arts world, and helping each other is something we should do. Hero, you do not have to be so polite.¡±


    Auyan Dri was just about to pay back his respect, when Kaiser suddenly interrupted,


    ¡°Hey! Damn Void, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re telling them we don¡¯t want any compensations? If you dare to make us do unpaid work again, I¡¯ll skin you alive! I¡¯m warning you!¡±


    Upon hearing Kaiser, both Auyan Dri and Void were stunned.


    Void looked towards Liola with a bitter face, whom had no idea why Void always liked to ask him for help. He was obviously the one who was least familiar with Void, but Liola knew he had to do something. He then covered Kaiser¡¯s mouth, ignoring his muffled cries and struggles.


    Void looked at Liola thankfully, then resumed his courtly manners with Auyan Dri, ¡°M-my companion loves to joke. Hero Auyan Dri, please don¡¯t take him seriously.¡±


    Despite the fact Auyan Dri looking at Liola as he covered Kaiser¡¯s mouth suspiciously, but he didn¡¯t forget to reply to Void, ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why. That brother¡¯s sense of humor is quite interesting.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Wow, what is this? So cute!¡±


    The woman yelled out in surprise, and then ran towards the little Flames.


    Daylight had been in shock, and knowing the prideful Dragons don¡¯t like to be touched by humans other than their master, Daylight immediately grabbed Flames and tried to comfort it via telepathy. He hoped Flames wouldn¡¯t get angry and shoot out a few fireballs.


    The woman who grabbed air didn¡¯t seem to give up, and thought Daylight wouldn¡¯t let her hug Flames. Her face went red from anger, and grunted unsatisfactorily, ¡°Such a stingy man.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, miss, Flames doesn¡¯t like to be touched by others. I don¡¯t want him to harm you.¡±


    Daylight smiled apologetically and explained. Seeing Daylight¡¯s smile, the woman felt she couldn¡¯t really go against a man with a smile, especially when the smile was from a man as handsome as Daylight, even if he wasn¡¯t quite as handsome as her brother apprentice.


    With his amiable personality and earnest smile, she really couldn¡¯t muster up any hatred. Most people who saw Daylight would probably feel the same way.


    ¡°I am Long Yulie.¡± Long Yulie, with a faint blush, seemed to act a bit more shyly unlike she did before.


    ¡°Yulie? I am Daylight.¡± Daylight smiled lavishly.


    Hearing Daylight call her name directly, Long Yulie complained with a flushed face, ¡°How could you call my name directly?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Daylight was shocked and he didn¡¯t know what he had done wrong. He had always called people by their names directly, even for the Princess Lanski, Daylight would only add a title for Knights.


    Long Yulie wasn¡¯t actually serious. Seeing Daylight¡¯s shocked expression, she burst out in laughter.


    Auyan Dri seemed a bit angry. He looked at Flames and frowned, ¡°This¡­ what is this?¡±


    Void hurriedly explained, ¡°I am from the Sky Overlook from Sky City, and we are actually all Taoists. This is a demon converted by Daylight and became his helper.¡±


    ¡°Taoists? So that¡¯s why.¡± Auyan Dri nodded, but still showed some hatred towards Flames, especially after knowing it was a demon.


    ¡°Why has Hero Auyan Dri come into the Bandit Mountains? In my humble guess, these are your servants, and they¡¯re not the helpers you could use against these Bandits.¡±


    Void thought it was strange. Even though with the Sun Factions¡¯ strength, they wouldn¡¯t be afraid of entering the Bandit Mountains, but at least they shouldn¡¯t be here with only servants?


    Auyan Dri smiled uneasily, and his eyes looked over to Long Yulie. He said,


    ¡°This was my mistake, I had overestimated myself. Because we were in a hurry to go to the Martial Arts Symposium to help the Alliance Leader, I took the shortcut, thinking I could handle the Bandits or simply scare them away, who knew¡­¡±


    Despite what Auyan Dri said, Void didn¡¯t think for a moment it was true. Even though Auyan Dri was still young, he had seen the world of Martial Arts and knew the dangers within it, so he would definitely never bring a few dozen servants into the Bandit Mountains.


    Seeing his actions, this bad idea was probably from Long Yulie, and Auyan Dri probably didn¡¯t want to seem weak in front of the lady, so he really did charge into the Bandit Mountains.


    Although Void knew Auyan Dri was lying, Daylight had no idea. After hearing Auyan Dri, he really thought it was true, and nodded rapidly,


    ¡°You are right. The sooner we all get to the Symposium, the better. How about we travel together? That way no one would fear Bandits.¡±


    Of course, he was talking about people on Auyan Dri¡¯s side. Daylight had no fear at all. No matter how many Bandits there were, there wouldn¡¯t be enough to overcome Daylight and Void. In worst case scenario, they could use Flames to escape, and not to mention they still had Liola.


    Auyan Dri, of course, wouldn¡¯t refuse such an offer. Just having Void and Daylight was very helpful in the battle before. He then invited Daylight and others to lunch.


    Kaiser, whose mouth was covered, was struggling to refute Daylight¡¯s suggestion, had quieted down as soon as he heard Auyan Dri was inviting them to lunch.


    Liola let go of him too. He knew Kaiser had been convinced by food, and therefore probably wouldn¡¯t say anything ridiculous again.

 Volume 7, 3: Liola’s Confusion

    Volume 7, Chapter 3: Liola¡¯s Confusion


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Your abilities are truly amazing. I didn¡¯t know Sky Overlook had such hidden talents.¡±


    As everyone was eating simple dried food, Auyan Dri asked Void curiously while occasionally glancing at Daylight.


    Void¡¯s knowledge of Martial Arts was indeed impressive, but Auyan Dri had already heard of Void and knew he was a Taoist from the Overlook. However, Auyan Dri had never heard of Daylight and, as much as he was unwilling to admit, Daylight was indeed stronger than him, despite they were about the same age. When has this young prodigy appeared in the Martial Arts world?


    Void explained with embarrassment, ¡°In fact, I am the only one who is truly from the Overlook. Daylight and others are Taoists from afar, but in order to exchange studies with us, they had stayed at the Overlook for a year. So, in a sense, they are related to the Sky Overlook.¡±


    Void patiently explained the details.


    As for the idea Daylight and others stayed to exchange studies, it was at least half true¡­ at least Kaiser often let Master Lee observe his fireballs, and they often taught Kaiser and Daylight how to use the wooden sword. So¡­ it was kind of an exchange.


    The reason why Void explained as such was because of Master Lee¡¯s orders to explain Daylight¡¯s Taoist identity so they wouldn¡¯t be mistaken as people from wicked factions.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Auyan Dri nodded with relief. He had originally been suspicious of Daylight¡¯s Taoist¡¯s identity.


    ¡®How could someone with such incredible Kung Fu be a Taoist?¡¯


    But after Void¡¯s explanation, Auyan Dri believed Daylight¡¯s identity. At the same time, he glanced over at Daylight who chatting with Long Yulie, and Auyan Dri seemed to be a bit upset.


    At this time, Daylight felt helpless because of Long Yulie. He was bombarded by her questions, and since he didn¡¯t know how to lie, he could only grunt in reply.


    ¡°Are you really a Taoist?¡±


    Long Yulie widened her eyes as she examined Daylight. No matter how she looked, the person in front of her didn¡¯t look like a Taoist. Out of ten people looking at him, 9.9 of them would say he looked like a young hero.


    Daylight couldn¡¯t even answer the first question, and he said with a frown, ¡°Well¡­ technically I don¡¯t count as one¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not?¡± Long Yulie widened her eyes.


    ¡°W-wait, I¡­ am¡­ uh¡­¡± He really didn¡¯t want to lie, but he couldn¡¯t possibly tell the truth, Daylight¡¯s face was extremely bitter, and kept throwing looks at Kaiser.


    ¡°So are you or are you not?!¡± Long Yulie was beginning to be a bit angry.


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    Kaiser was originally having fun watching Daylight¡¯s awkwardness, but he saw Daylight was about to spill the truth, so he went and intervened,


    ¡°We are technically not Taoists because ¡®Taoist¡¯ is a word you use. For us, however, it¡¯s something different. Other than the name, we also learn different things than Taoists. For example, our Kung Fu is much better than Taoists.¡±


    ¡°Is that so, then why do you call it?¡± Long Yulie asked curiously.


    ¡°Knight.¡± Kaiser used his native language to speak the word, and then switched back to the language of this world, ¡°That is what we are.¡±


    ¡°Knight.¡± Long Yulie tried to imitate Kaiser¡¯s pronunciation, and then happily pointed at Daylight, ¡°Knight?¡±


    This time, Daylight firmly nodded. He was indeed a Knight. He also understood why Kaiser didn¡¯t say Sorcerer instead, because then Daylight wouldn¡¯t have to violate his principle of not lying.


    Daylight threw a thankful look at Kaiser.


    ¡°This demon is so beautiful. You sure I can¡¯t touch it?¡± Long Yulie finally said her real purpose in getting to know Daylight.


    Daylight looked at Flames uneasily, whom seemed a bit happy. Long Yulie said it was beautiful, did indeed make him feel quite happy, but touching it? It was out of the question!


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not willing.¡± Daylight laughed apologetically.


    Long Yulie seemed deeply disappointed, but she soon seemed to forget, then asked curiously again,


    ¡°The man with black hair has a really special eye color! It¡¯s silver. Is he also a Knight?¡±


    Daylight felt uneasy again, since Liola technically wasn¡¯t a Knight¡­ Fortunately, Liola had already noticed Daylight¡¯s expression and nodded at Long Yulie.


    ¡°And the cute little child, what¡¯s his relationship with you?¡±


    Long Yulie widened her eyes again. Her master had plenty of apprentices younger than her so she was interested in Flames more than children, but nevertheless she still liked cute children.


    Seeing Daylight¡¯s frozen face, Kaiser gave him a snappy look, then began to talk to grab Long Yulie¡¯s attention, ¡°Let me tell you, this child¡¯s story is very tragic¡­¡±


    Of course, what followed was the ridiculous story he had been telling people in the Overlook, except this time it was even more tragic and pitiful.


    Baolilong became the child who saw demons abuse its parents¡¯ body to death, and the village where it lived had everybody eaten alive by demons. The only reason Baolilong lived was because it hid in a rice sack, etc.


    The story was so moving even Daylight almost jumped up and swore on his honor to kill those despicable demons.


    While Kaiser was telling the tear-jerking story of Baolilong, Liola actually got telepathic messages from Baolilong,


    ¡°Baolilong is hungry. Baolilong doesn¡¯t want to eat this dry food. Baolilong wants to eat expensive steaks. Baolilong wants to sleep on soft beds, not these wooden beds¡­¡±


    ¡°Such a poor kid. How can this child¡¯s life be so tragic, wooo~¡±


    Long Yulie start bawling. She stood up and ran towards Baolilong. Luckily Liola responded quickly and grabbed Baolilong back and into his arms.


    Baolilong¡¯s temper was much worse than Flames. If Long Yulie had really grabbed it, the result would have been disastrous.


    ¡°He¡¯s shy, and he doesn¡¯t like anyone else touching him.¡± Liola explained calmly.


    Long Yulie probably understood the reason after hearing Kaiser¡¯s heartbreaking story, so she didn¡¯t plan on scaring him. She immediately went back to her seat, and frequently looked towards Baolilong with sympathy.


    At this time, a Sun Faction servant walked towards Auyan Dri and reported respectfully,


    ¡°Young Master, we have the statistics of our casualties. Sixteen of our people had lost their lives, and they had been buried together as per your instructions. Additionally, there are ten people with severe injuries, and about three dozen with minor injuries.¡±


    ¡°Tell everyone to find materials to make ten carts. No matter what, we must be back on our way by tomorrow morning at the latest.¡± Auyan Dri commanded with a frown.


    It was best for them to get out of these Bandit Mountains as soon as possible. Had it not been for the support of Daylight and others, Auyan Dri might have even considered leaving these ten people behind and take anyone he could to get out of these mountains.


    ¡°Understood.¡± The person who reported seemed to sigh in relief. He thought the strict young master would¡¯ve chosen to go back on the road immediately.


    ¡°Could I ask you to help me guard through the night? My servants are fairly weak, and I¡¯m afraid they cannot possibly take up such an important responsibility. Out of everyone on my side, I may be the only one who could do it.¡± Auyan Dri said with embarrassment.


    Although it was impolite of him to say only one person from his side could do it, but at the very least, he thought he shouldn¡¯t let a woman like Long Yulie guard for the night.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to keep watch at night.¡± Kaiser said with a wave of his arm, ¡°My second brother is so strong no one could get close without him knowing.¡±


    Hearing what Kaiser said, Auyan Dri¡¯s attention had completely moved to Liola.


    Auyan Dri did not pay much attention the quiet man before, until Kaiser had said something about him. But after a short while of observation, Auyan Dri did not sense anything special about this man.


    He smiled courteously, ¡°Your second brother is very dashing, but lives are at stake, and it would be safer to have night watchers.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re happy to do it, then do it, but count me out.¡±


    Kaiser was quite familiar with Liola¡¯s abilities. Even if Kaiser was awake and prop his eyes wide open to examine the surrounding, he wouldn¡¯t notice the enemies sooner than a sleeping Liola, so why would he do something as pointless as night watching?


    This left Auyan Dri absolutely no choice, and his face seemed to immediately change, while Void was also sweating on the side.


    Void was well aware of how Kaiser was. At first, he would get so angry at Kaiser until his face turned red, but after spending time with Kaiser, Void had often laughed so much his face would still turn red.


    Unfortunately, Auyan Dri wasn¡¯t just a Taoist from a small monastery. As the young master of the Sun Faction, being submissive in the face of humiliation was not something he could do.


    Fortunately, Auyan Dri knew he could not possibly leave the Bandit Mountains without the people in front of them, and he didn¡¯t dare hoped these few needed his help to get out.


    Four people and a child getting into the Bandit Mountains could only mean one thing: they were one hundred percent certain they could get out.


    If he were to anger them, and they leave, Auyan Dri wasn¡¯t confident he could hold out for the next Bandit attack. Therefore, despite Kaiser¡¯s rudeness, Auyan Dri swallowed his pride, though his face clearly showed this fact.


    ¡°Well then, Auyan Dri will be the night watcher.¡±


    Daylight saw Auyan Dri saying this forcefully, he hurriedly said, ¡°I¡¯ll be on the lookout with you. Liola, could you join us?¡±


    Liola nodded. Though what Kaiser said was correct, but since Daylight had asked, Liola didn¡¯t really care much about being on the lookout for one night.


    * * *


    Under the starlight, Liola stood still quietly. Other than the wind brushing through the leaves and the sound of some animals, it was completely quiet. Liola willingly accepted the worst shift of the night watch: the one in the middle.


    Normally speaking, it was the worst shift to have. As soon as you fall asleep, you have to wake up to be on the lookout, and then after your shift was off, you wouldn¡¯t have much time to sleep before you have to wake up again.


    But this didn¡¯t really affect Liola. In fact, if it weren¡¯t for the fact it may bring Auyan Dri¡¯s attention to himself, he¡¯d rather just be on watch duty for the entire night.


    Liola did indeed need time to think himself. He had been here before, Liola was very sure, but he could not remember why or when he was here.


    Even if he didn¡¯t care much for the place he went as an Assassin, he wouldn¡¯t have forgotten the names of the places where he undertook a mission. This whole day Liola had been trying to recall the places he had been to throughout his missions, but he still could not remember after having gone through all of them.


    This problem had bugged Liola for the whole day, which made him even more quiet than usual. Liola observed around him, trying to figure out why he felt familiarity with this place, but no matter how much he stared at the trees or the ground, Liola couldn¡¯t find the slightest of clues.


    ¡°Say, this caterpillar is pink and it looks rather peculiar, but that¡¯s not the reason why you¡¯re staring at it, is it?¡±


    Kaiser crouched next to Liola, and used a tree branch to poke at the pink caterpillar. Even though he was asking Liola a question, his eyes were fixed on the caterpillar.


    Liola, on the other hand, didn¡¯t move at all. He knew of Kaiser¡¯s turning in bed and finally getting up, but he was curious as to why Kaiser would give up sleep. What was he doing up? It couldn¡¯t possibly be playing with the caterpillar.


    But Liola wouldn¡¯t open his mouth first; he just quietly waited for Kaiser to tell him first.


    After Kaiser had finally gotten bored with the caterpillar, he lay on the grass with his hands on his head. He stared into the night sky and said,


    ¡°There are so many stars here, and it¡¯s much prettier than my world.¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s words, Liola reflexively raised his head to look into the sky. When the images of the stars projected into Liola¡¯s silver eyes, a familiar feeling rushed into Liola¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Say, after coming to this world, we are actually considered quite strong! Tsk, a Gold Knight could¡¯ve made our lives miserable, and we even had quite a few run-ins with rank X people like Lancelot. It¡¯s a miracle that we¡¯re still alive!¡±


    Having heard Kaiser, Liola lowered his head and looked towards Kaiser, and then said with gravity, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    As soon as Liola apologized, Kaiser immediately jumped up, and his blue eyes were wide open. He screamed beyond belief, ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡±


    Liola paused briefly then said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you blaming me for drawing Gold Knights and Lancelot to you?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s blaming you? Listen to what I¡¯m saying!¡± Kaiser yelled with a bad mood, ¡°I¡¯m comforting you, okay?!¡±


    ¡®Comforting me?¡¯


    Liola frowned as he remembered what Kaiser said, but it didn¡¯t seem like those were words of comfort. Liola¡¯s eyes were filled with confusion.


    After glaring at him a few times, Kaiser reluctantly explained,


    ¡°I¡¯m saying, since we¡¯re living just fine, perhaps even better than in my world, you don¡¯t have to mind dragging us to an alien world. You pulling a long face all day is putting me in a bad mood.¡±


    Liola went silent again. He thought about it for a long while before he understood what Kaiser meant.


    He asked tentatively, ¡°You thought I had a long face all day because I dragged you into this?¡±


    Kaiser replied suspiciously, ¡°Yes! You don¡¯t talk much usually, but you¡¯ve gone a little too far today. You were practically a statue! You don¡¯t have to talk but at least you don¡¯t have to look at rock.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t think Kaiser would misunderstand him. He shook his head and explained, ¡°That¡¯s not why. I have been thinking, so I¡¯ve been quiet.¡±


    ¡°Thinking? You actually think? Isn¡¯t your head filled with stones?¡± Kaiser yelled, making a big deal out of it.


    ¡°¡­¡± Liola decided not to respond, and went straight to the explanation,


    ¡°This place seems very familiar, as if I¡¯ve been here before. But I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve never been here on a mission, so I¡¯ve been thinking why this place feels familiar.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it? You should¡¯ve told me sooner so I wouldn¡¯t sacrifice my precious sleep time to comfort you!¡±


    Kaiser felt pained thinking about his lost sleep, but since he was already up, and to stop Liola¡¯s stone-like face, Kaiser forced himself to think of a few possibilities for Liola.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not a place you¡¯ve been on a mission, then perhaps it was a place you and Anise had passed by while running away?¡±


    Liola immediately shook his head. Those experiences were something Liola would never forget in his lifetime, no matter how small each detail was.


    Every tree Anise had leaned against, every rock that had made her trip, or the clothes of their ambushers, Liola could never forget any of it. Liola was absolutely certain he and Anise had not been here while running away.


    ¡°No¡­?¡± Kaiser scratched his head, and asked, ¡°So other than being on a mission or running away, when did you ever leave the organization?¡±


    ¡°Never.¡± Liola answered without thinking. This question was too simple: other than missions, the Leader had never allowed him to leave.


    Hearing this, Kaiser immediately frowned. It was a long while before he clapped and said,


    ¡°I know! You must¡¯ve dreamt of it while sleeping!¡±


    Having hoped Kaiser could help him find the truth, Liola was deeply disappointed. He pouted and then ignored Kaiser.


    Seeing Liola unhappy, Kaiser scratched his face, and murmured to explain, ¡°Well, according to what you said, other than in a dream, how else could you have been here?!¡±


    After saying this, Kaiser shut his mouth and lay down, and started counting the stars.


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s murmur, Liola sighed. He, too, knew what Kaiser said was right, but Kaiser¡¯s attitude made him a little angry, but it subsided shortly. He thought it pointless to have an argument with his companion over a place he felt familiar.


    Imitating Kaiser, Liola, too, lay down. He looked up at the star-filled sky and the surrounding trees with circular leaves. Liola had originally decided to forget about the familiarity with this place, but this gesture made him feel even more strikingly familiar.


    Liola said, ¡°It was this angle. I had seen this place at this exact angle.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly sat up, and examined Liola. He frowned and spun his brain quickly.


    ¡®Lying down?¡¯


    Kaiser didn¡¯t think Liola was the type to leisurely lie down to look at the stars. Could it be possible he was beaten down to the ground? But for someone as strong as Liola the Assassin, being bested was something he would never be able to forget, so there was no reason for Liola not to remember.


    Kaiser was thinking so much his head was about to explode. And while Liola was waiting for Kaiser¡¯s answer with anticipation, the tent where Kaiser slept suddenly opened, and something small fumbled its way out of the tent and headed towards them. As it walked, it rubbed its eyes while yawning.


    Liola frowned, hugged the little guy and asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you asleep?¡±


    ¡°Baolilong wants to sleep with papa.¡± Having said so, Baolilong twisted around in Liola¡¯s arms, and then fell asleep again.


    Liola didn¡¯t mind, and then continued to wait for Kaiser¡¯s answer.


    Kaiser, on the other hand, held his eyes wide open and stared at Baolilong in Liola¡¯s arms. After a long while, he asked,


    ¡°Liola, how old were you when the Leader found you?¡±


    ¡°Around five.¡± Liola answered a bit strangely.


    ¡°What was the situation when he found you? Do you remember?¡± Kaiser asked anxiously.


    Liola frowned, ¡°Not sure. Leader told me I was lying on a rock alone at the time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±


    Kaiser yelled excitedly, but Liola looked confused.


    Kaiser immediately explained, ¡°You are an idiot. If you¡¯ve never been out of the organization other than being on a mission, and you¡¯re sure you¡¯ve never been here on a mission.


    Since you are also sure you hadn¡¯t been here when you were running away from the organization, then the only possibility that remains is you were here before you were in the organization!


    Since you can¡¯t remember it clearly, you must¡¯ve been very young. And because you remember this place from this angle, you were lying on a rock alone, and that¡¯s why you remember the sky and the trees the most.¡±


    Liola was stunned. Hearing Kaiser¡¯s explanation, he agreed with the guess. Was this¡­ the place where the Leader found him?


    ¡°But there are no rocks around. So perhaps the place you were found is around here, but not here.¡± Kaiser shrugged, then asked, ¡°Should we go look for it?¡±


    Liola shook his head. He just didn¡¯t like feeling puzzled, but since he knew the answer, then he didn¡¯t care anymore. He had no plans to look for that rock. It was just a rock he had lain on. To Liola, the rock was no different than any other rock.


    ¡°I knew you weren¡¯t going to look.¡± Kaiser yawned and stretched. He then stood up with his back bent over, then said lazily, ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep.¡±


    Liola nodded.


    ¡®You¡¯re finally going to sleep!¡® Everyone in the tent was crying, because they would finally not be awakened by sudden screams¡­


    Unfortunately, even without Kaiser, the heavens still didn¡¯t seem to want to let everyone sleep. Liola had already noticed, about three hundred meters away, there were many people closing in quickly.


    Liola yelled without any hesitation, ¡°Enemies incoming!¡±


    His yell surprised everybody. Luckily they had already been awakened by Kaiser¡¯s loud voice. They jumped up and walked out of the tents with their weapons following Liola¡¯s yell.


    Daylight, on the other hand, had gotten used to Kaiser¡¯s loud voice and was actually sound asleep. It wasn¡¯t until he heard Liola¡¯s yell that he jumped up in surprise and walked out of the tent with his pike, arriving after the dozens of servants.


    Daylight looked at Liola, and he knew what Liola was capable of. Daylight asked without any hesitation, ¡°Which direction? How many?¡±


    Liola pointed his hand towards a direction, and said to Daylight, ¡°Over there, about seven hundred, in a fan formation.¡±


    Hearing the number, everyone felt numb. The number of people who could fight on their side was a measly sixty or so, thirty of which carried varying degrees of injuries. How could they possibly fight against them?


    At this time, Auyan Dri walked out of the tent in a panic. He heard already heard the numbers from Liola, and his face was hard to look at.


    He forced a calm and asked, ¡°Does anyone of you have any good plans?¡±


    Hearing Auyan Dri¡¯s question, Daylight answered directly, ¡°We will fight them head-on.¡±


    With Daylight¡¯s reply, Auyan Dri¡¯s face sank even more. He reminded Daylight, ¡°Auyan Dri believes facing seven hundred opponents would be quite problematic, no?¡±


    Daylight thought momentarily and answered, ¡°If their strengths are comparable to the ones from earlier, then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Auyan Dri¡¯s was shocked. Although the strengths of the Bandits were quite low, and Auyan Dri wouldn¡¯t even bother to fight with such people under ordinary circumstances.


    However, they were Bandits after all, who had muscular bodies and familiarity with battles. If he were to fight against a few Bandits, he wouldn¡¯t dare to underestimate them, especially since they were at a ratio of one to ten.


    ¡°May I dare to ask how you¡¯re so confident, Hero Daylight?¡± Auyan Dri felt uneasy.


    Could the man in front of him be the pinnacle Martial Arts Master who had been hiding his skills all along? He looked at Daylight¡¯s young face, and remembered the rumor that when one reaches the peak of Martial Arts, their physical appearance regress. Could it be true?


    Because Auyan Dri suddenly spoke formally, Daylight, who had only learnt the language for a year, struggled to understand him. However, he understood roughly the meaning. He frowned, and didn¡¯t say anything, because Daylight had sensed that the enemies were near.


    He said to Auyan Dri, ¡°Please, everyone stand back. Li¡­ My second brother apprentice and I will handle this.¡±


    Auyan Dri heard him, he was even more surprised. ¡®Two of them could take care of seven hundred Bandits?¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡±


    Yulie also appeared, just in time to hear what Daylight said, but not in time to stop Daylight.


    She panicked and yelled towards Auyan Dri, ¡°Hurry! Cousin, hurry! We have to go and help him!¡±


    Hearing the panicked scream, Auyan Dri¡¯s face turned pale. Countless thoughts rushed through his mind, and finally a hint of jealousy appeared on his face.


    He tried to comfort Yulie, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Hero Daylight has amazing strength, and his brother was able to notice the enemies from hundreds of meters away. They must be very confident they could defeat them, so they asked everyone to stand back.¡±


    ¡°Really? Apprentice brother.¡±


    Yulie still seemed undecided, but she did remember that Daylight¡¯s strength was indeed astonishing, and he even had a demon with him. His brother apprentice also seemed to have incredible strength. Perhaps they really were confident.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true.¡± Auyan Dri smiled, and then his heavy eyes looked towards Daylight.


    * * *


    At this time, they could also see the shadows in the grass. They were only about fifty meters away from Daylight and Liola.


    Daylight asked, ¡°Liola, could you help? Or perhaps let Baolilong help?¡±


    Liola thought about it and said, ¡°I¡¯ll just let Baolilong help.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t like to fight for no reason, especially when the opponents were simply Bandits without Martial Arts background.


    Daylight nodded. Seven hundred Bandits could probably be handled by two dragons. Daylight commanded the little Flames next to him, and it immediately flew into the sky, then turned into a ten-meter tall Dragon.


    Flames let out a mighty Dragon roar, and the Bandits beneath it felt shivers ran through their spine. When they looked up at the sky, they felt a chill sent down to their bones, turning them into lifeless statues.


    Flames flew low and passed by Daylight, whom beautifully jumped onto its back.


    A Snow-White Dragon also appeared behind them: while everyone was in shock, Liola used the opportunity to ask Baolilong to transform, and then fly up to rendezvous with Flames.


    Both sides were in terror as the Dragons appeared. As ambushers, the Bandits burst into screams and tears, especially when they saw Flames and Baolilong flying towards them.


    The Bandits lost all will to fight, and they were fumbling as they tried to escape. Those who were in the front were now furthest in the back, and they were pushing others away as they ran. Everyone was terrified of being caught by these giant creatures.


    Having its dreams disturbed by these intruders, Flames was not going to let them go easily. It threw a series of fireballs at them.


    Although Flames obeyed the order to not kill, these fireballs were enough to put a few dozen of them onto the ground while moaning in pain. Despite their injuries, they desperately rolled around, trying to extinguish the fire on their clothing.


    Baolilong, who followed the lower ranked Dragon Flames, wasn¡¯t willing to let it have all the fun, so it threw out a ball of lightning.


    The difference between the fireballs and the ball of lightning, was it exploded when it reached above the Bandits¡¯ heads, and bolts of lightning shot out from it. If the people underneath were Knights, they could have stopped the bolts with a simple aura.


    Unfortunately, they were ordinary Bandits, and even if some of them had basic Ki techniques, they couldn¡¯t stop the electric bolts. A few more dozens of them fell to the ground as a result.


    Although they¡¯ve only lost a seventh of their forces, the terrifying powers of these two creatures had broken their will to fight, and they all ran for their lives.


    Daylight saw the Bandits trying to escape while panicking, and his benevolence caused him to command Flames to stop. When he wanted to also stop Baolilong, it seemed to have gotten addicted to playing.


    Baolilong charged forward, and threw balls of lightning in every direction, each downing a dozen Bandits. Even though they only had minor injuries, but their charred skins looked horrific.


    The Bandits desperately ran away from the ¡°white beast¡±, but Baolilong chased them, and dropped a dozen more with lightning.


    They screamed and ran in a different direction, but the winged ¡°beast¡± was much faster than them, and it caught up with more lightning bolts. Then the Bandits turned around to run the other way¡­


    ¡®Baolilong, stop playing.¡¯ Liola frowned, and said via telepathy.


    Baolilong was unhappy, but nevertheless obeyed Liola¡¯s orders, but not before it threw a few more powerful balls of lightning, and then it ¡°shut¡± its mouth. It also flapped its wings a few more times, to scare the people trying to escape.


    At this time, a few figures quickly moved through the Bandits with a much faster speed, in the direction opposite of the escaping Bandits. It caught Liola¡¯s attention, and Liola reminded Baolilong to be careful via telepathy, and then he rushed over.


    A few figures jumped up at the same time, and landed palm strikes on Baolilong. Liola was too far away to help.


    After a painful howl, Baolilong¡¯s anger surfaced, and had completely forgotten Liola¡¯s order to stop. A ball of lightning was shot out from its mouth, and it instantly exploded with hundreds of bolts shooting out.


    These few people seemed to be shocked, but they were still able to evade the bolts of lightning.


    Unfortunately, the other Bandits in the area didn¡¯t possess such dexterity, and they fell to the ground with charred skins, with wounds far worse than the ones before.


    Normally they would have been able to yell a few times and got up to run for their lives. However these people, though their lives were not at risk, were on the ground with convulsions, and could not get up.


    ¡°That motherf¡ªing monster!¡± The more muscular person in the group swore as he saw his fellow Bandits in such tragic state.


    Liola also slowed down. Having his mind connected to Baolilong¡¯s, Liola realized Baolilong was in pain but did not sustain any injuries. Even so, Liola allowed Baolilong to chase after those people, since it hadn¡¯t been played in the form of a Dragon for quite some time.


    Baolilong wanted to play a game of tag, but no matter how much it roared, the people in front of it did not move. Although they seemed scared, they did not back away; instead, they remained alert, in case the Dragon would suddenly attack.


    The muscular man glared at Baolilong as he argued with the few people next to him.


    ¡°Hurry up and use White Snake!¡± The muscular man yelled.


    The other three looked hesitant, ¡°But¡­ White Snake is very difficult to control. If it goes crazy, we wouldn¡¯t be able to control it.¡±


    ¡°Second brother, if we don¡¯t use it, we will be destroyed by this creature.¡± The muscular man seemed panicked.


    Baolilong, who was ignored at this time, was very unhappy. It flew by low in the air to use its wings to swipe at these three.


    Their faces sank as they dodged, and it was obvious that they were panicking. Other than the muscular man, the other two also seemed angry now, especially a quiet, thin man, who yelled angrily,


    ¡°Lowly creature! If I don¡¯t kill you, then I¡¯m not the Viper Gang¡¯s leader!¡±


    ¡°Brother!¡± The muscular man seemed very happy after hearing this declaration. Failing twice in one day would be far too humiliating.


    Liola became more alert. After telling Baolilong to be careful, Liola turned his head to look at Daylight¡¯s situation. He saw Flames circling above the tents.


    After knowing Liola went over to the Bandits, Daylight, who knew of his power, had no plans to come along, but instead defended the tents.


    Liola nodded, because now all he had to worry about was Baolilong and nothing else. Liola¡¯s ghostly speed allowed him to quietly walk near those three without them noticing.


    The thin tall man slowly took out something from his hidden shirt pocket. Liola did not know how to react to this thing because; after all¡­ taking out an egg wasn¡¯t illegal, right?


    Liola curiously looked at these three grown man taking out an egg with fear on their faces. The tall thin man was holding the egg as if it were something that could cause a genocide: fearful yet reliant on it.


    The tall thin man seemed to have made up his mind. He bit his own finger, and put it against the egg.


    It¡¯s not that Liola didn¡¯t have time to stop them, but he was confident, both in himself and Baolilong, believing no matter what these men did, it would not affect him nor Baolilong much. He decided to let them use their secret weapon, while letting Baolilong have all the fun it wanted.


    After the man smeared blood on the eggshell, the blood formed strange circle. Blood-red light exploded from that strange shape, and became larger and larger after it had separated from the shell. Finally, the circle reached the size of a man, and the circle emitted a dim light, while a giant figure slowly emerged on top of it.


    Liola was a bit stunned. He thought, was he becoming too unfamiliar with his own world? How come he never knew such a thing existed?


    At this time, Kaiser suddenly walked out of his tent. His jaws were dropped and his eyes were wide open and, in complete disbelief, he stared at the shape in the air as well as the thing about to emerge from it¡­

 Volume 7, 4: Battle between Dragon and Snake

    Volume 7, Chapter 4: Battle between Dragon and Snake


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    White Snake? Liola was a little shocked when he saw the giant creature in the air. It looked like a simple snake, but infinitely larger than an ordinary one.


    Despite the fact it didn¡¯t have a muscular body like Baolilong, it was far longer. Also, the back of the White Snake had a pair of giant wings, and they actually looked identical to Dragon wings. This made Baolilong really unhappy, and it let out a provoking Dragon roar.


    The Dragon and Snake confronted each other in the air. The three people who summoned the White Snake had moved quite a distance away, to avoid becoming collateral damage of the fight between the Dragon and Snake.


    * * *


    Moments ago, Kaiser had plans to continue sleeping in the tent, considering no Bandit could ever stand up to Liola and Daylight. But as the fight raged on outside, Kaiser suddenly sensed a magical fluctuation. If he was still inside Aklan Academy, it wouldn¡¯t be strange at all, since even a Holy Knight¡¯s heal would emit a magical wave. However, this was an alien world devoid of magic!


    ¡°Damn! What the hell?¡± Kaiser fumbled his way out of the tent. He looked at the figure of the White Snake as it was forming. He was certain of what he saw: a summoning magic circle!


    No matter what Kaiser¡¯s analysis was, Liola felt a headache coming. He didn¡¯t expect these people could possibly summon such a large monster, and he would¡¯ve stopped them if he knew sooner. Unfortunately, even for Liola, turning back time was impossible. He ordered Baolilong to fly lower, so he could jump onto its back.


    Having jumped up onto Baolilong, Liola realized the White Snake was on its tail, trying to bite Baolilong¡¯s tail.


    With a few leaps, Liola went towards Baolilong¡¯s tail. Originally he planned on jumping onto the Snake to fight it, but he changed his mind. He thought about it a moment, then used telepathy to tell Baolilong the Snake was trying to bite its tail.


    Baolilong swung its tail. Not only did the White Snake miss, it was hit by Baolilong¡¯s flailing tail, which resulted in it having difficulty flying.


    Baolilong used the opportunity to give chase. It threw out a giant ball of lightning. The snake could not move much, so most of its body was hit by lightning. Despite it spent a short while convulsing, the White Snake suddenly bit back. The complacent Baolilong got bitten, then shook its body in pain.


    Liola frowned, but he didn¡¯t plan on helping Baolilong. Instead, he continued to command Baolilong, much like how Daylight commanded Flames.


    ¡°You can fly better than it. Circle it, and attack when you have the chance.¡±


    Liola gave the orders to Baolilong. The little guy thought it strange papa didn¡¯t attack, but warmonger Baolilong didn¡¯t really care, because it had the chance to play.


    Baolilong followed Liola¡¯s orders, and flew quickly around the giant White Snake. Although the Snake tried its best to match Baolilong¡¯s speed, its elongated body prevented it from doing so, to the point where it sometimes ran into its own tail.


    Baolilong was having fun. Seeing the Snake could not catch up, and it would often collide with itself. Baolilong was so happy, it was laughing. It completely forgot everything papa said about attacking when the time was right.


    The White Snake seemed very angry. Its mouth suddenly opened, and a blue light began to shine.


    Liola was shocked, and immediately reminded the playful Baolilong. Baolilong opened its pink eyes and looked at it; it too was stunned. It did not expect the White Snake could use the same type of magical attack as Flames. It wasn¡¯t until after another call from Liola did Baolilong actually wake up from this daze.


    A blue stream of light shot out of the White Snake¡¯s mouth. It was so fast that, despite being prepared for it, Baolilong barely avoided it. The White Snake didn¡¯t seem to give up, and shot a few more rays of light at Baolilong, who again barely managed to avoid it.


    ¡®Baolilong, Your Highness, please be careful. Those are water magical attacks.¡® Flames reminded from afar, knowing water attacks were the most devastating attacks against the fire-attributed Dragon; Flames.


    ¡°Baolilong is really angry this time!¡±


    Baolilong, who had been awkwardly dodging the light attacks, opened its eyes, which turned from pink to a deep wine-red color. It opened its mouth, and a wide stream of electricity shot towards the White Snake.


    The snake responded by shooting out a wider stream of water than before. Baolilong¡¯s blue and white electricity collided with the White Snake¡¯s deep blue water attack, exploding with a giant sound. For a moment, the night sky had been lit up, as if it were still day time.


    At first, the electricity and water seemed to be evenly matched. But seconds later, the White Snake looked like it was in pain, and at the same time, its snow-white head started becoming charred.


    Liola looked closely, realizing the snake¡¯s column of water had bolts of electricity intertwined within, and those lightning bolts were what injured the Snake.


    Baolilong narrowed its eyes, and the power of its lightning attack suddenly exploded. The White Snake¡¯s water stream was then immediately dispersed, and it was hit by the lightning.


    After a painful struggle in midair, the White Snake fell out of the sky. Its loud landing sound shocked everyone, especially the three Bandits who had been staying far away. They almost couldn¡¯t believe their White Snake would lose!


    After the loud sound, Baolilong let out a happy roar. At the same time, a few sparks of electricity exploded around it. Under the starry night sky, Baolilong¡¯s sacred figure had been deeply imprinted into everyone¡¯s minds. People who originally thought of it as a demon felt weak in their knees, and knelt without saying a single word.


    Liola realized the three Bandits began to move; they were trying to run for their lives, with disappointment on their faces.


    Liola thought briefly, and decided not to pursue. After all, they were in the Bandit Mountains. They were the ones who trespassed, so could he really blame them for trying to rob him and his group?


    The Bandits saw their leaders had escaped, so they all followed straining every bit of strength they had left. In an instant, most of them had disappeared.


    ¡°Liola, I don¡¯t think we should chase them?¡±


    Daylight came over with Flames, and suggested uneasily to Liola, not knowing Liola¡¯s plan. Liola nodded, and told Baolilong to land where they were. Daylight also followed with Flames. As soon as Flames turned back into a smaller Dragon, they heard a loud yell.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Kaiser had ran to where they were while gasping. It wasn¡¯t until he caught Liola and Daylight¡¯s attention did he have a chance to catch his breath. He even hit patted his chest and said, ¡°Damn, I-I¡¯ve never ran so fast in my life.¡±


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s lethargic look, Daylight smiled and asked, ¡°Kaiser, why did you run here?¡±


    ¡°The way the White Snake appeared, don¡¯t you think it was a bit strange?¡± Kaiser widened his eyes and said to the Assassin, ¡°Especially you, you don¡¯t think your world has something like that, do you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola shook his head naturally, since he was already confused by it.


    Kaiser suddenly yelled, ¡°Of course you¡¯ve never seen it. The circular shape just now was a Sorcerer¡¯s summoning circle! I f¡ªing swear, if those magic fluctuations were fake, I¡¯ll eat Baolilong whole and kill myself in the process!¡±


    Liola and Daylight were in shock. ¡®There¡¯s Sorcerer¡¯s summoning circle in this world?¡¯


    ¡°Okay, hurry and let me get up. We have to chase after those people, and find out what¡¯s going on¡­ Wait! I don¡¯t mean you, Liola. I¡¯m never riding your stupid Dragon. Its ability to kill its allies is far better than its ability to kill enemies!¡±


    With Kaiser¡¯s serious statement and Baolilong¡¯s puffed cheeks, Kaiser got on Flame¡¯s back. Kaiser sensed the weak magic fluctuation in the area and pointed it out to Daylight.


    Daylight looked back and asked with hesitation, ¡°What about others? We should at least take Void with us, right?¡±


    ¡°We can go back for Void, but forget about the others. After this battle, I don¡¯t believe anyone else would dare to come mess with Auyan Dri and others.¡± Kaiser said impatiently.


    Daylight agreed and did as Kaiser asked. He flew back over the crowd, grabbed Void, who looked like he was about to turn and run. Daylight thought about it briefly, and thought he should still tell Auyan Dri and Yulie what they were about to do.


    ¡°Dri, Yulie, we will be pursuing the Bandits. You guys should leave first. I don¡¯t think Bandits will come after you again, but it would be safer for you to leave now.¡±


    Auyan Dri seemed frozen, as if he still hadn¡¯t recovered from seeing the fight before. He blankly nodded at Daylight, hoping he would take ¡®Red Demon¡¯ away.


    ¡°Hurry, the magic is getting further and further away, and I almost can¡¯t feel it.¡± Kaiser urged.


    Daylight nodded and immediately commanded Flames to fly towards the direction Kaiser pointed, but a girly yell made Daylight turn his head.


    ¡°Daylight! Wait, will we see each other again?¡± Seeing Daylight was about to leave, Yulie suddenly snapped from her daydream and yelled anxiously.


    Daylight looked at Yulie, and said with a smile, ¡°Yes, at the Martial Arts Symposium!¡±


    ¡°You have to be there!¡± Yulie yelled on top of her lungs, but seeing Daylight was already far away, she wasn¡¯t sure whether he had heard her or not. She felt a bit disappointed.


    ¡°I will!¡±


    Daylight¡¯s answer came from afar. Yulie raised her head once again, gazing in the direction where Daylight went. A smile slowly surfaced on her face.


    Auyan Dri¡¯s mind was in a mess. Memories kept flashing across his mind: Daylight¡¯s amiable personality, strong power, and those two terrible demons; finally, Yulie¡¯s smile¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Second brother, who were those people? Those two demons¡­¡± said Chen Yong, a buff man ¡ª one of the three Bandits. The earlier fight was far beyond their imaginations.


    Being the advisor in the group, Wong Shujun said with a pale face, ¡°How would I know?¡±


    ¡°Second brother, didn¡¯t you say you knew everything?¡± Chen Yong rebuked.


    ¡°I know everything about astronomy and geography.¡± Wong Shujun said lividly. He thought nobody would know about those two demons, not even in Many Ears Hall ¡ª a place specializing in selling information and intelligence ¡ª did not know how those demons came about, let alone him.


    ¡°Alright! You two stop fighting.¡± The thin, tall man, Lin Jiyun, interrupted the two in anger.


    Hearing the eldest brother¡¯s complaint, Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both stopped awkwardly, and quietly awaited Lin Jiyun to say something.


    Lin Jiyun sat down with a headache. Earlier, when his subordinates reported a failure in robbery, and the intended victims had a sun icon on their attires. His second brother Wong Shujun had informed him of it belonging to the Sun Faction, and therefore he inferred the person commanding must have been the young master, Auyan Dri, of the Sun Faction.


    He had originally thought if he could send more people and go there themselves, he could abduct Auyan Dri, and use him to extort money from the Sun Faction. Who knew two strangers would show up with two demons, forcing him to use the White Snake.


    And in the end, they still lost. Lin Jiyun¡¯s face was as depressed as it could be. The White Snake had cost him a lot of money, and he was going to use it to seek revenge, but now it had been squandered.


    ¡°Eldest brother?¡± Wong Shujun nervously looked at Lin Jiyun¡¯s sunken face, and knew what he was thinking. He immediately begin saying words of comfort,


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, eldest brother, we¡¯ll just have to make a few more business deals, and buy a few more monsters from that person. Your quest for revenge will be fulfilled one day.¡±


    Lin Jiyun¡¯s expression suddenly changed, and he held up his hand to stop Wong Shujun from talking. A moment of silence later, Lin Jiyun couldn¡¯t sense anything, then withdrew his hand. It was strange for him to feel someone was near.


    ¡°Eldest brother, you¡¯re being too nervous. This is our cottage. Even the Bandits around here wouldn¡¯t know how to find it. Those demons didn¡¯t follow us immediately, so how could they have possibly find us?¡± Chen Yong had absolutely confidence in the location of the cottage.


    ¡°Hmmph.¡±


    Chen Yong turned towards Wong Shujun, and yelled loudly, ¡°What? Second brother, you were the one who set up this place. If you¡¯re afraid someone could find it, then you¡¯re looking down on yourself.¡±


    Wong Shujun¡¯s eyes were held wide, and terror crept onto his face. Lin Jiyun also stood up, and asked with a trembling voice, ¡°Second brother, was it you who grunted just now¡­¡±


    Wong Shujun rigidly shook his head, and Chen Yong started to get scared. He yelled loudly, ¡°It wasn¡¯t you, second brother? You¡¯re just kidding me, right? Stop it, second brother!¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    Now all of them were panicking, trying to look around to find the source of the voice, while trying to pray in their own strange ways: ¡°I¡¯m hoping it¡¯s a ghost!¡±, ¡°Better a ghost than those demons.¡±, and ¡°God! Though I don¡¯t believe in ghosts, I will start to now; give me ghosts!¡±


    ¡°What are you guys looking left and right for? Look up.¡±


    A voice said to the three below. The voice didn¡¯t sound like a ghost. It was neither dark nor horrific. If they had to describe the voice, they would say it sounded like someone who deserved a beatdown.


    They were shocked, then slowly raised their heads. The first thing they saw was a boy with green hair sitting on the beam of the house.


    With his white teeth showing, he greeted them with a big smile, ¡°Hi!¡±


    The three of them felt a cold shiver all the way to their hearts. They also saw a silver-eyed man and a gold-eyed man next to the boy. Although they had no idea who the green-haired little runt was, they knew other two were the people who controlled the demons they saw.


    ¡°AHHH!¡±


    Chen Yong screamed, and with a shaking finger, he pointed at little Flames next to Daylight. Flames lazily looked back at him, as if he were making a big deal out of nothing.


    Both sides held still as they looked at each other. Lin Jiyun took a deep breath, and bleakly sat back down on a chair. He tiredly waved his hand and said, ¡°If you¡¯re here to arrest us, go ahead. I know our powers aren¡¯t remotely a match for you.¡±


    Hearing Lin Jiyun¡¯s response, Kaiser raised an eyebrow, ¡°If you cooperate with us, nobody is here to arrest you.¡±


    Wong Shujun heard they could bargain their way out of this, and immediately began to speak, ¡°We will definitely cooperate. As long as heroes like you are here, we will do whatever if it¡¯s within our powers.¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Kaiser grabbed Liola and Daylight, whom then helped him off the beam. Void also went down with them. Having the guys to back him up, Kaiser said with a condescending tone to the three Bandits, ¡°I will cut right to the chase then. How do you guys know about summoning magic circle?¡±


    ¡°Summoning what?¡± Wong Shujun was stunned, and he didn¡¯t know what Kaiser meant.


    Kaiser explained impatiently, ¡°The magic circle you used to summon the White Snake.¡±


    Wong Shujun frowned, and then looked towards the eldest brother Lin Jiyun because he didn¡¯t know how to answer.


    Lin Jiyun¡¯s face also sank. The person who sold him was not someone Lin Jiyun dared to rat on. If that person knew he did, he would die sooner or later.


    ¡°Why would you want to know?¡± Lin Jiyun asked carefully, thinking. If these people wanted to buy some themselves, then it would be fine.


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, and said without any elaboration, ¡°Just an exchanging information, you know, since we have two of those things.¡±


    Lin Jiyun then asked, ¡°Are you related to that person?¡±


    ¡®We¡¯re related to that person?¡® Kaiser immediately began to analyze the situation.


    Judging from Wong Shujun¡¯s response, they probably didn¡¯t even know what summoning magic circles were. Perhaps it was given to them by the person whom Lin Jiyun referred to that person.


    Also judging from his name for that person, it wasn¡¯t someone he was familiar with, but instead just someone he feared. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t withhold the name when his own life was in danger.


    At this point, Kaiser smiled, and began to do what he did best, ¡°That person? Is that what you call him? Well¡­ indeed, his name can¡¯t just be said to everyone.¡±


    [T/N: In spoken chinese, he/she sounds the same. Author chose to use he/him here, but it may not necessarily guaranteed the person he¡¯s referring to is a guy.]


    Lin Jiyun thought Kaiser definitely knew that person. He began to worry whether the person in front of him was a partner or an enemy of that person.


    ¡°Such nostalgic times! I remember when we used to study together.¡± Kaiser posed as if he was remembering the past.


    ¡°You studied together with him?¡±


    Lin Jiyun was not the only person in awe: Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both widened their gazes and examined Kaiser.


    Kaiser, too, knew his lies had been a mistake, and then immediately said angrily, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m not how you imagine me to be.¡±


    In the current situation, Kaiser, who didn¡¯t know what went wrong, just said something ambiguous, hoping to brush it off.


    Lin Jiyun was briefly stunned, but then nodded as if he understood. Perhaps it was because of the inconceivable powers of the two demons displayed has already messed with their minds. It was easier for them to believe the people in front of them had gotten so powerful in martial arts, their physical age had regressed, rather than being young.


    As if he had thought of something, Lin Jiyun suddenly stood up, and bowed towards Kaiser. He apologized, ¡°Understood. Junior Lin Jiyun had not realized you as the senior, and Jiyun hereby apologizes to senior.¡±


    [T/N: In formal archaic speech, younger people generally speak respectfully to elder people, and refer to themselves as ¡°late generation¡±; ¡®junior¡¯ here. They refer to the elder people as ¡°front/early generation¡±; ¡®senior¡¯ here.]


    ¡®Hmm¡­ looks like this guy must be quite old,¡¯ Kaiser was laughing in his mind.


    The Lin Jiyun guy looked like he was in his thirty, but he was calling Kaiser, who had just turned twenty, his senior? But on the surface, Kaiser nodded with satisfaction. He learnt his posture from the geezer Master Lee, guaranteed to look like a senior.


    Void¡¯s head was full of sweat. As soon as he saw, he knew Kaiser was imitating his own master. Void was holding back a laugh so hard, his abdominal muscles were almost torn.


    ¡°Youngster Jiyun, no need to be overly courteous. An old fellow like me is not overdramatic. Hahaha.¡±


    Kaiser gave out a hearty laugh, which made Daylight blush on his behalf. At the same time, he felt sorry for the people whom Kaiser tricked.


    Daylight immediately reminded Kaiser, ¡°Let¡¯s find out the truth now.¡±


    Kaiser originally wanted to enjoy the feeling of being a senior, but since Daylight was hurrying him, Kaiser scratched his face.


    ¡°May I dare to ask, senior, these two people are¡­?¡± Lin Jiyun asked curiously.


    ¡°Oh, my eldest brother and second brother.¡± Kaiser answered casually.


    ¡°Lin Jiyun is grateful to meet the two seniors.¡± Lin Jiyun bowed twice more, which made Daylight blush. He felt uneasy and apologetic at the same time.


    Liola, on the other hand, glanced at Lin Jiyun casually.


    ¡°You are really unlike a Bandit. I thought all Bandits were quite rough: they yell at everything and scream things like ¡®kill it¡¯ or ¡®beat it¡¯.¡±


    Kaiser examined Lin Jiyun. Though he was dressed like a Bandit with his rough attire, his temperament was more like a scholar¡­ Even Wong Shujun on the side looked more like a scholar than a Bandit, although Chen Yong did indeed look like one.


    Hearing Kaiser say this, Lin Jiyun¡¯s face changed, and both Wong Shujun and Chen Yong seemed to be infuriated.


    Seeing the three were acting weird, Kaiser¡¯s curiosity was provoked again, and he asked, ¡°What?¡±


    Facing Kaiser¡¯s inquiry, Lin Jiyun shook his head and laughed bitterly. However, Chen Yong couldn¡¯t hold back, and he broke the silence,


    ¡°That¡¯s because eldest brother and second brother weren¡¯t Bandits at all. They were framed by a villain and they ran into these mountains for refuge. It was then when I met them, and even fought with them. It was the best battle of my life because I got to met them and I eventually I recognized them as my brothers.¡±


    Lin Jiyun looked distracted as he recollected what happened, and Wong Shujun coughed,


    ¡°We felt ambitious originally, and hoping to expand our powers here in the mountains, waiting for the one day where we could seek our revenge. Who knew it would be so difficult even trying to keep our comrades fed.


    Most of the business people travelling through either have a large band of guards or they paid the protection fees to some Bandit ring and made them their guards. Otherwise, why would we endanger ourselves to rob people of martial artist? We really had no other choice¡­¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you rob the adjacent villages and cities?¡± Kaiser widened his eyes, and smelled something he had always disliked: the smell of being poor.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Lin Jiyun suddenly woke up from his daydream, and explained with embarrassment,


    ¡°Most people in villages are poor, and they have no money. If we were to rob them of their only food, then they may not survive the winter. And we cannot possibly plunder a city with our numbers at around seven to eight hundred.¡±


    ¡°Good job!¡± Daylight couldn¡¯t resist yelling. Lin Jiyun not robbing the villager¡¯s food was something Daylight could deeply agree with.


    Void also nodded constantly, agreeing to what Lin Jiyun and others had done.


    Lin Jiyun heard Daylight¡¯s praise, and his face turned red. He could do nothing but stutter as he thanked Daylight for his praise.


    ¡°Good? More like, really poor.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    Kaiser wanted to extort some money out of these people. Who knew these Bandits had no money up their sleeves¡­ Correction! They didn¡¯t even have sleeves to begin with.


    ¡°Fine, fine, just hurry up and tell us where that person is?!¡±


    Kaiser began to yell, fearing Daylight and the Bandits would become too familiar with one another, and would help them seek revenge. If it so happens, then Kaiser would¡¯ve lost his fly without catching a single trout.


    Lin Jiyun nodded, and answered courteously, ¡°Since senior was a classmate of that person, then I shouldn¡¯t hide anything anymore. As far as Jiyun know, that person seems to be the leader of the Shalong Hall.¡±


    ¡°Salon? I don¡¯t want to get my hair cut.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    Hearing about Shalong Hall, Liola¡¯s face suddenly froze. Fortunately, no one¡¯s attention was on him so nobody realized something was wrong. Liola locked his eyebrows, and his mind seemed to have wandered off. An air of coldness also seemed to manifest around him.


    ¡°Did I catch a cold? Why does it feel like it¡¯s getting colder and colder?¡± Kaiser frowned as he pulled his shirt, but he couldn¡¯t shake away the coldness he felt in his heart.


    Lin Jiyun casually glanced at Liola, but was suddenly turned into a human popsicle.


    Wong Shuju looked strangely at his eldest brother then looked in the direction where he was looking. Who knew that as soon as he did, his teeth began to chatter and he couldn¡¯t speak.


    Chen Yong, whose resistance to harsh environments was far better, followed their gazes and, though he didn¡¯t freeze, began to yell strangely.


    Kaiser looked strangely at Chen Yong, while Daylight and Void turned to look at Liola when they realized something was wrong. Both of them gulped, then slowly stepped back, leaving Kaiser the only one to stand where he was.


    Kaiser shook again, trying to rub his arms and feet for warmth, and he yelled, ¡°What now? Is there a ghost or something?¡±


    Daylight and Void struggled as they tried to communicate with their eyes, to the point where their eyelids were almost having a seizure. It wasn¡¯t until then that Kaiser scratched his face and slowly turned¡­


    ¡°Hey! Liola, why the hell are you being a human icemaker?¡±


    Kaiser immediately took several steps back. He hid behind Daylight and popped his head out, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Liola¡¯s face kept getting colder, and just about when everyone couldn¡¯t take it anymore, he slowly said, ¡°Shalong Hall is the largest Assassin organization.¡±


    ¡®Assassin organization? Leader¡­¡¯


    Kaiser suddenly remembered the Leader was Liola¡¯s boss. He shook a bit to dust off the frost on his shoulder, then walked up to Liola while everyone else was in awe, and patted his shoulder,


    ¡°They¡¯re just Assassins. What are you afraid of now?¡±


    Liola woke up from his daze, and looked at Kaiser with hesitation.


    Kaiser, on the other hand, punched Liola in the chest, and yelled impatient, ¡°Stop being a wuss! So what of the top Assassin organization? If one comes we will kill two, if two comes we will kill their entire organization! Leader? Hmmph, I¡¯ll cook him alive.¡±


    [T/N: Leader, sounds similar to put something on the stove to cooking.]


    Liola heard Kaiser¡¯s spirited speech, despite knowing Kaiser¡¯s power was actually quite low, he smiled, ¡°I can¡¯t kill.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. You¡¯ll be responsible to knocking everyone unconscious and I¡¯ll give in the effort to kill them one by one with my gun.¡± Kaiser had no plans to beat around the bush over the topic.


    Kaiser put his hands on hips and yelled to the frozen Bandits, ¡°Unfreeze! I have questions for you.¡±


    Hearing the yell, Lin Jiyun was the first one to snap out of it. He took several deep breaths before he said,


    ¡°What a terrifying presence!¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t call my brother icemaker for nothing. Cut the crap.¡± Kaiser immediately switched the topic,


    ¡°You said that person is the leader of Shalong hall? How could the three of you see him?¡±


    ¡°Senior, do you really know that person?¡± Wong Shujun¡¯s face suddenly changed. Judging from what Kaiser had just said, it didn¡¯t seem like they actually knew that person.


    Kaiser turned his head, and showed a terrifying laugh, then said directly, ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t.¡±


    Lin Jiyun and others felt as if they had been struck by thunder, and they didn¡¯t know what to do.


    ¡°Hey, since you already leaked his identity, it¡¯s too late for regret. You better tell us everything now, otherwise you¡¯ll force us to do something to make you wish he¡¯d come here and kill you, hehe.¡±


    A looming shadow covered Kaiser¡¯s child-like face. In all honesty, he still wasn¡¯t that scary, but for the Bandits who had seen two Dragons, it was enough.


    Chen Yong was the first one to be enraged. He unsheathed his blade and charged at Kaiser as he yelled angrily, ¡°You dared to trick us?!¡±


    Kaiser saw this, and immediately drew out his giant gun.


    Liola, who was standing on the side, was also paying attention to the situation. If there were any possibility of hurting Kaiser, Liola will immediately stop it. Nevertheless, despite Kaiser¡¯s power being low, it was more than enough to handle Chen Yong.


    Kaiser quickly murmured some incantations, and a giant fireball shot out of the gun at Chen Yong, whom had no idea what a fireball was.


    Chen Yong panicked as he tried to dodge, but was still grazed by half of the fireball. He was pushed into a corner with his clothes burning. Chen Yong desperately rolled around, trying to extinguish the fire.


    Lin Jiyun and Wong Shujun immediately went to him to help him extinguish the fire. Having finally put out the fire, Lin Jiyun gasped as he looked at his two brothers, then he seemed to have made up his mind about something. He walked in front of Kaiser, then knelt down and began to kowtow.


    ¡°Eldest brother?¡±


    Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both yelled in surprise, and they wanted to come to get him up, but Lin Jiyun immediately yelled, ¡°You two, don¡¯t move!¡±


    Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both froze, but anger filled their faces. Lin Jiyun was practically on the ground, and said with a muffled voice,


    ¡°Senior, anything you want to know, Lin Jiyun can tell you, but Lin Jiyun begs senior to let Shujun and Yong out of this. I dragged both of them into this. Also, senior, please don¡¯t go to that person yet; please allow Jiyun to make one more deal with him, because Jiyun needs the monster to right an injustice.¡±


    Seeing Lin Jiyun kneeling on the ground and hearing what he had said, Daylight immediately felt sympathetic.


    He looked at Kaiser with blame, ¡°Kaiser, you¡¯ve gone too far,¡± as he walked over and tried to help Lin Jiyun up.


    Kaiser frowned, looking as if he had done nothing wrong, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. I just tricked them, that¡¯s all, who knew he was going to start kowtowing?¡±


    Daylight was trying to help Lin Jiyun up, but he wouldn¡¯t budge. He desperately struggled, while banging his forehead on the ground a few more times.


    The loud sound of the collision struck awe in everyone¡¯s heart, and fresh blood appeared on the ground. When Daylight saw it he was surprised and forcefully held Lin Jiyun so he wouldn¡¯t injure himself any further.


    ¡°What are you doing? You think your forehead is too hard?¡± Kaiser widened his gaze, and looked in disbelief at Lin Jiyun with blood now dripping down his face.


    Even though Lin Jiyun was held in place forcefully by Daylight, but with bloodshot eyes he continued to struggle, to the point where his bones made cracking sounds.


    Daylight was shocked and, fearing he might break his bones, eased up his hold. Lin Jiyun used this opportunity to break free and ran towards Kaiser.


    Liola immediately shadow-stepped in front of Kaiser to prevent any possible injury, but all Lin Jiyun did was, once again, kneeling before Kaiser while kowtowing.


    His voice was even more pitiful, ¡°Senior! I beg of you. Allow Jiyun to go find that person first because Jiyun really needs those demons! O-otherwise, my entire family¡¯s death will be in vain; even my ten year-old baby sister did not escape the massacre.


    My father, h-he also died to protect Jiyun, and my family could not even give him a proper burial because we couldn¡¯t even obtain his corpse. The only one left who could bring them justice and allow them to rest in peace is Jiyun. I beg of you, senior!¡±


    Kaiser was frozen. At first, he pursued this matter because it was amusing to him. As a Sorcerer, he was very curious as to why summoning magic circles would appear in this world, but he had never imagined it would end up like this.


    It was then when Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both quietly walked over. Without saying a word, they followed their brother and knelt on the ground while kowtowing.


    Suddenly, the only thing that could be heard in the cottage, was the terrifying sound of their heads banging against the floor. The floor was also gradually becoming stained with blood.


    Kaiser looked at them quietly. When Daylight and Void were moving to help them up, Kaiser blinked, and gestured with his hand to knock them unconscious.


    As soon as he had done so, Liola¡¯s figure blinked, and Lin Jiyun and his brothers were knocked out on the floor.


    ¡°Good! Now, it¡¯s time for us to think about what to do.¡±


    Kaiser sported a serious face, which was rare for him to do. His blue eyes suddenly looked as deep as the blue ocean¡­

 Volume 7, 5: Tragedy of Lin’s Family

    Volume 7, Chapter 5: Tragedy of Lin¡¯s Family


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    Daylight and Void were just about to plead to Kaiser on behalf of Lin Jiyun and others, but Kaiser spoke first,


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what exactly happened, it looks like the person they¡¯re trying to kill is probably in a high position. Hundreds of Bandits seemed useless to this guy¡¯s quest for revenge.


    What¡¯s even more puzzling is that this guy said they bought the monster, and White Snake must have cost a lot of money. Why did he use money to buy a monster instead of just hiring the Shalong Hall to assassinate the man instead?¡±


    Everyone looked puzzled, and Kaiser continued, ¡°So it leaves only two possibilities. First, Lin Jiyun didn¡¯t have enough money to order a hit. The second, and worst case scenario; his enemy is so powerful that Shalong Hall didn¡¯t want to mess with him, and denied the job.¡±


    ¡°Anyhow, if we were to help this guy with his quest for revenge, we will probably have to put in a lot of effort, and perhaps end up opposing the strongest powers of this world. Are you guys mentally prepared?¡± Kaiser raised his eyebrows, and lazily waited for everyone¡¯s answer.


    However, everyone glared at Kaiser, because they could not believe what he had just said. Wasn¡¯t he the person who hated trouble and helping others the most?


    ¡°Kaiser, you¡­ if you really don¡¯t want to help them, it¡¯s probably fine. At least we wouldn¡¯t go look for the leader, and it counts as fulfilling Lin Jiyun¡¯s request.¡± Daylight said with a stutter and a frown.


    ¡°What are you talking about? I already said I¡¯d help.¡± Kaiser glanced strangely at Daylight.


    ¡°You¡¯re really going to help them?¡± Void¡¯s jaws dropped, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not trying to use them as bait or something?¡±


    Kaiser immediately jumped up, ¡°Damn! I¡¯m trying to help them, and you guys actually dared to question my compassion for them?¡±


    ¡®Compassion?¡¯ Daylight and Void both looked suspiciously at Kaiser.


    ¡°Tsk! What are you staring at me for? Whatever. I thought I¡¯d be merciful for once, but then everyone starts doubting me. Hmph! Forget it then, I won¡¯t help.¡± Kaiser grunted, then sat down with his legs crossed on the master seat of the house.


    Seeing Kaiser like this, Liola¡¯s mouth twitched a little. He knew very well Kaiser wasn¡¯t going to stop helping. Instead, he was waiting for Daylight and Void to apologize to him. Kaiser is someone who isn¡¯t willing to back off.


    Daylight and Void looked at each other, then they both walked up to Kaiser. Daylight said first, ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry, Kaiser, I shouldn¡¯t have doubted you. I really am sorry.¡±


    ¡°Mmmhmm.¡±


    ¡°Void hereby apologizes to you, Kaiser, please think of something to help these three.¡± Void said anxiously.


    Since they both apologized, Kaiser sat up lazily. He murmured as he asked Daylight to wake Lin Jiyun and others, ¡°You guys are forcing me to think again. Sometimes I really wonder if your large heads are really watermelons in disguise.¡±


    Void smiled in embarrassment. For some reason, it became a habit for him to ask Kaiser what to do when he didn¡¯t know. He was another victim of the ¡®When you have a problem, ask Kaiser¡¯ infectious disease.


    Daylight carefully woke Lin Jiyun and others up. Seeing their bloodied faces, Daylight felt frustrated again since he didn¡¯t know healing magic.


    Lin Jiyun slowly opened his eyes and was briefly at loss, when he suddenly remembered he was begging someone. He forced his body to get up to kneel in front of Kaiser again.


    Daylight held him still. Lin Jiyun began to struggle again, so Daylight yelled, ¡°We already planned to help you, so don¡¯t kneel anymore.¡±


    Hearing what Daylight said, Lin Jiyun was stunned, and looked towards Kaiser. He saw Kaiser pouted then nodded. This slight nod made Lin Jiyun and his brother so happy, they began to cry. The scene of three grown man hugging each other and crying made everyone else have goosebumps.


    ¡°All right! Now quickly tell us what exactly happened, and who is your enemy?¡± With his hair standing up, Kaiser immediately stopped the three from giving them any more goosebumps.


    Lin Jiyun wiped away his tears in embarrassment, and began to retell the past. ¡°My father was the previous Martial Arts Alliance Leader¡¯s most trusted advisor.¡±


    Void widened his eyes and asked, ¡°You are Lin Jizhi¡¯s son?¡±


    Lin Jiyun nodded, and Kaiser prompt him to continue.


    Lin Jiyun¡¯s tone grew heavy, ¡°More than a year ago, an Assassin organization, Shalong Hall, had released the healer Anise under heavy pressure from all factions of Martial Arts. But before long, Shalong Hall¡¯s top Assassin Silver Moon kidnapped the healer Anise.¡±


    Kaiser and Daylight both restrained themselves from looking at Liola, praying in their heart that, when the story ends, Liola wasn¡¯t going to end up being Lin Jiyun¡¯s nemesis.


    Hearing the past made Liola look a bit depressed.


    ¡®In the eyes of the others,¡¯ he thought, ¡®I was someone who had ¡°kidnapped¡± Anise?¡¯


    ¡°Shalong Hall declared to the public that Silver Moon had betrayed them.¡±


    Lin Jiyun said with a frown, ¡°In order to save Anise and prevent any more danger caused by an uncontrollable Assassin, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader at the time decided to personally pursue and kill Silver Moon.¡±


    ¡°No one had predicted Silver Moon¡¯s power to be beyond everyone¡¯s imagination. Even with the combined force of the Assassin organization and the entire Martial Arts world, they were not able to kill him, and he was able to escape for nearly a month.¡± Lin Jiyun sighed deeply, ¡°Silver Moon even brought an ordinary woman with him. What kind of terrifying power did he have¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the person you want to kill for revenge is the Assassin, Silver Moon?¡± Kaiser finally couldn¡¯t hold it anymore and asked, so the suspense could stop killing him and his companions.


    ¡°No, Silver Moon is already dead. Didn¡¯t you know?¡± Lin Jiyun asked back with a strange expression on his face.


    Uh¡­ how could they answer? Kaiser said calmly, ¡°We¡¯re from a land far away, and we¡¯re not familiar with what happens around here.¡±


    Lin Jiyun thought briefly, and concluded the demons they had indeed weren¡¯t from around here, so the possibility they were from really far away was the truth.


    He nodded then continued, ¡°I also participated in the pursuit, and saw the Martial Arts Alliance Leader¡¯s duel with the Assassin Silver Moon.¡±


    Kaiser and others¡¯ faces suddenly darkened.


    ¡°Though my father did not allow me to get close to the fight to watch, but even from afar it was amazing. Jiyun had never thought two of the top fighters¡¯ duel could result in hundreds of meters of barren lands.¡±


    Liola thought about that fight, and kept breathing deeply.


    ¡°But the Assassin Silver Moon didn¡¯t seem to want to fight, nor did he seem to want to kill. Even after the Alliance Leader used the move ¡®Extinction of Heaven and Earth¡¯, he was still not able to kill the Assassin. Instead, while the Alliance Leader was trying to recovering from expending all his energy on his attack, Silver Moon used the opportunity to get away. With his speed, nobody could possibly catch up to him.¡±


    ¡°Hey! What does this have to do with your enemy?¡± Kaiser asked impatiently.


    Lin Jiyun seemed to have sunken into his memories, and said with red eyes,


    ¡°What follows was, that old thief Xin Jietian attacked the Alliance Leader when he his Ki and stamina level was low. His ambush was successful, and the Alliance Leader was killed in one hit. My father was in serious shock, and told me to leave immediately while he tried to hold Xin Jietian off. But my father was an advisor, and couldn¡¯t possibly stand up against Xin Jietian.¡±


    When he got to this point in his story, Lin Jiyun started to choke on his words.


    ¡°After I ran home, when I was just about to tell everyone about Xin Jietian, the news came that my dad and his accomplice had betrayed the Martial Arts Alliance and killed the leader. No matter how I explained, nobody would believe Xin Jietian was the real murderer!¡±


    ¡°What followed was the massacre of my entire family. Rumor said it was because Shalong Hall was unhappy with my dad working with their traitor Silver Moon¡­ Of course, it was false accusation. The murder was none other than Xin Jietian.¡±


    Lin Jiyun raised his head and let out a crazed laugh, ¡°Sadly, I was out when it happened, drinking to numb my pain, and I even passed out on the way home. I escaped death twice, and I really don¡¯t know if the heavens are taking pitying on me or punishing me, haha.¡±


    ¡°Eldest brother! This is the chance heaven gave you to seek revenge for your entire family.¡± Wong Shujun saw Lin Jiyun¡¯s acting strangely, and began to worry. So he started to trying to comfort him.


    Lin Jiyun stopped laughing, and looked at Wong Shujun thankfully, ¡°Second brother, you are the only one who didn¡¯t believe in Xin Jietian, and helped me escape. As a result, you had to run with me into these Bandit Mountains.¡±


    ¡°Stop talking about this, eldest brother, we are brothers.¡± Wong Shujun said in a slightly blaming tone.


    At this time, Kaiser asked Void calmly, ¡°Who is Xin Jietian.¡±


    Void¡¯s expression hardened. He forced an answer, ¡°He was the right hand man of previous last Alliance Leader, and the current Alliance Leader.¡±


    Although Kaiser had already knew this might happen since the only reason for him to kill the former Leader was to usurp his position. But hearing his assumption was right on the spot, this unfortunately news darkened Kaiser¡¯s expression.


    Daylight saw Kaiser¡¯s face, but his eyes had turned red after hearing Lin Jiyun¡¯s story. He yelled at Kaiser, ¡°We must help brother Lin with his quest for revenge and seek justice. We need to expose Xin Jietian¡¯s shameless conspiracy.¡±


    ¡°Wow, damn, he¡¯s already attached to brother Lin.¡± Kaiser murmured.


    ¡°Kaiser, do you have any good plans?¡± Daylight asked anxiously.


    ¡°None at the moment.¡± Kaiser said honestly.


    Seeing Daylight and Lin Jiyun¡¯s downcast faces, Kaiser added, ¡°Anyhow, we¡¯re going to the Martial Arts Symposium, so we might as well bring this guy.¡±


    Lin Jiyun frowned, ¡°I¡¯m afraid Jiyun could not appear in the Symposium. I am still a wanted criminal in the Martial Arts world.¡±


    ¡°Just wear a mask.¡± Kaiser said with ease. Worst case scenario, they could just use a Dragon to escape. He didn¡¯t believe the Alliance Leader could fly; even if he could, could he outfly a Dragon?


    Lin Jiyun saw Kaiser and others didn¡¯t seem to care much, thinking perhaps their powers were amazing, and they really could help him right the injustice. Worst case scenario, he thought, was for him to lose his life, the life he should have already lost twice. Lin Jiyun solemnly nodded.


    ¡°By the way, can we go rob some people?¡± Kaiser asked with a very serious face.


    Void and Daylight both hung their heads low, both looking guilty.


    Before Lin Jiyun left, he organized the Bandits, and left Wong Shujun in the leader position to command the Bandits.


    When Daylight and Void went with him out of curiosity, they noticed the Bandits really were so poor, their clothings were rather ragged. Both of them had gotten soft¡­ and gave them all their money. Therefore, five people and two glutton Dragons did not even have a single cent in their names.


    * * *


    To make it to the Symposium, they rode Flames. As soon as Void heard they had to fly again, his face froze. Liola, on the other hand, held onto Baolilong so it wouldn¡¯t get angry again. The reason for all this was they had no money! Therefore, when they arrived at Living Sky City, they could only stare at the door.


    Standing at the gate to the city entrance, and Baolilong yelled it was hungry, but they couldn¡¯t do anything. They weren¡¯t even able to pay the fee to enter the city, which cost pennies.


    The guards also looked at them in disdain, and the people in line to enter the city were also laughing at them.


    Kaiser glared at those laughing, and yelled, ¡°What are you laughing at? Never seen someone who got robbed?¡±


    This made the people laugh even louder. But if they really knew the truth that they donated all their money willingly to the Bandits, they might laugh so hard to the point where their jaws might fall off.


    Money really did kill heroes. Kaiser stood there with a long face, and tried to think of every possible way to make money, but then heard a yell from afar.


    ¡°Daylight?¡±


    As soon as he heard his name, Daylight turned around to look at the source of voice and noticed Yulie and others.


    Auyan Dri looked surprised, and Yulie looked happy. She hurriedly walked up, and began to chatter, ¡°How did you guys get here faster than us? I thought you might not even make it to the Symposium.¡±


    ¡°Because we were afraid we might not make it, so we flew over.¡± Daylight answered honestly.


    ¡°Flew over? Oh.¡± Yulie remembered those two terrifying demons, ¡°So why aren¡¯t you going in? Are you waiting for¡­ us?¡± When she said the last word, Yulie seemed to blush a little.


    ¡°Did you already annihilate those Bandits?¡± Auyan Dri laughed.


    Daylight was slightly stunned. Kaiser, however, quickly joined the conversation,


    ¡°We¡¯re merciful people, so why would we kill them ruthlessly? Especially since those mountain ranges are called Bandit Mountains. You ran in willingly, could you really blame them for robbing you?¡±


    Having heard such a response, Auyan Dri looked awkward, and turned his face away to ignore Kaiser. He then started to talk to Daylight,


    ¡°May I dare to ask, the¡­ beast, what was it?¡± Auyan Dri stuttered as he tried to figure out a name to call the two large creatures. He thought it to be inappropriate to call them monsters in front of them.


    ¡°Dragons. Mine is a Fire Dragon. Li¡­ my second brother¡¯s is a Sacred White Dragon (Lightning Dragon?).¡± Daylight answered.


    ¡°Dragon?¡± Auyan Dri looked puzzled. To him, Dragons were a legendary creatures and often the symbol of Royalties. Daylight calling those two monsters Dragons made Auyan Dri unsure of how he should respond.


    Then, as the Sacred White Dragon, the little guy yelled loudly in dissatisfaction, ¡°Baolilong is hungry! Meat meat, Baolilong wants meat meat!¡±


    Daylight looked uneasy again. In fact, he knew Flames was also very hungry. The little food he had in the Bandit¡¯s cottage hardly filled his own stomach, let alone a Dragon. Because Flames was a bit older, it didn¡¯t throw a tantrum and wasn¡¯t as impatient as Baolilong. Daylight felt very guilty to have his own Dragon go hungry.


    ¡°Since the child is hungry, then let¡¯s hurry in and eat.¡± Yulie immediately suggested.


    As soon as Yulie said so, Daylight and his companions all laughed bitterly. Yulie blinked, wondering what she had said wrong, and hesitantly asked, ¡°What? You guys aren¡¯t going in?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Daylight touched his head with embarrassment, and said honestly, ¡°We couldn¡¯t pay the entrance fee.¡±


    Yulie widened her eyes, and asked strangely, ¡°Is the entrance fee to Living Sky City expensive? Or are these guards trying to rip you off?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t talk such nonsense!¡± The eavesdropping guard immediately protested loudly, ¡°If our entrance fee is the second cheapest, then no one would be the cheapest. We didn¡¯t rip these people off either. Everyone here can testify.¡±


    The crowds yelled, agreeing the guards didn¡¯t rip them off at all.


    Yulie felt a bit embarrassed. She immediately took out a bag with coins, and asked to the guard, ¡°How much is the entrance fee? I¡¯ll pay for all of us.¡±


    The complacent guard raised his chin and said a number. Yulie heard the number and it was indeed very cheap. Her face blushed even more. She quickly paid and beckoned everyone to enter the city.


    Auyan Dri smiled at Daylight, and gestured for him to go in, ¡°Allow me to be your host this time to thank you for rescuing me and my sister in the Bandit Mountains.¡±


    Being poor and having Kaiser¡¯s eyes burning behind him, Daylight knew if he dared to say it was a Knight¡¯s duty or the like and reject Auyan Dri¡¯s help, Kaiser would definitely barbecue him alive and feed him to the hungry crowd.


    ¡°Then sorry for troubling you.¡± Daylight had no choice but to smile as he accepted.


    Auyan Dri courteously answered, ¡°No trouble at all.¡±


    Everyone then entered Living Sky City, which was dubbed the largest city other than the Imperial City, and it was also the city where the Martial Arts Symposium was held.


    The city roads were very wide, it was spacious enough for five horse-drawn carriages to travel in parallel. There were many people on the streets, many of which carried weapons and yelled loudly. There were also many peddlers on the side of the road trying to advertise their goods.


    Restaurants could be found with every few steps they took, and there were no shortage of places to stay either. The whole street seemed very lively.


    Auyan Dri didn¡¯t seem to like the noisy environment, and walked hurriedly. Yulie, on the other hand, seemed very interested in the things the peddlers sold, and she often stopped to look at them.


    After waiting a few times, Auyan Dri finally said, ¡°Sister, it is already past noon, and Daylight still hasn¡¯t eaten yet.¡±


    Yulie reluctantly put down a carved wooden box she held in her hands and followed behind everyone , not stopping to look at things again.


    Daylight thought it was a bit strange. Auyan Dri said they were going to eat, but he didn¡¯t seem like he was going to stop any time soon even after passing so many different restaurants.


    However, since it was Auyan Dri who invited them to a meal, Daylight didn¡¯t say anything and simply followed. After walking for quite a while, the streets they were in seemed a bit more quiet, and the pedestrians on the street seemed more scarce, and they seemed more refined with more elegant clothes. The shops around them also seemed more elegant.


    Auyan Dri stopped at one of the inns. The inn seemed to be especially large. It was surrounded by stone walls, and the gate was large enough for a carriage to go in unhindered.


    The gate was made entirely of carved wood, and its deep red color looked like it wasn¡¯t painted, but instead the wood¡¯s original color. It also faintly gave out a pleasant scent.


    Auyan Dri gestured for everyone to go in. As soon as they did, the maids on the side immediately bowed, and greeted them. Judging from their gestures and looks, these maids weren¡¯t just ordinary inn maids.


    Auyan Dri said a few things to them. The maids bowed and led everyone past the reception area. They walked out of the hall, and into a small garden. It had a small trail people could walk around, and both sides were lined with pink flowers.


    There were also a small, artificial lake far away, and some white flowers were blooming within the lake. The strange large garden also had a few Chinese gazebo scattered about. The maids led Auyan Dri into one of the gazebos, and opened the door to let the guests in.


    Auyan Dri beckoned everyone to sit down, and smiled as he said to Daylight, ¡°We are still waiting on a guest. She¡¯s the Yulie¡¯s senior sister apprentice. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Yulie¡¯s senior sister apprentice? Doesn¡¯t it make her yours too?¡± Daylight asked curiously.


    Auyan Dri felt a bit uneasy hearing Daylight calling Yulie¡¯s name directly, and forced a smile, ¡°No. She is from Wave Faction. The Sun Faction has always been close to Wave Faction, and we often call each other sibling apprentices.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡­¡± Daylight nodded with a smile.


    The maid from before came in, and she was followed by a long line of maids, with each of them carrying two plates of food. When all the maids placed dishes on the table, which was large enough for twenty people, it had almost completely filled the table. There were twelve large containers of food, two of which were soups.


    ¡°I asked them to bring the twelve classic dishes they have here. In a moment they will come with the other twelve and some desserts.¡± Auyan Dri smiled.


    Seeing so much food, Daylight was shocked. In the year he had been in the Overlook, there were probably two, three dishes at most per meal. In the end, they had to fill their stomachs with rice. Even when Lee San Niang cooked their farewell meal for them, it was only six dishes.


    There were only two people on Auyan Dri¡¯s side: him and Yulie. There were more people on Daylight¡¯s side: five people and two Dragons (Of course, on the surface it looked like six people and one Dragon).


    How could they possibly finish twenty four dishes plus desserts? Unless Auyan Dri had somehow already knew how much Baolilong and Flames could eat? Daylight was a bit suspicious.


    ¡°Oh right, Daylight. For your¡­ Dragon, I asked for ten kilograms of their best beef. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s enough?¡± Auyan Dri asked. Since it was just a small Dragon, it should be enough. However, he had no idea how much a large Dragon would eat.


    ¡°Could we get some more?¡± Liola suddenly opened his mouth, and added, ¡°The more the better.¡±


    God knows Liola had to use Ki to grab a hold of Baolilong, whose eyes had almost turned blood red from being so hungry.


    Auyan Dri didn¡¯t notice Liola until now. Compared to the sunny Daylight, Liola¡¯s quietness didn¡¯t seem to draw much attention.


    Auyan Dri suddenly remembered, out of the two demons, one of them seemed to be controlled by the silver-eyed man before him. He became cautious of Liola, but on the surface he still appeared to be courteous.


    He said leisurely, ¡°Then, let¡¯s get another fifty kilograms of barbecue beef.¡±


    Auyan Dri was eager to see how Liola was going to feed the monster.


    One of the two maids standing at the door immediately bowed at Auyan Dri, and headed to the kitchen to get their orders ready.


    ¡°Everyone, please help yourselves.¡± Auyan Dri gestured with his hand.


    Liola almost couldn¡¯t hold Baolilong back. To not let Baolilong commit an atrocity on the table, Liola decided to grab two dishes with mainly meat in them and placed them on the ground. Baolilong immediately charged at the food, and its chubby hands were grabbing food and stuffing its face.


    Auyan Dri and Yulie were both stunned when Liola took the plates. But the look of Baolilong eating completely froze them.


    At this time, someone else at the table also dug in. Since he couldn¡¯t just take away the plates, Kaiser used chopsticks and a spoon at the same time. He grabbed both drum sticks of the Rotisserie Chicken, and a third of the Fish.


    Almost every dish was abused in a similar manner by Kaiser. The dishes were originally so beautiful that no one wanted to eat them. However, in an instant they looked so appalling, no one dared to touch it.


    Nevertheless, Daylight, Liola, and Void didn¡¯t seem to mind. Lin Jiyun, with his face covered, probably hadn¡¯t had a full meal for God knows how long, so he would never care whether the food looked good or not. They all began to eat, because if they didn¡¯t hurry they might have nothing to eat but plates.


    After Liola took a few bites, Baolilong began to grab the seams of his pants, with two empty plates next to it. Going against Kaiser¡¯s murderous gaze, Liola calmly picked up another two plates and placed them on the ground for Baolilong.


    There were only eight dishes left. Judging from Baolilong¡¯s speed, it was going to be six soon. The crowd¡¯s eating speed increased once again. Seeing the food on the table was vanishing at the speed of light, Auyan Dri and Yulie were in shock, and the maids at the door were also scared and ran off to tell the kitchen to prepare the next twelve dishes.


    With sweat running down their foreheads, the maids finally managed to deliver the sixty kilograms of beef for the Dragons as soon as the twelve dishes on the table vanished. They then helped set up the second set of dishes on the table.


    Without the hungry Dragons robbing them of food, they finally slow down their eating speed. Auyan Dri and Yulie began to taste a bite of every dish.


    For the upper class Auyan Dri and Long Yulie, they ordered so much food not because they could eat them all. They were only going to take a bite out of every dish, and had no plans to actually finish them. Coincidentally, this was perfect for Daylight and others. Had it not there been so much food, they would¡¯ve had a hard time feeding Baolilong and Flames.


    * * *


    After having eaten just about enough, Auyan Dri asked as he looked at the mask-covered Lin Jiyun, ¡°I have been very curious. This man seems to be a new addition? I don¡¯t remember seeing him before.¡±


    Daylight hurriedly said, ¡°Yes, he just joined us. We just agreed to help him with something, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Auyan Dri thought it was strange, but Daylight had already concluded his sentence with ¡°that¡¯s all¡±, which meant it was probable Daylight had no intention of clarifying. Naturally, Auyan Dri wouldn¡¯t bluntly ask again. He glanced at the masked man just one more time before moving on.


    ¡°Is this little child eating a bit too much?¡± Long Yulie had already been full for a while, and she settled her attention on Baolilong. Seeing the child eating more than its own body weight, Yulie was worried it might die from eating too much.


    Liola glanced at Baolilong, and said quietly, ¡°Baolilong, save some for Flames.¡±


    Baolilong, who was sitting on the ground, had all sixty kilograms of meat next to it, and was happily chewing.


    Hearing papa say so, Baolilong looked at the pitiful Flames next to it, then unwillingly split its stack of meat into half and gave half to Flames. Flames almost burst into tears, it rushed up to the meat and started to stuff itself.


    Auyan Dri thought it was strange how such a small child could eat so much. The child¡¯s hair color and eye color were also strange. White hair and pink eyes¡­ Auyan Dri suddenly had an epiphany.


    ¡®White and pink? That monster last time seemed to also have pink eyes¡­¡¯ Auyan Dri suddenly began to panic.


    ¡°Senior brother apprentice, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Long Yulie asked in a caring manner. She had rarely seen him panicking like this.


    When Auyan Dri didn¡¯t know how to respond, the maid at the door respectfully said, ¡°Mr Auyan, the guest you¡¯ve been waiting for has arrived.¡±


    ¡°Auyan Dri! Did you treat my junior sister apprentice well? If you¡¯ve been bullying her, you are dead!¡±


    As soon as her voice could be heard, she arrived into the building like a gale. Her attire was similar to Yulie¡¯s, with a long whip on her hips. Both of them were wearing bright red clothes, but they didn¡¯t seem vulgar. Her skin was also snowy white. Along with her proud appearance, her image was burned into everyone¡¯s eyes, like a bright flame.


    ¡°Hmm? How come there are so many people?¡±


    The woman asked, and at the same time browsed through the unfamiliar crowd. When she saw Liola, the woman froze.


    At the same time, Liola had already been completely stunned when he saw this woman come in. Judging from their expressions, they had already met before, but neither had ever imagined they would run into each other again.


    This woman was someone Liola was very familiar with. She was the person the Martial Arts World called Long Yandie, the person closest to Anise; her sworn younger sister.

 Volume 7, 6: Anise’s Letter

    Volume 7, Chapter 6: Anise¡¯s Letter


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    Both of them were like statues, the only difference being one was sitting and the other was standing. They stared at each other, and they could both see the other¡¯s mixed emotions in their eyes.


    Both she and he were people whom Anise loved the most, but now they looked at each other like enemies would. After Anise¡¯s death, Liola had ran into Long Yandi more than once, and he was also pursued by her more than once. Their enmity had been at its peak back then.


    Even though, in the days following Anise¡¯s death, Liola was in despair and had actually been rescued by Long Yandi. At the time, she said she was going to be the person to kill him and no one else.


    More than a year later, both of them meeting like this, neither knew how to react.


    No one else dared to make a sound. Though Auyan Dri was about to ask if they had met, but as soon as he saw Long Yandi¡¯s complex expression, he suddenly stopped.


    In Auyan Dri¡¯s mind, the only person who could elicit such hatred and longing in a woman could be none other than a lover or an ex-lover, and Auyan Dri wasn¡¯t someone who would ask such a private matter bluntly.


    A long time had passed before Long Yandi finally sighed deeply. She then said, ¡°Come with me, I have something to ask you.¡± Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked out of the building.


    Liola thought briefly, and stood up to follow Long Yandi, leaving behind a bunch of people staring at each other, trying to guess the relationship between the two.


    ¡°Adulterers.¡± Kaiser said straightforwardly.


    ¡°Brother and sister?¡± Daylight guessed something no one else would agree with.


    ¡°Love rivals?¡± Someone said this, but they weren¡¯t sure who.


    Everyone was briefly silent, but then Kaiser interrupted the silence, ¡°That can¡¯t be? Were they love rivals for a man or woman?¡±


    The silence continued. Kaiser uneasily continued his interruption, ¡°I hope it¡¯s not a man? Don¡¯t scare me, I slept with Liola for a year.¡±


    Hearing this, Auyan Dri and Yulie both looked strangely at Kaiser¡­


    * * *


    As soon as Liola walked out the door, he saw Yandi standing by herself near a small lake not far away. Liola walked over, and quietly stood next to her.


    She said softly, ¡°I knew you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t answer. They both looked at the surface of the lake for a long while. Yandi finally said with hesitation and anticipation, ¡°Is my sister really dead?¡±


    Hearing this, Liola was slightly shocked, and questioned her back, ¡°Didn¡¯t I hand her body to you?¡±


    ¡°I know. And I followed what she told me before, and put her corp¡ª¡­ body at her old house.¡± Yandi bit her lip tightly, trying not to remember how she felt when she buried her sister.


    ¡°Then why did you ask?¡± Liola felt it strange. Perhaps someone else might not be sure, but Yandi and he were the two people who saw Anise¡¯s corpse with their own eyes. There¡¯s no reason for her to doubt her death.


    Yandie said with a stiff expression, ¡°I heard rumors sister has been going around the world.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola frowned slightly, but he didn¡¯t say anything. He knew Yandi wasn¡¯t the type of person who would easily believe rumors. Something must have happened to force her to ask him such a question.


    ¡°Rumors kept coming. Many of them clearly described the unique style of sister¡¯s healing. I had no choice but to go back to the place I where buried sister to make sure.¡± Yandi held her fist tightly, trying to hold back her eagerness and stared at Liola, ¡°It was gone! Sister¡¯s corpse was gone!¡±


    ¡®Anise¡¯s body was gone?¡¯ Liola¡¯s mind went blank, and trying to hold back his eagerness like Yandi, while trying to find an explanation.


    ¡°When you buried Anise¡­ did you go with anyone?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Yandi impatiently shook her head and said, ¡°You think I didn¡¯t think about the possibility? I¡¯ve already checked out all the possibilities, but no one could have possibly known where sister lived. Even I took a long time. I had to look for it based on sister¡¯s description. That place is far too well hidden. It was a cave behind a waterfall, and the cave is even high off the ground. I observed the surrounding of the place when I went, and I can promise no one had been there after sister had left.¡±


    Liola knew, despite Yandi¡¯s looks, she was actually a very detailed woman. Plus this involved Anise, Yandi must have done all her research and did not find any clue, to end up asking him the question.


    Yandi took a deep breath, and took out something from her pocket, ¡°When I went back, I found this.¡±


    Liola lowered his head to look. It was an envelope, and it had ¡°To Dear Liola¡± written on it. Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but he hadn¡¯t seen Anise¡¯s handwriting before, so he couldn¡¯t ascertain whether it was written by her.


    ¡°Sister¡¯s handwriting, I promise.¡± Yandi said impatiently, ¡°I haven¡¯t opened it, now you¡¯re here, open it immediately.¡±


    She handed the letter to Liola, and he looked gratefully at Yandi.


    ¡®How much restraint did she have to exercise to not open it?¡¯ Liola took it and opened it, and took out a short note from within.


    Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, if you want to know the truth, come find me, come find Anise.


    Seeing the surprising note, Liola felt as if someone was suffocating him. His mind flashed with the things Blood Wolf said to him, and felt his heart sinking.


    Yandi finally couldn¡¯t hold back and grabbed the note, but saw such a strange sentence. Yandi thought it was strange, but judging from Liola¡¯s expression, he understood what it meant.


    Yandi prodded him, and asked in dissatisfaction, ¡°What does this mean?¡±


    Liola woke up from his daze, and shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Are you being ridiculous? Assassin.¡± Yandi suddenly got angry. From his appearance, she knew it was impossible for him to not understand this.


    However, Liola kept shaking his head.


    Yandi suspiciously observed Liola¡¯s expression. Liola continued shaking his head while looking away from Yandi.


    She finally understood, and said coldly, ¡°I know now, you¡¯re running away again. Your ability to lie to yourself has always been astounding. You must have noticed something, but you aren¡¯t brave enough to think about it.¡±


    Liola¡¯s mouth twitched; he was trying to suppress the question now spiraling in his heart.


    ¡°You! You¡¯re making me really angry!¡± Yandi was now furious. She turned around and ran back to the building, leaving Liola standing alone beside the lake.


    * * *


    ¡°Sister¡¯s handwriting, I promise.¡±


    Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, if you want to know the truth, come find me, come find Anise.


    In the past, inside Liola¡¯s dream, there were a cross-shaped light, a very warm white light.


    ¡°Liola, find me.¡±


    ¡°Who are you? Who are you?¡± His consciousness kept asking.


    ¡°I am¡­ Anise.¡±


    ¡®Anise is¡­¡¯ Liola grab ahold of the Dragon Cross Necklace on his chest, forcing himself to forget, but one question could not be suppressed¡­ if everything was pre-arranged, was his meeting with Anise also planned?


    Liola held onto the necklace tighter, and he didn¡¯t realize blood was oozing out of his fingers. A white light slowly glimmered from the Dragon Cross Necklace. In the past, the white light had always brought Liola a feeling of warmth, but this time, a cold feeling brushed across the Assassin¡¯s heart.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he stood there. Liola took a deep breath, and let go of the necklace. He turned around to return to his friends. At least, knowing them wasn¡¯t a part of the arrangement.


    * * *


    Next day, they ate a large meal at breakfast again. With Yulie¡¯s warm invitations, Kaiser and others accepted in embarrassment, without saying anything to refuse it. If they really were to reject the offer, what were they going to eat? It was either going to be Kaiser cooking the Dragon, or vice versa, the latter being the more probable outcome.


    ¡°Then Auyan Dri, we¡¯ll trouble you some more.¡±


    Kaiser courteously bowed, but his face was still had a sly smile, which made Auyan Dri feel uncomfortable, but he still had to answer courteously, ¡°No problem, we¡¯re all companions going to the Martial Arts Symposium.¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯re going to act as a host, don¡¯t forget.¡± Kaiser immediately responded.


    ¡°I won¡¯t forget.¡±


    Even for Auyan Dri, Kaiser¡¯s actions were making his head blow off some steam, and he even secretly counted how much money he had left.


    Although, to make Yulie happy, Auyan Dri brought quite a lot of money to ensure her trip would be happy, it turned out the money Yulie spent was far less than Auyan Dri anticipated. At most, she bought a few cheap toys from the streets stall, and she didn¡¯t seem to have much interest in expensive jewelry.


    However, going at the current rate, his wallet might be emptied out by these people¡¯s stomachs. Auyan Dri¡¯s smile, therefore, looked a bit forced.


    ¡°Good, good. Let¡¯s go then, and let us go witness the morality of this Martial Arts Alliance Leader.¡± Kaiser said happily, and at the same time, reminded Lin Jiyun to be careful.


    ¡°Kaiser, when we are at the Symposium, please¡­ mind your words. If you offend a powerful man in the Martial Arts world, even Auyan Dri would not be able to help you.¡± Auyan Dri laughed bitterly.


    The man had already questioned the morality of the Alliance Leader, could Auyan Dri really expect he would be respectful to anyone else?


    Kaiser waved his hand impatiently, ¡°I know, I know. Let¡¯s go already.¡±


    As they walked, Kaiser frequently grabbed hot buns, candied fruits, and Dragon¡¯s beard candy. His hands were soon full with food, but his eyes were still staring at dumplings.


    [T/N: Dragon¡¯s beard candy is a type of chinese cotton candy]


    Baolilong, on the other hand, grabbed food and stuffed it in its mouth, then continued to grab the next food. The life span of food in its chubby hands was never more than five seconds.


    This made Auyan Dri very busy with paying for the food, to the point where his mood turned rotten. He also saw Yulie busily chatting and laughing with Daylight. Auyan Dri felt bitter, and half of his face darkened.


    Liola and Long Yandi walked silently shoulder-to-shoulder in the back. The atmosphere between them was extremely cold, to the point where Lin Jiyun had to walk faster in front of them, so he doesn¡¯t freeze to death before he had his revenge.


    As they walked, the number of common folk had steadily decreased. Almost everyone carried a weapon, and they looked like Martial Artists. Many of them even wore matching uniform with their own special icons.


    Void continuously explained to Kaiser, ¡°That¡¯s the Mandarin Duck Faction, they excel at swords, especially a sword formation with two people. They are the Kenpo Faction, they excel at palm strikes¡­¡±


    Daylight relished in Void¡¯s detail explanation, and kept observing people around him. At first, the people he looked at all looked back at him unhappily, but as soon as Daylight saw them looking back, he would smile and nod earnestly.


    Seeing the sincerity of his smile and the admiration of his gaze, most of them would nod back respectfully; some of the older folks would even secretly praise the young hero.


    They walked and walked until they were near the edge of the city. The streets became more and more crowded, to the point where people were standing shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly, someone yelled out loudly.


    ¡°I¡¯m burning!¡± Everyone looked, and saw a buff man trying to extinguish the fire on his body. Since the fire was on his back, the man ran around anxiously but still could not put his hand on the disaster on the back.


    Everyone saw the man running around in an embarrassing manner and started laughing. With the help of his companions, the man finally put out the fire, and then turned around and yelled with a blush, ¡°What are you laughing at?! This is the dark magic from a demon. That damn demon dared to harm people.¡±


    The man pointed with his finger at the small Flames on the ground. Everyone looked at what he pointed. In fact, everyone had already noticed the strange creature, but no one wanted to point at it out of fear of showing their own ignorance, so nobody spoke first even though they were all waiting for someone to ask.


    After being pointed at, Flames angrily growled. Daylight frowned, and scolded Flames, ¡°Perhaps he didn¡¯t mean to step on your tail. You can¡¯t just throw your fireballs at will and hurt people.¡±


    Flames felt wronged and growled a few more times.


    Seeing Daylight talking to Flames, everyone looked strangely at Daylight and his demon. The man saw the demon¡¯s master was just a young man, and suddenly felt brave.


    He yelled loudly, ¡°Little runt, your demon burnt my clothes. How are you going to resolve this?¡±


    Daylight smiled apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry. Flames has a bad temper. I¡¯ve already scolded him.¡±


    Daylight answered straightforwardly, but the man seemed to want to cause trouble. He said, ¡°You have to at least pay me for a shirt.¡±


    Hearing about money, Daylight froze. He didn¡¯t even have a cent, so what was he going to use to pay the man?


    Daylight looked worried. Yulie saw and knew he had no money. She quickly looked towards her senior brother apprentice. Auyan Dri originally wanted to see Daylight being embarrassed, but Yulie¡¯s eyes forced him to come forward.


    As the young master of the Sun Faction, when had Auyan Dri ever paid money to a hooligan like him? And now he had to do it for his love rival.


    Auyan Dri impatiently took out some money and threw it at the man, ¡°This is the money for your clothes.¡±


    Seeing Auyan Dri¡¯s impatience, the man got angry and yelled, ¡°Little runt! What¡¯s with your attitude? How dare you talk to me like that?¡±


    Hearing someone call him a runt, Auyan Dri¡¯s face sank. He had already been in a rotten mood, and no longer cared to resolve the situation peacefully.


    He yelled back, ¡°You were the one who stepped on Daylight¡¯s¡­ pet, let¡¯s forget you didn¡¯t apologize, but now you want payment because of it?¡±


    The man got angrier, and he unsheathed his sword. Everyone around him had also done so.


    Auyan Dri¡¯s side, however, held still while he looked at the man in disdain. Daylight hurriedly tried to solve the argument and said something about how it¡¯s all his fault, and they shouldn¡¯t get into a fight because of it.


    While the confrontation between the two sides ensued, Kaiser pinched Baolilong¡¯s cheeks, and said with a sly smile, ¡°Little pet, come shake hands¡­ AAHHHH!¡± He then let out a tragic cry as Baolilong bit his hand.


    Both sides were furious, and neither listened to Daylight. With another disdained look from Auyan Dri, the man drew his sword and charged with a dozen or so people around him.


    Auyan Dri¡¯s also decided to vent the anger he had accumulated in the past few days. He drew the sword from his waist. He charged towards the dozen of people and began fighting.


    Seeing Auyan Dri facing a dozen people, Yulie jumped into the fray with her whip, ¡°Senior brother apprentice! Let me assist you.¡±


    Originally, Auyan Dri looked at the buff man, and thought little of his power. Little did he knew, although it did not match Auyan Dri¡¯s, the man¡¯s power was not far off, plus he had a dozen helpers.


    Auyan Dri wanted to use them to vent off anger, but now he was in a situation where the only thing he could ensure was his own safety, and had no power to attack back.


    Yulie joining the fight may have lessened his pressure slightly, but her power was far off from Auyan Dri. With three, four people surrounding her, she panicked.


    ¡°Please stop. Stop fighting.¡± Daylight had become anxious, but he didn¡¯t know whether he should join the fight. Although Auyan Dri is on his side, Daylight had to admit this fight was started by Auyan Dri. Seeing the fight being evenly matched, Daylight had no idea what to do.


    However, Yulie suddenly staggered, and a few swords were swung directly at her. Daylight saw it and immediately charged to her side. He didn¡¯t even have enough time to take out his pike, so he unleashed his aura, forcing the swords back. The silver-lined blue aura caused everyone around him to stop fighting, and they all stared at the strange light.


    Daylight slowly withdrew his aura, but he didn¡¯t know how to resolve the situation. Almost everyone was staring at him, and some of which would look at him suspiciously while also glancing at Flames.


    ¡°What kind of witchcraft is this?¡± Someone from the crowd asked suspiciously, a question everyone was wondering about.


    ¡°Aura.¡± Daylight answered honestly.


    Everyone began to murmur among themselves, ¡°Aura? Never heard of it¡­ Must be some sort of sorcery¡­¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, releasing your Ki outside of your body for defense. This method is quite special, but runt, your usage of it isn¡¯t matured yet. You lack more practice.¡±


    A loud old man¡¯s voice echoed in everyone¡¯s ears. Despite the noisy environment, it was crisp and clear to everyone, but it wasn¡¯t a loud yell either. His laugh also sounded vigorous, like the sound of a large bell chiming. By simply judging by his voice, one could deduce he had unimaginable power. Even Liola, as the top Assassin, frowned slightly when he heard the voice.


    While everyone was looking around for the source of this voice, the old man slowly walked out from a corner. Other than his face being ruddy, he looked no different than any other ordinary old man.


    Upon closer examination, however, one would realize his eyes looked far more spirited than ordinary person. There was also a silver cane at the man¡¯s waist, and it was made out of stone. The shape of it didn¡¯t look very elegant, so it wasn¡¯t a sculpted rock, but rather one produced from a slash of a sword.


    ¡°Wanyuan old man! It¡¯s actually him!¡± The more insightful Martial Artists yelled in surprise.


    [T/N: his name literally means ¡®Stubborn Rock¡¯, not sure if this becomes significant later on.]


    Old Man Wanyuan was the master of the previous Alliance Leader. Even when the Alliance Leader was killed, he did not show himself. His sudden appearance had made many guess his intentions.

 Volume 7, 7: Martial Arts Alliance Leader, Xin Jietian

    Volume 7, Chapter 7: Martial Arts Alliance Leader, Xin Jietian


    ¡°Little runt, you sure did release quite a bit of Ki, but your usage isn¡¯t accurate enough. Your master must not be very conscientious.¡± Wanyuan old man laughed as he stared at Daylight.


    Unlike other people who respectfully or humbly lowered their heads, Daylight looked at the old man curiously, and explained, ¡°I only have mentors, not a master.¡±


    Wanyuan frowned, not sure what mentor meant. But as for not having a master, he obviously understood. A hint of excitement flashed across his eyes, and asked anxiously, ¡°You don¡¯t have a master?¡±


    Daylight nodded.


    ¡°Hehe, are you interested in having me as your master?¡± Wanyuan asked as if he was joking.


    ¡°Are you very strong?¡± Daylight¡¯s eyes shone as well, and he excitedly asked back, not knowing this question shocked everyone around them.


    Who was Wanyuan? He was practically a legend in the Martial Arts world! Any other person would have kowtowed to him the moment he said he would take them as an apprentice, how could Daylight dare to ask if he was strong?


    Wanyuan also looked a bit surprised at Daylight¡¯s response. But judging from Daylight¡¯s Kung Fu-loving looks, Wanyuan was not angry, and instead burst out laughing.


    He gestured with his index finger and taunted Daylight to come at him. He then stood still quietly, waiting for Daylight¡¯s attack. Daylight also took out the pike on his back. With his blue aura released, the pike flew towards the old man like a meteorite.


    Wanyuan acted as if he wanted to leave an impression for his future apprentice. Despite facing Daylight¡¯s mountain-splitting, sea-parting attack, the old man chose not to evade or launch a counterattack, and stood still.


    His eyes suddenly shone, and his hand grabbed the pike like the claw of an eagle. No matter how much Daylight struggled with his hands or his aura, the pike didn¡¯t move an inch.


    Daylight looked at the old man¡¯s relaxed expression, and he let go of his spike, then gave the old man a Knight¡¯s salute while saying excitedly, ¡°Master, please allow me to be your apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Rude! You want master to have you as an apprentice but you¡¯re not even kneeling.¡±


    The man who was fighting with Auyan Dri walked up to the old man, and scolded Daylight loudly. Everyone was stunned, but Wanyuan knocked the man¡¯s head, and scolded back,


    ¡°Shut up! You¡¯re fighting with others in public, and a dozen of you couldn¡¯t even win against two, and now you dare to yell? Go back to your piggy friends.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± The buff man obediently backed away behind Wanyuan like a child. The other dozen people saw the buff man had left, and immediately followed without so much as uttering a word.


    ¡°Master, are these all your apprentices?¡± Daylight didn¡¯t care whether the old man accepted him as an apprentice, he simply started calling him master.


    After all, in his world, no mentors would forbid the students for calling them a mentor, and Daylight didn¡¯t really think much about the customs here.


    Fortunately, Wanyuan had already observed Daylight before, and he was fond of Daylight¡¯s honor, lack of any artificiality, and his straightforwardness without any formalities.


    The old man waved his hand, ¡°I don¡¯t have many apprentices who¡¯d make me angry. Only the stupidest one there is my apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Such rotten luck I have! I¡¯ve only had two apprentices my whole life, and they¡¯re both stupid! One was so stupid enough to die, while the other is so stupid no one wants to kill him.¡± Wanyuan murmured angrily, which made the buff man behind him blush.


    Wanyuan seemed to be deep in thought. His white eyebrows knitted as he examined Daylight, and then finally said, ¡°No, if you¡¯re so stupid you¡¯d die, or if you¡¯re so stupid no one wants to kill you, then wouldn¡¯t it mean I wouldn¡¯t have anyone to continue my legacy?¡±


    Daylight scratched his face, unsure of what the old man was talking about.


    ¡°Follow me, good apprentice! This time, I, Wanyuan, will definitely have a good apprentice people will want to kill but won¡¯t be able to.¡±


    Wanyuan grabbed Daylight¡¯s hand, and hurriedly started to talk. Daylight was practically dragged off, without even a chance to explain anything about him or his friends.


    ¡°Halt!¡±


    A lazy voice could be heard, and this actually made Wanyuan stop. How long had it been since someone dared to ask him to stop?


    Wanyuan looked back with more curiosity than anger. Only person he saw was a green-haired man, looking like he was about sixteen, seventeen at the most. Wanyuan began to find it amusing. He sighed and murmured something about how nowadays even a little child dared to ask him to halt.


    ¡°Old man, you can take away my eldest brother apprentice,¡± Kaiser said angrily, ¡°But you have to at least pay a bit of ransom fee, right?¡±


    Everyone fell to the floor, and even Wanyuan staggered two steps back. ¡®Ransom fee? Is this man treating his own eldest brother apprentice like a prostitute¡­?¡¯


    ¡°Did you know, all of us apprentices are relying on him for food. As soon as he leaves, how can Ms. Long not send us out on the streets?¡± Kaiser said as shocked everyone to death with his words.


    He reached out his right palm and said, ¡°So, you give me money, and I give you a person!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Wanyuan scratched his head, and reached into his pockets. He took out a gold bullion and threw it to Kaiser. He asked, ¡°Is this enough?¡±


    Kaiser calmly caught the bullion. He bit it with his teeth, then put it in his pockets. His expression suddenly turned emotional.


    ¡°Of course not. Who do you think my eldest brother apprentice is? He is very talented. He¡¯s a genius you can only find once in a million years. Look at him, his honorable personality, handsome looks, and his power of defeating a thousand people. It¡¯s rare for any one of these traits to appear on a person, not to mention my eldest brother apprentice is a prodigy with all three of them. You want to take him away for one bullion? What do you think I¡¯m doing, liquidating off my assets?¡±


    Wanyuan looked dumbfounded, and he took out a heavy money bag and threw it. Kaiser flew out and grabbed the bag in the air. As soon as he opened it, a golden light shone on Kaiser¡¯s face, which brought out his greed even further.


    Kaiser immediately put the bag inside his coat, and said with a salesman smile, ¡°Thank you for coming, please come again. Oh and, elder brother apprentice, take care.¡±


    ¡°W-wait.¡± It was Daylight¡¯s turn to be dumbfounded. Seeing Kaiser really was about to sell him, Daylight had to stand up and say something.


    ¡°Wait my ass! You have a master and I have money, so everyone is happy. You go learn Kung Fu. Oh and take Flames with you, one chowhound is already hard enough to feed, and I don¡¯t want to feed two. If you need to talk to us, ask Flames to talk to Baolilong.¡±


    Kaiser said hurriedly, and then turned to add a disclaimer to Wanyuan, ¡°Whether he leaves with you or not, it¡¯s your business, he¡¯s your apprentice now. No matter what, I will never refund the money you just gave me!¡±


    ¡®T-this little runt¡­¡¯ Wanyuan couldn¡¯t even get mad. It was already impossible to describe Kaiser as naive, and therefore was not afraid of tigers. He was practically shameless¡­ no, shameless could only describe one thousandth of Kaiser.


    Daylight was still a bit worried, he felt he shouldn¡¯t leave his companions¡¯ side. It was then when Flames said via telepathy,


    ¡°Master, Baolilong Highness¡¯ master has already asked Kaiser and Void. He said the old man is very powerful and a kind man. His willingness to accept you as his apprentice is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you shouldn¡¯t pass it up. After they handle the monster origin and the business with Lin Jiyun, they will come find you. Baolilong Highness can definitely find Flames, so don¡¯t worry master.¡±


    After receiving this communique, Daylight knew his companions had already found out about his master. He blinked gratefully at his companions, and no longer objected to leaving.


    Wanyuan saw Daylight¡¯s obvious blink and quietness, and he understood his apprentice must have reached some sort of agreement with his companions. He was, however, curious as to how they did it, considering they didn¡¯t say a word to one another.


    Could they have really spoken via their eyes? Wanyuan was getting more and more curious about his new apprentice, but it didn¡¯t matter. Judging from Daylight¡¯s personality, finding various truths from him would be far too easy¡­


    ¡°Good apprentice. Now follow the master.¡± Just by looking, Wanyuan knew Daylight would follow obediently. He thought, the best thing about his apprentice was his honesty, and the worst thing was he was far too honest.


    Daylight nodded, then turned around to try to remind Kaiser before he left. He frowned and looked at Kaiser briefly, and finally uttered, ¡°Kaiser, don¡¯t sell your second brother apprentice.¡±


    Everyone fell to the ground again. Kaiser waved his hand, ¡°I won¡¯t. When you¡¯re gone, he¡¯s my last lifeline, and I won¡¯t sell him.¡±


    Daylight nodded, then turned to look at Liola. He frowned again and said, ¡°Be careful not to get sold by Kaiser.¡±


    Liola was speechless, but he still nodded back.


    Daylight didn¡¯t say anything else. After all, if he had something to say, Flames could deliver his words to Baolilong.


    Being a martial arts fanatic, Daylight didn¡¯t seem to want to linger, but instead he was excited of the new Kung Fu he could learn.


    Wanyuan saw his new apprentice wanted to get started right away, and therefore didn¡¯t stay any longer. They then immediately took off.


    * * *


    Everything was concluded so quickly, but the result of the whole matter seemed to have stunned everyone, especially Auyan Dri and Long Yulie.


    In the middle of the fight, an old man bought an apprentice and left, completely ignoring them. Nevertheless, Auyan Dri was quite happy, because the love rival he was always worried about had left, and God knows when he¡¯ll be back. This also made Yulie freeze, to the point where she didn¡¯t even say goodbye to Daylight.


    ¡°Oh, oh, when does the Martial Arts Symposium start?¡± Kaiser murmured as if he was bored.


    At this time, everyone woke up from their daze, remembering they weren¡¯t here to watch someone buying an apprentice, and the preparation for the Symposium must continue.


    Suddenly the scene was lively again. Kaiser elbowed the Assassin next to him, and said like a sly salesman, ¡°Hey, since Daylight is gone, isn¡¯t it your turn to go?¡±


    Liola glanced at Kaiser, and said, ¡°If I go, someone might recognize me.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, and asked suspiciously, ¡°Would they really recognize you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Even Liola wasn¡¯t sure.


    Even when he had the entire Martial Arts world on his tail, only very few people actually caught up to him, and there were fewer who had actually seen him. The only people he was sure who would recognize him would be the previous Alliance Leader, or perhaps¡­ Liola frowned, maybe he has forgotten someone?


    Kaiser looked at Liola¡¯s face as he sank into his thoughts, and felt uneasy. Kaiser thought this man could never remember anything outside of Kung Fu, especially if he judged the person to be someone unimportant, which he would probably forget in a second. Or perhaps someone had seen Liola, but because they were ¡°unimportant¡±, this guy didn¡¯t remember at all.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better you don¡¯t go¡± Kaiser had to give in. If someone recognized him, then it would bring many big troubles.


    Since they had Daylight¡¯s ransom fees, eating should no longer be a problem. What was important now was for them to find a perfect night for Liola to beat the bastard Xin Jietian unconscious, then let Lin Jiyun kill him. They can then go around the world tasting the best food, while looking to see if they could find the origin of the monsters. Of course, if they don¡¯t run into it, it wouldn¡¯t be their problem.


    ¡°Is second brother apprentice not going to participate in the match?¡± Void quietly listened in on the conversation for a while, and although he didn¡¯t understand much of it, he did understand the conclusion.


    ¡°Correct. So we will just sit back and watch the match. When the moon is dark and the wind is high, we will then resolve the issue with little Yun.¡± Kaiser said lazily. He had always hated doing things that didn¡¯t net him any money.


    Even though Kaiser acted like a lazy worker, Lin Jiyun still looked at him with grateful eyes. After all, just taking him here to the Symposium was something very dangerous. Even if his quest for revenge fails, Lin Jiyun wouldn¡¯t complain about Kaiser and others, because after all, his enemy was the Alliance Leader.


    Suddenly, the sound of drums could be heard. All the martial artists around became quiet, and they looked towards the balcony of a small building not far away. A large set of drums was on the balcony, and a muscular man with a teal shirt was beating it forcefully.


    The door to the balcony opened, and a thin and tall man walked out of it. He looked majestic and his eyes sparkled. He did not look as restrained as Wanyuan, and one could easily infer the man to be quite powerful.


    At the same time, Kaiser didn¡¯t know if it was just an illusion, but he felt a sense of faint magic around the old man. However, when he closely examined it, the magic power suddenly disappeared.


    ¡°Xin¡­¡±


    As soon as Lin Jiyun saw the man and remembered every crime he had committed, he began to angrily cry out his name. But as soon as he had gotten the first syllable off, Kaiser immediately covered his mouth. Everyone else had their attention on the Alliance Leader, and thus no one noticed Lin Jiyun.


    ¡°Kaiser.¡± Liola, on the other hand, called Kaiser quietly.


    While covering Lin Jiyun¡¯s mouth, Kaiser threw a look back, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen this man, I remember.¡± Liola suddenly stopped, remembering Void and Lin Jiyun were both there. He then used the other world¡¯s language, ¡°When I was fighting with the previous Alliance Leader, he was nearby.¡±


    ¡®Damn!¡¯ Kaiser felt a pain in his head, ¡®Something this important, please, why didn¡¯t you remember earlier?¡¯


    ¡°Lower your head, don¡¯t let him see your silver eyes.¡± Kaiser answered back using his native language.


    Long Yandi glanced at Liola from the corner of her eyes, and then grunted without saying anything else. The only reason why she followed Liola was to find her sister. If Liola ends up getting caught, it wouldn¡¯t do her any good.


    Liola obeyed. Luckily, the Alliance Leader was on a second floor balcony and there were quite a large number of people nearby. Judging from his ordinary expression, he didn¡¯t notice the top Assassin was ¡°listening¡± to his announcement.


    Xin Jietian saw everyone was quiet, and began to give his speech.


    ¡°Lately, I believe everyone here has witnessed the appearance of demons among us. They roam around our land, kill our people, and arson our homes. As a part of the Martial Arts World, we should consider it our duty, for the goodness and lives of all creatures¡­¡± (Hereby omitting the rest of his hour-long speech).


    Kaiser had already yawned time after time, and his eyelids weighed like stones. He often fell asleep while standing, and his whole body would fall to its side.


    Liola would often ¡°fish¡± Kaiser from forming a 45 degree angle with the ground, and then Kaiser would open his eyes for about 0.2 cm. Three minutes later, he would fall again only to be fished up again.


    A sudden intense wave of claps completely woke up Kaiser, and he noticed Xin Jietian¡¯s hypnotic voice had finally stopped. Everyone around him looked excited; he wasn¡¯t sure if Xin Jietian¡¯s speech had raised their morale, or they were just thankful he had finally finished.


    Xin Jietian looked around with satisfaction. He lifted both of his arms to quiet down the crowd, then said loudly, ¡°I have prepared a simple present for the winner of this competition, this is a treasured sword I have found recently.¡±


    A man in teal before took out a long scabbard, and a sword lay inside of it. The hilt of the sword looked old and not at all elegant.


    Xin Jietian grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. Following a crisp sound, he unsheathed the sword. The blade of the sword was snow white, and when Xin Jietian raised the sword high up in the air, the cold blade reflected in everyone¡¯s eyes. Everyone thought Xin Jietian was taking out a good sword as reward, but they did not expect him to give away such a rare, peerless sword.


    ¡°Strange. Xin Jietian always had a hobby of collecting swords, so why is he willing to give this out as a reward?¡± After having his mouth covered by Kaiser for a long time, Lin Jiyun calmed down, and thought Xin Jietian¡¯s actions were strange.


    Hearing what Lin Jiyun said and seeing the surprised expression on everyone¡¯s face, Kaiser knew Lin Jiyun¡¯s analysis was correct. Kaiser decided to be more careful about the man.


    Considering there was no such thing as free lunch, there was definitely something wrong with the situation. Either there¡¯s something wrong with the sword, or the guy was certain no one would be able to claim the sword. Neither of this was good for the people who would participate in the competition during the Symposium.


    ¡°Be careful, and don¡¯t get separated. Also, try not to eat the food here.¡± Kaiser said with a low voice, while looking at Auyan Dri and Yulie from afar, making sure they didn¡¯t hear.


    After all, they haven¡¯t heard the truth about Xin Jietian from Lin Jiyun, and even if they did, they probably would think he¡¯s lying. If they end up ratting them out, Kaiser and others could escape with a Dragon.


    Lin Jiyun and Void both nodded at Kaiser. Knowing Xin Jietian¡¯s true character, and having been around the Martial Arts World, they probably had already thought about the worst case scenario.


    ¡°Then, everyone, please come into the building and allow me to show you my hospitality as a host.¡± Xin Jietian laughed and walked into the building, and the door to the building slowly opened.


    There were many tables and chairs setup inside, with many gourmet food on the tables. Due to the lack of space in the small building, the servants hurriedly set up tables and chairs outside, then placed food on top of the tables.


    ¡°Liola, grab ahold of Baolilong, don¡¯t let him eat anything!¡± Kaiser said while gulping uncontrollably.


    Liola immediately held Baolilong, whom began to twist and turn after seeing so much food, and its little mouth began to drool.


    After all the high ranking people in every faction exchanged greetings and courtesies, they walked into the building, leaving their apprentices outside. Kaiser immediately grabbed everyone and walked to the table furthest away from the building and sat down.


    Nevertheless, due to his position as a young master, Auyan Dri walked in and ignored Kaiser.


    ¡°Yulie, come sit with sister apprentice.¡± Yandi called out to her junior sister apprentice.


    Since she knew Kaiser and others thought this was an act of malice, Yandi could not possibly allow her own sister apprentice to walk into such a dangerous building. Yulie obediently walked towards her, while showing an apologetic smile to Auyan Dri.


    Auyan Dri frowned, nodded, and walked into the building.


    * * *


    ¡°Hmm, he did feed us quite a few meals. My conscience feels a bit uneasy to see him walking into the building.¡± Kaiser scratched his head, but he couldn¡¯t think of an excuse to keep Auyan Dri.


    ¡®Oh well, if anything happens, we could drag him and fly away with us.¡¯


    After Kaiser and company sat down, they all stared at the food in front of them. They were all a bit hungry, but after hearing Kaiser¡¯s warnings, no one dared to eat. Everyone were staring blankly at the food, and this situation quickly drew the servants¡¯ attention.


    ¡°Do you find these foods unsatisfactory?¡± A servant asked timidly.


    Kaiser had already thought of an excuse, and immediately said, ¡°We¡¯re Taoists, and we¡¯re vegetarians.¡±


    ¡°Taoists?¡± The servant paused briefly, then hurriedly added, ¡°It¡¯s fine even if you¡¯re vegetarians. We have prepared vegetarian dishes, and we¡¯ll get those out to you as soon as possible.¡± After saying so, the servant beckoned a few of his colleagues, and began to switch out the dishes.


    Kaiser felt an incoming headache. When the servants finished placing the new dishes on the table, should they eat or not? If they don¡¯t, it would draw even more attention. But if they do, even though Kaiser loved food, he loved his life more, and he wasn¡¯t willing to bet his life on food.


    ¡°I¡¯ll eat first, then you guys can eat after.¡± Liola said calmly.


    Kaiser glanced at the Assassin, ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liola estimated, if he only takes one bite, even the strongest poison shouldn¡¯t kill him. He also believed, even if Xin Jietian put poison in these, he wouldn¡¯t do so in every dish. The people gathered here were all Martial Artists, and ordinary poison couldn¡¯t fool them, so it must be some rare poison.


    Liola also believed he could definitely determine whether or not there was poison in one bite. After all, poison was a requisite in the Assassin¡¯s toolbox, he just basically never used it.


    After the servants switched the dishes, Liola took a steamed bun, thinking it was the hardest thing to poison. Liola took a small bite, then chewed carefully. The bun was indeed tasty, chewy, and it was as soft as cotton. It also had a hint of honey taste¡­


    Liola suddenly realized something, and hurriedly spit out the food from his mouth while throwing the steamed bun on the ground.


    This action caused the people in the surrounding tables to freeze. There were also steamed buns on their table, and everyone was happily eating them, even to the point of praising how well-made these buns were.


    Seeing Liola¡¯s action, everyone looked at the steamed bun in their hand, with a suspicious looks on their faces. Some people didn¡¯t even know whether to swallow the bun in their mouth or to spit to out.


    ¡°Liola?¡± Kaiser quietly yelled.


    Liola looked down at the hand he used to hold the bun and said calmly, ¡°This steam bun has honey. Taoists shouldn¡¯t eat such snacks.¡±


    As soon as Liola explained his actions, the crowd around him returned to their meals while murmuring something about making a big deal out of nothing. Some of them even glared at Liola.


    Of course, what Liola said was a lie. Kaiser had eaten plenty of candied fruits back at the Overlook, so obviously there was no rule against Taoists eating sweet snacks.


    Other than Yulie, everyone knew the steamed buns were uneatable. Liola decided to cover all the steamed buns, and then said, ¡°Hurry up and eat, we still have other businesses to attend to.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes flashed, and said immediately, ¡°Right, right, brother apprentice said he¡¯s going to teach me a few moves so I can go win the prized sword. Hurry, we¡¯re almost out of time.¡± Kaiser immediately picked up his chopsticks and stuffed food into his mouth.


    The people around heard what Kaiser said and looked at his young appearance, then laughed. They shook their heads and murmured something about youngsters these days.


    The people at Kaiser¡¯s table, on the other hand, were eating quickly. Yulie didn¡¯t know what was going on, and she even said to Liola, ¡°Second brother apprentice, please give us those steamed buns. It would be a waste to throw those away. My sister apprentice and I aren¡¯t Taoists so we can eat them.¡±


    Yandi, however, interrupted, ¡°Sister apprentice! You still want to eat? Look at yourself, you¡¯ve gained so much weight, and you almost have a double chin now!¡±


    Yulie immediately reached to feel her chin, wondering if she had really gotten fatter. Yulie immediately put down her chopsticks and stopped eating.


    The young people around them were all glaring at Yulie and Yandi, admiring their beauty. Hearing what Yandi said, they all looked at Yulie¡¯s chin, but they could only see a beautiful chin without any hint of fat. They shook their head as they commented on how Yandi was overreacting.


    ¡°I¡¯m full. Hurry! Second brother apprentice, come teach me a few moves, otherwise I can¡¯t win.¡±


    Kaiser yelled exaggeratedly and vulgarly, and the other people put down their chopsticks and followed, ¡°Second brother apprentice, teach me too! It¡¯s not fair if you only teach younger brother apprentice.¡±


    Kaiser grabbed Liola, and hurriedly dragged him away. Everyone else immediately followed. Yulie was going to stay to wait for Auyan Dri, but Yandi dragged her and followed Liola.


    * * *


    After they had gone a distance away from the building, Kaiser asked quietly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t respond, because he was quickly circulating his Ki. Liola reached out his left palm to show something to Kaiser, whom then lowered his head and saw a faint yellow imprint on Liola¡¯s palm, in the shape of a steamed bun.


    ¡°Wow, how come I never noticed you had such a special birthmark?¡±


    Liola¡¯s Ki dispersed slightly, and he finally managed to settle his chaotic Ki. He then continued to force the poison out of his body.


    Kaiser saw Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed, and knew his joke had gone too far. He waited until Liola¡¯s face looked better before he continued to ask, ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of this poison? Could it kill?¡±


    At this time, Void and Lin Jiyun both hurriedly walked towards Kaiser.


    Void said anxiously, ¡°Kaiser, Liola is forcing the poison out, so you can¡¯t talk to him now. Otherwise, something could go wrong and things would be bad.¡±


    In fact, Void really wanted to say, how could someone walk while forcing poison out? Normally, one would have to find a quiet place with guards outside so they could concentrate on forcing the poison out.


    ¡°Indeed! Plus, senior couldn¡¯t possibly know what kind of effect the poison has for just one bite.¡± Lin Jiyun added.


    ¡°I know what this poison is for.¡± Liola started talking, ¡°I know this poison.¡±


    Liola¡¯s voice completely froze Void and Lin Jiyun. He¡¯s forcing poison out while walking and talking? This went against everything they both knew.


    ¡°The poison in the steamed bun is just the catalyst. There must be other poison in the other dishes. It¡¯s only useful if they were combined.¡± Liola said calmly.


    ¡°So it would¡¯ve been fine if we didn¡¯t eat the steamed buns?¡± Kaiser was trying to ask, if it were the case, why did Liola leave hurriedly?


    ¡°In time, the poison in the steamed buns would spread through the air, and it would be just as effective.¡± Liola explained simply.


    Void and Lin Jiyun both yelled in surprise, ¡°This poison is truly evil!¡±


    Liola suddenly switch languages, so only Kaiser could understand, ¡°This poison is unique to Shalong Hall. It¡¯s to hypnotize people.¡±


    ¡°Hypnosis? You mean, to control people?¡± Kaiser was deep in shock.


    Liola thought about it briefly, and answered, ¡°It can¡¯t be used to control people for a long time. To put it more accurately, it can be used to create a memory, or delete one.¡±


    The purpose seemed ambiguous. Kaiser didn¡¯t understand why Shalong Hall would go through so much trouble for this. Could they want to brainwash these people? And make everyone believe Shalong Hall was really a saloon?


    ¡°The only person who knows of this, is the Leader.¡± Liola threw out this bomb of an information, one that could make him run away.


    Kaiser swore secretly, and then began to run faster than Liola. He knew full well that all Liola¡¯s crazy Kung Fu was taught by the man known as the Leader. Since apprentice was already so powerful, the master must be inhumane, so why would he stay?


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Though Void knew the two of them were purposely using language they didn¡¯t understand, but seeing they were running away from the building, he wondered if those two planned on leaving this place.


    ¡°If you keep talking instead of running, you guys are going to turn into human meat buns.¡± Kaiser said with a darkened face.


    They were both shocked. ¡®Human meat buns?¡¯


    ¡°What? We¡¯d turn into human meat buns?! No, Auyan Dri brother is still inside.¡± Naive Yulie thought Kaiser meant it literally, and then ran back panickedly.


    Yandi immediately grabbed Yulie, and asked Liola unhappily ¡°What the hell is going on? You better tell me clearly!¡±


    Kaiser said straightforwardly, ¡°If Shalong Hall isn¡¯t the culprit to this poisoning, they would be the accomplice.¡±


    Hearing this, everyone¡¯s face changed.


    Kaiser said directly, ¡°But since none of the Martial Artists present would believe us, plus the Leader of Shalong Hall could very well be here, we have no choice but run because we can¡¯t possibly handle him.¡±


    ¡°What? Kaiser, how the hell do you know all this?¡± Void asked in shock.


    ¡°Because Liola is, more than a year ago, a person who should be dead but isn¡¯t ¡ª the Assassin Silver Moon.¡± Yandi threw down another bomb.


    She turned to Liola and said, ¡°We can¡¯t just leave those Martial Artists there, they are practically the backbone of the entire Martial Arts World. If they are controlled by Shalong Hall, everything will be disastrous.¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be controlled. They might have some memories altered.¡± Liola forced some patience and explained. In fact, he would rather get away from the Leader as far as possible. He knew very well, he would never be a match for the Leader, even with Baolilong and Kaiser.


    ¡°We still can¡¯t do that!¡± Yandi became more impatiently, ¡°Come back with me and resolve this.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t win against the Leader, neither can you.¡± Liola said angrily.


    Yandi answered coldly, ¡°Even if we can¡¯t, we have to try. If the whole Martial Arts world is in the hands of Shalong Hall, neither of us could run away.¡±


    ¡°If you want to go back, then go, Liola can¡¯t possibly do that.¡± Kaiser reached out his arm and stood between Yandi and Liola, and said angrily,


    ¡°With Liola¡¯s identity, if he goes back, Shalong Hall would recognize him, and do you think he could possibly walk out alive? When his identity as the top Assassin is revealed, no one in the entire Martial Arts World would help him.¡±


    Yandi was about to say something as a comeback, but when she looked at Liola, she was shocked by the expression on his face.


    Seeing Yandi¡¯s reaction, Kaiser also curiously looked at Liola. He saw Liola was staring in front of him, and he looked completely stunned.


    Kaiser also noticed the Assassin¡¯s hands were trembling slightly. This discovery made Kaiser pull out his gun unconsciously. What could it possibly be¡­ to make the Assassin fear unconsciously?


    Void, Lin Jiyun, and Yulie were all still trying to recover from discovering Liola¡¯s identity. When they saw the top Assassin in fear, they all drew their weapons. Even though they didn¡¯t see any enemy, but they had to put up their guards.


    A long while later¡­


    ¡°Li, where is my daughter?¡±


    They heard a cold voice. About a dozen feet away from them, a figure appeared out of nowhere.

 Volume 7, 8: Leader

    Volume 7, Chapter 8: Leader


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    When they heard the voice, everyone carefully looked around. A peculiar man appeared out of thin air not far away.


    The man¡¯s silver hair was fluttering in the wind. His deep, blue eyes were looking at them with disdain. The people who he gazed upon felt as if they were pigs being picked by a butcher.


    The man was not how Kaiser imagined him to be. Instead of an old man, he was a handsome man who looked not a day past twenty eight. There wasn¡¯t a hint of modesty in his appearance. The man looked as if he considered himself unparalleled in the world.


    He was wearing a strange robe, but his robe only reached down to his waist, and also he wore leathered clothes*, much like what an Assassin would wear at night.


    [T/N: It is similar to a ninja-yoroi.]


    This man imposed about the same feelings as Auyan Dri, however, Auyan Dri at least bothered to look humble. This man, on the other hand, did not hide anything. His face had the ¡°I¡¯m the Emperor, kneel before me¡± expression.


    ¡°You¡¯re the Leader?¡± Kaiser couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡®Damn. Doesn¡¯t this guy look more like Mr. Stubborn Pants? Why does he not feel all that powerful?¡¯


    ¡°And what the hell are you?!¡± The Leader frowned, then said, ¡°Why is the magic fluctuation around you so familiar?¡±


    Hearing about ¡°magic fluctuation¡±, Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped. Until now, he didn¡¯t realize the magic fluctuation around the man in front of his eyes was extremely powerful.


    Kaiser was under the impression the man must have been Liola¡¯s master, and therefore thought the power he felt was not magic.


    ¡°Who, who are you?¡± Kaiser asked with a stutter.


    ¡°Me? Since you already call Li brother, then you should call me the Leader.¡± He raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking, why would you know about magic?¡± Kaiser also raised his eyebrows. The two looked remarkably similar.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I know about magic? Hahaha, if I don¡¯t know magic, no one else possibly could!¡±


    The Leader laughed in a frenzy. This laugh caused everyone pain in their hearts, especially the less powerful Yulie and Kaiser, whose faces turned completely pale. It wasn¡¯t until now that everyone thought things had gone terribly wrong. The stubborn pants in front of them was actually unfathomably powerful.


    After laughing for a while, the Leader said without any worries,


    ¡°I¡¯m planning on replacing the trash of an Alliance Leader and becoming one myself. I even had to sell a lot of summoning magic circles so I could test my poison on those idiots. But you, little runt, picked the right time to come back, just when my plan was underway, and you even brought some strange friends with you. So I had to pause my plans just to come find you.¡±


    ¡°Haha, well then you better hurry back to be the new Martial Arts Alliance Leader.¡± The pale Kaiser laughed dryly a couple times, ¡°You know, it¡¯s not a hurry. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to catch us another day, right?¡±


    The Leader sported a slightly unhappy expression. He pouted a little, and a dozen fireball appeared in midair, all headed towards Kaiser.


    Kaiser¡¯s expression immediately changed. He raised his giant gun, and used every last bit of his power to fire the same amount of fireballs, each hitting the incoming fireball. Kaiser¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t possibly match the Leader¡¯s, so the fireballs was just a warning shot from the Leader.


    Ten or so explosion happened next to Kaiser, but two of them flew past him. Liola exploded his aura and blocked the two fireballs. Liola¡¯s action made the Leader interested.


    Liola¡¯s face went pale. Whenever the Leader showed an expression like this, it had always been the start of a strange experiment. Unfortunately, the guinea pigs for his experiments were often children he caught, and after multiple experiments, there was only one survivor ¡ª the person who became the top Assassin.


    ¡°You learnt aura?¡± The Leader laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you learnt it from the Dragon Emperor? Hmm, the little child next to your feet also looks suspicious. He doesn¡¯t look like an ordinary person.¡±


    As soon as Liola heard the Leader¡¯s words, his eyes widened, and Kaiser¡¯s mouth also formed a big ¡°O¡±.


    They both, especially Liola, thought¡®Who the hell is the Leader? How would he know about these things?¡¯


    Liola suddenly realized, despite spending twenty years with the Leader, he didn¡¯t know who the Leader really was.


    The Leader¡¯s mouth formed an inscrutable smile. He slowly reached out his left hand, and pulled his sleeve back. An eagle-claw like hand slowly opened towards them.


    Everyone all took a deep breath and held it. Those fireballs just now were caused by his pouting mouth, and now he even reached out his hand.


    ¡®What kind of ultimate was he going to use? Would they come out of this alive?¡¯


    Their minds were filled with the certainty of death¡­


    The Leader¡¯s eyes flashed, and he looked towards his left wrist, ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s 12:45, it¡¯s almost time to go back. If I don¡¯t, the poison will wear off.¡±


    A jewel-adorned watch was hanging on the Leader¡¯s left wrist.


    Everyone was stunned.


    Kaiser, on the other hand, started swearing, ¡°Hey, are you f¡ªing serious?! This is a Martial Arts World! Martial arts! What the hell are you doing with a watch? Are you not respecting the world at all?¡±


    The Leader¡¯s face flashed with impatience, ¡°I¡¯ve already used fireballs, what¡¯s so strange with taking out a watch? Didn¡¯t you also pull out a gun? What, you can shoot a gun but I can¡¯t look at my watch?¡±


    Kaiser scratched head, and looked at the gun in his hands. ¡®He does have a point¡­¡¯


    ¡°Be quiet! Coma Magic Circle.¡± The Leader had grown impatient, and casted a sleep spell.


    When the complex incantation descended, most people fell to the ground. Even Kaiser, with his magical abilities, couldn¡¯t stand for more than a few seconds, and fell. The only ones left standing were two people and a dragon.


    ¡°Li, where is Yasha?¡± The Leader asked again impatiently.


    ¡°In the other world.¡± Liola unconsciously resumed his cold tone of voice, which made Baolilong feel uneasy, so it held onto Liola¡¯s robe.


    The Leader frowned, but he didn¡¯t look like he was troubled. He pointed at the people on the ground and said to Liola, ¡°Bring them all back.¡±


    Then, the Leader¡¯s figure disappeared.


    * * *


    Liola finally snapped out of it and remembered something. Although the Leader had never used magic before him, such as Fireballs or the Coma Magic Circle, but wasn¡¯t his sudden appearance and disappearance identical to Mizerui or Qiusi? He had never thought about what kind of person the Leader was. Liola¡¯s face turned pale.


    ¡°Shalong¡­ Hall¡­¡± Kaiser next to him suddenly said something. Liola was shocked, but when he looked, Kaiser still had his eyes closed and was drooling. It looked like he was sleeptalking.


    After Liola took three trips to carry everyone into the small building, the Leader waved at him, and he walked up to the balcony. At this time, the Leader was already sitting in Xin Jietian¡¯s chair, and was talking to all the martial artists about how the Symposium would proceed.


    Seeing Liola was back, the Leader was not surprised, and smiled, ¡°My apprentice is back¡­¡±


    Everyone began to sing praise, ¡°Ah, Hero Liola is back.¡±, ¡°He must¡¯ve been off doing chivalric deeds and that¡¯s why he¡¯s late¡­¡±


    Hearing these compliments, Liola¡¯s expression faltered slightly, but then resumed his previous expressionless face.


    The Leader turned, with a cold face, ¡°Look friendly. Are you trying to ruin my plans?!¡±


    Liola smiled, while waving at the people under the balcony. He practically looked like a girl who had just won Miss Universe and was returning to her country.


    The people under the balcony began to cheer. In the crowd, despite looking slightly puzzled, Auyan Dri still clapped his hands.


    ¡°I hereby declare, the start of the Martial Arts Symposium.¡±


    The Leader yelled in his deep voice, but then used his normal voice and said coldly towards Liola, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Liola quietly walked into the small building. The leader seemed to ignore the fact that the ground was covered with sleeping people, and simply walked over them.


    When he reached a table, the Leader waved his hand, and the dull-eyed Xin Jietian walked over, and began to make tea for them.


    ¡°Tell me! What did you do in the past year or so over there?¡± The Leader said lazily, as if he was prepared to listen to a story.


    Liola acted like an obedient child, and began to tell him everything he had done since he reached the other world¡­ or perhaps not everything.


    Everything Liola deemed unimportant, he forgot very quickly. The Leader probably knew his personality, so when his story was halfway through, he extended his foot to kick Kaiser who was still happily sleeping on the ground.


    ¡°Stop bugging me.¡±


    Kaiser turned a few times away from the foot, trying to keep sleeping¡­ ¡°OMG! Hot, hot, hot¡­ my mouth is burning!¡±


    Kaiser jumped up, with his tongue out and his hand fanning it. He charged towards the table and picked up the tea Xin Jietian made, and poured it down, then he spit it all out, ¡°Hot, hot, hot!¡±


    The Leader seemed to be happily enjoying the show. He raised his head and laughed.


    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡± Kaiser knew his abrupt awakening by spices was undoubtedly caused by this laughing guy in front of him.


    ¡°I want you to tell me a story. Hurry, Liola doesn¡¯t know how to tell a good story.¡± The Leader seemed to be impatiently waiting for some ¡°story¡±.


    ¡°A story?¡± Kaiser was stunned, not sure if the guy in front of him was the master of the terrifying Assassin, or a bored stubborn pants wanting to hear a bedtime story.


    Liola reminded slightly, ¡°Our story.¡±


    Kaiser glanced at Liola, then at the impatient Leader, and he suddenly gave out a sly laugh, ¡°Want to hear a story? Sure! People call me the Story King, every story I¡¯ve ever told has been brilliant, and my listeners always want to hear more.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Leader raised his eyebrows, ¡°Then tell me, now.¡±


    ¡°I, Kaiser, have a principle. I would never do anything that doesn¡¯t benefit me!¡± Kaiser grunted, then tilted his face away from the Leader.


    Liola¡¯s irises dilated. He would¡¯ve never imagined Kaiser would be this bold to threaten the Leader.


    ¡°Benefit? If you don¡¯t tell me a story, I will take your life!¡± The Leader said with a cold face.


    ¡°Then take my life if you want!¡± Kaiser continued to act like a brute, ¡°But then you would have to listen to Liola tell the story. This guy, ha, I know him too well. His story must be full of holes, and you would be baffled by it, and it will be boring to the extreme.¡±


    The Leader stood up angrily. His hand patted heavily on the wooden table, and it was pulverized in an instant.


    Liola, at this time, practically flashed in front of Kaiser, confronting the Leader in the process. The Leader¡¯s frozen face seemed to soothe slowly. His blue eyes curiously looked at Liola and Kaiser, then he began to laugh.


    ¡°Looks like your story will be very interesting. In simply a year or so, you¡¯ve caused Liola to confront me on your behalf? Looks like you did better than Anise.¡±


    The Leader sat down again, and asked if nothing had happened, ¡°What kind of benefit are you looking for?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face looked a bit complicated, he asked, ¡°Who are you? And why do you want to be the Alliance Leader?¡±


    The Leader raised his eyebrow, showing a mysterious smile, ¡°That¡¯s all? Okay, then let me tell you, the reason why I want to be the Martial Arts Alliance Leader was for fun.¡±


    ¡®F-fun?¡¯ Kaiser was stunned.


    But Liola was not surprised. The Leader had always been self-absorbed. To ¡°create¡± the top Assassin, he forced his subordinates to find children with good bone structure. Out of the hundreds of children picked, only one survived, the one the Leader found himself.


    ¡°Now, your turn.¡± The Leader raised the corner of his mouth, ¡°But be careful, if I¡¯m not satisfied, you wouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting the other answer, because even Li could not help you save your life.¡±


    Kaiser shrugged, and began to talk about once upon a time, a black hole suddenly opened in his house, and thus a troublemaker was entangled in his life¡­


    Kaiser¡¯s memory was surely much better than Liola¡¯s, and at the same time, he included many different people¡¯s point of view. Even if he wasn¡¯t there for parts of the story and asked Liola to tell it, Kaiser would remind him on the side with ¡°Did so-and-so happen?¡±, ¡°You seem to be forgetting¡­¡±, etc. He let Liola remember quite a few ¡°unimportant¡± things, which made the story much more complete.


    Kaiser also carefully observed the Leader¡¯s response. He initially relished the story. When he heard Mizerui¡¯s name, a light flashed across his eyes. Kaiser felt this man must know of Mizerui.


    Barbalis¡¯ name also made the Leader raise the corner of his mouth. When they talked about Blood Wolf and Lancelot, the Leader¡¯s face had a disdained look. Finally, the most obvious sign had to be when they spoke of the Dragon Emperor. The Leader¡¯s face was cold like an ice cube, and his blue eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire.


    ¡®There must be hatred between the Dragon Emperor and him, definitely! Even a blind person could tell based on the change of temperature around them.¡¯ Kaiser thought.


    After they were done with the story, Kaiser asked anxiously, ¡°How¡¯s that, wasn¡¯t it a good story?¡±


    The Leader frowned, as if he was deep in thought about something. He grabbed the Dragon Cross Necklace from Liola¡¯s chest. The necklace emitted a slight white light.


    Liola was a bit worried, but when he saw the Leader was simply examining the necklace and had no intention of destroying it, Liola had no choice but to let him do so. Unless it was the last resort, Liola did not want to start a fight with the Leader.


    It would be a fight where he was not confident on winning.


    Kaiser, standing next to them, was curiously looking at what the Leader was doing. He sensed the Leader sent a bit of magic into the necklace, and the necklace responded with a bit of magic as well.


    ¡®They are communicating?¡¯ Kaiser had a strange thought, ¡®A person communicating with a necklace?¡¯


    The Leader¡¯s eyes suddenly changed. It changed so quickly that Liola didn¡¯t even have a chance to react when the Leader sent him flying with a palm strike. When Liola was about to break through the wall and fly out, the Leader immediately grabbed him back. The sudden change in movement made Liola fall to the ground, with blood oozing out of his mouth.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong, who had been unusually quiet, was shocked. But surprisingly, it didn¡¯t try to bite the Leader. Instead, it was holding the Assassin¡¯s shoulder, with large tear drops coming out of its eyes.


    ¡°What are you doing? If you think the story was bad, you should be hitting me. Why are you hitting him instead?¡±


    It seemed like the Leader was going to continue the beating Liola, so Kaiser immediately yelled at him. Knowing who the man was, Kaiser knew it was pointless for him to fight, so he had to try talk him out of it instead.


    The Leader glanced coldly at Kaiser, while his feet continued to kick Liola. Although Liola could have dodged, he knew he shouldn¡¯t. He knew the Leader was just giving him a lesson due to an unknown reason. But if he fights back, it would become a battle to death, and Liola firmly believed he would not be the victor.


    ¡°Because he is the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son. I actually saved that bastard¡¯s son, and even taught him Kung Fu!¡±


    The Leader became even more furious, and began to punch and kick the Assassin at the same time. Every attack carried Ki, so he wasn¡¯t faking. Liola had to use his Ki to protect himself, although it may infuriate the Leader, because if he didn¡¯t, Liola was worried that he might die from it.


    Kaiser looked anxious, but he knew if those attacks landed on him, he would¡¯ve already died. His mind scrambled for a plan, and finally he yelled,


    ¡°Stop! How do you know both magic and aura? Are you a Sorcerer or a Knight?¡±


    This certainly caught the Leader¡¯s attention. He reached out a hand and grabbed Kaiser¡¯s neck, then said coldly, ¡°Neither! I am a Magician, understood? Magician!¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s with the aura?¡± Kaiser was suffocating, but he continued to speak. For some reason, Kaiser knew if he shut up he would die even faster.


    The Leader let go of Kaiser, but did not forget to kick Liola a few more times. On one hand, a white fireball appeared, and he played with it by throwing it up and down. On his other hand, a blue aura was emitted. This blue, of course, was different from the signature of Blue Knights. It looked like an ocean blue that could drown anyone who looks at it.


    The Leader gave out another frenzied laugh, ¡°Because I am the real genius! There are only things I don¡¯t want to learn, and nothing I couldn¡¯t learn!¡±


    Kaiser coughed as he glanced at Liola on the ground. He was certain he saw despair in the Assassin¡¯s eyes.


    Kaiser glared at Liola, then spun his mind again. ¡®Liola is the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son? Where did that conclusion come from?¡®


    Kaiser asked with difficulty, ¡°Liola¡­ how can he be the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son? His age doesn¡¯t fit, and he doesn¡¯t look like him either.¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± The Leader replied coldly, but still answered Kaiser¡¯s question, ¡°The age does fit. This man is not really twenty-five, but twenty. The five years had been aged by the thing in the necklace.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ they were triplets?¡± Kaiser pondered.


    ¡°No, twins.¡± The Leader explained impatiently, ¡°Idiot! There was no Anise. There were only the person on the ground and a girl named Lanski.¡±


    Liola froze on the ground. His entire body was trembling, hoping he had never heard of it, and prayed the Leader was lying¡­


    ¡°How can it be possible for there to be no Anise?¡±


    Kaiser was shocked, while worriedly glanced at the Assassin on the ground. He thought it was over. Would Liola kill himself before the Leader even bother to kill him?


    ¡°Because Anise is the White Dragon inside the necklace, an illusion designed to fool the idiotic Dragon Emperor!¡± The Leader said with gritted teeth.


    Because he hadn¡¯t given much thought to Anise¡¯s identity, he even sent Liola to find her. Now that he thought about it, perhaps the person who ordered a hit on Anise was actually Anise herself! He was furious.


    ¡°You are lying!¡±


    Liola suddenly stood up, rage and disbelief filled his eyes. But if one would look deeper, they would see the deep despair in his eyes¡­

 Volume 8, 1: The Truth about the Devil

    Volume 8, Chapter 1: The Truth about the Devil


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Lying! You are lying!¡±


    Liola yelled desperately, but the Leader glanced at him with disdain. His face was filled with impatience, while the questions Liola had suppressed in his heart had now all surfaced.


    Liola reached his hand into his pocket and held tightly onto the letter Anise had left behind. Even when the Leader beat him up to the point of being severely injured, Liola didn¡¯t feel as much pain as he did now.


    Could it be that Anise, the person who had always been his emotional support, only appeared before him because he was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son? Was¡­ it the reason why she accompanied him? And asked him to look for her?


    Was everything Anise did all just to take him away from the organization, and send him back to the world he came from?


    Liola sank into black world as he thought. In his mind, the imagery of Anise¡¯s smile began to crack, because Liola¡¯s faith was slowly collapsing¡­


    Seeing Liola losing control, Kaiser acted strangely calm. He asked with conviction, ¡°Who are you to say Anise was fake?¡±


    As soon as he asked, the Leader immediately disappeared then appeared inches away from Kaiser¡¯s face. His suddenly enlarged blue eyes surprised Kaiser, and the Leader said with a cold tone of voice,


    ¡°Don¡¯t think for a moment you have the right to question me. In my eyes, you¡¯re absolutely nothing!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s heart sank, knowing the Leader was only stating the truth. The Leader was beating Liola for fun, whom could be on even footing with all the rank-X people. Kaiser wondered if the Leader even needed to pout to kill him.


    ¡°But your story was pretty good, and I never lie. Since I agreed to tell you, I won¡¯t take back my words.¡±


    The Leader blinked again, returning to his previous position. As the distance between them grew, the fear Kaiser felt lessened. His mouth had turned reckless again as a result,


    ¡°Then tell me? Even if I die, at least let me die in peace.¡±


    The Leader laughed for a while, then said as if he were peerless, ¡°I am the legendary Gle!¡±


    ¡®Gle!¡¯ This word struck Kaiser like lightning.


    Kaiser¡¯s usual never-ending mouth couldn¡¯t even speak a single syllable. His mouth was wide open as he stared at this stubborn pants who looked like a spoiled rich kid¡­


    ¡®Could he really be the terrifying and infamous devil Gle?¡¯


    And unfortunately, could he really be Kaiser¡¯s ancestor?


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s mouth hanging, the Leader¡­ who should now be called Gle, felt quite happy. Despite having left for hundreds of years, but it looked like his fame hadn¡¯t diminished.


    ¡°Y-you are Gle?¡± After being stunned for a long time, Kaiser finally asked with a stutter. His facial expression was quite strange: it was neither fear nor admiration.


    Gle saw his strange face, and began to feel curious. He replied, ¡°Yes, I am Gle.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face turned even more strange. He thought, doesn¡¯t it mean this guy would¡¯ve been something like a grandpa to him? He looked at Gle¡¯s twenty-five-ish face, and Kaiser¡¯s face looked almost like a clown. Was he supposed to call this Mr. Stubborn Pants¡­ Grandpa?


    ¡°What? If you don¡¯t say something soon, I¡¯m going to kill you.¡±


    Gle got angrier by the minute as he looked at Kaiser¡¯s face. He thought, no matter which world this person was from, he should either fear or revere him. But this little runt kept talking back at him, and now after hearing his name, he dared to have his mouth twitching? It made him more and more furious.


    ¡®Kill me?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s pupils dilated. His face suddenly changed, and yelled loudly, ¡°Grandpa! Kaiser really misses you!¡± He ran towards Gle and tried to hug him as he spoke.


    ¡°WHAT?!¡±


    Gle didn¡¯t know how to react. Could there be someone so shameless that, in order to save his own skin, he¡¯d be willing to recognize anyone as his grandfather?


    Seeing Kaiser running towards him, Gle reached out his foot, which accurately landed on Kaiser¡¯s face, whose flattering noises immediately turned into a moan. Kaiser grabbed his face and rolled around on the ground.


    Gle grunted coldly, ¡°Shameless kid.¡±


    Kaiser rolled for a long while before he got up, and a shoe print was clearly visible on his face. Kaiser complained, ¡°I truly am your descendent. My full name is Kaigleser.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Gle would never believe the lying little runt in front of him. He naturally thought Kaiser was calling him grandpa only because he was afraid of dying.


    Kaiser felt really awkward. Although he had lied quite a number of times and it wasn¡¯t rare for him to suddenly call people grandpa or brother, he was actually telling the truth for a change, but it was obviously mistaken to be a lie. Kaiser rolled his eye, and began to laugh. He walked and held up the giant gun in his hands,


    ¡°Grandpa, look, isn¡¯t this yours? Look, there¡¯s your whimsical signature at the bottom of this handle.¡±


    Gle waved his hand impatiently, ¡°So what, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s rare to find something I¡¯ve left behind¡­¡±


    But before he finished, he frowned, and asked suspiciously, ¡°How did you know it was my signature?¡±


    Gle¡¯s handwriting wasn¡¯t something normal people understood. At a glance, it was no different from random graffiti. When one examined it further, even graffiti would look better than his handwriting.


    Back then, Gle had quite a number of apprentices, but very few of them were actually powerful. The reason was because, despite Gle¡¯s love of getting new apprentices, he had very little patience to teach them. He had often said a few words, threw them a book about magic, then they never heard from him again.


    If Gle¡¯s handwriting was better, then it would¡¯ve been fine. A Magician could probably do reasonably well if they could follow a properly written magic book.


    However, Gle¡¯s handwriting was near impossible to read for normal people, and he hated anyone who would call his handwriting ugly, so no one dared to ask what he had written. Besides, Gle often came and left without a trace, so even someone dared to ask, they couldn¡¯t have found him to do so.


    Kaiser scratched his head. How should he explain? He could just understand¡­ What¡¯s more was even Kaiser¡¯s own handwriting was terrible, so much so it could match Gle¡¯s, and it looked vaguely similar.


    Under Gle¡¯s impatient and suspicious eyes, along with Ki on his left hand and magic on his right, Kaiser had to explain honestly, ¡°I was suspicious at first too. But using this gun, I found your house, and after looking through a bunch of notes about magic, I confirmed it was your name.¡±


    ¡°My house?¡± Gle looked surprised. If he remembered correctly, the supposed house of his was protected under a very powerful magic field. The only people who could enter was he himself¡­ or someone with his bloodline.


    Gle began to carefully examine Kaiser. He saw his blue eyes, and thought it looked a bit like a ruffian¡¯s. A head of green hair¡­ it looked quite like his own eldest daughter¡¯s.


    Thinking about his daughter, even the irresponsible Gle couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty. He hadn¡¯t seen her again after she turned fifteen. So ever since he had a younger daughter, Yasha, he spoiled her quite a bit, perhaps he poured his love for his eldest daughter into her as well.


    So could this little gangster-looking punk really be his own descendent? Gle¡¯s expression hardened considering he thought of Kaiser as a weak-ass and a loud mouth. He didn¡¯t want to contemplate about it anymore, so grabbed Kaiser¡¯s hand.


    With Kaiser¡¯s yell and complaints, he lacerated Kaiser¡¯s palm, then he took a piece of jade hanging from his waist and forced Kaiser to hold it in his palm.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kaiser was shocked and yelled continuously.


    Gle examined it briefly, then let go of Kaiser¡¯s hand. He said expressionlessly, ¡°If you¡¯re not related to me by blood, you would be killed by the magic in this piece of jade.¡±


    Hearing Gle¡¯s explanation, Kaiser opened his mouth wide. He looked at his palm, and couldn¡¯t believe he barely missed the gates of hell. Kaiser gulped, then displayed his hooligan smile,


    ¡°Hehe, now you finally know I¡¯m your descendent.¡± Kaiser said as he sat on a chair, completely ignoring Gle¡¯s presence.


    Gle¡¯s mouth twitched. This little runt¡­ weak, loved to brag, and talked about nonsense¡­ could he really be his own descendent?


    Gle flicked his finger, and pulverized the chair Kaiser was sitting on. Kaiser fell onto the ground, and moaned in pain, ¡°Ahhhh, my butt is cracked open!¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Gle yelled lividly after seeing Kaiser¡¯s embarrassing features.


    But before Gle yelled, Kaiser glanced at Liola and had already closed his mouth. He saw Liola¡¯s face was expressionless, and he was kicking the unconscious Yandi on the ground.


    Kaiser was not familiar with Liola¡¯s current expression, even though he was usually expressionless, but now he seemed¡­ like he was an emotionless puppet. His silver eyes looked like darkened steel.


    ¡°Hmmph¡­¡±


    Yandi moaned on the ground, then struggled to get up. As soon as she raised her head and looked into Liola¡¯s emotionless eyes, her body froze.


    She asked timidly, ¡°W-what¡¯s wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find Anise.¡±


    Liola¡¯s response didn¡¯t answer her question, but Yandi knew his nature too well, and she knew Liola¡¯s sudden change in attitude must have something to do with her sister.


    Since Yandi¡¯s original goal was to find Anise, she didn¡¯t say anything else. After struggling to stand up, Yandi asked calmly, ¡°Where?¡±


    Liola¡¯s face remained completely emotionless, but night skies filled with stars and trees with circular leaves flashed in his mind. At this time, the Dragon Cross Necklace emitted a slight glow, as if it was trying to comfort its owner.


    However, Liola acted as if he was burnt by a fire. He pulled the necklace off, and looked at it emotionlessly. The light on the necklace slowly faded away, and then returned to being a cold necklace.


    Liola threw the necklace to Yandi without any hesitation, then turned and headed towards the door, while ignoring Baolilong who was desperately trying to grab ahold of papa¡¯s pants.


    Baolilong couldn¡¯t hold back papa, and after fumbling a bit, it ran back to Kaiser, and desperately pointed towards Liola while grabbing Kaiser¡¯s shirt.


    Kaiser¡¯s face turned slight, ¡°Liola, where are you going?¡¯


    Liola answered without looking back, ¡°To look for Anise.¡±


    He continued to walk outside, and he had already stepped outside of the gate to walk away. Yandi followed after him and anxiously tried to catch up.


    * * *


    Kaiser grabbed Baolilong and tried to follow, while trying to ignore a certain somebody¡­


    ¡°Freeze.¡±


    Unfortunate, the certain somebody wasn¡¯t used to be ignored. Gle lazily yelled, and Kaiser, despite being already at the gate, had to stop. He was¡­ not at all confident Gle would hesitate to kill him, just because he was his descendent. To prevent himself from dying in the hands of his own grandfather, Kaiser turned around with a bitter face.


    ¡°Grandpa, aren¡¯t you planning on stopping Liola? He has gotten away.¡±


    Hearing Kaiser say so, Gle threw a complicated look at Liola¡¯s now faint figure, but in an instant he returned to his arrogant self. He said with disdain, ¡°So what if he walked away?¡±


    ¡°Right, nothing, so I¡¯ll be going too.¡±


    Kaiser hurriedly turned, trying to run after Liola. Nevertheless, the suddenly closed gate told him it wasn¡¯t as simple as he thought. Kaiser held tightly onto Baolilong, who may be his only help at this point, and turned to face the tornado-like Magician.


    Facing such a strong devil, Kaiser began to complain, ¡°Why am I so unlucky? It was obviously Liola who was wrong. He¡¯s the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son. Grandpa, aren¡¯t you enemies with the Dragon Emperor? Why would you simply let him go?¡±


    Gle raised his eyebrow, and gave a sinister yet somewhat understanding smile, ¡°Looks like you actually care about your companion.¡±


    ¡°Care?¡± Kaiser pouted, ¡°Yeah right, I can¡¯t believe he just left me here and ran away by himself. I don¡¯t care, you go and catch him, then come back and beat him up.¡±


    Gle¡¯s blue eyes stared straight at Kaiser, whom had felt a bit uneasy from the stare. Gle began to smile.


    He thought this guy¡¯s awkward personality was quite similar to his eldest daughter¡¯s. He was obviously worrying that when Liola finds Anise, he would be dealt an even heavier blow. He wants to stop Liola, but he¡¯s using such an awkward way to stop him.


    ¡°Stupid daughter. If you didn¡¯t use this way of expressing yourself, I would¡¯ve came back for you no matter what.¡±


    A bit of never-before-seen loneliness appeared on Gle¡¯s previously arrogant face. As soon as he raised his head, however, he saw Kaiser was tilting his ears and listening carefully to Gle¡¯s own murmurs.


    For someone like Gle, no matter what he said, it would definitely be a history-changing gossip. If he were to sell this information to magazines, he could probably make a ton of money, right? Kaiser pulled his ears wide open and drooled while dreaming about money.


    ¡°AHH! OWWW!¡±


    Two fingers clipped tightly onto Kaiser¡¯s ears, and then they gave his ears a 180 degree turn, Kaiser yelled in pain as a result. The owner of the fingers, Gle, was looking at Kaiser with a cold face. He was beginning to be suspicious again, could this guy really be his own descendent?!


    ¡°Hmmph! How can Gle¡¯s descendent lose to Dragon Emperor¡¯s son?¡± Gle got angrier as he thought. Wouldn¡¯t it mean he was losing to Dragon Emperor? He seemed to have forgotten the fact that the supposed Dragon Emperor¡¯s son was his own best apprentice.


    Using the opportunity, Kaiser ¡°rescued¡± his ears from Gle¡¯s hands. As he rubbed his ears, Kaiser didn¡¯t forget to ask, ¡°Why do you hate the Dragon Emperor? Is it because he defeated you?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡±


    Fire was shooting out of Gle¡¯s eyes, and pure white flames were burning in his hands. Before Kaiser even had the chance to react, the fire on Gle¡¯s hands grew to the height of a person, and they were thrown directly at Kaiser.


    Without knowing Gle would have such a huge response, Kaiser saw he had almost no chance of dodging it, so he ran from being at death¡¯s door to behind Gle.


    The flames chasing Kaiser made a 180 degree turn and headed right towards Gle. However, he simply waved his hand without any expression on his face, and the white flames went out like a candle in a hurricane.


    Gle¡¯s face was still expressionless. He spun around, planning to continue his attack on Kaiser.


    Kaiser saw Gle¡¯s malicious face, and began to yell like a child. Seeing Gle had no plans of stopping, Kaiser had to jump around evasively, trying to dodge the white flames.


    Suddenly, something fell onto the ground, an emerald started rolling on the floor. Gle was stunned, and stopped attacking Kaiser. He walked over, picked up the emerald, then seem to have frozen in thought.


    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with this guy?¡±


    Lying in the corner of a bed, Kaiser had already been close to admitting to his fate and letting the flames hit him. But he didn¡¯t expect for Gle to suddenly stop and freeze while looking at a gem.


    Having survived Gle¡¯s onslaught, Kaiser murmured, ¡°What is he doing? Whatever, as long as I¡¯m still alive it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Gle suddenly asked.


    Kaiser was surprised, and he wouldn¡¯t dare to ignore the question, ¡°I found it from Liola.¡±


    When Liola was unconscious, Kaiser found this emerald in Liola¡¯s clothes. Based on his theory that everything Liola owned belonged to him, Kaiser naturally took it for himself. In his mind, since Liola had already forgotten about the emerald, then it must not have been something important to Liola! It would¡¯ve been better to give it to him, because he would carefully treasure the precious jewel.


    Interestingly, Kaiser had no idea Maylee gave Liola the jewel and asked for it to be passed onto him. But since Liola treated the gem as unimportant, he had completely forgotten about it.


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Gle¡¯s face seemed to have completely lost the arrogance, leaving only loneliness and nostalgia behind.


    He calmly asked himself, ¡°Did Maylee give this to him?¡±


    ¡°Maylee? Do you know her?¡± Kaiser tilted his head and¡­ he seemed to remember Barbalis called Auntie ¡°Maylee¡±?


    Tenderness could be seen in Gle¡¯s eyes while he stared at the emerald, ¡°She was a lover of mine.¡±


    ¡®Lovers?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s mind went blank for a minute.


    ¡®Auntie?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s mind went blank for another three minutes.


    ¡®Auntie and my ancestor had been together?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s mind went blank for another ten minutes.


    The 180cm, muscular Auntie whose face looked like Schwarzenegger (plus it was jagged), and her explosive hair. With her white apron far too small for her and her pink chrysanthemum skirt, was actually devil Gle¡¯s ¡°old lover¡±?


    The thought of Auntie standing with Gle caused an explosive curse in Kaiser¡¯s mind, which made him dizzy.


    He then thought about these people doing it¡­ Gross! It must¡¯ve looked 100x more disgusting than Liola looking like a monster!


    ¡°AHH! That¡¯s impossible!¡± Kaiser grabbed his green hair with both of his hands, and exploded with a yell.


    ¡°What¡¯s impossible?¡± Gle asked with dissatisfaction. He then said with arrogance, ¡°Only a devil like me has the right to be with a peerless beauty like Maylee.¡±


    ¡®P-E-E-R-L-E-S-S B-E-A-U-T-Y?!?!¡¯ When he thought of Auntie¡¯s look, foam began to ooze out of Kaiser¡¯s mouth, and he looked like he was having a seizure.


    The difference in a few hundreds years of age was more than a generation gap between them, their opinions were practically oceans apart! Kaiser cried as he shook his head. He would have never imagined that, a few hundred years ago, Auntie could be considered as a peerless beauty.


    ¡°What¡¯s with your face?¡± Gle tilted his head and glanced at Kaiser.


    ¡°N-nothing! Just that Auntie¡­ I mean, Maylee, didn¡¯t s-seem as pretty as before.¡± Kaiser answered carefully,he didn¡¯t want to play fire dodgeball again.


    ¡°Even if she aged, some beauty must have remained.¡± Gle looked absolutely certain.


    Kaiser forced a smile, ¡°Re-remained.¡± ¡®At least the muscles remained¡­¡¯


    ¡°Since Maylee is on Li¡¯s side,¡± Gle¡¯s expression no longer looked lonely, but instead seemed to go back to his previous arrogance, and even a hint of being sinister seemed to have been added,


    ¡°Having the Dragon Emperor killed by his own son, it seems like a pretty good idea.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes flashed, and asked timidly, ¡°Why do you hate the Dragon Emperor? Is it because he launched a crusade against you, the devil?¡±


    Gle¡¯s angry eyes glanced at Kaiser, then said coldly, ¡°No, so what if he starts a crusade against the devil. I¡¯m a devil he created.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser was shocked and asked without thinking, ¡°Why would he create a devil?¡±


    Gle glanced at Kaiser again as if he was looking at an idiot, but because of the emerald in his hands, Gle seemed to have relaxed a bit and he explained, ¡°So he could send troops.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kaiser frowned.


    Seeing Gle was looking at him unhappily, Kaiser immediately gave him a flattering smile, then said,


    ¡°Aiya, not everyone is as smart as you, grandpa. Even though Kaiser inherited a tiny bit of your intelligence, I am not even remotely close to your intelligence, so I have a bit of trouble understanding.¡±


    The flattery seemed to work quite well, and Gle revealed an arrogant smile,


    ¡°That Dragon Emperor guy wasn¡¯t satisfied with having the Dragon Continent, so he wanted to control the entire world. In order to convince the entire race of Dragons to attack, he had to find a righteous excuse.¡±


    ¡°A crusade against the devil¡­ AHH! So Miluo must be the new devil!¡±


    Kaiser wasn¡¯t an idiot after all. As soon as he heard the Dragon Emperor¡¯s wish to take over the world, everything made sense to him.


    ¡°Pretty smart, you really are my descendent.¡± Gle¡¯s compliment carried praise for himself. After hearing Kaiser and Liola¡¯s story, Gle already had an idea.


    He continued, ¡°A few hundred years ago that bastard, the Dragon Emperor, framed me. It was obviously him who wanted to control the world, but he instead put all the blame on me.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon race would never support the Dragon Emperor in conquering the world, and his strongest forces were his Dragon Knights. Without Dragons, what were Dragon Knights going to do? Be Infantry? So being the strongest Magician, you became the devil. He then started a crusade against you and the country you were residing, Aklan Republic. After defeating you, Aklan would be almost gone, and he would use the opportunity to take over it as well.¡±


    Kaiser hurriedly explained, and many thoughts all came out at once. So, in reality, Dragon Emperor¡¯s plan was identical to the one before, at least, the plan to create a devil was the same as before. Last time it was Gle, and this time it¡¯s Miluo!


    ¡°Hahaha! But that bastard never imagined for me to really become the devil!¡± Gle burst out in laughter,


    ¡°Since that bastard called me the devil, I showed him the kind of things the devil could do! I beat him back all the way to the Dragon Continent, and almost even pushed him off his own throne.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you end up losing?¡± Kaiser asked without thinking.


    Gle¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Because the Dragon Emperor framed me again, spreading rumors that my true intentions were to destroy the world. F¡ª destroying the world! Why would I possibly do such a thing? I haven¡¯t played enough! My bastard Magicians decided to defect to their side, and surrounded me with the Dragon Emperor. Had it not been for Mizerui and Barbalis secretly helping me, and Maylee helping me with my escape¡­ Hmmph!¡±


    When he was getting to the end of the sentence, Gle¡¯s expression looked rather strange. A person as proud as him still could not accept he had the help of others. Nevertheless, he had no choice back then; his whole body was practically falling apart, how could he have declined help?


    Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped, and said with a stutter, ¡°M-Mizerui and Barbalis helped you?¡±


    Gle grunted, ¡°Though few knew, but Mizerui is actually my apprentice. Barbalis and Qiusi were my classmates back in Aklan Academy¡­ Hmph! Even Dragon Emperor¡¯s wife Susanna was my classmate. The four of us were the infamous ¡®Crazy Four¡¯ back in the Academy. Susanna was just too stupid! Who cares if she helped her bastard husband, but she ended up getting killed. Stupid woman! Idiot!¡± Gle gritted his teeth while cursing, while holding the emerald tightly.


    Bombs exploded one after another in Kaiser¡¯s mind, and he was so in shock that looked like a deer in headlights.


    He then asked, ¡°Dragon Emperor killed his wife? How do you know? I heard she died from childbirth.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Susanna was strong as an ox. Even without magic, she could use her fists to beat me, Qiusi, AND Barbalis.¡±


    Gle suddenly rubbed his chin with his hand with a lingering fear on his face, as if he had been struck before. He continued, ¡°Her? Dying of childbirth? Hmmph! Even if she had any trouble, she would just grab her child out with her own bare hands.¡±


    ¡®¡­Liola, perhaps you really were grabbed out by your mother with her bare hands.¡¯ Kaiser felt sad for his companion, for a total of 0.3 seconds.


    ¡®Would the Dragon Emperor be killed by his own son?¡¯ Gle sported a slightly sinister smile.


    Although he had never believed in fate and had a disdainful attitude towards fortune tellers, this prophecy was to his liking. He didn¡¯t mind helping to push this prophecy along just like Mizerui and Barbalis.


    Gle¡¯s eyes were then fixed on Kaiser, and a smile surfaced on his mouth. He thought the runt¡¯s magic wasn¡¯t bad, and he could make a good assistant to killing the Dragon Emperor.


    Seeing Gle¡¯s smile, for some reason, Kaiser began to feel it would¡¯ve been a good way to die if he had actually been burnt by the flames before. At least he would die quickly, and his body would even get a free cremation.

 Volume 8, 2: Kaiser’s Path, Liola’s Road

    Volume 8, Chapter 2: Kaiser¡¯s Path, Liola¡¯s Road


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Right, what¡¯s with the people on the ground?¡± Gle impatiently kicked Lin Jiyun on the ground.


    Though Kaiser told Gle about their story, it ended when they entered Purity¡¯s black hole, and therefore, he didn¡¯t know of Lin Jiyun, Void, and Yulie.


    When Kaiser heard him, he told Gle what happened in the past year, especially Lin Jiyun¡¯s story. He hoped Jiyun wouldn¡¯t wake up to see the idiot-like Xin Jietian, and then run up and kill him with a sword. Although it wouldn¡¯t matter to Kaiser if he killed Xin Jietian, he feared the action might anger Gle, and he might not even have a corpse for burial.


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Gle¡¯s expression remained normal, and he didn¡¯t seem to care at all.


    ¡°Can we let Lin Jiyun kill Xin Jietian himself?¡± Kaiser asked carefully.


    Gle glanced at Kaiser, and his response did not answer the question, ¡°To make a person suffer, killing him is the stupidest way. There is no pain when he dies. If he seeks revenge, then he should keep his enemies alive, then strip away his everything, make him wish he were dead!¡±


    Kaiser shivered uncontrollably. The devil Gle did make sense. Had it not been for Gle¡¯s personality, framing him to be the devil wouldn¡¯t have been so easy.


    Kaiser suddenly saw Lin Jiyun¡¯s body shaking slightly, and his hand was strangely reaching into his pockets, as if he was trying to reach for something.


    ¡®Could it be that Lin Jiyun was pretending to be asleep? And did he want to try to kill Xin Jietian when Gle wasn¡¯t paying attention?¡¯


    Kaiser was in shock, if Gle finds out¡­ No, Kaiser paused. Gle was someone whom even Liola couldn¡¯t beat. If Kaiser could notice Lin Jiyun was pretending to be asleep, Gle must have already known for a while.


    Kaiser could never forget Liola¡¯s terrifying ability of being able to examine enemies hundreds of meters away. Gle¡¯s alertness must be above Liola¡¯s.


    ¡°Why¡­¡± Kaiser opened his mouth to ask, but he saw that Lin Jiyun was already getting up, so he shut his mouth.


    ¡°Thank you, senior, for avenging my father¡¯s death.¡± Lin Jiyun got up, then suddenly knelt down to kowtow.


    Gle didn¡¯t even look at Lin Jiyun, and instead said with disgust, ¡°Nobody avenged your father¡¯s death! This guy used Shalong Hall¡¯s name and blamed me for the death of the Lin family. Hmmph, I abhor people framing me, so he¡¯s practically asking for it!¡±


    Lin Jiyun raised his head, and continued to thank him, ¡°Senior, you helped Lin Jiyun seek vengeance. Lin Jiyun is beyond grateful. From now, no matter what senior tells Lin Jiyun to do, even if it would cost me my life, Jiyun would obey without question.¡±


    Kaiser swore secretly! He didn¡¯t realize this Lin Jiyun guy was even more of a suckup than himself. (He¡¯s sincere, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s a suckup!)


    Gle seemed very satisfied of what Lin Jiyun said. He originally didn¡¯t even want to look at him, but now he seemed to be glancing at him. His mouth, however, still had a smile that would make Kaiser¡¯s hair stand.


    Gle said, ¡°I was just thinking your vengeance was a bit too easy, and too boring. Since you said I can ask you to do anything¡­ Okay! You will receive training from me alongside Kaiser. When you¡¯re done with training, I will release the hypnosis on Xin Jietian. At that time, you must rely on yourself to fight against Xin Jietian. This fight will be on every level: intelligence, martial arts, and your connections with other people. Haha, the World of Martial Arts would be in turmoil then, and it will be fun.¡±


    ¡®Devil! A devil indeed!¡¯ Kaiser suddenly felt the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t even need to frame Gle. He may very well have, in time, found it boring and became the devil himself.


    ¡°Training¡­¡± Gle spun the emerald in his hand, and it reflected off his eyes, ¡°Since this jewel is here, let¡¯s do an experiment.¡±


    ¡®Experiment?¡¯ Kaiser stood stupefied, didn¡¯t he wanted to train them?


    If it was Liola standing here, hearing the word ¡°experiment¡±, his face would¡¯ve immediately turned pale. Gle¡¯s experiments were always extremely bizarre, and the success rate was less than 10%. It wasn¡¯t a training normal people could pass!


    ¡°Training!¡±


    Lin Jiyun, who was kneeling on the ground, seemed to have flashing eyes when he heard ¡°training.¡± He was originally worried his low strength couldn¡¯t be a match against Xin Jietian, but Gle was now here to help him train, and he had also successfully trained the top Assassin. Lin Jiyun could almost picture the day when he becomes one of the strongest Martial Artists¡­


    Even though Kaiser was lazy, he remembered he might once again end up in his original world, just like the White Dragon must¡¯ve spent ages planning, and it wouldn¡¯t possibly leave Liola in this world.


    Thus, to Kaiser, learning more magic to protect his life would definitely be a good idea. He wouldn¡¯t possibly dare to ignore the troublemaking ability of the Aklan Troublemaking Squad. It would already be a miracle if they don¡¯t run into the Dragon Emperor plus Lancelot the moment they go back.


    ¡°Good. Luckily there¡¯s a pile of idiots who could be your training targets.¡± Gle rubbed his chin like usually, and a thick smile formed on his face.


    ¡°Idiots?¡± Kaiser¡¯s mind had trouble connecting the dots.


    Gle raised his eyebrow, ¡°Those idiots competing for a sword.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. If something goes wrong, we could be the enemies of the entire Martial Arts World. Even if you¡¯re the Alliance Leader, we can¡¯t just screw around like this, right?¡± Kaiser was hesitant, because he didn¡¯t want to take refuge in a third world.


    ¡°Hmmph! There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of.¡± Gle looked completely relaxed. ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of Amnesia Honey. This stuff is enough to make someone completely forget about being the Alliance Leader. Worst case scenario, we¡¯ll grab all these people, and pour it down their throats. Are you really afraid they won¡¯t forget?¡±


    ¡­ Such a horrible guy. An idea flashed across Kaiser¡¯s mind, and he asked with hesitation, ¡°Have you already done it before?¡±


    Gle¡¯s eyes slowly glanced at Kaiser. Whether he had done it¡­ Kaiser knew the answer without hearing a word.


    * * *


    On the way, Yandi quietly followed Liola. Since she had spent some time with Liola before, she was familiar with his personality. Seeing his darkened eyes, Yandi knew deep inside, no matter what question she asked, it was impossible to get the answer. The Liola before her eyes was no different from the original Assassin, the one Yandi hated the most, the Assassin Silver Moon.


    The first time she saw Silver Moon was during one of his mission. It was a summer day, hot enough to make people sweat bullets.


    Having been around the Martial Arts World, Yandi had a nickname from people who hated her; Flaming Butterfly. The people who hated her the most were probably the Assassin organization; Shalong Hall. Though no one knew what their Leader looked like, everyone would instinctively think of the top Assassin when they think of Shalong Hall ¡ª Silver Moon.


    At that time, her sworn sister, Anise, had been kidnapped by Shalong Hall. People of the Martial Arts World were all discussing how they were going to save her. The number of people saved by Anise at this point was countless. As soon as anyone mentions Shalong Hall, they all wanted to have their own ¡°rescue plan¡±.


    ¡°Hmmph! What rescue plans? If she gets killed while you guys are coming up with a plan, then we wouldn¡¯t need to save her!¡± Yandi said coldly after hearing the long debates between the crowd.


    Many people loudly protested, saying things like a rushed attack would be suicide, and they would not be able to save the godly healer¡­


    Yandi knew full well what these people were thinking. Having lived in the Martial Arts World since she was young, she knew them very well: these people did indeed want to rescue Anise. After all, they all knew Anise practically never rejected anyone who asked for her help, and injury was quite common among Martial Artists.


    If they were injured, they wish a godly healer would come and help them. The problem was, however, it was Shalong Hall who abducted the godly healer, and it was the largest Assassin organization.


    Out of these people, many of them had actually hired Shalong Hall before, or ones who may one day hire them.


    The former was afraid their secrets may be revealed, and the latter was worried that when they do entrust Shalong Hall for something, they would be rejected or, in the worse scenario, Shalong Hall may hate them for doing so, then they would really have to worry about when their heads would fall off or when a sword would pierce through their chests.


    Yandi wasn¡¯t afraid of any of this. Her life was rescued by sister Anise, the worst case scenario was for her to give her life back in return.


    Originally, if they weren¡¯t going to take action today, Yandi planned to sneak into Shalong Hall by herself and rescue Anise. However, she remembered something and it caused her to completely give up on the idea.


    It was such an inexistent existence. She couldn¡¯t call him cold, because cold didn¡¯t exist in his eyes. Or, perhaps more accurately, there was nothing in his eyes. Had she not known it was a person, Yandi would¡¯ve thought the two darkened things were two pieces of iron instead of human eyes.


    As Yandi stood still, and terror crept up on her face, the people around her gradually noticed something was wrong. They all looked in Yandi¡¯s direction, and then suddenly realized, there was an unknown person there. One must understand, the place was filled with Martial Artists, and there was no shortage of famous masters among them, but no one managed to notice this person coming in.


    Everyone was stunned, all because of the ¡°void¡± in those silver eyes.


    The silver-eyed man didn¡¯t seem to take any actions. He was simply standing there quietly, but an action as simple as ¡°standing there¡± placed fear in the hearts of the bystanders, and none of the masters would dare to make a move.


    Yandi finally escaped from the void-like silver eyes, and carefully examined this person. If she were to look away from his eyes and manner, the person would look like a delicate man.


    His black hair was as dark as the depth of the night, and it covered his shoulders. Along with the tight-fitting black clothes he was wearing, he was practically completely black. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t look strange, as if black had been his color ever since he was born, just like the night¡¯s color.


    Had there been any radiance in his eyes, he would¡¯ve looked like a full moon on a dark night¡­


    Yandi couldn¡¯t stop herself from saying, ¡°Full moon in a dark night, silver light¡­ Silver Moon, is it?¡±


    As soon as Yandi finished, even she, herself froze. Everyone seemed to have received a sharp warning.


    Everyone knew who this void-like silver-eyed man was, and no one would doubt for a second the man was Shalong Hall¡¯s top Assassin ¡ª Silver Moon.


    But, strangely, Silver Moon didn¡¯t move at all, and nobody dared to make a move, fearing they would become the first victim of Silver Moon¡¯s onslaught.


    Yandi had a strange feeling Silver Moon wasn¡¯t here to kill. Because if he were, then everyone present would have been long dead, and even herself would¡¯ve died before noticing anything was wrong.


    Yandi¡¯s instincts were correct. After the deadlock between Silver Moon and the crowd for two hours, Silver Moon disappeared without a trace. Yandi didn¡¯t even see his figure clearly, and he seemed to disappear into thin air.


    From then on, whenever the Martial Arts World held a meeting about attacking Shalong Hall, they would undoubtedly find Silver Moon standing quietly in the corner.


    One time, some people even tried to attack Silver Moon. The result was, anyone who touched their weapons would have a blood-oozing wound on their throats, and from then on they no longer had to worry themselves with the problem of saving the godly healer.


    Yandi, who actively participated in planning the godly healer¡¯s rescue, became the person who saw Silver Moon the most. Perhaps it was because she was also looking at her surroundings, she was often the first person to discover Silver Moon. Many of these meetings had been interrupted by Silver Moon, and Yandi naturally hated him more and more.


    But what she hated most was herself, for being afraid to go save her sister all on her own after seeing Silver Moon.


    Finally, Anise was freed, but what followed her, was the terrifying Assassin.


    ¡°This is Liola, he¡¯s the top Assassin. This is Long Yandi, my best sworn sister.¡±


    Anise acted as if she had no clue how dangerous the man next to her was, but instead introduced Silver Moon with a smile. Yandi had no choice but to nod stiffly.


    Anise happily poured tea, and asked the two to sit down, then began her endless ¡°chit chat¡±. Even though Anise was the only one who talked the whole time, Silver Moon looked as if he was listening carefully, while Yandi was on guard while looking at Silver Moon, fearing he may suddenly attack.


    The void-like eyes looked like they had something within them now. Yandi examined Silver Moon with surprise. His steel-like eyes looked as if there were ripples throughout.


    Silver Moon seemed to have noticed Yandi examining him, and his silver eyes turned towards her. A shiver climbed up Yandi¡¯s spine. When those silver eyes looked away from Anise, they turned into those voids again.


    Silver Moon was, after all, the terrifying top Assassin, so Yandi¡¯s hand never once left the whip on her waist.


    * * *


    Yandi woke up from her flashbacks. She saw Silver Moon had already gone far away, so she hurried to catch up.


    When she reached Silver Moon, Yandi turned her head to examine Silver Moon¡¯s face from the side. Ever since she met Silver Moon again, she had been surprised, Silver Moon¡¯s silver eyes seemed to react to other people too, rather than just Anise.


    But now¡­ Yandi was suspicious. What could have happened to make Silver Moon act this way? His eyes were beyond freezing, but it still wasn¡¯t like the first time they met, the terror of the void in his eyes.


    ¡®Did sister do something to cause him to go crazy?¡¯ Yandi¡¯s heart was heavy.


    She knew, even if Anise was the devil, Silver Moon probably wouldn¡¯t be mad at her, and he may even become her right-hand man. Because of this, Yandi could not even imagine what could possibly make Silver Moon look this infuriated.


    Since he was in a hurry to find Anise, then it must have something to do with Anise, right?


    ¡°What exactly happened?¡± Yandi was murmuring to herself. She had no plans of getting an answer from Silver Moon.


    Who knew, not only did Silver Moon hear her, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.


    Yandi was shocked, and she thought Silver Moon might have been unhappy with her asking questions and planned to kill her on the spot. Despite her keeping her hands on her whip for a long time, Silver Moon did not do anything.


    Suddenly, Silver Moon turned and walked again, but his footsteps were slower. He began to slowly and quietly speak. Had it not been the fact that there was absolutely no one near them, Yandi would actually question whether it was Silver Moon telling the stories.


    She listened carefully and quietly. Silver Moon talked about seeing Anise for the first time, then the time when he was pursued by everyone in Martial Arts World, and finally falling into an alien world.


    When the story continued until the point where they came back to this world, then run into the Leader. When she found out the Leader was Gle, Yandi¡¯s face seemed to sink.


    Finally, Liola told her everything that has happened thus far. He spent almost a full day telling the story. It was Kaiser¡¯s version, not the simple version Liola told.


    Liola finished telling her what has happened recently in a mono-tone. But when he got to the point where Gle told him Anise was purely an illusion created by the White Dragon, there was a slight tremble in Liola¡¯s voice.


    After finishing the story, Liola didn¡¯t say anything else. He didn¡¯t want to say anything, and just wanted to listen: listen to what a person more familiar with Anise than him would say? Would she say Anise was an illusion? Or would she loudly refute, thinking Anise was real?


    Liola couldn¡¯t hold back his anticipation, hoping it would be the latter. If Yandi spoke with the firmest attitude Anise absolutely was real, then Liola would continue to believe Anise indeed was the talkative and kind Anise.


    ¡°I met sister Anise when I was eight.¡± Yandi neither confirmed nor denied, but instead began to tell her own story.


    ¡°At the time, she already looked like she was twenty something. I had always thought she had received the gift of beauty. Even a dozen, almost twenty, years later, her appearance still didn¡¯t change much.¡±


    ¡®As expected!¡¯ Liola held his fist tight, so tight that his short nails had dug into his flesh, leaving behind a deep imprint.


    Yandi seemed to have noticed Liola acting strange. She said impatiently, ¡°I listened until you finished, now it¡¯s your turn to let me finish, Silver Moon.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola tried as hard as he could to control his emotion. He slowly released his fist.


    Yandi continued to talk about her youth, and the time she spent with Anise.


    ¡°At the time, I was sick with a strange disease. My master had looked for every doctor, but none could cure me. Everyone in the Wave Faction practically gave up on me, they even stopped teaching me martial arts, and let me do whatever I wanted, while I wait for day to die peacefully.¡±


    ¡°But I still wanted to learn martial arts, so I always sat quietly next to my sisters when they were training. Until one day when I woke up and felt strange. My chest felt completely empty, but I also felt well. It was then when I understood it was my time to die. I didn¡¯t go see my sisters train, and I thought that, because my master had always treated me well, I shouldn¡¯t bring her any trouble when I die.¡±


    ¡°I walked alone to the top of a mountain, thinking I could end it all by jumping off. My foot was already on the edge of the cliff.¡± After having said this much, Yandi began to smile.


    ¡°Stop! I told you to stop, can¡¯t you understand?!¡±


    When Yandi¡¯s little foot was lifted half way, her body flutter around like a broken kite in the wind, and someone yelled for her to stop, with a rather strange way of yelling too. Yandi turned around to look to see who stopped her.


    In the time she did so, a thin figure immediately charged at her, and grabbed her away from the cliff. The figure also held her tightly, to the point where it began to hurt.


    Nevertheless, Yandi didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit of pain, but instead felt the warmth of the person¡¯s body beginning to warm her frozen body and soul. Tears dripped out of her eyes.


    The person carried her and walked for a long time before letting her down, and wiped her tears while comforting her. It was then when Yandi had finally seen the person in front of her. She was a rather unique woman. Nobody who had ever seen her could ever forget her long, cream hair.


    ¡°You¡¯re still so young, why must you end your life?¡±


    ¡°Because I am about to die.¡± Yandi finally felt the terror of death. She didn¡¯t want to die, but she had no choice. To escape the pain of waiting for death by the second, she would rather choose to die first.


    The woman with the long, cream hair carefully examined her, then smiled lightly, ¡°My name is Anise, and you have to remember, no one can possibly die before Anise.¡±


    It was a declaration worthy of being considered arrogant to the point of madness. Yandi willingly followed Anise, and she really did not die.


    Yandi turned around, and said solemnly to Liola, ¡°Now you¡¯re telling me, an illusion saved my life?¡±


    ¡°And you! Before meeting sister, you weren¡¯t even a person. You did not have a heart, or a life. If Anise was an illusion, do you think something lifeless could bring life to others?¡±


    Liola was stunned. He turned to look at Yandi, and a slight sign of weakness leaked through his face.


    This weakness softened Yandi slightly. She sighed, ¡°The time you¡¯ve had your heart is too short. Your heart is always weak, and it can¡¯t endure the slightest of ordeals.¡±


    She said earnestly, ¡°But, think back! Silver Moon. Think back to the time you spent with sister; think back to her every emotion, every sentence, and every action. Were those things an illusion could have done?¡±


    After hearing Yandi, the talkative, gossipy, and sympathetic long-haired woman returned to Liola¡¯s mind. Silver Moon¡¯s ¡°void¡± gradually faded, and what replaced it was Liola¡¯s expressionless face Kaiser had often called ¡°ice cubes¡±.


    Liola said somewhat panickedly, trying to find the answer, ¡°B-but what Gle said, about the White Dragon¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Yandi said directly, but then added, ¡°We will find the answers eventually. When we find Anise, the truth will be clear. I believe the Anise, who gave us both life, indeed exists.¡±


    ¡®Come find me, come find me.¡¯


    Liola suddenly saw the Dragon Cross Necklace around Yandi¡¯s neck flashing a white light, as if it was anxious. He couldn¡¯t refrain himself from putting his hand on the necklace. The light had always been warm, but depending on his feelings, what he sensed was often different.


    ¡®I believe you, Anise, I will believe you¡­¡¯ Liola lightly stroked the necklace.


    ¡°Do I really need to remind you that your hand is on my chest?¡± Yandi reminded somewhat rigidly, ¡°I¡¯m a woman, you are a man. I trust even an ice cube like you should know a man shouldn¡¯t touch a woman¡¯s chest?¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡±

 Volume 8, 3: Daylight’s Path

    Volume 8, Chapter 3: Daylight¡¯s Path


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    Daylight followed his new master; Wanyuan, closely. At first nothing seemed strange to him. In order to coordinate with his master¡¯s slow walking speed, Daylight slowed his pace. Who knew by doing so, Daylight was actually falling behind. He was shocked, and seeing master¡¯s figure getting further and further away.


    He thought, ¡®Strange, master looks like he¡¯s stumbling, but his actual speed seems quite fast.¡¯


    Daylight had a question in mind, and he wanted an answer immediately. He quickly hastened his steps to follow Wanyuan. When he reached a few steps away from Wanyuan, he did not slow down. In fact, he was practically jogging. But strangely, Daylight and Wanyuan were always a few steps apart.


    Unconsciously, Daylight¡¯s steps went faster and faster, because he wanted to get ahead of his master. He increased his speed until he was sprinting, but the stumbling old man was always a few steps in front of him.


    Daylight wasn¡¯t someone to admit defeat or give up halfway. He ran quickly as he closely observed the posture of Wanyuan walking: his unhurried steps was actually moving blazing speed.


    Daylight thought about it briefly, and slowed down his pace. What was strange was that the distance of them did not change, it neither increased nor decreased: it was still a few steps part.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Could master have eyes on his back? How else would he know how fast I was running?¡± Daylight exclaimed aloud.


    The buff man walking next to them opened his mouth and said, ¡°Junior brother apprentice, not only does master have eyes on his back, he has eyes everywhere on his body.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Daylight held his eyes and jaws open while looking at his brother apprentice.


    Wanyuan suddenly burst out laughing, then said, ¡°Little Grass, stop bullying your junior brother apprentice. If I had eyes all over my body, wouldn¡¯t I be a demon?¡±


    ¡°Little Grass?¡± Daylight heard this strange name, then turned towards his burly brother apprentice, ¡®Little Grass?¡¯


    The brawny man who was called Little Grass said with dissatisfaction, ¡°Master wished for me to be like grass, saying something about having vigorous vitality. My body must be as soft as a grass: come with the wind, and go with the wind so no matter how strong the wind may be, it would not break. Honestly, I don¡¯t get it, isn¡¯t fighting about who¡¯s stronger?¡±


    Little Grass suddenly seemed to remember something and said, ¡°Junior brother apprentice, you¡¯re not allowed to call me Little Grass. You have to call me Grass brother apprentice, understood?¡±


    Daylight had no time to answer him. ¡®Come with the wind, and go with the wind.¡¯


    A few ideas dawned on Daylight. He wanted to grab ahold of them, but those ideas jumped around his mind like naughty children, which made Daylight angry, but he wasn¡¯t willing to give up.


    ¡®Fighting is a match of who¡¯s stronger?¡¯ Daylight yelled, ¡°NO!¡±


    He remembered Liola¡¯s thin body. If they were actually comparing muscle strength, Liola might not even be his match, but truthfully, Liola was so much more powerful than him. Unknowingly, Daylight remembered many scenes where Liola fought.


    From what he remembered, it was rare for Liola to clash his weapon with his opponents¡¯ to test his muscle strength. Instead, he was always¡­ always¡­ Daylight couldn¡¯t find the words to describe Liola¡¯s actions.


    At this time, Wanyuan¡¯s voice could be heard, ¡°You are a tree, and you resist the wind forcefully. When you can¡¯t, you fall.¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon is a grass, he comes and goes with the wind.¡±


    [T/N: No indication whatsoever how Wanyuan suddenly knows how Silver Moon and Liola is the same person. At least this seem to suggest he knew.]


    Daylight suddenly realized. ¡®Right! Liola was always reacting to his opponents¡¯ movements. His weapon rarely clash with his enemies¡¯. When his enemy stabs, Broken Silver would slide along the hilt of the enemies toward their bodies. Even though it looked like his opponent was attacking and Liola was backing up, but in fact, it was his opponent throwing themselves at Liola¡¯s blade.¡¯


    Daylight took out his pike and, while remembering Liola¡¯s movements, thought about the possible reaction he should have made¡­


    Wanyuan threw another line to his apprentice, ¡°Circle your pike, and your attack will succeed.¡±


    Daylight was surprised.


    ¡®Circle the pike?¡¯ It was something Daylight never thought about. Stabbing his pike was always the method of attack.


    ¡®Going around?¡¯ But Daylight did not doubt anything Wanyuan said. Since he chose to believe Wanyuan, Daylight continued to stubbornly believe him. Despite being unaccustomed to it, he waved his pike in a circular fashion.


    * * *


    Little Grass saw Daylight was obsessed with training, he was at a loss and he asked the master, ¡°Are we not going to cover more distance today?¡±


    ¡°In a bit, don¡¯t interrupt your brother apprentice¡¯s thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Little Grass replied and scratched his head.


    Wanyuan glanced at Little Grass, and when he didn¡¯t see any dissatisfaction, he relaxed.


    Despite the innate talents of this apprentice being low, he was simple-minded, and despite liking to cause trouble, he didn¡¯t actually cause any harm.


    Wanyuan thought, perhaps it was better he was unlike Wanyuan¡¯s other apprentice, even though he was the esteemed Martial Arts Alliance Leader. But how many of those Alliance Leaders actually end up well throughout history?


    Little Grass seemed a bit bored, then asked, ¡°Master, you always say we should be like grass, and Silver Moon already acts like grass, so is he stronger than you?¡±


    Wanyuan raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°Silver Moon¡¯s innate talents are so incredible and I¡¯ve never seen another like him. Along with his master¡¯s training, his power are truly amazing for someone his age. Nevertheless, there¡¯s always someone better. From what I know, there are already quite a few hidden people in the Martial Arts World who could beat him.¡±


    ¡°Master, you lied, saying something about grass can¡¯t fall, but isn¡¯t he falling?¡± Little Grass seemed even more unhappy with his name.


    Wanyuan mercilessly smacked his apprentice on the back of the head, and scolded a bit, ¡°I said be like grass, it doesn¡¯t mean grass is the highest level.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Little Grass yelled, ¡°There¡¯s another level above?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Wanyuan reached out his hand and drew an ¡°8¡± in the air. In Little Grass¡¯s eyes, the arm moved very slowly.


    He reached out his hand with a little disdain, trying to grab his master¡¯s hand, but time after time he grabbed nothing but air. Little Grass was very surprised: master¡¯s hand was obviously moving very slow, and it was always following the same path, so why couldn¡¯t he grab it?


    Wanyuan returned his hands on his back, and said, ¡°The higher level¡­ is to turn yourself into wind.¡±


    Little Grass was at even more of a loss. Being grass wasn¡¯t enough, so he had to turn himself into wind?


    He murmured, ¡°Grass is visible at least. Wind can¡¯t even be seen. Other than master, can anyone even become the wind?¡±


    ¡°Ignorant!¡± Wanyuan scolded his apprentice.


    Little Grass didn¡¯t back down, he asked back, ¡°Then, master, who have you seen turn into wind.¡±


    Wanyuan shook his head, ¡°There are quite many who could. But at their level, most don¡¯t even care for fame, power, and money anymore. Most of them live hidden away from this world, so of course you wouldn¡¯t know about them.¡±


    ¡°But, there is one person you should know.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Little Grass asked foolishly.


    ¡°Shalong Hall¡¯s leader.¡±


    Little Grass was shocked, and yelled loudly, ¡°The Assassin Organization¡¯s leader?¡±


    Wanyuan nodded, and said with a projecting voice, ¡°He is an incredible man. He appeared out of nowhere, and there was immense power on his body. A few dozen years ago, when he had just formed Shalong Hall, I once had a conflict with him.¡±


    ¡°Master, you¡¯ve fought with him?¡± Little Grass was in disbelief, then hurriedly asked, ¡°Master, did you win or lose?¡±


    Wanyuan answered simply, ¡°Both won and lost.¡±


    ¡°How can you both win and lose? Master, you¡¯re not making any sense.¡± Little Grass scratched his head in confusion.


    ¡°Won, because the result of the fight was indeed my win.¡± Wanyuan looked deep in thought, ¡°Lost, because he seemed to have a strange and incredible power other than his Kung Fu, but he did not use it, even after he lost. When I asked him why, he said the power did not belong in this world, and it wouldn¡¯t be fair.¡±


    Wanyuan shook his head, ¡°A man both crazy and presumptuous. Even when I said I¡¯ll kill him, he didn¡¯t want to use the mysterious power to save himself.¡±


    Having said this, he began to remember that wildly arrogant figure and laughter. What kind of person was he¡­


    ¡°I said no, so I won¡¯t use it. I lost, and I deserve to die!¡±


    ¡°Then did you really kill him, master?¡± Little Grass acted as if he was listening to a story. When he was intrigued, the storyteller suddenly closed his mouth. It was uncomfortable for Little Grass to end on a cliffhanger.


    Wanyuan snapped, ¡°If I killed him, then is their current Leader a ghost?¡±


    Little Grass thought for a moment, and nodded. He then started to laugh foolishly with embarrassment.


    ¡°I let him go, he told me he would never thank anyone, but he will one day repay me.¡± Wanyuan paradoxically shook his head as he smiled, then murmured,


    ¡°Looks like someone avenged my apprentice, and saved this old man from having to work hard for revenge.¡±


    Little Grass still wanted to ask what he meant, but Wanyuan frowned and waved his hand to stop Little Grass. He turned around and looked at the horizon far away, as if he was waiting for something.


    Little Grass saw master¡¯s actions, and also stared blankly at the sky. Since he believed his master, he didn¡¯t doubt for a second there would be things appearing out of the sky other than birds.


    In the sky, a small dot appeared, and it gradually grew while getting closer and closer. It was obvious by now, it was definitely not a bird. When the thing was close enough to see clearly, they saw an elegant and beautiful beast: the king of the skies, a Snow-White Dragon.


    ¡°Aiya, master, a demon!¡± Little Grass opened his mouth. He had never seen such a terrifying creature. Such a giant, sturdy look struck terror into the hearts of anyone who saw it.


    Wanyuan frowned slightly. He turned and looked at the small Flames, then looked back at the Snow-White giant creature. Even though the size and color were different, but he could tell the shapes were fairly similar. Could this giant beast be here for his new apprentice?


    * * *


    At this time, Flames also ran towards its master, and pulled Daylight, who was practicing his moves.


    Daylight suddenly snapped from his Martial Arts craze. At this time, the giant creature also flapped its giant wings while it landed, causing quite a wave of strong winds.


    ¡°Baolilong?¡± Daylight was in shock, then looked towards Baolilong¡¯s back. Instead of a familiar figure, however, Daylight saw a graceful young woman.


    The girl fell off the Dragon¡¯s back the moment Baolilong landed. She spent a long time on the ground, and could not seem to stand up.


    Daylight rushed over, and patted the girls back as he asked caringly, ¡°Yulie, are you okay?¡±


    The girl¡¯s face was pale, and she kept shaking her head. Two streams of tears were running down her face. Her first flight experience had scared her out of her mind.


    Daylight also knew, Baolilong¡¯s terrifying flight was not something an ordinary person could endure, so he had to suppress his questions and wait until Long Yulie recovered a little.


    Little Grass saw Daylight¡¯s intimate actions towards her, and began to laugh suggestively, it was a laugh only men could understand, ¡°Brother apprentice, I didn¡¯t think you would have such a pretty paramour.¡±


    Little Grass¡¯s words caused Long Yulie, despite being out of it, to blush.


    Daylight seem shocked, then asked, ¡°What does ¡®paramour¡¯ mean?¡±


    Little Grass didn¡¯t know his brother apprentice was so clueless about interpersonal relationships, and he didn¡¯t even know what ¡°paramour¡± meant. He would even ask what it was in front of a girl.


    Little Grass answered with a stutter, ¡°¡®Paramour¡¯ means¡­ aiya, i-it just means a girl whose relationship with you is out of the ordinary.¡±


    Hearing Little Grass¡¯s obscure explanation. Daylight scratched his head. Since he didn¡¯t understand the relationships in this world, he naturally thought friends were a relationship out of the ordinary, so he answered after a brief moment of thought,


    ¡°Yeah, our relationship is out of the ordinary.¡±


    Little Grass widened his eyes, and Yulie¡¯s face turned crimson. She thought, maybe she should open her mouth to clarify, but she also subconsciously did not want to clear anything up. So she decided to lower her head and not say anything.


    At this time, Wanyuan coughed a few times, and pulled everyone¡¯s attention back. He asked,


    ¡°Little girl, why are you here looking for my apprentice? Did something happen to his companions?¡±


    Daylight finally remembered what was important, and he turned to ask hurriedly, ¡°Yulie, tell us quickly!¡±


    Yulie was at a loss at what to say. She froze with her mouth open. At this time, however, the giant white Dragon next to her disappeared in waves of intense white light. What replaced it was actually a small child, and this situation put Wanyuan and Liittle Grass at a loss.


    But Daylight wasn¡¯t surprised by it. When Baolilong ran straight to Daylight with tears in its large eyes.


    Daylight was shocked, and asked hurriedly, ¡°Baolilong, what happened to everyone?¡±


    Baolilong suddenly bawled, while yelled vaguely, ¡°Papa ran into the devil, and the devil beat up papa, then said a lot of things. Then papa turned really really scary. Papa ran off, without taking Baolilong.¡±


    ¡°Devil?¡± Daylight had gotten dizzy from hearing the cries. ¡®How did a devil suddenly appear? And who was this devil?¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s the Leader; Shalong Hall¡¯s Leader!¡± Yulie could finally speak now, and her voice was filled with trembling and terror, ¡°Y-your second brother apprentice is actually the top Assassin Silver Moon.¡±


    Yulie suddenly remembered the Leader¡¯s task for her. The intense fear she felt forced her to begin repeat the Leader¡¯s message, and she wouldn¡¯t dare to even miss a single word.


    ¡°Wanyuan¡¯s apprentice, I know you don¡¯t belong here, and you should know my name: I am Gle.¡±


    ¡°Gle!¡± Daylight¡¯s body trembled. He would have never imagined he would hear such a forbidden name in this world.


    ¡°Listen to me well, I will give you three month¡¯s time. After three months, you must fight with Silver Moon, whom I have taught single-handedly. If you win, I will return your two friends to you. If you lose, oh well, I will kill Liola, because he¡¯s the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son.¡±


    ¡°However, to be fair, I¡¯ll give you one more advantage, considering I did teach Silver Moon for twenty years, whereas you only have three months. I will train Kaiser strictly, and when the time comes, you will fight together with Kaiser. If you still lose, at most SIlver Moon will beheaded, but at least it shouldn¡¯t matter to you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, Wanyuan, you better mentor your new apprentice well. This duel will be our second match, hahaha.¡±


    This speech from the arrogant Gle seemed to have lost some of its tone when repeated by Yulie, but the contents of which was clear enough.


    Although Daylight didn¡¯t know how this came to be, he was clear that three months from now, he must defeat Liola; otherwise¡­ Liola will die?


    ¡°This guy is still as ridiculous as he was.¡± Wanyuan shook his head.


    Little Grass scratched his head, and murmured in confusion, ¡°What kind of duel is this, wanting his apprentice to fight with someone, and if his apprentice wins, then the apprentice would die?¡±


    ¡°Master.¡± Daylight took a few deep breaths.


    Even though he knew Liola was strong and to beat him with only three months of training was simply ludicrous, Daylight was not going to give up. His face was covered with determination, and he bent down on one knee to his master,


    ¡°Master, please mentor me in the strictest way possible. No matter what, in three months, I must go and rescue my companions.¡±


    ¡°No matter which aspect you consider: innate talent, training length, or training method, you pale in comparison to Silver Moon in all aspects.. Even though you are the one in a million Martial Arts prodigy, your opponent is Silver Moon, who had been training for twenty years, plus his master is Gle, who would use all sorts of possibly fatal methods to train¡­¡±


    Wanyuan looked up into the sky, and said to his apprentice honestly, ¡°Even with the strictest method, in three months, it would still be impossible for you to defeat Silver Moon. Do you still wish to train?¡±


    Daylight showed no signs of backing off, he yelled loudly, ¡°Then use the method more strict than the strictest method!¡±


    Wanyuan turned his face towards the sky and laughed, ¡°Young one, ah, young one, okay! I will handle you with the most stringent method. Little Grass.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master?¡± Little Grass answered obediently.


    ¡°Go buy a few of the best horses. We are heading to Divine Medicine Valley, and find that God of Medicine guy.¡±


    Wanyuan laughed while stroking his beard, ¡°I¡¯m definitely going to make that old fossil take out his best medicine.¡±


    Unknown to Wanyuan, Daylight was in even more of a hurry. He immediately told Flames to become bigger, and then yelled, ¡°Master, there¡¯s no time. It would be faster to ride my Dragon there.¡±


    Wanyuan, Little Grass, and Yulie turned, only to see a giant Red Dragon. Hearing its feverish Dragon Roar, all three of their faces changed to three different shades.

 Volume 8, 4: One Goal, Three Journeys

    Volume 8, Chapter 4: One Goal, Three Journeys


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Magic is not something you can learn in a short time.¡± Gle said lazily, ¡°Since you didn¡¯t continue to meditate in these past few years, there¡¯s nothing I could teach you, because it would be pointless. It would be better to let that Daylight guy go by himself, and you would be a burden to him even if you go.¡±


    ¡°I meditated every night. EVERY-NIGHT!¡± Kaiser emphasized, ¡°And it¡¯s the special meditation technique found in your house, so it allowed me to use advanced magic spells such as White Bomb and Levitation. But the former could only be used once every three days, and the latter, when used, gives me an intense migraine the next day. I also can¡¯t seem to learn lower level or normal magic spells.¡±


    Gle seemed more intrigued about something else, ¡°How did you find my house? It¡¯s in quite a secretive location, and if it weren¡¯t, the bastard Dragon Emperor would¡¯ve already robbed it. So it couldn¡¯t possibly have survived until now.¡±


    Kaiser grunted, and took out a pentacle necklace from within his collars, ¡°This is the reason. I¡¯ve told you before, I was tricked into being the sacrifice in the arena. That day, after being exiled, I noticed when a blood fell on this necklace, it emitted light. The thin light kept pointing in some direction. Since I had nowhere to go, I had no choice but to follow the light.¡±


    ¡°Who knew, it led me straight to your home.¡± Kaiser snapped, ¡°It even made me cut myself. I bled almost a whole bag of blood before the damned door let me in.¡±


    Gle raised his eyebrows, ¡°It¡¯s because your bloodline is rather thin. My eldest daughter is your grandmother, so only one eighth of your blood is mine. It¡¯s already a miracle it only took a bag of blood to open the door.¡±


    ¡°Stop going off-topic.¡± Kaiser said with dissatisfaction, ¡°Tell me quickly, what is wrong with your special meditation technique? When I first found your notes about magic, I was so happy, thinking one day, after I learn all of this, I could rescue my sister. But in the end, the result was horrific.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you are quite lucky.¡± Gle suddenly burst out laughing.


    Kaiser suddenly had a foreboding feeling, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I did not invent that meditation technique.¡± Gle¡¯s face suddenly seemed a bit darkened, ¡°When I was in Aklan Academy, I had some disagreements with the Magic instructor on the first class, so I never went to his class. I dug the method up from the library there.¡±


    ¡°I just grabbed it randomly, but I had no idea it was no ordinary explanation. To this day I have no idea who left it there, it was a certain Magician¡¯s research, and supposedly it was ten times as effective as normal meditation.¡±


    ¡°Ten times?¡± Kaiser asked back in disbelief, ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Gle said lazily, ¡°But only if you¡¯re still alive after going through with it, otherwise, no matter how many times the effectiveness, it would be nothing.¡±


    Kaiser seemed shocked, ¡°What are you saying? I don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°Meditation costs a great deal of spiritual force. When you meditate once, it equals someone else doing it ten times. Then by meditating ten times per night, your spiritual force will be ten times more than others. What do you think will happen?¡±


    Kaiser heard, and he felt numb in his spine. To leave the Dark Street, and to rescue his sister, he had at least seriously practiced Magic for a while. Of course he knew what could happen: if spiritual force increased too quickly, then the result would either be going crazy, or his head would explode.


    Kaiser touched his own head, and it was still there! Couldn¡¯t he be crazy? It can¡¯t be, right?


    Seeing Kaiser stupidly touching his head, Gle seemed to have found it amusing. He snickered for a while before he said,


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said you¡¯re lucky. Everyone in my family is natural prodigy for Magic, and their abilities to handle spiritual force have always been extraordinary. Nevertheless, as far as I know, the only person who could handle this meditation was me. Everyone else who had tried it, either almost died, or have gone almost crazy.¡±


    ¡°Of course, now, you¡¯re also someone who could handle it.¡±


    ¡®I really am quite lucky.¡¯ Kaiser thought as he touched his head, but then he thought something was wrong.


    Kaiser asked hurriedly, ¡°Wait, if we¡¯re trained the same way, why are you so strong and why am I so terrible?¡±


    ¡°Terrible?¡± Gle grunted, and said, ¡°Other than Gle family members, White Bomb was something only senior Magicians could use. Do you know, senior Magicians are mostly old geezers in their seventies or eighties?¡±


    ¡°Can they only use it once every three days too?¡±


    ¡°Well, no.¡± Gle answered honestly, ¡°If training to the age of seventy only gives you one Divine Fireball every three days, who the heck would want to be a Magician?¡±


    ¡°Divine Fireball?¡± Kaiser asked blankly.


    Gle explained impatiently, ¡°It¡¯s what you call ¡®White Bomb¡¯. Shut up, and fire one so I can see.¡±


    Kaiser didn¡¯t dare to say no. He obediently raised his gun, and began an incantation.


    Gle frowned a little, and the gun in Kaiser¡¯s hands began to glow. As he completed the incantation, a Divine Fireball shot out of the gun into the sky. It quickly flew through the air, then disappeared without a trace.


    Kaiser looked towards Gle, wondering what kind of comment he would make, but Gle was still raising his head and looked towards the direction in which the Divine Fireball flew. Kaiser saw Gle looked serious, so he didn¡¯t dare to interrupt his thoughts. Kaiser had no choice but to sit down and wait quietly.


    Half an hour passed before Gle lowered his head. His face was still expressionless, which made Kaiser feel a bit scared.


    ¡°You are indeed an idiot!¡± Gle swore the moment he opened his mouth.


    ¡°W-what did I do?¡± Kaiser didn¡¯t know what he had done wrong.


    Gle pointed at the sky, ¡°Your Divine Fireball took an entire thirty minutes to explode. Do you know what it means?¡±


    Kaiser shook his head. How would he know what it meant? He didn¡¯t even know they exploded at all. For all the times he had used it before now, he had only seen it pass through things, and had no idea where they went.


    Gle explained coldly, ¡°A normal Divine Fireball should explode the moment it touches something, rather than exploding thirty minutes later. Because if you had to wait half an hour before exploding, it would no longer be a Divine Fireball, bit a highly compressed Divine Fireball instead.¡±


    Kaiser asked with hesitation, ¡°Highly compressed? Shouldn¡¯t it be even more powerful?¡±


    Gle suddenly got angry, and yelled loudly, ¡°I omitted words, idiot. You compressed more than thirty Divine Fireballs in one. Even senior Magicians couldn¡¯t possibly do something like this.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m really strong?¡± Kaiser opened his mouth. So he¡¯s actually more powerful than a senior Magician?¡±


    ¡°To an ordinary person, really strong, and really stupid.¡± Gle said with disdain.


    ¡°You used every last bit of your spiritual force to compress these thirty Divine Fireballs, and of course you wouldn¡¯t be left with enough force to control such a Super Divine Fireball. As a result, it has to be shot in a straight line. If your enemy were to avoid such a linear Super Divine Fireball, you would be left without any spiritual force and become a sitting duck.¡±


    ¡°Control it?¡± An idea dawned on Kaiser, could it be¡­ ¡°Super Divine Fireballs could turn?¡±


    ¡°It will turn if you make it turn.¡± Gle glanced at Kaiser, ¡°But of course, only if idiot like you has enough spiritual force to control it.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped. ¡®My god! A turning Fireball?¡¯


    ¡°Right!¡± Gle suddenly remembered, ¡°This must be why, your spiritual force grew too quickly, and I didn¡¯t teach you, so you had no idea how to control your force, which result in your magic being extremely unstable.¡±


    Other than Gle secretly praising him, everything else he said was a blur to Kaiser. But Kaiser thought it was fine, because what¡¯s important was how they could resolve the problem.


    He asked hurriedly, ¡°So what should I do?¡±


    Gle thought briefly, ¡°Practice, and this.¡± He raised his right hand, and there was an emerald on his palm.


    ¡°With this?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes widened; the jewel he found on Liola?


    ¡°This belongs to Maylee. She¡¯s the best Alchemist I have ever known. Do you really think something she made would be an ordinary jewel?¡±


    The perfect emerald reflected in Gle¡¯s blue eyes, while a smile formed on his lips: a smile which previously made Liola¡¯s expression change, and was now creeping out Kaiser.


    ¡°Catch.¡± Gle threw the emerald casually.


    Although he feared for his life, Kaiser had no other choice. He fumbled to catch the emerald, then carefully carried it.


    Kaiser knew nothing of Alchemy, but he knew full well it was never a leisure activity. In fact, every material used by Alchemists were extremely dangerous, and explosions were a common occurrence.


    It was a blessing from their ancestors if the explosions didn¡¯t spread corrosive material everywhere, and it was a blessing from other people¡¯s ancestors if the explosions didn¡¯t carry poison that would spread for miles. Rumors had it, prices for land and houses near Alchemists were all scarily low.


    ¡°Use your spiritual force and control a bit of magic element, then pour it into the jewel.¡± Gle said lazily.


    Kaiser did as asked, and the emerald suddenly exploded with light. Kaiser, who had been surprised when he first saw it, covered his eyes and moaned in pain. It was a long while before he stopped and finally escaped from the status of being legally blind.


    Kaiser suddenly realized his surroundings had changed significantly: from the rays of light shining in through the window, a few balls of light the size of fingernails were floating in the air. The wooden table and chairs were also emitting a faint yellow light. When he walked up to examine it, he realized there were small yellow balls of light on them.


    Kaiser looked inside the teacup on the wooden table, and saw many blue balls of light floating in the tea.


    Sunlight were white balls, wood were yellow balls, water was blue balls¡­ Kaiser had an epiphany.


    Gle did not give any explanation, and instead he said lazily, ¡°I¡¯m going to take a nap. Before I wake up, you have to use magic of different colors as paint, and put a picture together. If it looks ugly¡­¡±


    Gle laughed coldly, ¡°You will be responsible for whatever happens.¡±


    Kaiser widened his eyes. ¡®Use element to put together a picture?¡¯


    He yelled hurriedly, ¡°Wai¡ª¡­¡±


    Before he even finished the simple syllable, Gle¡¯s figure faded, and disappeared in front of Kaiser¡¯s eyes. No one knew where he went to take a nap, and left Kaiser behind, who only had half a clue; he was so frustrated that he wanted to pull his hair out.


    He didn¡¯t know how long Gle would sleep either. Kaiser secretly prayed he would sleep for a really long time. At least, he knew he loved sleeping, so he believed, as his ancestor, Gle must also be a sleepaholic.


    ¡°Fine, d-drawing can¡¯t possibly be hard for me.¡±


    Kaiser murmured, digging through the magic knowledge he had taught himself: spiritual force could control the magic element present everywhere in the world. The stronger the spiritual force, the more magic element could be controlled and, of course, the magic spell used as a result would be stronger.


    After having thought about it, even his ancestor said his spiritual force was enormous, then it shouldn¡¯t be hard for him to put the magic elements in a picture, right?


    Kaiser took a deep breath, and decided to start with the most stable element: earth. He recollected the way he used spiritual force during the casting of a spell, and gathered the element of earth.


    Under the control of Kaiser¡¯s spiritual force, the element of earth moved as expected: a large quantity of earth elements suddenly rushed into the room, and they broke the normal flow of elements into chaos. The collision of the elements in the air caused a series of fireworks in the air.


    Kaiser had no idea it would end up like this. He quickly hid himself under the table, and covered his ears. After a while, the fireworks had finally finished, and Kaiser carefully climbed out from under the table.


    His surroundings looked terrible: the walls were covered with fist-sized burn marks, the teacup and tea pot on the table had already broken into pieces, and even the table under which Kaiser hid just now, had suddenly broken two of its legs, then crumbled into wooden planks.


    Kaiser had a feeling this would¡¯ve happened. When he was practicing magic before, he had countless encounters like this. He had never been successful with the lower level magic, and it would usually end in destruction. Had it not been born with the element of fire, he might not have even be able to use fireball.


    [T/N: In archaic beliefs (and often in martial arts novels), there were 5 elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; each creature was often believed to be aligned to one of these elements. So Kaiser was born with an attunement to fire.]


    ¡°If my spiritual force is really powerful, why do I always fail?¡± Kaiser sat depressedly in the ruins.


    ¡°Wow! What happened?¡±


    Suddenly someone spoke, and Kaiser was surprised. He turned around to find Void slowly getting off the ground while sweeping off the planks on him.


    As soon as Kaiser saw Void, he snapped, ¡°You surely are a deep sleeper. Even though the world was exploding around you, you were still asleep!¡±


    Void seem shocked, and asked, ¡°Exploding? What happened? How did I fall asleep, did I get drugged?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± Kaiser answered casually. He didn¡¯t want to give himself more trouble by explaining magic to people of this world.


    ¡°Then¡­ where are everyone else?¡± Void knew Kaiser was in a bad mood, so he asked carefully.


    Kaiser was still frustrated with his magic. But to him, he could think and talk at the same time. So while thinking about magic, his mouth never stopped; he explained everything thoroughly.


    Luckily there weren¡¯t much to talk about: he explained Liola was Silver Moon, and now got caught by the Leader, so he must beat Liola in three months with the help of Daylight, or otherwise Liola will die, so he was now frustrated with controlling his own power¡­


    ¡°I understand.¡± Void knitted his eyebrows. Though he wasn¡¯t familiar with the quiet Liola, he didn¡¯t have any bad impressions of him. When he heard Liola was an Assassin trying to repent, how could he not help?


    ¡°Tell me, what is up with your power?¡± Void wanted to help, ¡°Taoism is also quite a mysterious power; perhaps there are something common with them.¡±


    Kaiser hesitated briefly, then explained in detail, ¡°My power is called magic. The world is filled with a power known as magic element, and although your world has far less of it compared to mine, it has enough for magic usage. To drive these magic elements, one must use spiritual force, which is¡­¡±


    Void got more and more confused. It felt like Kaiser put a stick in his head and began to stir everything together, and he no longer understood anything.


    Kaiser glanced at Void, and probably knew he didn¡¯t understand. But it didn¡¯t matter to Kaiser, since he didn¡¯t really have any high hopes. It would be ridiculous to ask someone with a sword to help him with magic.


    Kaiser continued his thoughts. If he couldn¡¯t paint a magic picture before Gle woke up, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about whether Liola dies in three months, instead, he¡¯d be in hell waiting for Liola.


    ¡°Master said, no matter how you put it, every power is a path leading to the same thing¡­¡± Void said hesitantly, ¡°Judging by what you said, spiritual force sounds like Ki, magic elements¡­ are sort of like your arms and legs. We use Ki to bring agility and strength to our arms and legs, much like you use spiritual force to use magic element.¡±


    This did seem familiar. Kaiser stared blankly for a moment, then began to listen intently to what Void was saying.


    Void took a moment to collect his thoughts, then continued, ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, your spiritual force is very powerful, but you can¡¯t use it to its fullest extent. It¡¯s like if we were to give a child powerful Ki, but he doesn¡¯t know how to use it. Instead, he might overexert his Ki, and break his own arms and legs and become crippled as a result.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you resolve it?¡± Kaiser asked hurriedly.


    Void scratched his face, ¡°Teach him slowly on how to use Ki. At first, let him exert a small bit of Ki, and get used to the feeling of Ki filling his limbs, then increase it slowly¡­¡±


    ¡°A small bit¡­ use magic element to paint¡­.¡± Kaiser jumped up as if hit by lightning and yelled loudly, ¡°I understand now!¡±


    Void seemed to be shocked, and asked stupefied, ¡°Understand what?¡±


    Kaiser touched his head with embarrassment, ¡°I had thought more spiritual force was always better, so I use all my power to use magic every time. But because the strength of my spiritual force, I always end up with a big explosion or turn fireballs into super Divine Fireball.¡±


    ¡°But now I understand. My problem is the amount of spiritual force I use. It¡¯s the reason why Gle wants me to use magic element to paint, because he wanted me to control a minute amount of element to draw, so I can learn to control my spirit force.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s mouth was wide open, he hadn¡¯t thought the devil would have such bizarre ideas. Had Void not been here and coincidentally reminded him, he would¡¯ve thought the devil was trying to make things difficult for him.


    As soon as he thought of a way, Kaiser immediately began to act on it. He attempted to use a miniscule amount of spiritual force to control a bit of water element. Slowly but surely, the water element began to move bit by bit. At the same time, it didn¡¯t seem to affect any other element.


    Kaiser was so excited that his heart was beating out of his chest. He put down the water element, and reached out his devilish claw at earth element¡­ no, reaching out his spiritual force. As expected, earth element slowly moved to water element¡¯s side, and stayed there obediently.


    ¡°Great! I did it!¡± Kaiser cheered loudly.


    ¡°Oh? Congratulations.¡± Void smiled blankly. He could neither see nor sense the elements, so he had no idea what Kaiser meant. But since Kaiser did say so, Void assumed he was successful.


    Kaiser sighed, ¡°Luckily I have the jewel from Auntie; this jewel actually allows me to ¡®see¡¯ the element, this is just too mystical! If I couldn¡¯t see it with my eyes, I wouldn¡¯t be done so quickly.¡±


    ¡°What should I paint?¡± Kaiser thought. A light flashed across his mind, ¡®This one!¡¯


    Kaiser began to paint carefully. He had no idea, Gle already appeared while yawning, and he glanced at Void coldly.


    Kaiser put on the last bit of fire element and clapped, ¡°Finished!¡±


    Gle poked his head over, and surprised Kaiser. He examined it with narrowed eyes, ¡°This Guernica by Picasso is not bad, it does look like it.¡±


    ¡°Picasso?¡± Kaiser scratched his head. He had no idea it was drawn by Picasso, because he knew nothing of paintings. It was just something he had seen on Meinan¡¯s clothings.


    He asked skeptically, ¡°Isn¡¯t this painting called the Last Supper?¡±


    ¡®L-last supper?¡¯ Gle slipped a bit, and with his lips twitching, he examined the painting. He saw twisted bodies, warped faces, and some of them don¡¯t even look like humans. No matter how he looked, it looked more like the Spanish Civil War. If this were the last supper¡­ then there was only one possibility: this little runt¡¯s painting skill was worse than a three year-old!


    ¡°Last Supper?¡± Gle asked with narrowed eyes.


    Kaiser immediately felt something wrong in the air, and the devil¡¯s ambience was already spreading in the air.


    He answered solemnly, ¡°I¡¯m just kidding! What is the Last Supper anyway?! You know, I¡¯m a big fan of Pikoso, especially the Spanking Civilian Work. For his work, I could even give up the Last Supper¡­ assuming there will be midnight snacks.¡±


    [T/N: Intentional misspellings]


    Gle examined Kaiser with skeptical eyes, whom looked back firmly at him, without the slightest hint of a blush for his lies.


    Gle didn¡¯t really want to punish Kaiser, and instead touched his chin interestingly, ¡°Since you¡¯ve already learnt the basics of controlling your spiritual force, we will be training next.¡±


    ¡°Training? No problem, you can be as harsh as you want!¡± Kaiser thumped his chest and promised.


    Gle laughed slightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be harsher than Li¡¯s; that method was a bit high with the mortality rate. I still look forward to your fight with Li, so I don¡¯t want you to die first.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s hand on his chest suddenly stopped, ¡°H-how high is ¡®a bit¡¯?¡±


    Gle tapped his face with his finger, trying to remember, ¡°I think I caught about six to seven hundred children. After training for a few months, those without innate talents were thrown out, same with those who were crippled during training accidents, and of course those who died. After twenty years, only Li remains.¡±


    ¡®699 out of the 700 were thrown away, so the mortality rate was 99.8%. T-this was just ¡°a bit¡± high?¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s arms and legs began to shake. Would he¡­ also get thrown out¡­ after three months?


    * * *


    ¡°Master, which way do we go next?¡±


    Daylight yelled back anxiously at his master. Wanyuan was one who had seen just about everything and faced every dangerous enemy. Despite never sitting on such a fast-flying Dragon, he didn¡¯t seem any different other than his face being slightly pale.


    Yulie, however, had already given up any etiquette of a lady, and desperately held onto Daylight¡¯s leg. Little Grass also gave up the dignity of being an elder brother apprentice, and held onto his master with both his hands and feet.


    Little Baolilong was sitting blankly on Flame¡¯s head. As much as it loved flying, without Liola on its back, to Baolilong, flying had lost its appeal.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there! The mountain range in front of us is our destination.¡±


    Wanyuan said loudly, his trembling voice seemed to be intertwined with surprise, ¡°Good apprentice, fly over slowly. The surrounding is beautiful. Cultivation of the mind is just as important to anyone who studies Martial Arts, and we don¡¯t have to rush like this¡­¡±


    Daylight looked ahead, and surely enough, there was a mountain range entrenched in clouds. Without saying anything, he commanded Flames to do a diving rush.


    As for what Wanyuan said about cultivation of the mind, he ignored completely. Even Yulie or Little Grass¡¯s screams could not interrupt Daylight¡¯s determination to get to Divine Medicine Valley as soon as possible, to find a way to increase his strength, how could Wanyuan¡¯s calm voice stop Daylight?


    When Flames¡¯ giant figure appeared above the Divine Medicine Valley, it caused quite a rumble underneath.


    A dozen or so men and women with straw baskets beneath screamed as they ran every which way, obviously being terrified of what was happening.


    The houses made out of bamboo in the Valley also began to shake, as if they could fall at any moment. The people within the houses also ran out, and glared at Flames with widened eyes.


    As soon as Daylight saw the people in the Valley, he thought they must be the people of Divine Medicine Valley his master had talked about. He immediately commanded Flames to land in an open area. After receiving the command, it went down directly into the Valley.


    Since the people underneath had already ran away, it wasn¡¯t afraid of stepping on any humans. As for their belongings, such as places to hang their clothes, they were as meaningless as grass to Flames, so it stepped right on them.


    As soon as they landed, Daylight yelled excitedly, ¡°Master, we¡¯re here, let¡¯s begin with the training!¡±


    Wanyuan¡¯s head was covered in layers of sweat, but at least nothing like Little Grass or Yulie. They practically fell off the back and began to show their appreciation by kissing the ground.


    Nevertheless, Wanyuan did prefer to have his feet on the ground. He jumped off Flames¡¯ back with elegance, and as soon as he did a rude comment came behind him.


    ¡°Old Rock, what¡¯s your problem?! Bringing such a large monster to my Divine Medicine Valley to cause troubles. Are you trying to bully me because I don¡¯t have many people here?¡±


    Wanyuan turned to find a middle-aged man with a ruddy face and a wide hip. He looked exactly like a farmer with his crude clothings.


    There was a gathering sickle on his waist, and he had a large bamboo basket on his back: so large, it was the twice the size of anyone else¡¯s. There were a dozen or so young men and women behind him, and they were all looking at Flames with apprehension.


    ¡°God of Medicine! Old friend! How could I dare to bully you? Even if no one is here, all your strange medicine here would drive me crazy.¡±


    Wanyuan laughed loudly. He knew very well had he not been God of Medicine¡¯s good friend for many years, there probably be a few hundred types of drugs being thrown at them.


    Although the people of Divine Medicine Valley were passionate about medicines instead of Kung Fu, with the help of medicine, their Kung Fu was actually not any worse than any other factions in the Martial Arts world, not to mention they all carry dozens of drugs for defense. There weren¡¯t many people in the Martial Arts World who would want to trifle with them.


    God of Medicine walked in a full circle around Flames, and examined it carefully, then praised it,


    ¡°Such a beautiful big thing. It¡¯s so majestic and mighty, calling it a demon was actually belittling it.¡±


    He turned and looked at the only person who looked still composed ¡ª Daylight. He asked, ¡°Little guy, is this big guy yours?¡±


    Daylight nodded, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my Dragon. It¡¯s name is Flames.¡±


    ¡°Dragon, hmm?¡± God of Medicine habitually patted his bamboo basket, and looked like he was deep in thought, but he didn¡¯t seem to refute Daylight.


    God of Medicine asked Wanyuan with an objectionable tone, ¡°Old Rock, there¡¯s definitely a reason why you¡¯re here. Every time you¡¯ve been here at the Divine Medicine Valley, it has always been because of something troublesome. Spill it! Why are you here this time? Don¡¯t tell me you came here just to let me see what a Dragon looks like?¡±


    Wanyuan cut straight to the chase, he pointed at Daylight and said straightly, ¡°In three months, make his power comparable to Silver Moon¡¯s.¡±


    God of Medicine stared blankly, then asked back, ¡°The very same Silver Moon Assassin from Shalong Hall?¡±


    Wanyuan nodded, and God of Medicine practically screamed,


    ¡°Impossible! Silver Moon is a prodigy in Martial Arts unlike any I¡¯ve seen, and he has received special training. He¡¯s always living between life and death. Having that kind of power at his age, let alone seeing it, there hasn¡¯t anyone in the history of Martial Arts who would even come close.¡±


    Daylight felt deeply depressed upon hearing, not because he wasn¡¯t comparable to Liola, but instead worried that, in three months, if Liola dies because of his failure, Daylight would never forgive himself.


    Nevertheless, Daylight was not the type to stay depressed. Even if everyone told him he did not even have the slightest hope, he would still do it without ever turning back.


    Wanyuan glanced at his apprentice, and saw his frustration and despair dissipated in the blink of an eye, what replaced those negative emotions was surprisingly an even a more intense look of determination.


    Wanyuan was quite amazed, even if Daylight¡¯s innate talent didn¡¯t match Silver Moon¡¯s, his will was unmatched. Perhaps some day, he could be a match to Silver Moon? But due to the lack of time¡­ Wanyuan sighed, for his apprentice, he planned to put in everything he had.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I find a Millennia Ginseng and asked you to help me process it?¡±


    God of Medicine frowned, ¡°Millennia ginseng is mainly used to increase your longevity and return you to your youth. It¡¯s also the best medicine to treat wounds. Even if a person is hamstrung or have internal organ damages, it could be used to revive them. As for its effect on power, it has some, but it¡¯s nowhere near Millenia Snake Pill.¡±


    Wanyuan said freely, ¡°Okay! Then the Millennia Ginseng is yours. Do whatever you can to help my apprentice.¡±


    God of Medicine looked deeply surprised, ¡°Old Rock, didn¡¯t you spend over a hundred years to find Millenia Ginseng? You gave it to me a decade ago, and now it¡¯s almost done being processed, you are really willing to give it up?¡±


    When Daylight heard Wanyuan had spent so much effect on the ginseng, and was willing to give it up for a new apprentice; he felt tears in his eyes, and gratefulness in his heart.


    Daylight interrupted, ¡°Master, Daylight will train hard, no matter how harsh the training is. Please don¡¯t abandon your years of effort because of Daylight.¡±


    Hearing his apprentice say this, Wanyuan felt warm in his heart, but on the surface he solemnly denounced, ¡°Your master is talking, apprentices have no right to interrupt. Go stand on the side!¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Daylight anxiously tried to stop Wanyuan.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Wanyuan yelled even more loudly.


    Daylight was anxious, but at the same time he didn¡¯t want to disobey his master. In that moment, he was helplessly standing still.


    He looked at brother apprentice Little Grass, with anxiousness and pleading in his eyes. Little Grass didn¡¯t seem to understand, and tried to comfort him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master will definitely prepare you to defeat Silver Moon in three months.¡±


    Wanyuan nodded at God of Medicine, ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. Please help my apprentice.¡±


    God of Medicine looked at Wanyuan, then at Daylight, and began to laugh, ¡°Old Rock, Old Rock! No matter how rare your Millenia Ginseng is, I think I could probably make a substitute in a hundred or so years, but your strange apprentice isn¡¯t someone who comes by so easily. How about this?! You let your apprentice tell me his story, and if I¡¯m happy from listening the story, I will help you however I can!¡±


    Daylight heard him and was ecstatic. He said hurriedly, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you! I¡¯ll tell you anything, please don¡¯t take anything from my master.¡±


    God of Medicine looked at Daylight, and saw his face was filled with anxiousness and sincerity. He patted his bamboo basket and said, ¡°No wonder Old Rock likes you so much. Other than people in wicked factions, who wouldn¡¯t want an apprentice like you?¡±


    God of Medicine actually made Daylight laugh bitterly. Going by what he said, wouldn¡¯t Liola and Kaiser, who was on the evil side, hate him?


    God of Medicine hurried again and again, so Daylight began to tell his story. Although he hadn¡¯t been with Liola and Kaiser from the start, he had heard the story before.


    Since the people hearing the stories were all from this world, they were already surprised enough when Daylight said they were from another world. They kept asking him about the other world, and seemed to not be very interested in the actual story of the Assassin Silver Moon.


    Daylight had gotten thirsty from talking too much, and he had to often drag the topic back. He even had to explain magic, Knights, Maxuns, etc.


    While its master was busy telling a story, Flames was also having a headache because, every time Daylight mentioned Liola¡¯s name, Baolilong would start bawling on top of Flames¡¯ head, and it looked pitiful with its small body.


    Flames desperately tried to comfort Its Highness, saying things like ¡°You will see Liola in three months¡±, but Baolilong¡¯s cries got even more intense, ¡°Papa, won¡¯t come back, or you will get killed!¡±


    Flames was speechless. Despite having confidence in its master, the difficulty of the task at hand was incredibly high. It knew full well the power difference between its master and Baolilong¡¯s master was astronomical. It would be very difficult for them to close the gap in three years, let alone three months.


    Both the storyteller and the listeners had their attentions attracted by the sound of Baolilong¡¯s cries. Everyone examined Baolilong with a frown, and Yulie even wanted to go up and hug it to comfort the cute little guy, but she was afraid of getting anywhere close to Flames.


    Baolilong slid down from the Dragon¡¯s neck, and with its chubby legs, it ran up to Daylight. It asked desperately, ¡°Daylight will become very very strong, right?¡±


    Daylight nodded seriously.


    ¡°Daylight must beat papa~!¡± Having said this, Baolilong held out its little fist.


    ¡°I will defeat him!¡± Daylight promised seriously.


    Hearing Daylight¡¯s promise, Baolilong wiped away its tears, and yelled loudly, ¡°Baolilong will go find papa! Tell papa not to become stronger, or Daylight can¡¯t win against papa.¡±


    Daylight was shocked, and said hurriedly, ¡°You¡¯re going to go find Liola? You know where he is?¡±


    Baolilong tried to sense for a while, but it seemed to be uncertain as it pointed in a direction, ¡°Over there?¡±


    Seeing Baolilong¡¯s large eyes filled with doubt, Daylight laughed bitterly, ¡°I thought Dragons could usually pinpoint exactly where its master is? Or is it because Baolilong is too young?¡±


    ¡®Master! It¡¯s not because Its Highness is too young, but because there is someone interfering. This interference is quite strong, perhaps it¡¯s from the Leader.¡¯


    ¡®Is Gle interfering?¡¯ Daylight thought briefly, and it was definitely possible.


    If Gle wanted them to fight each other to death, they must not want them to look for Liola, right? And there¡¯s no way for Gle not to know Dragons could find their master, and thus he could be interfering.


    Daylight wanted to try explaining to Baolilong, but as soon as he turned around, Baolilong had already transformed and ready to take flight.


    Daylight yelled anxiously, ¡°Flames, stop it!¡±


    Flames immediately rushed up. Being older than Baolilong, its body and strength was slightly greater than Baolilong¡¯s, and it was how it stopped Baolilong so it wouldn¡¯t disappear into the air. Its flying ability was nowhere comparable to Baolilong, as it was the child of the Sacred White Dragon.


    Although uncertain where papa is, Baolilong didn¡¯t seem to care. It desperately struggled, hoping to quickly go find papa. This made it hard for Flames to hold him, despite being slightly stronger, but the difference wasn¡¯t much, especially since Baolilong was using all of its strength to struggle.


    Everyone looked with shock at these two giant Dragons entangled, and the ground felt like an earthshake. Those timid ones had already ran off, and the only one remained were just God of Medicine and Wanyuan, whom were both in awe.


    Daylight ran up and yelled, ¡°Baolilong, don¡¯t be like this. You can¡¯t possibly pinpoint Liola¡¯s position, and you can¡¯t see anyone in the air anyhow. No matter how far you fly, you may still not be able to find him.¡±


    Hearing Daylight, Baolilong stared blankly for a moment, then stopped struggling. But after thinking for a while, it used a Dragon roar with determination, ¡°Baolilong will walk!¡±


    Then, it actually stood up, and even carried Flames on its back.


    Seeing the spectacular scene of a Dragon carrying another Dragon, Daylight didn¡¯t know whether to smile or cry.


    He went up to stop it, ¡°No, if you go like this, as soon as you go, people will attack you.¡±


    Baolilong shook its body, and Flames fell from its back. Then it turned back into a small child, and said with determination, ¡°Baolilong will go find papa.¡±


    Seeing Baolilong was really about to walk away as a 5 year old child (while naked), Daylight wanted to go up and stop him.


    Baolilong pouted its face, and spit out a bolt of electricity as it yelled, ¡°You¡¯re not papa! You can¡¯t touch Baolilong.¡±


    Daylight had little time to react, and as he was about to be hit by the bolt, a figure jumped in front of him and yelled, ¡°Your Highness, please don¡¯t be mad. Master didn¡¯t do it intentionally.¡±


    Baolilong probably also knew Daylight was just worried about it. But as a Dragon Knight, Baolilong thought Daylight should know not to touch another¡¯s Dragon.


    Baolilong stood still though still pouting. A figure also walked to Baolilong, and took it up into its arms. Strangely, Baolilong didn¡¯t seem to resist at all.


    The figure slowly turned around. It looked like a young person of about fifteen or so of age, and it had an elegant face. Its golden eyes seem to suggest a sense of maturity a person of this age shouldn¡¯t have.


    One could call it a young man, but it had no characteristics a male should have, or one could call it a young woman, but its chest was flat, and it had no breasts either. It had a head full of long and dense red hair, reaching all the way to its knees, covering its naked body.


    ¡°Flames¡­¡± Daylight sighed in relief. Luckily Flames was there, otherwise, not being able to touch Baolilong, Daylight really didn¡¯t know how to stop it from leaving.


    Since Flames hadn¡¯t matured, and therefore had no gender, the people standing by didn¡¯t know where to put their eyes on its naked body. By this point, Yulie had already tilted her head with a blush.


    Daylight, on the other hand, carelessly walked over. He had already seen Flames in its human form, but Flames¡¯ capacity to maintain human form was a bit low, and therefore could only transform into a person for a short time. It was also difficult for Flames to maintain in this form, so it usually preferred not to.


    ¡°Master, since you will be training, how about I take Its Highness to find its master?¡± Flames suggested.


    Daylight seemed shocked, ¡°You can turn into a human for a long time now?¡±


    Flames nodded, then explained, ¡°With some effort, I could probably do it for five to six hours. When I¡¯m sure there¡¯s no humans nearby, I could take Its Highness as a Dragon, and if there are people, I will take my human form.¡±


    Daylight thought with a frown. Flames and Baolilong would indeed have nothing to do while he¡¯s training, so it would be better to let them to find Liola in the meantime. If they really do find him, Daylight could use his telepathy with Flames to talk to Liola for a plan.


    Besides, Daylight had faith in Flames. After all, Flames was older, and it was mature by nature, so it should be able to take good care of itself and Baolilong.


    Daylight then nodded, ¡°Okay, you take Baolilong to look for Liola. But if you don¡¯t find him, come back ten days before the duel at the latest.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    Flames nodded seriously, then turned around to leave. As a Dragon, it had nothing to pack. This world was filled with forests and grasslands, so food could be hunted on the way.


    ¡°Flames!¡± Baolilong yelled.


    Flames answered reflexively, ¡°Yes, Your Highness?¡±


    Baolilong looked with skeptical eyes, ¡°What about clothes? Papa said I can¡¯t go out without wearing clothes?¡±


    ¡°Did he?¡± Flames looked at its own naked body, and tilted its head, ¡°It should be fine? I don¡¯t have a gender yet.¡±


    Baolilong nodded somewhat understandingly. It didn¡¯t care, since Dragons never wore clothes. After deciding not to wear anything, the two ¡°people¡± happily resumed their journey to find papa.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Daylight tried to stop them, and he began to regret. Perhaps letting these two ¡°people¡± walk out like this wouldn¡¯t be a good idea¡­


    * * *


    ¡°A bit stronger, and faster with the fireballs.¡±


    Kaiser continued to sustain the headache resulting from overexerting his spiritual force. Every fireball he shot, he felt like someone was breaking his head open with an axe, but White Bombs continued shoot out from his gun one by one.


    Gle¡¯s cold voice beside him felt like it was coming from afar, almost to the point where he couldn¡¯t hear. The only thing in his mind now was, three months, three months¡­


    ¡®Liola was too strong!¡¯ This was something Kaiser had never thought he¡¯d hate so much. He even hoped Lancelot was here, so he could seal Liola again.


    Eventually, darkness fell before his eyes. But Kaiser used the edge of his gun and slammed his thighs, forcefully using the pain to drag his consciousness back. Another White Fireball shot out from the barrel of his gun.


    As Kaiser yelled loudly, a larger-than-before Fireball shot out into the sky. It then exploded like a giant firework in the sky, as if it was being juxtaposed with Kaiser¡¯s odd declaration,


    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s not your time to die!¡±


    * * *


    Daylight was naked, and soaked in a large, wooden barrel. The barrel was full of nauseating slime, and any ordinary person would want to vomit and get as far away from it as possible.


    Daylight, however, didn¡¯t seem to smell anything. He sat cross-legged in it, and exerted the Ki he just learnt around and around his body. Signals of exhaustion came from his body, and overexerting his Ki made him feel pain in every nerve in his body, but he continued to sit like a statue. There was no pain on his face, instead there was only unequalled determination.


    A middle-aged man sitting next to him looked out the window, then said, ¡°The effect of the medicine is gone. Go train outside. I¡¯ll tell you when the next barrel of medicine is done.¡±


    Daylight opened his eyes slowly, and nodded to the middle-aged man.


    Jumping out of the wooden barrel, Daylight grabbed his shirt and pants to put them on. He didn¡¯t seem to even notice the disgusting slime on him, and he didn¡¯t bother even washing his hand, because he didn¡¯t have the time.


    He stepped out of the medicine room, and quickly walked to the yard. Wanyuan was leisurely sitting on a bench. Without even looking at Daylight, he pointed his pipe at the four bags next to him, then resumed smoking leisurely.


    Daylight quickly tied those four bags to his four limbs, then ran up the hill without even looking back.


    Wanyuan looked as Daylight ran away. He tapped his pipe, then said to Little Grass next to him, ¡°After supper, you go find something even heavier.¡±


    Hearing this, Little Grass said with a long face, ¡°Master, those bags were already filled with iron. If you want something heavier, then we¡¯d have to buy gold.¡±


    ¡°Then buy gold.¡± Wanyuan tapped his pipe again.


    * * *


    ¡®Where could I find Anise?¡¯ Liola walked into the Bandit Mountains without any reason or logic. He believed, the place where he first arrived in this world was where he would find the answer he had been searching for.


    No matter how much area the Bandit Mountains spans, Liola walked through all of it step by step. His body was not tired, but his soul was more tired than the twenty years of training he had received from Gle.


    On one hand he desperately wanted to find Anise, on another he felt uneasy. This dilemma made his soul feel even more tortured.


    ¡°Promise me, you won¡¯t kill anymore, okay?¡±


    ¡®Anise, if you¡¯re the White Dragon, you have no reason to ask me not to kill, right? After all, didn¡¯t the White Dragon want me to kill the Dragon Emperor, right?¡¯


    ¡°I lied to you, the necklace can only allow one person leave¡­¡±


    ¡®Then, how did Yasha go with me? Anise, would you give me an explanation?¡¯


    Yandi quietly followed Liola and looked at his back, then into the sky. The intense sunlight had a color similar to Anise¡¯s cream hair. She began to talk towards the sun,


    ¡°Sister, please don¡¯t lie to him¡­¡±


    * * *


    The three people who arrived here together, went on three different journeys, all in pursuit of the same final result.

 Volume 8, 5: One Soul, Two Names

    Volume 8, Chapter 5: One Soul, Two Names


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    Liola walked through most of the Bandit Mountains with Yandi, but Anise was nowhere to be found. He couldn¡¯t resist holding the Dragon Cross Necklace tightly. Of course, the necklace was now with him instead of Yandi.


    ¡°Where are you?¡± Liola murmured. However, unexpectedly, the necklace did not emit any light, nor make any sound.


    Although Liola became more anxious, Yandi seemed to be unexpectedly patient, despite her normal hot temper. In fact, because of the rumor of Anise being alive, she patiently went everywhere Anise had been. Even though she didn¡¯t see Anise, she proved the rumors were not groundless with her own power.


    Being keen eyed, she suddenly saw something floating around on a tree from afar. She beckoned, ¡°Follow me.¡± And then she began to run without turning her head.


    She grabbed the small piece of cloth hanging on a tree branch. In Liola¡¯s eyes, there was nothing special about it, but Yandi examined it attentively, while she thought out loud,


    ¡°Green, embroidered, and the material is light. This should be a piece of cloth from a woman¡¯s clothing.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Liola tried to be patient and asked.


    ¡°Why would a woman be around here? Even if there was a woman among Bandits, she would never walk alone in these forests.¡±


    Yandi gestured around as she continued to explain, ¡°Look, the grass and trees are all undamaged, so obviously there weren¡¯t many who passed by. Perhaps it was a few, or maybe even one. A group of a few people including a woman is unlikely to be passing by here. Even I wouldn¡¯t dare to walk through here if it weren¡¯t for you being here.¡±


    ¡°Is it Anise?¡± Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sister has no habit of using fragrance, and her clothes weren¡¯t anything special. It¡¯s impossible to determine if it was her just from this cloth.¡±


    Yandi said honestly, then continued, ¡°Since we are basically wandering around aimlessly, we may as well follow this lead.¡±


    Liola nodded, and he lead Yandi in the direction where the cloth pointed. On the way, he cut off the branches, so Yandi could have a much easier time to walk through. She looked at the small path the Assassin created for her, and followed quietly, not sure how she felt about it.


    After walking for a short while, the Assassin suddenly stopped with a frown. Yandi opened her mouth and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Ahead of us, there¡¯s someone, just one person.¡±


    Yandi was shock. After exchanging glances with the Assassin, they ran forward as fast as they could.


    Liola grabbed Yandi¡¯s arm and ran with her. For some reason, he was now afraid of seeing Anise by himself, so even if it slowed him down, he still held onto Yandi.


    ¡°There¡¯s an empty space!¡± Yandi yelled, and Liola had already noticed it. They continued to run as fast as they could, but as soon as they stepped into the empty space, Liola¡¯s sensed the person had suddenly disappeared. The person¡­ was gone. Not moving away, just suddenly disappeared.


    Liola glanced around the place. He was certain he sensed someone here before, so how could it suddenly disappear?


    ¡°Just a plain, large rock¡­¡±


    Liola heard Yandi¡¯s sound of murmur, then turned around to look. An ordinary rock appeared in front of his eyes. With the trees and grass around it, this rock seemed rather out of the ordinary.


    Yandi walked slowly towards the rock, and suddenly noticed there were words carved into the rock. She read it out loud, ¡°Who you are and where you¡¯re from are not important, what¡¯s important is who you want to be, and where you want to go.¡±


    Every word Yandi uttered left a mark in Liola¡¯s mind.


    ¡®This couldn¡¯t possibly be a coincidence. Could these words be left behind by Anise? Why would she leave words behind, but be unwilling to appear before me?¡¯


    Liola walked towards the rock, and writing on the rock was identical to the letter Anise had left him. He could not help but stroke the writing lightly on the rock.


    ¡®Perhaps she hadn¡¯t gotten far!¡¯ Liola suddenly got up, and looked around, wondering which direction he should go to find her.


    ¡°You can stop looking.¡± Yandi said instead, ¡°I understand what sister means.¡±


    Liola was shocked. The silver eyes looked towards Yandi, waiting for her explanation.


    ¡°She won¡¯t appear, no matter where you look, unless¡­¡± Yandi crouched down and touched the writing, ¡°What you¡¯re looking for isn¡¯t Anise, but the answers to the questions in your heart.¡±


    Yandi raised her head, and looked sharply at Liola, ¡°Do you want to stay?¡±


    Liola stumbled, but could not bring himself to answer.


    ¡°Do you want to leave?¡± Yandi approached Liola, her shining eyes made Liola fluster.


    ¡°Do you want to be Silver Moon?¡± She had no plans of letting the Assassin off.


    Yandi gritted her teeth, and spit out the cruelest question, ¡°Or do you want to go back to be the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son? Kill your father, and replace him!¡±


    Liola took a deep breath, and said with a trembling voice, ¡°I can¡¯t kill.¡±


    ¡°What if sister asks you to kill?¡± Yandi¡¯s face was practically in front of Liola¡¯s eyes. Her hands were also holding the Assassin¡¯s shoulder to stop him from running.


    Liola turned his face, trying to avoid Yandi¡¯s eyes. He answered, ¡°If it¡¯s Anise¡¯s request, I will kill.¡± The Assassin didn¡¯t notice the shaking in his own voice.


    Yandi looked at him for a long time, and said slowly, ¡°Lies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Liola yelled back almost immediately, like a cat with its tail stepped on.


    ¡°What if your companions don¡¯t want you to kill, but Anise does?¡± Yandi asked again.


    Liola stared blankly. He had never thought about such a dilemma. He was hesitating, but he didn¡¯t know why he was hesitating.


    Anise was the most important, isn¡¯t it? But Kaiser, Daylight, Purity, and Meinan, they¡¯re important too. Which one was more important? The Assassin couldn¡¯t decide.


    Facing the uncertain Assassin, Yandi sighed, ¡°Silver Moon, do you still not understand? You¡¯ve met good companions and Anise. Anise doesn¡¯t want to interfere with your decision, and your companions wouldn¡¯t, either. On the contrary, they are all waiting for your decision. You must choose your own path.¡±


    ¡°My¡­ decision¡­¡± Liola panicked. Was he the one who had to decide? He had to decide by himself? No one would tell him what to do? Suggest to him, or even commanding him would be better.


    ¡°We can stop looking. When you have decided on an answer, everything will come to you.¡±


    Yandi quietly walked away, to give Liola some personal space. She decided to do something more realistic, such as, putting up two hammocks, starting a fire, cook some food, etc.


    ¡°Taking good care of Silver Moon is probably the best way I could repay you.¡± Yandi raised her head to look at the full moon. Its color resembled Anise¡¯s long hair.


    ¡°But, what exactly is he in your heart?¡±


    * * *


    Liola touched the writing on the rock, and repeated the words again and again, but the answer did not come to him, and instead make him fall even deeper into his perplexity.


    He didn¡¯t know how long this lasted when he felt a bit stiff in his body. He changed his posture, and sat on top of the rock, but he unknowingly lied down slowly. This was just like the first memory he had of this world. Luckily the rock was large enough that, if he curled slightly, he could lie on the rock with his face to the sky.


    The sky was already covered with his stars. Liola remembered the sun was still up just then. It wasn¡¯t until now that he realized he had already been thinking since when the sun was still up to when the sky was covered in stars. No¡­ perhaps even longer. When he first woke up at Skyward Overlook, he had probably began to think, and he was never brave enough to admit it.


    ¡°Which one do I feel more familiar, the smell of metal, or the smell of wood?¡±


    ¡°Magic, sword, Mechas, Dragons¡­ Dragons!¡±


    Liola suddenly stood up. Crap! He had completely forgotten about Baolilong. Where was it now? Hopefully not where the Leader was at?


    Liola felt anxious. No one knew the Leader¡¯s experiments better than him. He would never allow the possibility of Baolilong becoming the materials for experiment.


    ¡°And Kaiser, Kaiser¡­¡± Liola¡¯s face went pale.


    How could he be so crazy, leaving Kaiser and Baolilong with the Leader? If something happened to either of them, he would never be able to forgive himself.


    ¡°And Purity and Meinan, how exactly are they in the other world? Could the war have started?¡± Liola sat up with frustration, ¡°They probably wouldn¡¯t participate in the war, right? They¡¯re still too young¡­¡± Liola completely forgot that Meinan was actually older than him.


    ¡°Lanski and Jasmine, what kind of reactions did they have when they found out I¡¯m Silver Mask?¡± Liola felt worried.


    Wait¡­ if he really was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, then wouldn¡¯t it mean Lanski was his twin sister? For some reason, Liola knew instinctively, Lanski wouldn¡¯t be happy to know he¡¯s her brother.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± He heard Yandi¡¯s voice, and then she put a plate filled with food in Liola¡¯s hands.


    ¡°A lot of things.¡± Liola suddenly realized how many things he had to worry about.


    ¡°Things on which side?¡± Yandi asked casually, with her eyes looking at her own plate.


    ¡°The other side.¡± Liola held the steaming food, but had little appetite.


    ¡°Oh, thinking about those two girls? Lanski and Jasmine? It would¡¯ve been a dilemma, because they both sound decent, different personalities, but both are good. And they both liked you, but¡­ isn¡¯t one of them your twin sister? Then there¡¯s nothing much left to worry.¡± Yandi smiled somewhat ambiguously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean¡­¡± Liola stared blankly at Yandi.


    Yandi probably knew the Assassin¡¯s personality. For the two girls, she explained patiently, ¡°They both like you, do you understand?¡±


    ¡°I know, and I like them too. They¡¯re both good people.¡± Liola answered naturally.


    Yandi closely examined the Assassin, then shook her head, ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. Their ¡®like¡¯ isn¡¯t the ordinary like, not the kind of like Purity feels towards you.¡±


    Liola hesitated, ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    He really was an oblivious ice cube. Yandi felt a bit sorry for the two distant girls. But to someone who had just learnt what friendship was, to learn the more complex feeling of love, it would require time and someone¡¯s help!


    Yandi couldn¡¯t help but laugh, did she want to be the one to teach him? It would be interesting! She couldn¡¯t wait to see the Assassin¡¯s expressions.


    Yandi said simply, perhaps too straightforwardly, ¡°In simple terms, they want to marry you, and be your wife, understand?¡±


    ¡°M-marry? Wife?¡± Liola¡¯s mind was suddenly in chaos. What was worse was he knew full well what marry meant, and he also understood the meaning of ¡®wife¡¯, but he was clueless of the deeper meaning. He didn¡¯t understand why people married?


    ¡®How come he doesn¡¯t have much of reaction?¡¯ Yandi closely observed the Assassin¡¯s face, but all she saw was his blank face, and felt a bit disappointed.


    ¡°Why would they want to marry me? And why doesn¡¯t Purity want to marry me?¡± Liola suddenly asked with a flash across his eyes.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    ¡®What kind of question is this?¡¯ Yandi was rather dumbfounded. ¡®How exactly was Silver Moon raised?¡¯


    Yandi said with a stutter, ¡°B-because it¡¯s friendship between you and Purity, but the other two feel love towards you. Just like you, you feel differently towards Purity than the other two girls, right¡­?¡±


    The last question, Yandi was asking out of pity for the other two girls, she was trying to ascertain which of them Silver Mask actually felt love towards.


    This question was difficult for Liola.


    ¡®Is it different between Purity, Lanski, and Jasmine?¡¯


    He thought briefly, thinking that it was somewhat different: Purity knew him longer, and spent more time with him than the others; other than that¡­


    ¡°For example, which one of them makes you feel your heart beat?¡± Yandi tried to push the thought along.


    Liola glanced her back with strangeness, ¡°My heart always beats, if it didn¡¯t, wouldn¡¯t I be dead?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Are you an idiot?¡± Yandi snapped back, ¡°No wonder you didn¡¯t understand love for such a long time, because no one dare to explained it to you.¡±


    Liola was speechless.


    Yandi wasn¡¯t one to give up, she asked again, ¡°Is there someone who, whenever you don¡¯t see her, you¡¯d feel worried? Or if any tears of hers showed up, you would feel a pain in your heart? Or is there anyone who, no matter what she did, you would forgive her?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Liola answered honestly.


    Yandi¡¯s eyes shone and prompted him to continue, ¡°Who?¡±


    He answered honestly, ¡°Baolilong. Whenever I don¡¯t see it, I would be worried it might have gotten in trouble. Whenever it cries, I couldn¡¯t just ignore it, and no matter how much trouble Baolilong runs into, I couldn¡¯t really get mad.¡±


    Hearing this answer, Yandi buried her head into her hands, ¡°I give up, sorry, Lanski, Jasmine, I can¡¯t help you¡­¡±


    ¡°?¡± Liola looked at Yandi with confusion.


    Though Yandi¡¯s expression was full of ¡°You can¡¯t be saved¡±, Liola began to smile, and even began to eat the food out of the plate, as if he suddenly felt relaxed.


    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s with you?¡± Yandi didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided, I want to go back.¡±


    Yandi couldn¡¯t believe he had actually made his mind. She had to ask, ¡°Why did you suddenly decide?¡±


    Liola stopped eating, and explained, ¡°Everyone I thought of, everything I care about, are not in this world. I am here, but everything I worry about belongs in the other world.¡±


    ¡°But, while I was in the other world, other than Anise, I thought nothing of this world. I was never worried about whether I could come back, because I never wanted to come back.¡±


    Yandi heard his explanation, and said slowly, ¡°This is, after all, not your world. Go back, Silver Moon, no, you are no longer Silver Moon. When that boy mispronounced your name, you were born to a new name and new life, Liola¡­¡±


    ¡°No matter what happens when you come back, what you run into, or what the result is, even if it¡¯s death, I trust you will never regret it.¡±


    Liola answered with a troubled look, ¡°I don¡¯t fear death. I just fear being a burden to my companions.¡±


    ¡°Just stop!¡± Yandi glared at him, ¡°Men die for friendship! They are willing to die for you, and you are willing to die for them. That¡¯s friendship, or are you doubting your companions¡¯ friendship towards you?¡±


    Liola desperately shook his head. He didn¡¯t doubt it one bit, nor had he ever doubted it. Those people¡­ for him, how many rank-X people had they faced? For him, how many dangerous places did they brave? For him, they even tried their best to adapt to a new world.


    For some reason, Liola¡¯s eyes teared up. He was obviously not sad. Contrarily, he should be very happy, but tears kept coming¡­


    ¡°All right! Let¡¯s not worry about sister Anise for now. When it¡¯s time, she will appear. You are worried about your companions being at the Leader¡¯s place, right?¡±


    Yandi patted Liola¡¯s shoulder, as if she didn¡¯t see Liola¡¯s teary eyes. She turned away and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep. We still have a long journey back tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Long Yandi.¡± Liola suddenly called her name.


    Yandi stopped, but didn¡¯t turn around. She knew this wasn¡¯t the right time to turn around. She quietly listened to Liola.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Yandi did not answer. She climbed up into her hammock, then drift off to sleep with a smile on her face.


    * * *


    When Yandi was asleep, Liola was still lying down on the rock. After all, sleeping on a rock or a hammock made little difference to him. He really wanted to lie here, though he had no idea why.


    ¡°Liola¡­¡±


    Liola suddenly sat up, and looked in the direction of the sound. Within the forest, under the faint moonlight, with cream white hair, a person with kind yet playful smile, dressed in simple clothing, was waving to him with a hand full of wounds and calluses¡­


    Liola was breathless, ¡°Anise.¡±


    Anise was smiling lightly, with her index finger gesturing on her mouth, she waved her hand to beckon him to come.


    Liola, however, turned and looked at Yandi, wanting to wake her up. He knew Yandi had always been looking for Anise.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    Liola suddenly turned to look at Anise, and saw her shaking her head with a painful expression on her face. Her eyes were looking at Yandi with sympathy, but at the same time, an unspeakable refrain.


    Seeing Anise¡¯s expressions, Liola did not wake up Yandi, but when he passed the bonfire, he used his Ki to pulverize most of the wood there.


    ¡®It¡¯s so cold in the mountains, without the fire, she will hopefully wake up¡­ Yandi, please wake up¡­¡¯


    Without any more hesitation, Liola walked towards Anise, and she also turned to leave. She maintained a few steps away from Liola.


    After a while of walking, she finally jumped up to a tree branch high above like a fairy, then elegantly sat on top of it, while Liola was standing quietly below.


    Anise stared at him, her eyes filled with caring and love. It was impossible for Liola to ask things like, ¡°Are you using me?¡± Nobody would believe someone looking at him with such care would be using him.


    Instead, Anise opened her mouth first, ¡°I¡¯m Bairui, and also Anise.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand.¡± Liola was slightly bitter, because Anise wasn¡¯t just Anise.


    ¡°This is a story that, no matter if you want to listen to or not, I have to tell you, but please believe me when I tell you I don¡¯t want to harm you. Please listen to the very end, okay?¡±


    Liola nodded. In the past, he might not be able to agree, but now, he didn¡¯t seem to care anymore, because he had other things to care about ¡ª his companions.


    ¡°Bairui was the Princess of the Sacred White Dragon, the current Dragon Emperor¡¯s Dragon, and also Black Dragon Miluo¡¯s wife, your Dragon¡¯s mother.¡±


    ¡°Where should I begin with the story?¡±


    ¡°Right, did you know? Back in that world of ours, there was only one continent to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Once upon a time, the first Zhuogen commanded the largest army of Knights in history and marched across the continent. The dozens of countries there had been trampled over, leaving only three of them struggling to defend themselves. The three of them, with their magic powers, could not defend against the impending army of Knights. The three of them would rather see their homes burn than to let their lands be conquered, they formed a short alliance. Hundreds of thousands of Magicians united to activated the strongest magic they knew, and forcefully broke the continent into three.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many people died or got injured back then. The continents continued to move. Although the Zhuogens did not die, they had no choice but stay in the continent where their Palaces were. The Knights, being unfamiliar with magic, could do nothing about the terrifying atmospheric changes or the movement of the continents, and they scrambled for their own survival as they saw the other two lands drift away. When the world had calmed down countless number of years later, the previously young and powerful Zhuogen, who even signed blood contracts with the Dragons and shared their longevity, had aged and died.¡±


    ¡°But he never gave up his dream to conquer the entire world. I don¡¯t know how, but he managed to retain his ambition, into his own descendent, into the heart of the next Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°That was when it started. The Prince who succeeded the Dragon Emperor must have, at the day of his coronation, which was also the day the previous Dragon Emperor died, ate the heart from the corpse of his father, to maintain the same ambition to conquer the world.¡±


    Anise saw that Liola looked somewhat terrified, she smiled, ¡°It¡¯s very ridiculous, right? What¡¯s even more ridiculous, I was told all these by my master, the current Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°At the time, he was still a Prince, a Prince whose heart was warm, and anyone who saw him would say he was far too gentle to be an Emperor, but I still adored him. He was the only Prince who would play flute in the Royal Garden, only to fall asleep there. I had often hid in the bushes, listening to him play.


    ¡°I had listen for years before the slowpoke noticed me. It was then when we played together, and I had often carried him to different places, and even away from the Dragon Continent. It was when I ran into Miluo on the Yaron Plains. You probably would never believe me when I say Caffey was the one who played matchmaker between Miluo and I. Ah¡­ Caffey was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s name, but after he became the Dragon Emperor, he stopped having a name.¡±


    Getting to this point, Anise suddenly began to laugh, to the point where tears appeared in the corner of her eyes, ¡°Did you know? Because he was called Caffey, Miluo and I both called him Coffee. That was when he swore he will name his children with different names of coffee.¡±


    Liola looked at Anise, and for some reason, Anise¡¯s smile was making him feel sad, as if the happy events of the past had, due to the changes in people, had turned to nothing but a cruel memory.


    ¡°I chose him!¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor at the time was not faithful, and had multiple wives. He had, in total, five Princes and seven Princesses. ¡®I chose him¡¯, practically no one understood, and even the dying Dragon Emperor was furious. He hated Caffey¡¯s gentleness and overly kind nature.¡±


    ¡°But no one could interfere with his choice, and Caffey indeed end up on the throne. The day of his coronation¡­ or I should say, that night, Caffey was extremely scared. I did not understand what he was afraid of. To become the Dragon Emperor, one must obtain the approval of a Sacred White Dragon, so it was impossible for his siblings to assassinate him or overthrow the throne. Rather, one would only have to worry about it prior to getting the approval of the Sacred White Dragon.¡±


    ¡°That was when Caffey told me and Miluo about the history, and what he was forced to do on his coronation ceremony¡­.¡±


    ¡°He told me, he was scared, fearing he might really change, and become as cruel and ruthless as his father.


    ¡°I desperately tried to comfort him, and Miluo even joked, that someone as gentle as him, even if he were to become cruel, he would probably just go around bullying little animals.¡±


    ¡°Caffey laughed. None of us could believe something that happened so long ago could possibly affect the present. Later on, Caffey didn¡¯t change, and we were all relieved, so much so that we completely forgot everything about his coronation ceremony.¡±


    ¡°He changed, didn¡¯t he?¡± Liola had guessed what probably happened.


    ¡°Yes, he changed.¡± Anise said with a dim voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know if he changed slowly,so we never noticed, or if he changed suddenly but hid it well.¡±


    ¡°When Gle appeared, Miluo and I actually both had doubts. But compared to the strange Gle, we willingly closed our eyes and ears, and blindly trusted the Caffey we had known for years.¡±


    ¡°But he really did change.¡± Anise¡¯s eyes could no longer hold back the tears, ¡°He really wasn¡¯t Caffey anymore, just the Dragon Emperor. Miluo knew this well, and he chose to leave the Dragon Emperor. Miluo didn¡¯t trust him, but I couldn¡¯t leave, not only because he was my master, but also¡­ how could I leave him?¡±


    ¡°It was me who chose him, it was me who caused him to eat his father¡¯s heart, and the person who caused him to turn into what he is was all me.¡±


    Seeing Anise crying, Liola had no idea what to do. He could only stand beneath the tree, and stared at her blankly while accompanying her.


    With tears rolling down her face, Anise settled her eyes back on Liola,


    ¡°Sorry, Liola¡­ The truth is, only half of Mocha¡¯s prophecy was leaked. If it was just ¡®Susanna¡¯s son would kill the Dragon Emperor¡¯, then perhaps I wouldn¡¯t have saved you. Although Caffey had changed, I did not want him dead, nor would I save a child who would kill his father.¡±


    ¡°But the true prophecy was, you will kill the Dragon Emperor, but you will not succeed him. Instead, you would end the ambition passed down through generations in the Dragon Empire, and this was also the reason why the Dragon Emperor must kill you.¡±


    Liola was speechless for a while, but there was something he must confirm, ¡°I¡­ really am the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son?¡±


    Anise firmly nodded, ¡°Yes, you are the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, Lanski¡¯s twin brother, and the youngest Prince of the Dragon Empire.¡±


    Although many had already said so, Liola still had his doubts, he was even in denial, ¡°But, Anise, you¡­¡±


    ¡°I am but an illusion, Liola.¡± Anise¡¯s voice sounded close and far at the same time.


    ¡°When Susanna gave you to me, I knew if I continued to stay in that world, I couldn¡¯t possibly protect you. To the Dragon Empire and the entire race of Dragons, the Emperor will always be more important than the Prince. If the Emperor requests, I will be forced to hand you over.¡±


    Anise said slowly, ¡°I took you to an alien world using the magic circle Gle had left behind.¡±


    ¡°After all, I¡¯m not Gle. When I activated the magic circle to force my way through dimensions, my flesh had been destroyed, so I could only send my soul into the Dragon Cross Necklace.


    ¡°Even if you drifted into an alien world, you must still one day go back to end the Dragon Empire¡¯s ambition. In order for you not to be killed the moment you go back, I began my plan twenty years ago. I put my consciousness in a girl, and at the same time changed the girl¡¯s appearance to look like to your elder sister¡¯s. Don¡¯t under estimate me, to the Sacred White Dragons, predicting a baby¡¯s future appearance is an easy task.¡±


    ¡°To help fool the Dragon Emperor, I even sealed my own memory, leaving behind only a bit of arrangements and indications so I could send myself to you properly in twenty years.¡±


    ¡°When you went back to your original world, the Dragon Emperor used the necklace as a vessel to examine your memory. He had initially believed the existence of Anise, and he wasn¡¯t suspicious of anything until you released Miluo.¡±


    Anise stopped, and did not breath another word. She quietly looked at Liola, as if she was waiting for him to ask something, and she knew he must have questions.


    ¡°So¡­ everything was fake.¡± Liola said bitterly. Although he knew it probably was something like this, hearing Anise say it herself was still shocking to him.


    Anise suddenly laughed playfully, ¡°The Anise who met with the top Assassin didn¡¯t know anything at all~. She wasn¡¯t the Sacred White Dragon Bairui, nor did she remember you were a baby she held in her arms. It wasn¡¯t until Anise had ¡®died¡¯, did Bairui live again.¡±


    Liola raised his head to look at Anise. Though her expression was playful, her eyes still carried sadness.


    She was no longer the Anise who was carefree and only cared about saving people. At that moment, Liola truly understood. Anise was really dead. The person in front of him was no longer Anise, but rather Baolilong¡¯s mother, Bairui.


    ¡°Anise¡­ is dead.¡± Liola finally accepted the truth now.


    ¡°Yes, Anise is dead.¡± Bairui nodded, while saying helplessly, ¡°Bairui is about to die, too. In fact, Bairui had already died twenty years ago.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Liola was very shocked. He didn¡¯t think Anise¡­ no, Bairui would say something like that.


    ¡°My broken soul had stayed for twenty years, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s nothing else I could do.¡±


    Bairui smiled lightly, ¡°Gle made an interesting gamble, go look for him. Remember! Next month when the moon is full, take the Dragon Cross Necklace to Duanchang Cliff. I will activate the final dimensional door and send all of you back, I will also get Gle¡¯s daughter back, this was my agreement with him.¡±


    ¡°Also, please save Miluo. His personality is too rash, and he actually ran to Caffey by himself. He is probably now completely controlled by the Emperor. Lancelot is different, however, he¡¯s also under a hypnosis¡­ Liola, remember, do not trust anyone who gets burnt by the Dragon Cross Necklace. No matter willingly or unwillingly, getting burnt by the necklace means they¡¯re already under the control of the Dragon Emperor¡­¡±


    After she talking, Bairui fell off the tree branch.


    Liola wanted to go up to catch her, but someone beat him to it, Yandi quickly caught her, and quietly looked at Bairui.


    Bairui seemed to have a genuine smile, ¡°Little Dee, have you found a good husband? You have to have a dozen little cute babies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a pig, a dozen is too much. I just want two, a boy and a girl¡­¡± Yandi complained, as if she couldn¡¯t see Bairui¡¯s closing eyes or purple lips.


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll call the boy Miluo, and the girl Bairui.¡± Two drops of tears dripped onto Bairui¡¯s face.


    Bairui closed her eyes completely, spitting out her final, broken words, ¡°Miluo¡­ Caffey¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll have one more boy named Caffey¡­¡± Yandi lowered her head, and her voice began to crack. More and more tear drops fell on Bairui¡¯s face, but she could no longer feel any of them.


    The moon shone high above in the air. Strangely, a drizzle of rain fell despite the full moon. Perhaps it was the Assassin¡¯s tears, or the Heroine¡¯s tears, or perhaps it was both, intertwined¡­

 Volume 8, 6: Framing

    Volume 8, Chapter 6: Framing


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    Kaiser slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the wooden ceiling, and immediately felt his muscles aching. Strangely enough, it was normal to have a headache from overexerting his spiritual force, so why were his muscles aching instead?


    Kaiser sat up lazily and examine his surroundings, and finally found the reason.


    Kaiser stretched his body as he complained, ¡°Such an unkind bastard, he threw me on the ground to sleep overnight. At least I didn¡¯t catch a cold.¡±


    ¡°Unkind bastard? Hmmph!¡±


    Gle sat down on the fauteuil, and said with raised brows, ¡°In the past, I threw a severely injured Li into the wild and made him crawl back. I¡¯m already treating you well since you¡¯re here lying on the ground. If you weren¡¯t my descendant, you wouldn¡¯t have received such treatment.¡±


    ¡°It must be a miracle for Liola to still be alive.¡± Kaiser finally understood.


    ¡°Hahaha, I feel the same way.¡± Gle smiled maliciously.


    ¡°Hey! I heard you¡¯re familiar with the Dragon Emperor¡¯s wife Susanna?¡± Kaiser suddenly asked with interest, ¡°Then how did you not recognize Liola? I heard he looks exactly like his mother?¡±


    As soon as Gle heard Kaiser¡¯s question, his malicious smile disappeared completely, and glared coldly at Kaiser.


    Kaiser didn¡¯t seem to have sensed the danger he was facing, and kept talking, ¡°Oh, oh, oh. Maybe you already recognized Liola a long time ago, but because of your deceased friend¡­ Wait, you couldn¡¯t have possibly known Susanna was dead. So because of your old friend, you raised him and trained him well.¡±


    Gle extended his arm and grabbed Kaiser tightly by his neck.


    Kaiser finally realized his life was in danger. He first closed his mouth, but then opened them and said with a pitiful voice, ¡°My grandmother was so lonely because you left her there, and because she was your daughter, everybody tried to kill her. She had to change her identity. If she knew her own grandchild was strangled by her own father, she would never rest in peace.¡±


    Although Gle knew Kaiser was talking nonsense, he remembered his eldest daughter, and he gradually released his hand.


    He grunted and threatened Kaiser, ¡°Stop with your nonsense. How could I have possibly recognized Susanna¡¯s son? Even if he was Susanna¡¯s son, he would also be that bastard Dragon Emperor¡¯s son. I would have still killed him in an instant.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. You would have killed him in an instant.¡± Kaiser smiled flatteringly.


    Gle grunted again, then he remembered why he was here.


    He said to Kaiser, ¡°Right. What¡¯s-his-face¡¯s training is almost done, and I¡¯ve restored Xin-something¡¯s memory, too. Whatever happens next isn¡¯t my responsibility. They can have their death-match for all I care.¡±


    Although Gle seem to be somewhat ambiguous, Kaiser had a rough understanding of what he was thinking. ¡°Lin Jiyun is already done with his training? So soon? This can¡¯t be, unless he¡¯s also a prodigy?¡±


    Gle laughed coldly, terrifying Kaiser in the process.


    Kaiser thought there was no good in him staying in this place, so he said ¡°I¡¯ll go look.¡± and then ran off.


    * * *


    ¡°Lin Jiyun!¡±


    Kaiser saw Lin Jiyun and Void from afar, training with sweat running from their back, such as sparring, squats, long distance running. Although their training looked difficult, it was no different than no other ordinary training. Kaiser found it strange. From what he knew, Liola¡¯s training wasn¡¯t anything like this.


    Gle always complained about the time when he threw the ten year-old Liola into the a wolf¡¯s den, with a few dozen wolves.


    ¡°In the end, he only managed to kill all the wolves except the Alpha Wolf. Liola was so exhausted, that when he was fought the Alpha Wolf, both of them fell to the ground. What an idiot!¡±


    Kaiser exclaimed, ¡°He could already stir up a wolf¡¯s den at the age of ten? He must have slashed them so much that his knife must have gotten dull.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it didn¡¯t get dull, because I didn¡¯t give him one.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    In addition, when Liola was twelve years old, he was teleported to one thousand kilometers away to perform some task, but he took a whole month before he was able to get back to the organization. ¡°Is he directionally challenged?¡±


    Kaiser asked, ¡°Did you give him a map?¡±


    ¡°My ass! I don¡¯t use maps, so where would I get one to give to him?¡±


    Kaiser asked again, ¡°Did he ask for directions?¡±


    Gle replied, ¡°Who would he ask? No one knew where Shalong Hall¡¯s training spot is, except people from the organization.¡±


    Both of them quieted. So how did Liola get back to the organization?


    In another scenario, Gle thought Liola didn¡¯t exercise his Ki enough, so he personally monitored him, forcing him to continuously use his Ki.


    Kaiser asked, ¡°So how many times did he exercise his Ki?¡±


    Gle responded, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I fell asleep. When I woke up, that guy was always spitting blood, and his life was in always danger. He had already forgotten how many times he had exercised his Ki.¡±


    For the past two months, hearing Gle¡¯s many complaints, Kaiser had finally realized Liola was as resilient as a cockroach, and anyone whom Gle called an idiot was actually a real prodigy.


    For everyone else less than a prodigy, Gle would often not even remember their name. For example, Lin Jiyun and Void had been around Gle for the past two months, but his names for them were still ¡®what¡¯s-his-face¡¯ and ¡®Vo-something¡¯. Judging from this, Void¡¯s talent was above Lin Jiyun¡¯s. At least Gle remembered a part of his name.


    Seeing Kaiser walking towards them, Lin Jiyun and Void stopped training and met him halfway. However, Kaiser didn¡¯t seem to acknowledge them, he was deep in thought. Sometimes, a bitter smile would appear on his face, but sometimes he would just shake his head. Lin Jiyun and Void looked at each other, not knowing what they should do.


    Finally, Kaiser sighed, ¡°That guy Liola staying alive must be the biggest miracle in history.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Void and Lin Jiyun were both stupefied.


    ¡°Nothing, right, the Leader told me he had already restored Xin Jietian¡¯s memory and returned everything to normal. Lin Jiyun, you better think of a plan to destroy Xin Jietian within a month. You must make him suffer so much that he would rather die, otherwise it would happen to you instead.¡± Kaiser warned.


    ¡°One month? Why are we in such a hurry?¡± Lin Jiyun was very surprised. He only had one month to push an Martial Arts Alliance Leader off his throne?


    ¡°Because in one month, Gle wants to watch the duel between me, Daylight, and Liola. My training is almost complete, so the rest is up to me. Also, the Leader will not have me as entertainment, so if you bore in the next month, you might die a horrible death.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s explained in strange terms, and he believed he knew Gle quite well. In fact, Gle was practically watching the whole issue between Lin Jiyun and Xin Jietian as if it was some sort of entertainment program.


    Lin Jiyun¡¯s face was terrified. No matter how many ridiculous things come out of Kaiser¡¯s mouth, for some reason, Lin Jiyun believed every word of it, as if that was exactly what the Leader thought.


    ¡°Then what should I do?¡± Lin Jiyun panicked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already come up a script for you!¡± Kaiser said as if he were an expert, ¡°But Void must cooperate with me, okay?¡±


    Seeing Lin Jiyun¡¯s pleading eyes, Void nodded, ¡°No problem, I will cooperate.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! Take this.¡± Kaiser¡¯s hand reached behind him, then took out a fairly large bamboo basket filled to the brink with eggs of sorts.


    These eggs weren¡¯t ordinary eggs, and Lin Jiyun was fully aware of this fact, since he had bought one from Gle. There were all sorts of strange circles drawn on it, and as soon as a drop of blood is dripped on them, they could summon all sorts of bizarre monsters.


    ¡°At a glance, Xin Jietian¡¯s power seems to far surpass you two¡­¡± Kaiser smiled ambiguously.


    ¡°What about in reality?¡± Void asked with interest.


    ¡°In reality, his power really is much higher!¡±


    Void slipped, but then asked hurriedly, ¡°Then what should we do?¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! So what if he¡¯s strong? Who could possibly be stronger than Gle 1-on-1? But he was still forced to an alien world by Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Kaiser put his hands on waist, and yelled loudly, ¡°Being despicable is what really matters in the world!¡±


    ¡°Despicable?¡± Lin Jiyun and Void looked at Kaiser, who was speaking as if he was telling the one and only truth.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Since he already framed someone, why do you have to beat him righteously? In terms of being despicable and framing, who¡¯s better than me, Kaiser? Let me tell you, no matter how many hundreds or even thousands of powerful subordinates he has, when he mess with me, Kaiser, they are all useless!¡±


    Lin Jiyun was emotional, and yelled loudly, ¡°Senior, please guide me!¡±


    Kaiser laughed sinisterly, then gestured at Lin Jiyun and Void with his hand to make them come up for a whisper.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­ this a bit too despicable?¡± Lin Jiyun suddenly took a few steps back, and yelled in shock.


    Void¡¯s face was also hard to look at, ¡°That¡¯s practically shameless¡­¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want the Leader to tear you into pieces, keep listening.¡± Kaiser glared at them both, and dragged their ears back while he kept murmuring things into their ears.


    * * *


    In the following month, the whole Martial Arts World was in turmoil. At first, Xin Jietian hosted the Symposium, but when the winner, Void from the Skyward Overlook, was going up to get the sword as a reward, Xin Jietian suddenly went back on his word, and did not give the sword to Void


    (Kaiser: ¡°Duh! I secretly put Xin Jietian¡¯s most treasured sword as the reward, of course he wouldn¡¯t be willing to hand it away.¡±)


    Void left in anger, and spread the words to gather Taoists around the world so he could right this injustice. He also declared to the world, despite Xin Jietian not being true to his world, hunting demons was a Taoist¡¯s responsibility, and because of it, Void would give all he had to fulfill his responsibility, even if it took his life.


    The Martial Arts world had all accused Xin Jietian of his wrongdoings, and at the same time praised Void for his thoughtfulness for the world.


    During this chaos, rumors had it that Shalong Hall¡¯s Assassins had been seen entering and exiting where Xin Jietian lived, and a servant had been killed by Xin Jietian (the servant killed was a special paper human donated by Master Lee), because this servant found something, and another servant hiding outside the window had saw it: it was a Pentacle Token, and everyone knew it was the token from Shalong Hall.


    (Kaiser: ¡°I risked my life and stole one from the Leader!¡± Void murmured, ¡°Really? How come I saw you pick one up from a corner?¡±)


    The alliance of Taoists led by Void went every which way to catch the demons, and to find the source of them. They finally found eggs with strange painting on them, and they found out they could be used to summon demons when they touch blood.


    At this time, the few servants who ran out of Xin Jietian¡¯s home revealed they had seen those eggs in his house, a full basket of them!


    ¡°We ran away as far as we could. No matter how much the pay is, we still have to be alive to spend it, right?¡± A green-haired adolescent said to Void while in shock. Of course, he said so in front of many Taoists and many Martial Artists who joined voluntarily.


    When Void requests to search Xin Jietian¡¯s home, Xin Jietian was infuriated. He desperately denied any servants of his running away and the possibility he had those strange eggs in his house. But finally, due to the pressure from the entire Martial Arts World, he had no choice but allow Void and others enter to search.


    The search yielded no results initially, but when Void and others were leaving with disappointment, Xin Jietian¡¯s house roof was suddenly breached by a ton of monsters. It was obvious the demons came out of the house. After a brief chaos, Void led them to finally eliminate them.


    (Void sacrificed a dozen drops of his blood, and secretly left them in the house.)


    Now, even Xin Jietian was completely speechless.


    To add insult to injury, the exiled, wanted criminal Lin Jiyun came back. His body was stricken with wounds, and he wore a white cloth on his forehead, with ¡°Xin Jietian, return my family¡¯s lives to me!¡± written on it in blood.


    He knelt in front of Xin Jietian¡¯s door everyday, and always with a white cloth on his body, which also had Xin Jietian¡¯s entire plan to kill the previous Alliance Leader and to frame his entire family written on it in blood.


    At first, some people rushed out, tore up Lin Jiyun¡¯s blood notes, and beat him senselessly. Lin Jiyun would yell into the sky and shout the heavens were being blind. It was then when snow flurries suddenly began to fall from the otherwise clear sky. (A new wide-area attack spell Kaiser had recently learnt; Blizzard, a weaker version of it).


    Everyone were already skeptical of what Xin Jietian had said before, and now seeing this, eight out of ten believed what Lin Jiyun said. Furthermore, many of them believed the source of the demons were actually Xin Jietian.


    [T/N: In Chinese believes, snow in the month of June or July, or in clear skies, often indicated some great wrongdoing had been committed, so the fact that he cursed the heavens and it began to snow would often convey some truth to his story to the populace.]


    Finally, the Martial Arts World could no longer accept this ridiculous Alliance Leader. Many of them allied together, preparing to overthrow him. Xin Jietian felt like he was in a dead end, so he hid inside his own home.


    ¡°Why? Why would it turn to this?¡± Xin Jietian said with bloodshot eyes. Both the ground and the table was covered in alcohol bottles.


    A figure slowly materialized in front of him, and he said lazily, ¡°When you frame others, you should have thought of the possibility of being framed.¡±


    Xin Jietian suddenly jumped up, unsheathed his sword, and screamed crazily,


    ¡°Who? Who are you? Why are you framing me?¡±


    When Xin Jietian ran towards the figure, it suddenly disappeared. Without seeing anyone, Xin Jietian heard a pitiful cry, ¡°Brother Xin, the Alliance Leader treated you well, so why would you kill him?¡±


    ¡°Who? Who are you? Is it Lin Jiyun? You bastard, come out, stop with your nonsense!¡± Xin Jietian swung his sword around, cutting his own furnitures into pieces.


    ¡°Brother Xin, we were like brothers, but you actually cut me into pieces. My family didn¡¯t even have a whole body for a burial.¡±


    Remembering killing Lin Jizhi, Xin Jietian suddenly felt guilty, and his voice trembled, ¡°Who? Stop it, and come out!¡±


    A person surely appeared. A figure covered in blood appeared in front of Xin Jietian, but it looked somewhat blurred. Xin Jietian, with the last of his courage and his doubt of ghosts, swung the sword towards it.


    The sword cut straight through the figure, as if it was swung through nothing but air. Obviously there was nothing there¡­


    ¡°AHHH¡­ ghost!¡±


    Xin Jietian screamed loudly as he saw the ghost charge towards to him. Finally, he fell onto the ground. His eyes were blank, and his mouth was drooling. It looked like he had gone crazy.


    The ghost figure disappeared, and three people walked into the room.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this guy would end like this.¡± Void sighed.


    ¡°Father¡­ Jiyun finally avenged you!¡± Tears rolled down Lin Jiyun¡¯s face, and he was wearing the same bloodied clothes like the ghost.


    ¡°Ghost¡­ was just a simple mirage.¡±


    A few large mirrors were floating behind Kaiser. Since Xin Jietian had gone insane, the mirrors were no longer required. Kaiser let those mirrors fall to the ground, as if he was trying to use the sound of broken mirrors to celebrate the beginning of a new era.

 Volume 8, 7: The Common Result

    Volume 8, Chapter 7: The Common Result


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Cindy, and StellarAshes.


    Liola and Yandi cremated Anise¡¯s remains, or maybe it was Bairui¡¯s body. Yandi generously gave the ashes to Liola, and cautioned him, ¡°You have to bring sister back to her husband.¡±


    Liola nodded, and tightly held the urn in his hand. Though Miluo was under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, even it was for Anise, for Baolilong, or even for the fact that Miluo had once let him go, Liola felt he had an obligation to save Miluo.


    This was when Liola finally said goodbye to Yandi, not wanting her to follow him back to the Leader, especially with his unpredictable mood. If he were to go crazy and start killing people, Liola knew he would barely be able to save himself, let alone Yandi, and she also knew of this fact. If the Leader was really set on killing Liola, then her presence would end up being a burden rather than help, so it was better off if she didn¡¯t go.


    ¡°On the next full moon, I will go to Duanchang Cliff.¡± Yandi threw these few words, then parted from Liola.


    Liola stared at Yandi¡¯s back until he had lost sight of her. He then turned and walked back the way he came from, anxious to go back to his companions. Liola thought briefly, then decided to summon Baolilong because the road was far too long, and he was very worried about Kaiser and Baolilong.


    ¡®Baolilong? Baolilong?¡¯


    Liola called again and again, but not getting even a single response, it made Liola even more anxious, and he sped up his pace even more. For each call unanswered, his footsteps went a bit faster, and the whole day went by like this. Even for Liola, keeping up at full speed along with using telepathy gave him a terrible migraine, and he was forced to rest at a small inn. He ate a bit of food, meditated for a couple of hours, then continued on his way.


    While walking on a crowded street, Liola was blocked by onlookers. When he was about to impatiently circle around the crowd, a familiar yell rang out.


    ¡°Baolilong will bite you to death~!¡±


    It was accompanied by the laughter of the onlookers, and Liola charged and pushed everyone in front of him and yelled, ¡°Baolilong!¡±


    The scene Liola saw was rather strange to him, and no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. Baolilong was lying on its stomach on a person¡¯s back. The person was not Kaiser, but instead a red-haired beautiful girl, and this girl was surrounded by a dozen brutes.


    When the two heard Liola¡¯s scream, they turned their heads, revealing happy expressions. The girl pushed the brutes back and ran towards Liola, but this made the brutes very unhappy, and the dozen of them rushed up, blocking the girl from Liola.


    Now both Baolilong and the girl were angry. She pulled back her lip to reveal her sharp canine teeth, looking like a beast threatening the brutes menacingly.


    A guess flashed across Liola¡¯s mind, and he yelled, ¡°Flames, ignore them, come here.¡±


    Hearing what Liola had said, the girl returned to normal, and replied respectfully, ¡°Yes, Master of Its Highness.¡±


    She indeed rushed towards Liola and pushed away the obstructing brutes so hard that they went flying. The onlookers looked at her in surprise, wondering where her strength came from while guessing the silver-eyed man¡¯s identity along with his relationship to the girl, and so on.


    The silver-eyed man touched the girl¡¯s face while everyone was looking, and spoke in a language they could not understand. Seeing them act intimately, the onlookers whispered with flushed faces,


    ¡°They must be husband and wife?¡±


    ¡°Of course, didn¡¯t you see how cute of a child they have together?¡±


    Liola curiously touched Flames¡¯ face and wondered, ¡°So Flames is a girl.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve yet to have a gender.¡± Flames took a step back. Though it was not to the point of being repulsive as Baolilong found it to be, being touched by a person other than its master still felt uncomfortable.


    [T/N: This seems to violate a previous consistency when Yulie tried to touch Flames during the meal, that¡¯s what the author said.]


    ¡°Just like Baolilong? When will you have genders then?¡± Liola reached out to take Baolilong, who wrapped its arms and legs around Liola, holding on tightly. If it wasn¡¯t Liola it was holding, and instead was someone with less strength, his rib cages would probably have been pulverized by Baolilong¡¯s tight hug.


    Flames answered honestly, ¡°When we mature. Different Dragons mature at different ages. Us Fire Dragons mature fairly early, around a hundred years of age.¡±


    Knowing Liola was worried about Baolilong, Flames immediately added, ¡°Sacred White Dragons, on the other hand, have a varying time for maturity. They vary from fifty to more than five hundred years. Their growth depends mainly not on their age, but instead their master¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Liola did not understand. So Baolilong maturity depended on him?


    Flames nodded, and was about to elaborate further, but the brutes around them had another agenda in mind. They yelled, and the dozen of them surrounded them, speaking in all kinds of vulgarity.


    ¡°The boobs are a bit small, but her face makes my heart itch!¡± One of the brutes drooled as he stared at Flames¡¯ face.


    Another brute was examining Liola, and even gulped down his saliva. ¡°No man could be this delicate, she must be a crossdressing girl.¡±


    If these two were normal people, they would¡¯ve been infuriated by what the brutes said. But for Liola and Flames, one was an oblivious Assassin, and the other wasn¡¯t even human. Not only did they not get angry, they practically ignored the brutes. They continued using their language to discuss what had happened in the recent days, including the strange duel Gle decided.


    Liola listened and found it strange. Couldn¡¯t he just purposely lose to Daylight and Kaiser? But how could Gle let them go so easily? Liola was in doubt, believing Gle must have a way to force him to fight against Kaiser and Daylight with their lives on the line.


    Liola frowned, and wondered whether he should find Kaiser and Daylight and hide for a month, then go to Duanchang Cliff during the next full moon¡­ But as Anise said, she had a deal with Gle, so wouldn¡¯t it mean Gle knew about this already?


    Sigh.


    Liola sighed in frustration, and the brutes around them realized the two weren¡¯t paying any attention to them. One of them wanted to hold Flames forcefully, but Flames pouted, then pushed him away. He flew for a dozen meters before he stopped, and then fell on the ground, unable to get up.


    The other brutes hesitated, and thought they had ran into some difficult opponents. But looking at Flames and Liola¡¯s faces, they weren¡¯t willing to give up, so they all unsheathed their weapons and charged. But, as if they were in slow motion, the brutes got slower and slower, until even their eyelids closed, and they all fell to the ground.


    The onlookers were also not an exception: at first they looked sleepy, then they slowly fell to the ground, snoring.


    Liola looked around, and saw that, even in sleep, Baolilong wouldn¡¯t let go. With its stubborn little face, it was still talking in its sleep, ¡°Papa don¡¯t leave Baolilong, Baolilong will be good from now on¡­¡±


    Liola in one hand held the dazed Flames and Broken Silver in the other. Even though he knew he couldn¡¯t win, the present Liola was no longer the submissive Silver Moon.


    ¡°Li, oh, Li, do you wish to oppose me?¡±


    Gle stood proudly upright, towering over the crowd who had fallen to the ground. He then walked over slowly. Despite how leisurely he walked, every step he made filled the air with the scent of murder.


    ¡°I will not harm my companions.¡± Liola declared with determination.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Gle smiled, and his gangster-like smile suddenly reminded Liola of a certain someone. Why had it never occurred to him that Kaiser¡¯s smile was so similar to the Leader¡¯s?


    Liola contemplated, perhaps it was because he was so scared of the Leader, all his smiles and terrifying sneers looked like threats, so he did not dare to even remember the way he laughed. But now he could at least look at the Leader smiling¡­ at least it was some progress. Liola laughed bitterly, knowing this progress wasn¡¯t going to make him victorious.


    ¡°Bairui is dead, am I right?¡± Gle said straightforwardly and provokingly. ¡°Do you really think a dead person can send you all back?¡±


    Liola¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡®Could Anise¡¯s deal with Gle possibly be¡­¡¯


    ¡°The first time Bairui used the magic circle, her body was destroyed. The second time, to send you back, she had to use her own soul, putting her into a long, deep sleep, only able to come out briefly to speak to you. The third time she sent you here, though she had some assistance, it still¡­¡± Gle chuckled, ¡°Even I don¡¯t dare to open the dimensional portal for a third time, how could a mere Bairui possibly sustain it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak of her like this!¡± Liola growled; he would not allow anyone to slander Anise.


    ¡°What?¡± Gle didn¡¯t look mad, but instead intrigued, ¡°I¡¯m talking about Bairui, not your Anise.¡±


    Liola stared blankly, unsure of what Gle meant.


    ¡°Though Bairui forcefully possessed the girl, she probably couldn¡¯t bear with destroying her soul.¡±


    Gle guessed with interest, ¡°Anise must have been the combination of Bairui and the personality of the host. Because Bairui had opened the dimensional door, spending much of her energy to do so, her soul was practically half asleep. Thus, Anise must have had more of her host¡¯s personality.¡±


    Gle murmured, very satisfied with his own speculation, and considered it somewhat unmistaken.


    Hearing Gle say so, for some reason, Liola felt a bit grateful. He had a strange feeling, and wondered why was Gle purposely telling him this? Could it be¡­ he¡¯s trying to tell him Anise was not an illusion?


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Still impressed with himself for his undeniable intelligence, suddenly hearing a thank you shocked him. Gle raised his head to look at Liola with a face full with exaggerated skepticism, but knew well that other than himself and Liola, there was no one awake.


    Gle suddenly burst into laughter and Liola was very confused. After laughing for a while, Gle assumed a dark and cold face and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think a simple ¡®thank you¡¯ would make me go soft on you. You are simply a toy to me. You are the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, I will never let you off easily!¡±


    Liola¡¯s face also darkened, and his grip on Broken Silver tightened.


    ¡°Bairui used the Dragon Cross Necklace to lock onto Yasha¡¯s position. As long as I use the necklace to open the dimensional door, Yasha would be able to come back.¡±


    Gle continued, explaining their deal. ¡°She helps me lock onto Yasha, I help her open the dimensional door, that was our deal. But Li, I never said anything about allowing you to enter.¡±


    Liola stared straight at Gle. ¡°Then what do we have to do for you to allow us to enter?¡±


    ¡°You go fight with Kaiser and Daylight. If you win, I¡¯ll let you in.¡± Gle revealed a malicious smile.


    Liola stressed, ¡°But you told them if I won, you will kill me.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! I¡¯m not a Knight, can¡¯t I lie?¡± Gle laughed like a ruffian, then warned, ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m not that stupid! You¡¯re not allowed to say anything to them. To guard against someone like you, I will seal your language ability. You will not be able to talk, write, and likewise, you won¡¯t be able to understand what other people say or write. As for your telepathy with your Dragon, I¡¯ve already sealed it.¡±


    Liola was in shock, and Gle said a few last words, ¡°Right, the duel wouldn¡¯t be fun to watch if the sides aren¡¯t even. I better prison you for now and give you no food nor water for ten days.¡±


    No food would be fine, but no water for ten days would definitely kill someone. Before Liola had the chance to remind Gle that an ordinary person would be in danger due to the lack of water for a few days, his throat could no longer produce any sound.


    * * *


    Wanyuan looked at his apprentice as if he had an entirely new look. If he looked like a wonderful boy three months ago, then he was now like a keen-eyed man with an even more robust and buff body. Wanyuan sighed as if his own child had grown up.


    ¡°Daylight, remember to bring me some souvenirs.¡± Little Grass said playfully.


    Daylight smiled back honestly, and his keen-eyes curled a bit, as if he went back to being just a boy. He said earnestly, ¡°Brother apprentice Grass, I will definitely do that.¡±


    No matter how he had changed on the outside, his personality still remained the same¡­ Wanyuan was irritated but also found it funny. Still, he felt happy overall: if Daylight¡¯s personality really had changed, Wanyuan would have most likely felt rather disappointed.


    Daylight walked to Flames and Baolilong. The two Dragons had been depressed ever since they have returned to Daylight ten days ago.


    Daylight heard that they found Liola, but they both mysteriously fainted. When they had finally woken up, Liola was gone. The person who could make Liola leave these two Dragons behind could only be none other than Gle. Daylight had been praying since, hoping Liola was safe.


    As soon as Flames heard they were leaving, it immediately transformed into a large Dragon. Baolilong also climbed up Flames¡¯ head while desperately hurrying Daylight to get up. Baolilong really missed its papa.


    ¡°I think I better go with you.¡± Though Wanyuan didn¡¯t want to get on Flames, his desire to help his apprentice was stronger. In case of emergencies, he thought, he could at least hold back Gle, to help the youngsters.


    Daylight looked gratefully at his master, then jumped up on the Dragon¡¯s back. Wanyuan also followed and got on Flames¡¯ back. When Flames opened her wings and about to take flight¡­


    ¡°Wait! D-Daylight¡­¡± Long Yulie rushed up. No matter how terrified she was of the Dragon, she forced herself to stand next to Flames¡¯ leg.


    Daylight gestured Flames to wait a while. He jumped off Flames, and patiently awaited for Yulie to talk. However, when she saw everyone was looking at her, her face turned red and she couldn¡¯t say what she wanted to say. But seeing Daylight was about to leave, if she didn¡¯t say anything now, when would she have another chance?


    ¡°Cough, cough, Little Grass! Hurry and go help the God of Medicine find herbs. If you¡¯re lazy again, he might spill some random crap on you.¡± Wanyuan yelled, and Little Grass hurried off with a shocked expression.


    Wanyuan gave out another yell, ¡°Crap! I forgot to take something. My memory is terrible, and I think I¡¯m going to take ten minutes to find it.¡±


    Having said that, Wanyuan hurriedly left, while thinking in his head, ¡®What kind of era is this where the master has to find an excuse to leave so his apprentice could have a date.¡¯


    Yulie¡¯s face was now entirely red. A woman¡¯s shyness got the better of her, and she couldn¡¯t say anything clearly.


    Seeing Yulie like this, and remembering she had been with him for three months without going back to her faction nor going to look for Auyan Dri, Daylight, unlike Liola, was earnest rather than oblivious. He knew very well Yulie was fond of him.


    Daylight said apologetically yet tactically, ¡°Sorry, Yulie, we aren¡¯t from the same world. I don¡¯t know if I would go back one day¡­¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Yulie had already known Daylight was from another world. After struggling with that fact, she had decided she would be with him for as long as possible, or even¡­ following him back to his world.


    Daylight had no idea Yulie was this determined. He was moved and apologetic at the same time, but he couldn¡¯t possibly accept Yulie. He wasn¡¯t an irresponsible man. If he did accept Yulie¡¯s love now, he couldn¡¯t leave her behind, but he couldn¡¯t take her with him either.


    Yulie was not Liola. He had no choice, plus when he left, nobody cared about him, so he left without any worries, and probably had never regretted it. But Yulie had so many people who cared about her, how could he possibly take her away?


    ¡°Just tell me, do you like me?¡± Yulie was very stubborn, just like Yandi.


    Daylight never lied. He did indeed like Yulie, but instincts told him it wasn¡¯t love. He simply felt the girl was nice. He frowned because he didn¡¯t want to harm her, and said, ¡°We are friends¡­¡±


    Yulie laughed sadly, ¡°As expected, you don¡¯t like me. I knew about it a long time ago. You don¡¯t care about me, and even when I purposely got close to you, your face doesn¡¯t turn red at all, nor would you panic in the slightest. To you, I¡¯m probably just an acquaintance.¡±


    Seeing Yulie¡¯s sad expression, Daylight felt rather sorry. He had no idea how to respond other than apologizing, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t apologize. You¡¯ve done nothing wrong.¡± Yulie wiped away her tear with her sleeve, and kissed Daylight¡¯s face with a blush, ¡°Farewell, my first love.¡± She then turned and ran. She didn¡¯t want her loved one to see her like this.


    Daylight didn¡¯t like the feeling of making someone sad, but he had no choice.


    ¡°Such a good girl, a pity you don¡¯t like her.¡± Wanyuan said on top of Flames¡¯ back; Daylight had no idea when he got back.


    ¡°Like¡­¡± Daylight jumped back onto Flames¡¯ back, gesturing for it take off now.


    Daylight had been deep in thought on the way, and then he suddenly turned and asked, ¡°Master! If I blush in front of a girl, and if she gets close to me, it makes me feel uneasy, does this mean I like her?¡±


    Wanyuan almost slipped off the Dragon¡¯s back. He had been asked many questions in his life, but never in the field of romance. Didn¡¯t Daylight notice he was still alone?


    Wanyuan sighed. Being a master nowadays was rather difficult, because he still had to occasionally be his apprentice¡¯s love counselor.


    ¡°Something like that.¡± After all, Wanyuan had been in love before, so he could answer such a question.


    ¡°Oh!¡± After Daylight received his answer, he murmured, ¡°So I like her after all¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wanyuan was all ears.


    Daylight suddenly knocked himself in the head, and started blaming himself, ¡°Why are you thinking about this now? You have to concentrate on beating Liola. Everything else could wait for later.¡±


    Strange! Any said to blame Daylight should be said by him, the master. Wanyuan thought blankly. So his apprentice having too good of a morality was also a problem.


    * * *


    Kaiser had been inside the organization for the past three months while training his magic. This morning, he got up early, and meditated on his bed briefly. Then he spent a minute moonwalking to the spot where the duel would take place today, which also happened to be the place where he trained from day to day.


    While crouching, Kaiser was deep in thought about the question he had been asking himself for the past three months. What exactly would Gle do to ensure Liola would fight with him and Daylight to the best of his abilities without holding back?


    ¡°Would he tell him the opposite instead?¡± Kaiser guessed, or perhaps Gle tol to Liola, if he lost, Gle would kill Kaiser and Daylight? If that was the case, Liola would want to win even if it would cost him his life. ¡°Hmm, very plausible.¡±


    But Kaiser knew, Gle would not kill him. Though Gle would never say this out loud, but he did indeed have some special feelings to Kaiser, who was his descendent.


    But would Gle really kill Daylight? Kaiser didn¡¯t think so. It was conceivable Gle might kill Liola, because he thought Liola was raised by him, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt his conscious to kill him, but he wouldn¡¯t kill Daylight easily, and this was what Kaiser¡¯s instinct told him.


    ¡°Anyhow, Daylight and I have to win.¡±


    Kaiser shook his head, how would he hint at Liola to make him go easy on them? Though he firmly believed he had indeed gotten stronger, and perhaps one day, believe he would be evenly match against Liola, but three months was far too short to make it happen.


    Even if Daylight used the same kind of death-training as Liola (Or even worse? Nobody could live through it), one spent three months and another spent twenty years, who would be the winner of the two was obvious.


    ¡°Kaiser!¡±


    Kaiser heard a yell, and raised his head. Flames¡¯ giant body slowly landed on the training ground. As soon as it did, Daylight rushed up to Kaiser and examined him, ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Kaiser looked back lazily, ¡°Just fine, never been better. You? You look darker.¡±


    Daylight smiled, ¡°I¡¯m fine too, also never been better.¡±


    ¡°I hope Liola isn¡¯t like us, and never been better, otherwise we¡¯re in trouble.¡±


    Kaiser continued to hold his chin, frustrated at the thought of trying to hint at Liola without Gle realizing. Kaiser suddenly realized, in the corner of his eyes, Wanyuan had also followed Daylight. He jumped up and yelled, ¡°We¡¯re saved!¡±


    Ignoring Daylight¡¯s confusion, Kaiser went up to Wanyuan, and began to whisper in his ears, ¡°Old man, when we duel, please help me divert Gle¡¯s attention, and I will think of a way to give a cue to Liola¡­ as in Silver Moon, so he could go easy and lose.¡±


    Wanyuan hesitated, but then nodded. It¡¯s not because he didn¡¯t have faith in his apprentice, but to defeat Silver Moon based on three months of training was too difficult. Wanyuan also didn¡¯t have much of a choice but agree, because he didn¡¯t want to see his apprentice lose and cause Silver Moon¡¯s death, then have a lifetime of regret and self-blame.


    ¡°Rock old man, how come I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re such good friends with my great-grandson?¡± Kaiser heard Gle¡¯s playful and he immediately jumped away from Wanyuan.


    ¡°Liola, how did you end up like this?¡±


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Daylight and Baolilong both saw Liola standing behind Gle. His face looked sickly, and his already thin body looked even more frail now, and his clothes had spots of blood.


    ¡°Why did you beat him up, this duel wouldn¡¯t be fair then!¡± Kaiser said loudly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t beat him.¡± Gle replied disapprovingly, ¡°I just didn¡¯t give him anything to eat or any water for ten days. Those wounds were because he was too thirsty, and he bit his own arm to drink his blood.¡±


    ¡°A-are you an idiot?¡± Kaiser opened his mouth, ¡°A normal person would be near death from not drinking water for a day. You didn¡¯t give him water for ten days, he would¡¯ve already died if he didn¡¯t drink his own blood!¡±


    [T/N: Drinking one¡¯s own blood would probably kill them faster when there¡¯s no source of water. But this is fiction.]


    ¡°Hmm?! Really? I didn¡¯t know.¡± Gle scratched his face. Whatever, it wasn¡¯t the first time he did something wrong.


    Liola had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. To him, everything Kaiser was saying was no different than random screams. Nevertheless, judging from their worried and caring expressions, Liola knew what they were saying. He smiled lightly, wanting to reduce his companions¡¯ worries.


    ¡°Then do you guys want to give him some water?¡± Gle gestured purposely and asked.


    ¡°Bullsh¡ª! Of course¡­ not.¡± Kaiser held his fist tight, trying to control his eyes to look away from Liola¡¯s frail face and chapped lips.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± Daylight yelled hesitantly. Though it¡¯s not like he didn¡¯t understand why Kaiser refused to give him water, he still felt guilty.


    Kaiser interrupted whatever Daylight might have said, and yelled, ¡°That¡¯s final!¡±


    Gle leisurely used magic, and two wooden chairs erupted from the ground. He then beckoned at Wanyuan, ¡°Sit! Rock old man, long time no see.¡±


    Wanyuan sighed, and sat on the chair. He tried to persuade him, ¡°Why must you put them in such a difficult position? One of them is your apprentice, and the other is your great-grandson.¡±


    Gle raised his eyebrows, and glanced at Wanyuan, ¡°My family, I¡¯ll do whatever I want¡­¡±


    Kaiser saw Wanyuan was talking to Gle, he immediately used this opportunity, and lipped some words without saying it out loud to Liola: ¡°Go easy! Let us win, otherwise Gle will kill you. Don¡¯t worry about us, he won¡¯t kill us, trust me.¡±


    Liola frowned. He didn¡¯t not understand what Kaiser was trying to do with his lips. All of his language capabilities were completely sealed.


    Kaiser thought Liola was hesitating, so he repeated again and again. Liola raised his head, and then shook it. A painful look was on his face, but he couldn¡¯t utter a single syllable. He couldn¡¯t explain to Kaiser Gle had duped both him and Daylight.


    ¡°Hey! Let¡¯s get on with the match.¡± Gle said lazily, ¡°Daylight, Kaiser, and Flames on one team, Li on the other by himself. Baolilong, you choose which side you want to be. The rule is, whichever side faints for more than three minutes loses. Daylight¡¯s team will only lose if all three are knocked out, and if Li gets knocked out, then he loses!¡±


    Kaiser asked while acting as if he were oblivious, ¡°As long as we win, it doesn¡¯t matter what method we use, right?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Gle answered lazily, ¡°Any other questions? Even if you do, I¡¯m not going to answer. The match begins now!¡±


    This was too sudden, and both sides stood still. Baolilong wanted to run to Liola, but Kaiser grabbed it. Baolilong desperately struggled, but Kaiser yelled loudly, ¡°Stop causing troubles! Do you want to go help your dad to his death?¡±


    Water filled Baolilong¡¯s large eyes. It remembered it can¡¯t help papa. If papa won, he would die!


    Daylight looked Kaiser, waiting for him to make the move first. Kaiser did not attack, and instead said loudly, ¡°Since we can use whatever method we want, then I could simply persuade him to surrender! This shouldn¡¯t violate the rules!¡±


    Daylight and others looked at Kaiser, both surprised and happy. They didn¡¯t think Kaiser had this move up his sleeve. Kaiser glanced at Gle, saw him still acting naturally, and he even had a smirk on his face. Kaiser suddenly had a terrible feeling in his heart.


    ¡°Hey! Liola, don¡¯t listen to Gle, they won¡¯t kill us. The only person he wants to kill is you. If you win, he will kill you.¡± Kaiser tried to yell loudly.


    Liola had no reactions whatsoever, and instead slowly took out Broken Silver from his boot.


    Kaiser took a few steps back, and asked both shockingly and skeptically, ¡°Liola? Are you being controlled?¡±


    Liola smiled bitterly, and this smile abated Kaiser¡¯s worries. Judging from his expressions, he didn¡¯t look like he was being controlled. He flashed, and Liola¡¯s figure suddenly disappeared. Kaiser only saw a flash of silver, and didn¡¯t even have time to unsheath his gun¡­


    ¡°Papa! No!¡±


    Baolilong rushed up, and stood in front of Kaiser. Broken Silver, however, didn¡¯t stop. It landed heavily on Baolilong¡¯s neck, and then a kick caused Baolilong¡¯s little body to fly away like a broken kite. It landed on the ground far away, and Baolilong didn¡¯t move at all.


    Liola¡¯s face was as cold as ice. His figure flashed again, and a crisp clashing of weapons echoed. Kaiser took a closer look, and he saw Daylight had already appeared in front of him, using his pike to block Broken Silver.


    ¡°Damn! You bastard!¡± Seeing what was happening, Kaiser took out his giant gun.


    For the first time, the three companions weapons ¡ª a barrel, a pike, and Broken Silver ¡ª pointed at one another, unwillingly, but without a choice.

 Volume 8, 8: Story of the Young Devil

    Volume 8, Chapter 8: Story of the Young Devil


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Aklan¡¯s Crazy Four


    ¡°GLE!¡±


    A silver-haired, blue-eyed, handsome lad sat leisurely on a branch. His eyes were half open, not knowing if he was awake or asleep. He was wavering about on the branch, making an onlooker fear he would fall off. But as soon as he heard the yell, he elegantly flipped around, and laid flat on the branch on his stomach, while lazily looking down at the people below.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Three people stood below him, two males and a female, all wearing Magician robes. One of the guys looked older, seemingly more than twenty-five years of age, with a bearded face. The other looked more proper and elegant, much like a scholar, and he looked around twenty years of age.


    The girl¡¯s face was delicate and clean, even if her beauty wasn¡¯t considered stunning, especially since her smile was bright, and very pleasing to the eyes. Nevertheless, she grabbed a rock from the ground without any reserve, and without saying a word, she threw the rock towards Gle on the tree branch.


    She yelled while laughing, ¡°Get down from there! Didn¡¯t we agree to go prank the School of Knights?¡±


    As soon as he heard the word ¡°prank¡±, Gle¡¯s spirit lifted, especially when the target was the School of Knights whom he never got along with. He yelled excitedly, ¡°No problem! I¡¯ll get down immediately.¡±


    With another flip, Gle dexterously jumped down from a few meters above the ground; his skillful movements were unbefitting of a frail Magician. After jumping to his three companions, Gle looked at the proper man strangely and asked, ¡°Qiusi? What a surprise; you plan on playing with us?¡±


    Qiusi revealed a warm smile. In the eyes of a bystander, this smile could make them drop any guard they might have for him, but in front of his companions, his smile was comparable to the devil¡¯s.


    Qiusi raised the pile of paper in his hand and laughed mysteriously, ¡°I¡¯m just helping the teacher deliver the homework to the three of you class-skipping students, don¡¯t misunderstand me; I am an excellent student.¡±


    Having said that, he put the pile of paper in Gle¡¯s hands, then left without pausing, or saying anything else. In the eyes of an bystander, he didn¡¯t even look like he was friends with the other three.


    ¡°Joykill!¡± Gle looked at Qiusi¡¯s back, and grunted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that! Qiusi doesn¡¯t have a choice. He belongs to a rather famous family in the Aklan Republic. Last time, his father warned him, and told him to stop being acquaintance with us bad students.¡± The bearded man smiled as he explained.


    ¡°Barbalis, aren¡¯t you in the same situation? You¡¯re in the most prestigious family for Magicians in Aklan Republic. How come your father didn¡¯t come to warn you?¡± Gle rolled his eyes, thinking the man looked more like a delinquent artist than a Magician.


    Barbalis disagreed, ¡°And because I come from a family of Magicians, you have no idea how much my old man wants me to be friends with you. He often sighed you¡¯re not a woman, or I¡¯m not a woman; otherwise, we could marry each other, and he could add the ¡®one in a million Magician genius¡¯ into the family, then do all sorts of Magic experiments with you.¡±


    Gle smiled as he said, ¡°I¡¯d rather die than to marry you¡± as he threw a small fireball. Barbalis also put on a whole ¡°I¡¯m so scared¡± comical face as he dodged the fireball with ease.


    ¡°Okay! Stop fooling around!¡± Susanna, the only woman in the group, yelled, and the two men obediently put away their playful expressions while staring at her with wide round eyes.


    She rolled her eyes and said anxiously, ¡°Quick! Quick! What¡¯s Qiusi¡¯s plan this time? I can¡¯t wait to put those pretentious Knights in their place.¡±


    It was the men¡¯s turn to roll their eyes. The entire academy thought the Crazy Four was led by the genius Magician Gle; Barbalis joined in because he admired Gle¡¯s magic, so he followed him around. As for Qiusi, he was a good student who was forced to join after being threatened. Lastly, they thought Susanna had a crush on Gle, and because of it, she follows them around to do bad things.


    However, it could not be any further from the truth!


    Because Susanna¡¯s speciality was healing magic rather than combat magic, she learnt fist-fighting. A favorite pastime of hers was to go face-to-face against Knights. Many of the Knights in the School had tasted her fists. Any Knights who showed the slightest hint of arrogance had all uncoincidentally received a ¡°shocking education¡± from Susanna, then embarrassingly asked their Holy Knight classmates for a heal.


    Barbalis was curious, ¡°Huh? We¡¯re going to prank Lancelot this time? I don¡¯t think he messed with us?¡±


    Susanna held a tight fist, and yelled into the sky, ¡°I hate Lancelot the most~!¡±


    The two men had already covered their ears the moment she made a fist. Gle also began to count, one, two¡­ fifteen, and then he murmured, ¡°Almost there, Susanna¡¯s lung capacity is about twenty seconds.¡± He then put down his hands.


    Sure enough, Susanna stopped and tried to catch her breath, and as a result, she was no longer torturing anyone¡¯s ears.


    Barbalis thought it was strange, ¡°Why do you hate him so much? Don¡¯t people call him the perfect Knight? Don¡¯t tell me he discriminated against you?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t!¡±


    Gle then asked, ¡°Did he not duel with you because you¡¯re a woman?¡±


    ¡°He did duel with me seriously, and he even used a formal Knight¡¯s challenge.¡± Susanna said with a pouting face.


    Barbalis continued to investigate the truth, ¡°Is he too ugly and the sight of him polluted your eyes, so you want to beat him up and make him even more ugly?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s super handsome! It pains me to even hit his face.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you hate about him, exactly?¡± The two men asked in unison.


    Susanna said righteously, ¡°He¡¯s strong and a gentleman who conducts himself perfectly, and he¡¯s so incredibly handsome. A man like him is going to break countless women¡¯s hearts! So I have to use this opportunity to disfigure his face, and save my fellow women from the heartbreaker Lancelot!¡±


    Gle couldn¡¯t help but touch his own face. He had heard rumors that, in the ranking of the most handsome males in the Academy, he was third on the list. The list of ¡°most-hated¡± people Susanna would yell into the sky, might one day be ¡°accidentally¡± yelled out loud¡­


    ¡°Open Qiusi¡¯s plan, quickly.¡± Susanna hurried anxiously.


    Gle took up the pile of paper, and the title on the first page was, ¡®The higher they fly, the harder they fall!¡±


    ¡°Good! Good plan!¡± Susanna¡¯s eyes shone, not caring she had to play a pregnant woman and accuse someone of playing with women and then abandoning them.


    The smile on Gle¡¯s face was becoming larger and larger, ¡°I have a feeling, we will definitely get expelled this time!¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Barbalis laughed suggestively, ¡°My father will welcome you to live in my house for a long time.¡±


    On the other side of the Academy, the perfect Knight Lancelot was training his sword skills earnestly, unaware of the existence of the ¡°Pancake¡± plan in the world, and its target being him.


    It was a plan just like others of Qiusi¡¯s: they always took insane amount of effort and time. Gle and Barbalis spent a full three months trying to set up the Yaron plains.


    They also had to pay attention so it would have an effect on the world, but not too severe, so Qiusi could hint at his father, who was the advisor to the Prime Minister, to give the mission to the Knight students. He also mentioned casually of there being a very powerful Holy Knight, etcetera.


    After three months, the mission was eventually given to Lancelot, and operation ¡°Pancake on the Ground¡± had formally started.


    * * *


    Barbalis and Gle took up the acting roles due to their ability to use teleport to move around quickly. One impersonated an evil Magician, and the other an evil Knight.


    When Lancelot kept his team of Knights afar and came in alone on his unicorn to scout, the two suddenly jumped out. Barbalis first used a ward to trap him, then Gle took out a sword to challenge him.


    Every time they would have a prank and they needed some sort of professional skills, Gle would suddenly study enthusiastically. This time, he went undercover in the School of Knights for three months, so he could learn the Knight¡¯s sword skills and aura. He awaited this duel with much anticipation.


    ¡°Gle!¡± Barbalis said quietly, so the opposing Lancelot wouldn¡¯t hear him.


    ¡°What?¡± Gle held his sword adeptly, while wearing a full suit of black armor. It was near impossible to tell he was actually an Magician.


    ¡°We have to lose, you remember that, right? Please don¡¯t win!¡±


    Barbalis was very worried. Despite Lancelot being the strongest Knight in the Academy, but nobody knew how strong Gle¡¯s immeasurable strength truly was; the only known thing about him was he never had a record of losing in anything, and even the instructors and principal of the Academy didn¡¯t dare to challenge him.


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    With a sword in Gle¡¯s hand, and his opponent standing imposingly on the other side, they both felt, at the same time, neither of their opponent was weak. Gle could sense in his opponent¡¯s eye that Lancelot was a rare and true Knight. He had already completely forgotten about the ¡°Pancake¡± plan by now, and all he wanted was to duel to his heart¡¯s content without any inhibitions.


    The only thing one could see was the white and black figures clashing again and again in close combat, and neither the white aura nor the blue aura seemed to have an advantage over the other. A duel between a comprehensive prodigy and a Knight prodigy began. No one except perhaps Barbalis, who was a bystander in all this, knew who eventually won.


    ¡®It was too fun of a fight!¡¯


    Finally, the ¡°Pancake¡± plan failed completely, or rather, Susanna yelled at Gle so much that he became the ¡°Pancake¡±. Even Qiusi would often look at Gle with a laugh, because he became the only victim of the whole operation.


    Lancelot, on the other hand, was visited by the Dragon Emperor himself, and given him the title ¡°Paladin¡±. In the following hundreds of years, his title of Paladin had became so well known, it matched the level of the Black Knight Blood Wolf, but all these happened much later.


    * * *


    ¡°Damn! That was really unlucky.¡± Gle was hanging on the tree branch, while looking at Knights from afar, and the Dragon Emperor dressed in purple.


    Barbalis rolled his eyes, and blamed him mercilessly, ¡°You caused it yourself!¡±


    Gle heard, but he didn¡¯t care. Instead, he pouted. As much as he loved pranks, he loved dueling more, regardless of the types of duels. A duel without inhibition was as fun to him as five interesting pranks.


    ¡°Forget it! The prank was bound to fail from the start.¡±


    Barbalis murmured. As usual, their framing pranks never succeeded, and they were the only victims from them. Nevertheless, the Four never got tired of them.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Gle suddenly yelled.


    Barbalis was in shock, and asked hurriedly, ¡°What? What?¡±


    ¡°Oh! God, someone please tell me, the woman with boxing gloves challenging the Dragon Emperor for a duel is not Susanna.¡± Gle covered his face, not wanting to look in that direction.


    Barbalis immediately turned his head, and then dropped his jaw, ¡°That crazy woman!¡±


    In the distance, a woman with leathered clothes had metallic boxing gloves on both of her hands was pointing the Dragon Emperor in one hand, and had her other hand on her waist. The Aklan principal next to her looked like he could faint at any moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go help!¡±


    Gle examined the situation; the Dragon Emperor smiled graciously, as if he would actually accept Susanna¡¯s request for a duel. So as much as Gle loved duel, how could he not go participate? Gle disappeared without a trace, then appeared right next to Susanna.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t win¡­¡± Barbalis reminded Gle as usual, but before he even finished, Gle was gone.


    Barbalis looked into the sky and sighed, ¡°What a joke! What would happen if they beat the Dragon Emperor in front of the whole Academy¡­ but, it must be fun to watch!¡± Barbalis then disappeared too, to go watch the show.


    * * *


    Meeting


    A seemingly malicious man with black messed up hair was humming as he walked unsteadily. A wine bottle was in his right hand, and judging from his red face, he was at least half drunk.


    If one paid more attention, they would notice the man actually wore formal Knight uniform, specifically a black Knight¡¯s uniform. However, it was riddled with holes and covered in patches, and therefore looked more like something a beggar would wear more than a Knight¡¯s uniform. Such a fallen Knight was rare to see, especially since he was walking along the roads next to the most famous Academy in the Aklan Continent, Aklan Academy. This was a place where, if their sign fell off, it would have been pulverized by ten Auras and eight Magic spells before it landed.


    The clean and tidy crowd of Knights glanced at this man at an angle, with anger on their faces. When the Magicians¡¯ ridicule laughters could be heard, the dozen or so of Red and Blue Knights decided they couldn¡¯t let this unclean Knight pass. They proudly held the sword in their hands, and surrounded the man with black hair.


    ¡°Only Knights can wear Knight uniform.¡± A Blue Knight among them showed an arrogant look; he could never believe the homeless man in front of him could be a Knight.


    The black-haired man showed a silly smile. He then pushed his hair aside, then pointed the Knight¡¯s badge on his chest.


    The Blue Knight looked at this badge and, as much as he didn¡¯t want to admit, thought this man may actually be a Knight, unless he somehow managed to rob a badge from a Knight? But he still wouldn¡¯t let this homeless Knight go, and instead he was even more infuriated. If the man in front of him was an impostor Knight, then they should teach him a lesson and declare to everyone homeless nomads could never be Knights.


    ¡°I challenge you to a duel!¡± The Blue Knight yelled imposingly. He was determined to teach this man a lesson about never making Knights look bad.


    At this time, the man finally fully opened his half-closed eyes. The bright eyes glanced at the Blue Knight challenging him, and said lazily, ¡°Name, academy, and rank?¡±


    Blue Knight hesitated, then remembered these things must be said in a formal duel. He only wanted to teach this man a lesson, so he didn¡¯t think about it too much. Being embarrassed he had forgotten a duel¡¯s formalities, the Blue Knight replied angrily, ¡°I am a Blue Knight from the School of Knights, in Aklan Academy, Milan.¡±


    A light shone in the black-haired man. His eyes did not look at Milan; instead, he tilted his head, and his eyes landed on another Blue Knight next to him, one with long, brown hair, and his eyes were as blue as the sky.


    Everyone thought it was strange, and they looked in the direction the black-haired man gazed. They were shocked and felt uneasy, because the person stood next to them, who had been quiet but his eyes had been fixed on them, was the most powerful, perfect Knight in the Aklan School of Knights ¡ª Lancelot. The Knights were secretly glad they had not attacked, and the homeless man was really a Knight. If Lancelot saw them attack an ordinary man, no good could possibly come from it.


    ¡°You look strong.¡± The homeless man narrowed his eyes as he examined Lancelot, whose face remained unchanged.


    Lancelot was looking at the homeless man¡¯s clothes. The black Knight uniform was rather messy, and even the lining looked discolored, but one could still vaguely distinguish its color.


    Seeing Lancelot staring at the homeless man¡¯s uniform, the Blue Knight who challenged him remembered, he could determine his rank by looking at the color. He looked towards the dirty uniform, and realized the lining was¡­ ¡°Silver! Silver Knight? How is that possible?!¡± Milan was in shock.


    Everyone was shocked, and even the homeless man seemed to be startled by Milan¡¯s yell. He then murmured, ¡°So what if I¡¯m a Silver Knight. There are plenty of Silver Knights on Dragon Continent. I¡¯ve already graduated from the Academy for years, I can¡¯t believe a little runt who hadn¡¯t graduated would dare challenge me.¡±


    Milan heard the homeless man¡¯s murmur, and he was so scared that his face changed colors. He couldn¡¯t have imagined the person in front of him was a Silver Knight. Had he known earlier, he wouldn¡¯t dare to challenge a Silver Knight even if his life depended on it.


    The homeless man said casually, ¡°I am Blood Wolf, Knight aligned with Darkness, people call me the Dark Knight. My rank is Silver, and I graduated a long time ago so I don¡¯t have a school to tell you. I am now working under the third Prince of the Dragon Empire. Right, if you want to know, look at your 3:30 direction. The silver-haired man flirting with the girl would be the third Prince, and he¡¯s here with his father.¡±


    Everyone looked in the direct Blood Wolf stated. Sure enough, there was a silver-haired man there, standing pitifully while covering half of his face with his hand, while the woman next to him was looking angrily at him.


    ¡°Hey! Cappuccino, did you get slapped again?¡± Blood Wolf yelled loudly.


    Cappuccino turned around and said as if he had been wronged, ¡°All I did was say I was a Prince, and she slapped me.¡±


    Blood Wolf shrugged, ¡°Probably because the Prince in reality is far too different than the ideal Prince Charming, so when she got mad, she probably slapped you to vent her anger.¡±


    He then murmured, ¡®Every time when I tell people I work under you, and then see what you¡¯re doing, even I want to slap you!¡¯


    While these two were going back and forth, the dozen of Knights who provoked him had already turned pale. Just a Silver Knight was more than they could handle, and now there was even a Prince. Now they don¡¯t even know how they¡¯re going to die.


    Blood Wolf ignored the trembling Milan, and walked towards Lancelot, whom remained claim and waited for him.


    ¡°Hey! How about a duel with me?¡± Blood Wolf asked with anticipation.


    Lancelot looked curiously at Blood Wolf, then walked out of the crowd. Everyone was surprised, because Lancelot¡¯s body was covered in wounds. His white uniform had many holes, and there were spots of blood throughout. Many of his wounds were still bleeding.


    Blood Wolf hesitated then asked, ¡°Oh! Did you just finish a fight?¡±


    Lancelot nodded, and a smile appeared on his face. Although he had no idea why he fought, but it was still a fight he very much enjoyed, especially since there was a strange Knight with a blue aura¡­


    ¡°AHH! No fair! I want to fight too.¡± Blood Wolf yelled loudly while jumping around, as if he desperately wanted a fight.


    Cappuccino slowly walked over. As he examined Lancelot, whose age appeared to be near his own, he said to Blood Wolf, ¡°Stop being shameless! He looks ten years younger than you, isn¡¯t challenging him to a duel a bit too shameless, even for you?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t challenge him? All I¡¯m doing is telling him to challenge me.¡± Blood Wolf continued to declare shamelessly.


    ¡°Such a bad Knight, no wonder I¡¯m the only who¡¯d have you.¡± Cappuccino knocked his own head helplessly.


    ¡°Hmmph, you¡¯re such a bad Prince, no wonder I¡¯m the only one working under you.¡± Blood Wolf responded without backing down.


    The two of them actually began to argue right then and there, and they both were trying to dig up old wounds, such as ¡°You spent more time in the academy flirting with girls than training with your sword¡±, or ¡°You hid a dozen bottles of strong wine under your bed¡±, etc¡­


    ¡°Haha, are you two really a Prince and his Knight?¡±


    A few loud sounds of laughter could be heard. Both of them curiously looked in the direction of the laugh, and saw a few Magicians standing there. None of them looked old, and the person standing in the front, was a young Magician with a hooligan smile.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Blood Wolf asked without much interest. He hated fighting with Magicians, because it was too boring for him. He enjoyed the clashing of swords between Knights far more. Since these people couldn¡¯t be challengers in a duel for him, he quickly lost interest.


    ¡°Gle.¡±


    The young man said straightforwardly. As soon as the crowd heard this name, though, they took a deep breath, and began to scream. Some of them even began to take a few steps back, then turned around and ran as fast as they could.


    ¡°Aklan Crazy Four?¡±


    ¡°My God! It¡¯s the Magician prodigy, Gle.¡±


    Before long, the place was almost empty, leaving behind only Lancelot, Cappuccino, Blood Wolf, and the group people called the Crazy Four, even though there were only three of them there. Blood Wolf stared blankly, then asked, ¡°Are you guys¡­ really that scary?¡±


    ¡°Bombing the School of Knights three times,¡± Lancelot, who had remained quiet before now, had finally spoken, with a solemn anger in his eyes.


    ¡°Beating countless innocent Knights,¡± He took another step towards Gle.


    ¡°Being indecent to female Knights,¡± He put his right hand on his sword.


    Gle finally opened his mouth to refute, ¡°Hey! That one I deny. She was indecent to me first. I said I was going to scream, but because she didn¡¯t want to be embarrassed, she screamed first. I¡¯m the victim! Victim! Do you understand?!¡±


    ¡°Great¡­ you could be a victim.¡± Cappuccino looked like he was envious.


    Lancelot, however, ignored Gle¡¯s explanation. He unsheathed his sword, and didn¡¯t seem to care his body was covered in wounds and there were three people on the opposing side. To him, no matter at what time or what place, righteousness must be maintained.


    ¡°¡­ And causing troubles at Yaron Plains.¡±


    Gle heard and was shocked. He said unconsciously, ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Lancelot said calmly, ¡°Smile.¡±


    Hearing what Lancelot said, Gle touched his face reflexively. He didn¡¯t expect him to recognize him from the smile. When he was in Yaron Plains, he was wearing half a mask. Did he underestimate Lancelot? He thought Lancelot was just old-fashioned Knight with a bit of strength.


    He had no idea his two companions were glaring at him. Gle¡¯s hooligan smile was, in fact, quite unique, so it was not strange to them that Lancelot recognized it.


    ¡°Are you going to duel?¡± Blood Wolf¡¯s face was covered with excitement, ¡°How about a 3v3 duel? No no, you guys are too young. How about this: aren¡¯t you guys the Crazy Four? Go find your fourth, and we can have a 3v4, how¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Good! Good!¡±


    Gle also seemed excited, and Susanna, who feared there might not be a battle, was already putting on her boxing gloves. Barbalis had no choice but sigh and trying to think of a way to contact Qiusi, thinking he might come with a God-knows-what funny-looking mask.


    When the three Knights and four Magicians competed against one another without seeing each other as enemies, their faces were filled with exciting smiles because they could fight with such powerful opponents. And after they finished, all seven of them fell to the ground, laughing, because this fight had got them all acquainted.


    But, no one had imagined, many years later, the fight became a real fight to the death, and the place they would compete on was the entire world¡­


    * * *


    Master and Apprentice, or¡­?


    ¡°Barbalis!¡± Gle barged into the dorm like a tornado, interrupting Barbalis¡¯ meditation in the process.


    Barbalis helplessly ended his meditation, then complained, ¡°Hey! Could you please let me meditate? I¡¯m not a super genius like you, I still need to meditate.¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Tell me quick, what do pets eat?¡±


    Barbalis looked curiously at Gle, and noticed he was holding a bag made of cloth in his hand. It was about the size of a dog? Barbalis thought to himself. Although technically speaking they weren¡¯t allowed to have pets in the Academy dormitory, but the Crazy Four had already broken just about every other Academy rule, bombed the School of Knight twice, and half destroyed their own School twice, and once completely.


    So what does it matter if they had a pet? If they would raise the pet obediently instead of causing troubles, the principal might even come and give a prize to the pet.


    ¡°Give it some leftovers. Or if it¡¯s too young, feed it milk.¡±


    Barbalis answered carelessly. He knew Gle¡¯s personality was on the extremes: he¡¯d either keep at something at the very end, or lose interest immediately. He planned to find out which of these attitudes Gle had towards the pet before he acted on it. Otherwise, if he helped to take care of the pet for a few days, then Gle throw it away, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of his time?


    ¡°Milk, okay, I¡¯ll go buy milk.¡± Gle put the bag on the bed, then left much like how he came in.


    Barbalis sighed. He feared Gle would be back soon, so he didn¡¯t plan to continue his meditation. He began to organize his magic notes.


    While organizing, he heard a small cry. Barbalis glanced at the cloth bag; could it be a kitten? It was possible; Barbalis didn¡¯t seem to care. In any case, before Gle was certain he was going to raise this pet, Barbalis wasn¡¯t going to give it any attention.


    Before long, Gle came in like the wind again. He held a milk bottle in his hand, then grabbed the bag, and put the bottle up to the bag.


    Barbalis squinted at Gle, and reminded him, ¡°Put it in a plate, and let it lick it.¡±


    Gle paused, and said ¡°Oh¡±. He then actually poured the milk into a plate, then put the bag down in front of the plate. The crying sound was getting louder and louder; the baby-like crying sound gave Barbalis the goose bumps.


    ¡°He¡¯s not licking.¡± Gle frowned.


    ¡°How can that be?¡±


    Barbalis finally stood up, and walked towards Gle. He looked towards the cloth bag, and finally saw what kind of ¡°pet¡± was inside. He froze completely, and his eyes didn¡¯t move until Gle prodded him. He said with a stutter, ¡°T-this is a pet?!¡±


    ¡°Yup! Cute, ain¡¯t it?¡± Gle said as if it were natural.


    Indeed it was cute. Chubby pink face, soft golden hair, and large eyes. Everyone would love such a cute¡­ baby, and it was 100% human!


    ¡°I¡¯m still thinking about a name.¡± Gle looked a bit a troubled. This was the first time he was trying to come up with a name.


    ¡°You¡¯re really going to raise him?¡± Barbalis¡¯ face darkened. How old was Gle? He¡¯s going to raise a child at 18? He was actually praying Gle would throw him away after playing with it for a while, so he could put this child in an orphanage.


    ¡°Yup! He even knows how to call my name.¡± Gle snickered, while frequently poking the baby¡¯s white and chubby cheeks.


    ¡°Call your name?¡± Barbalis was very skeptical. Can a baby this young even talk?


    ¡°Yes! Listen.¡±


    Gle used his finger to tickle the baby¡¯s armpit. The infant laughed as it made the sound of ¡°Gle, Gle.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Fun, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve decided to raise him.¡± Gle said casually, as if he were declaring he¡¯s adopting a dog.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Barbalis asked solemnly. He knew, if Gle was serious, no one could change his mind.


    ¡°Seriously. I will raise him to be the strongest Magician. Of course, just not as strong as me.¡±


    ¡°Name?¡± Barbalis said the only response he could think of.


    Gle thought seriously for a moment, then asked with a smile, ¡°Which do you think is better, Mizerui or Silver Moon?¡±


    ¡°What the heck is in your head? There¡¯s nothing common between these two names.¡± Barbalis touched the back of his head, ¡°Call him Mizerui. He has golden hair, not silver. It would be strange to call him Silver Moon.¡±


    Gle nodded, and raised the child high up in the air as he laughed, ¡°Mizerui! Be good. Grow up quickly, so I can do some experiments.¡±


    ¡®Experiments¡­?¡¯ Barbalis suddenly realized, he had no courage to ask Gle what kind of experiment it was. Perhaps, in time, he might, out of the kindness of his heart, steal Mizerui and take him to an orphanage.


    Of course, eventually the kindness of his heart still lost to Gle¡¯s powerful magic and unusual temper. Because of such, the world had one more dangerous rank-X wanted criminal.


    ¡®Anyone Gle raises with his own hands, as long as they¡¯re alive, will become peerless masters.¡¯ Barbalis whispered to himself.


    (Warning: extremely dangerous, do not try at home, mortality rate approximately 99.8%)

 Volume 9, 1: Death-match Between Companions

    Volume 9, Chapter 1: Death-match Between Companions


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Daylight¡¯s three month training wasn¡¯t for nothing, and the effects scared Kaiser quite a bit. To believe he blocked Liola¡¯s blow? Even though Liola¡¯s a monster, ten days of not eating and surviving only by drinking his own blood was too much, right? Normal people would¡¯ve already given up and crawled out by now.


    ¡°Daylight, stand your ground!¡±


    The moment Kaiser said those words, his gun was already pointed at Liola¡¯s forehead, ready to pull the trigger. But when his eyes met with Liola¡¯s worrying eyes, Kaiser hesitated and could not pull the trigger. If this shot really landed, and Liola was already weak from hunger, then could he really die from it? No one knew how stubborn Liola was better than Kaiser. He thought perhaps Liola was already weak to the point of falling?


    Liola¡¯s body suddenly flashed. Liola circled Daylight before he had a chance to respond and instantly appeared in front of Kaiser. Kaiser was shocked and felt a sudden pain in his abdomen, causing his vision to go black. Kaiser immediately twisted his thighs back and after his blue eyes squeezed out some tears, Kaiser pulled back his consciousness but his face was warped from the pain of this attack.


    When Daylight saw Liola was about to knock Kaiser out, he immediately swung his pike exceedingly fast, forcing Liola to defend himself. Sounds of weapons clashing filled the air, with the sound of Daylight¡¯s grunts mixed in between.


    Although Daylight¡¯s strength had increased tremendously, facing Liola head-on was still a difficult thing to do. But when all things considered, within the short time span of three months, Daylight had gone from not being able to block a single of Liola¡¯s attack, to being entangled in a fight against Liola for a dozen of moves without losing. One could see how much effort Daylight had put in for the past three months.


    Kaiser moved his facial muscles with difficulty and immediately started shouting ¡°Liola, you dare hit me?! Asshole! I won¡¯t forget this!¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s voice, Liola glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Although he could not understand what Kaiser said, he could see Kaiser¡¯s face was filled with malice, fully expressing his anger.


    Liola suddenly had a foreboding feeling, even to the point where his body was a bit rigid. This rigidness finally gave Daylight, who had been struggling in the fight, a chance. Without any hesitation, Daylight surrounded his pike with his aura, and jabbed it towards Liola¡¯s calves. He had no expectation to defeat Liola with this move, but instead, he simply hoped he could decrease Liola¡¯s speed, so Kaiser could be more of use.


    Because of Daylight¡¯s aim being slightly off and Liola moved away in time, Liola¡¯s calves were spared from having a hole in it, however, he still suffered a bloodied wound on his leg.


    Liola used the opportunity to spin around, and Broken Silver landed on Daylight¡¯s left shoulder. Accompanied by the sounds of cracking bones, Daylight¡¯s face suddenly went pale, but with determination in his eyes, Daylight jabbed the pike out from his hands.


    Liola did not expect Daylight would completely ignore the pain, and attack immediately¡­ He was very sure he used enough power to cause a big crack in Daylight¡¯s shoulder bones.


    Daylight¡¯s pike grazed Liola¡¯s shoulder. Before the droplets of blood even reached the ground, Liola had already felt the threat behind him. Liola tilted his body, and dodged a burning white fireball just in the nick of time. Daylight did not let this chance pass either; when Liola was dodging, Daylight began his intense series of attacks once again.


    Liola had no choice but turn back to confront Daylight¡¯s attacks, but as soon as he had done so, many fireballs appeared behind him. Liola actually felt a bit inadequate trying to fight against both. Ordinarily, if it were only two people attacking him, Liola would never fall into this kind of despair. But whether it be cooperation or coincidence, Liola found himself always in between Daylight and Kaiser; whomever Liola was facing, the other must be standing behind him.


    Kaiser knew full well he was not the best at close-quarter combat, so he was always standing far away. Even Liola could dodge the white fireballs, he never had a chance to attack Kaiser, because Daylight had prevented him from being able to. In reality, however, compared to Daylight, who would fight against him honestly, Liola was far more worried about Kaiser, fearing he might have some wicked ideas up his sleeves.


    They had progressed so far, Liola thought to himself; their positioning was probably not coincidence: even if Liola purposely changed his positioning, Kaiser was still standing directly behind him, so he must be doing it on purpose. Additionally, Kaiser was actually able to shoot so many white fireballs. It must¡¯ve been at least a dozen shots? This was far different than his old one-shot-every-three-days.


    Daylight¡¯s progress was even more shocking. He started from not being able to follow Liola¡¯s movements, to being able to stand toe-to-toe against Liola. It had only been three months. In order to defeat him and save his life, what kind of training had these two undergone?


    However moved moved Liola was, he was, nevertheless firm in his determination to win. He must bring these two to their world and look for Purity and Meinan!


    While having these thoughts, Liola¡¯s offensive stance had become even more intense. He repeatedly attacked Daylight¡¯s wounded shoulder, and his hits had landed successfully many times. Although he had little time to truly cause irreparable damage before being interrupted by Kaiser¡¯s fireballs, Liola was fair certain, Daylight could no longer move his left shoulder.


    As much as these two progressed, Liola wasn¡¯t to be underestimated. He truly believed if the fight goes on as it had now, he would emerge as the victor.


    Liola suddenly felt something was wrong. He felt a dozen or so energies around him, as if they were about to surround him. He vigilantly observed his surroundings, and realized a dozen Divine Fireballs floating in the air. Liola paused, trying to remember something. He suddenly realized none of the fireballs shot at him had exploded, because Kaiser was putting them on the side.


    Was he planning on gathering more, and attack together? Liola thought to himself


    Sure enough, Kaiser smiled sinisterly. He yelled loudly, ¡°Daylight, back up!¡±


    Daylight backed away without any hesitation, and Liola had no plans to gave chase, because he had his own plans. Liola dashed quickly towards Kaiser, hoping he could use this opportunity to finish off Kaiser, a person who was wary of.


    But something strange happened. Kaiser suddenly paused, then he showed a panicked expression. Liola felt strange, and a few fireballs zipped past above his head. The target was clearly not Liola, and they were flying towards Kaiser.


    Kaiser was staring blankly at the dozen of Divine Fireballs flying towards him, like a deer in headlight, and he did not know what to do. It looked like they were out of control. Daylight also thought something was wrong, but he was too far away, so all he could do was yell.


    Seeing Kaiser looked like he was waiting for his death, Liola hastened and charged up without even thinking. As much as he wanted to win, he wasn¡¯t going to win by letting these fireballs kill Kaiser. He thought, after he block these fireballs for Kaiser, he could just knock him out with Broken Silver.


    In the blink of an eye, Liola had already dashed up to Kaiser. He released his blood red aura, and blocked the dozen of fireballs in the nick of time. Suddenly, the explosion sounds could be heard one after another. Despite the scary situation, Daylight relaxed a bit, because he had sensed the blood red aura had successfully stopped the Divine Fireballs.


    ¡°Liola, you¡¯re so easy to fool, so easy that you¡¯re only a tad bit harder to fool than Daylight.¡±


    Hearing what Kaiser said, despite not understanding what he meant, but his instincts told him Kaiser¡¯s tone was foreboding. He looked towards Kaiser¡¯s face. Despite a smile on his face, a faint pain could be seen in his blue sea eyes. Liola was just thinking about why Kaiser seemed to be in pain? And he immediately got an answer: the giant barrel was pushed against Liola¡¯s shoulder.


    Without any hesitation, a prepared, compressed fireball came out of the barrel. The blinding white light was immediately covered by blood. Warm blood covered Kaiser from head to toe. Kaiser looked truly panicked this time. He had already avoided the important organs, but he had to make Liola lose the ability to fight, so he hit the right shoulder. In hoping to get this over in one shot, he compressed five fireballs¡­ From the looks of it, Liola didn¡¯t look like he needed to wait for Gle to kill him, and he would die himself.


    ¡°Crap! The blood is spitting out endlessly, what do we do now?¡± Kaiser panicked as he tried to press down Liola¡¯s wound with his hands, hoping the blood would stop spilling out.


    An intent for smile flashed across Liola¡¯s eyes, but it was immediately contaminated with pain. This painful eyes was actually near identical to the look in Kaiser¡¯s eyes when he was about to attack. Liola¡¯s left hand, without any hesitation, attacked towards Kaiser¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± This heavy attack practically made arrows made of blood shoot out of Kaiser¡¯s mouth. His body also flew off from the momentum of the attack. He rolled on the ground for a full twenty meters before he stopped. Kaiser looked like a landed shrimp: he curled his body and convulsed on the ground, occasionally spitting out blood from his mouth.


    At this time, Liola¡¯s face was so pale that it was terrifying. The blood arrows from Kaiser all landed on his face. The red made his face look even whiter than it already was, as if he was already dead.


    Seeing two heavily injured, Daylight had no idea what to do. He quickly ran to Kaiser, and saw the ground covered in a pool of Kaiser¡¯s blood, but he could do nothing about it. Damn it! Why didn¡¯t he learn healing magic?! Why?!


    ¡°What¡­ what are you doing? Hurry and knock that guy out, s-so I can heal, idiot¡­¡± Kaiser talked with difficulty, practically coughing out blood as he spoke.


    Daylight finally controlled his panic with these words. Seeing Kaiser on the ground can still roll his eyes at him, he should still be able to live. He stood up, and held his pike tightly. He firmly walked closer and closer to the pale Liola.


    Liola looked at Daylight as he walked closer and closer. His pale face smiled faintly, and his body fell to the ground like a puppet with broken string. He did not move at all, and the earth beneath had a circle of blood, which slowly began to grow larger, and larger¡­


    ¡°Liola!¡±


    Daylight yelled in horror. He immediately ran to where Liola was lying. He looked at Liola¡¯s shoulder blurred with blood. He immediately tore off a piece of his cloth, wanting to stop Liola¡¯s bleeding. But suddenly, Liola opened his eyes.


    Daylight held up Liola as he said, ¡°Hold on, I will help you stop the bleeding.¡±


    Liola smiled, again.


    Kaiser saw this smile from afar, and a terrible feeling flashed across his heart, ¡°Watch out! Daylight, he¡¯s going to¡­¡±


    A few lights of silver flashed, and Daylight¡¯s body froze.


    ¡°¡­ trick you.¡±


    Kaiser took a deep breath, and could do nothing but watch as Liola suddenly jumping off and Daylight¡¯s body flying into the air from Liola¡¯s attack. Daylight¡¯s chest had already two crossing lines of blood, but Liola had no plans to let him go. He jumped into the air, then hit Daylight heavily on his back. Daylight flew towards the earth, and even the ground cracked from the force of this attack.


    Liola landed too. He immediately pushed the points across his chest. To fool Daylight, he did not stop his bleeding. If he didn¡¯t do it now, then even a God could not save a person without any blood.


    [T/N: ancient Chinese medicines relied on acupuncture points on the body, generally a concave spot in the bone, and they believed that pushing these points achieve various goals, such as stopping bleeding to a certain area or paralyzing someone. It¡¯s very often seen in martial arts novel.]


    As soon as Liola pushed down onto the last point, the blood finally stopped oozing out of his shoulder. He felt a tightening on his leg, and he lowered his head to look: two powerful hands held tightly to his left calf. Daylight could no longer stand up with his serious injuries, but he still was not willing to give up. Even though he was lying face-down on the floor, his hands still held tightly to Liola¡¯s leg. With all his might, and along his painful cries and tears, he fractured his companion¡¯s leg.


    The crisp sound of a bone fracture could be heard. Liola immediately kicked Daylight away with his other leg, but he also fell to the ground. His face was so pale that he was practically a moving corpse, but his left hand still held tightly onto Broken Silver, because there was one more, one more enemy. He forced himself to stand up, and his dulled eyes scanned around his surrounding. He saw a small Flames next to Daylight. Flames had shifted into its human form, and it was panicking as it tore off Daylight¡¯s clothes, trying to wrap it around Daylight¡¯s bleeding chest.


    He walked, step-by-step, towards Flames. Every step he took, blood splattered onto the ground; every step he took, one could hear the terrifying cracking sounds from his leg. His dulled eyes fully expressed that he could barely hold himself up, but his feet continued to take one step after another without ever stopping.


    Kaiser crawled with his strength, and reached the place where his gun had landed. He picked up his gun, and barely got up. He was half kneeling on the ground, and pointed his barrel at the approaching Liola, but he could not bring himself to pull the trigger. Liola looked like he could barely hold up. Kaiser could tell, and it was the reason why he didn¡¯t dare to pull the trigger. If he did, would Liola die right away?


    ¡°Liola¡­ could you please give up?¡± Kaiser held the gun with both of his hands. It was the same gun Kaiser had gotten used to but it suddenly felt like a ton to him, and the trigger felt like a dozen of tons. With his choking voice, he begged, ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer, okay? Give up, okay?¡±


    It was rather strange. Judging from his dull eyes, his mind was at least half gone by now, not to mention he shouldn¡¯t have understood anything Kaiser said, and he was now acting purely on instinct. But for some reason, Liola shook his head, and his feet did not stop.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­ stop, Liola had already lost too much blood. If this continues, he will die.¡± Daylight stopped him with a pale face.


    Seeing Liola¡¯s bloodied body, Kaiser already knew it, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have hesitated in pulling the trigger, but he couldn¡¯t do anything else, because as soon as Liola get close to them, it would be them who would fall.


    Seeing Liola was almost close to them, Kaiser still could not pull the trigger. Instead, his hand was shaking. He really didn¡¯t dare to bet whether Liola would live or not if he pulled the trigger.


    ¡°Daylight, can you still fight? If you could just knock him out¡­¡± Kaiser asked his only hope.


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s question, Daylight pushed Flames away, and stood up to say firmly, ¡°No problem, my wounds aren¡¯t as bad as Liola¡¯s.¡±


    Flames was beyond anxious. Seeing its master¡¯s shaking body, and the flowing blood could not be stopped by the makeshift bandage, it knew its master was not as well as he claimed to be.


    Daylight struggled to hold up his pike. The pike he could normally use as if it were his own body could now barely be supported by his arms, let alone using it to stop his enemies. Daylight was just thinking about whether to throw down his pike and use his hands, a Dragon had already decided to take the hand-to-hand combat tactic: Flames ran past Daylight, and without saying anything, it pounced towards Liola, while opening its mouth, showing its sharp canine teeth.


    Before Flames reached Liola, however, a small figure suddenly clashed over, and threw Flames a few meters away. Flames landed delicately, and gave out a dragon growl; however, its opponent emitted an even more sonorous Dragon roar that could shake even the heavens.


    Flames was shocked, and said hesitantly to the small figure, ¡°Your Highness..¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t hit papa!¡± Baolilong stood with its arms spread in front of Liola.


    ¡°Baolilong! Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill your papa?¡± Kaiser yelled anxiously at Baolilong.


    Baolilong pouted his mouth as if it had been wronged, and big drops of tear rolled down its cheeks, but its arms still firmly blocked their way to Liola. It said, ¡°You can¡¯t hit, or papa will die!¡±


    Liola had already walked around Baolilong by now, and continued to walk towards Kaiser and Daylight. Baolilong was shocked, and it immediately grabbed onto Liola¡¯s sleeve tightly without letting go, but Liola swung his hand, and Baolilong fell to the ground, with only the sleeve in its hands. It was so anxious that it bursted into tears, and it didn¡¯t know which side it should help.


    At this time, a faint sigh could be heard.


    ¡°Gle, why would you do this? Do you really want to see them fight to the death.¡±


    The scene was already hard for Wanyuan to watch since a while ago, but whenever he tried to stop them, Gle would stop him. But looking at things now, no matter what, Wanyuan could not stand to see these three trying to kill one another.


    ¡°We must decide the winners.¡± Gle said mercilessly, ¡°This fight ends whenever a side admits defeat.¡±


    ¡°Damn you! Can we admit defeat? Compared to Liola getting killed by you, I might as well finish him with a shot!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser!¡± Daylight yelled in surprise; he didn¡¯t want to see Kaiser kill Liola.


    Kaiser¡¯s expression seemed unexpectedly calm. He acted relaxed as he asked Daylight, ¡°Since neither side is willing to admit defeat, how about we all perish together?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Daylight stared blankly. He couldn¡¯t believe Kaiser would say something like this. Kaiser was never the type of person to say something like this¡­ Daylight was a bit hesitant, could it be that Kaiser had a plan?


    ¡°Compared to letting Gle watch a show, we might as well all die together, so that cold blooded guy could see his descendant, his best friend Susanna¡¯s son, and the old rock man¡¯s apprentice all die in front of him. I don¡¯t believe this wouldn¡¯t do anything to his conscience.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face was very dark, as if this was exactly he planned to do.


    ¡°Daylight, hold me up to Liola. I will bury all of us with a blizzard. Even if we¡¯re all going to die, we¡¯re not going to put on a show for that bastard.¡±


    Daylight looked at Kaiser strangely, and knitted his eyebrows tightly. He really didn¡¯t understand what Kaiser meant. Daylight looked at Kaiser skeptically, but strangely, Kaiser¡¯s eyes looked determined, as if they were telling Daylight to just trust him.


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    Daylight was no longer skeptical, and thought it would best to trust Kaiser. He held Kaiser up with all his strength, and slowly walked towards Liola.


    Liola paused; though he couldn¡¯t understand what Kaiser said, he was perplexed by their actions. Daylight was holding Kaiser, and it was impossible for him to attack him; Kaiser couldn¡¯t engage in close-quarter combat, so it was more advantageous to him to be as far as possible. Liola stood still, puzzled as he stared at the two people¡¯s strange actions.


    Kaiser knew, by now, nothing he said would do anything. He stared straight into Liola¡¯s eyes. Those lazy, blue sea eyes looked full of determination. Liola looked at those blue eyes and felt that even if the skies would collapse now, those eyes could still hold them up.


    Liola suddenly felt tired, and he fell down where he stood. He beckoned at the Baolilong crying on the side. When Baolilong ran over, he reached out his hand and hugged Baolilong into his arms, as if he no longer cared what would happen now.


    Gle, who had been watching coldly from the side, finally seemed to react. He thought, could they really be suicidal? But how would Li know what Kaiser wanted to do?


    ¡°Could Kaiser have broken Liola¡¯s language seal? No, impossible! Nothing can break a seal I¡¯ve put.¡± Gle said stubbornly.


    ¡°Of course there is.¡± Wanyuan said leisurely, ¡°The cooperation between friends can.¡±


    Hearing what Wanyuan said, Gle¡¯s face suddenly turned, and a sharp memory perturbed his mind. Companions? The thing he lost for God-knows how long ago? Once upon a time, he and his companions also didn¡¯t need language; a look and a smile could convey all they could say to one another, but finally, Susanna betrayed him, and Qiusi didn¡¯t come to his rescue¡­


    Gle spent a moment in his flashbacks, but he was awakened by Kaiser using his full power. Snow began to fall from the sky, but the snow did not land on Gle and Wanyuan, instead in a circle no more than half a dozen meters away from Kaiser and the others.


    Gradually, the snow flurries stopped fluttering, but instead crashed into them with the force of a blizzard. Kaiser and others were buried in snow, and judging from their purple lips, one could tell how cold it was underneath.


    ¡°Blizzard, and he shrank the area of effect, so basically concentrating all his power in those dozen meters.¡± Gle murmured. Although he knew this blizzard really did have the power to send all of them to hell, he didn¡¯t move. He didn¡¯t believe Kaiser and others would be suicidal.


    Seeing Kaiser and others buried by the snow, Wanyuan panicked. At first, he was sure Kaiser was just running his mouth, but by now he wasn¡¯t certain.


    He stuttered from being anxious, ¡°T-this¡­¡±


    Gle still did not move, but his face was growing more and more pale as if he were the one standing in the blizzard¡­


    ¡°Daylight, it¡¯s fine if you go out first.¡± Kaiser was so cold that his face turned pale, but his mood was unusually calm. Truth be told, he didn¡¯t really have a plan, and he was only betting with his life; gambling whether Gle would watch his own descendant turn into a popsicle with his own eyes.


    With a pale face, Daylight shook his head desperately, and continued his unfinished work of bandaging Liola¡¯s wounds. Although under such extreme temperatures of a blizzard, Liola¡¯s blood was no longer oozing out, Daylight considered it. If Kaiser¡¯s plan was really successful, all of them may have already passed out. Judging from what he knew of Gle, Daylight didn¡¯t think he was the type to carefully bandage a wound. He didn¡¯t want to see Liola to survive this battle, only to die at the loss of blood later.


    Kaiser shrank tightly, and smiled with his frozen face, ¡°I already knew you wouldn¡¯t, you s.o.b. who charged into the Dark Street to save people!¡±


    Daylight raised his head to smile back. Though his face was rigid from the cold, his smile was still brilliant as ever.


    The snow continued, and it had already covered these companions¡¯ heads. Liola brushed the snow aside and looked at the faces of his sleeping companions. He slowly put both of his hands at where their hearts were. A faint Ki flowed out of his hand to protect their hearts. Sensing Kaiser and Daylight¡¯s slowed heart beat faster and faster, Liola sincerely smiled¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Hmmph¡­ my head f¡ªing hurts¡­¡±


    Kaiser grabbed his head and rolled around, but when he rolled to the left, he hit someone, and when he rolled to the right, he also hit someone. He opened his eyes helplessly, and saw black hair to his left and blue hair to his right.


    Great! Looks like ¡°nobody¡± was sacrificed. He then looked at the end of his bed, and a naked red-head was holding a tiny white-head, so it looked like no Dragon was sacrificed either.


    ¡°Mmm~¡± Kaiser let out a deep sigh. Looks like he won this bet with their lives.


    ¡°Why did you risk your life, whether Li dies has nothing to do with you.¡±


    Kaiser was surprised. He turned his head to realize, Gle was actually sitting silently at a table in the room, with his back to all of them.


    ¡°Why are you suddenly sitting there? You could scare me to death, you know?¡±


    Kaiser exaggerated patted his chest, but Gle didn¡¯t joke around like he did. A cold sense emitted from Gle¡¯s back, and even Kaiser, who would joke even if the skies were to collapse, felt a shiver. Kaiser thought seriously about Gle¡¯s question which he rarely did, and his head spun quickly, trying to figure out the purpose of Gle¡¯s question and the answer he wanted to hear.


    ¡°He¡¯s my companion, and there¡¯s no way I could leave him behind.¡± Kaiser responded, while carefully examining Gle¡¯s reaction, although it was hard to see from his back.


    Gle laughed bitterly, ¡°Companion?¡±


    Kaiser did not ignore Gle¡¯s reaction. He thought with a frown, looked like Gle had a disdainful attitude to the word. So perhaps, out of the companions he had before, someone betrayed him? The answer was obvious, it was the Dragon Queen, Susanna.


    ¡°Even if the Dragon Queen did not help you, but she didn¡¯t hurt you, right?¡± Kaiser said with a frown, ¡°A woman caught between her husband and old friend, is very pitiful too.¡±


    Gle was silent for a while, then said angrily, ¡°And Qiusi. He never appeared from start to end, and he never came to my rescue.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly felt like he was looking at an illusion, and the person in front of him was actually a complaining child¡­ but even if it were a complaining child, it was a deadly child with an Uzi in his hands, so he can¡¯t just tell him to go aside and play.


    Kaiser thought about it briefly, and finally decided to say it as he saw it, ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with Qiusi, so I don¡¯t know what kind of person he is¡­ but if he¡¯s like Meinan, I can probably understand why he didn¡¯t come to your rescue.¡±


    Gle stared blankly, and asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°At a glance, Meinan seems like the most unnoticeable person in the team. You don¡¯t even feel his presence much when he¡¯s here, but as soon as he¡¯s gone, you will realize how useful he was.¡± Kaiser paused, then asked, ¡°Was Qiusi someone like that, too?¡±


    Gle remained silent.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Let me tell you something I found out accidentally.¡± Kaiser scratched his face, and began to tell a story, ¡°Liola and I have always been penniless. The cost of us two plus a Dragon was all paid by Purity. I don¡¯t know when it was, but Purity had spent every cent of her allowance, including the money she had gotten from her brother, all because Baolilong loved to eat so much.¡± Kaiser did not forget to complain, but he did forget he ate quite a bit himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know when it started but,¡± Kaiser scratched his face again, ¡°Meinan covered all of our costs, but he never breathed a word about it. Had it not been the time when I asked Purity for money to buy some midnight snacks, and she said she had no money to give me, I probably would have never found out about this.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Gle¡¯s back, and said as if he were deep in thought, ¡°Could it be I accidentally found out, but you never did?¡±


    Gle still remained silent.


    Looking at Gle¡¯s still stubborn figure, Kaiser added, ¡°Barbalis saved you, but now he¡¯s living well, and he even became the principal. Maylee is also happily managing a barbeque restaurant. As for the daughter of the devil who tried to destroy the whole world, she was able to live and have children¡­


    One miracle could be a coincidence, but three miracles? How could the heavens be so kind, and if they were, I wouldn¡¯t believe the Dragon Emperor would be so kind not to chase them down and kill them all.¡± Kaiser grunted.


    Gle froze, and Kaiser seemed to have heard a faint sigh. Gle stood up and, without turning back, said a few simple things,


    ¡°You two have only light injuries, but Li¡¯s are far worse, plus he used his Ki to protect your hearts. He¡¯s weak, so take care of him. In half a month, I will send you back.¡±


    Hearing what Gle said, Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped; ¡®Damn! That simple? Is it real, or just a miracle¡­¡¯


    * * *


    Gle walked out of the building, and it was drizzling outside. The darkened skies made him feel uncomfortable. Gle stood for a while, and then slowly levitated into the air. He went through the clouds, and the blinding rays of sunlight landed on Gle¡¯s body.


    He didn¡¯t think the sunlight was too bright, and quietly gazed at the bright light. The golden light looked like his good friend¡¯s hair. He murmured unconsciously, ¡°The sun shines on me all the time, but when have I ever thanked you?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Qiusi.¡±

 Volume 9, 2: Meinan and Purity

    Volume 9, Chapter 2: Meinan and Purity


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Did you find Liola and others?¡± Meinan held the communication Maxun and asked anxiously. It¡¯s been more than a month since Liola and others had gone missing, but there was still no sign of them. Meinan and Purity were both going crazy.


    But the other side of the Maxun, someone asked the same question with the same anxious tone. Both sides were silent for a while, and their disappointment could be sensed by one another without seeing their faces.


    Meinan forced a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Perhaps they were afraid the Dragon Emperor would find them, so they hid themselves. No news is good news.¡±


    A faint cry could be heard from the other side of the communication Maxun. Unlike his usual self, Meinan did not continue comfort, but instead changed topics, ¡°I plan to actually seriously learn protective shield from my dad.¡±


    ¡°No matter where they are, they will be back one day.¡± Meinan looked at the night sky out the window and declared, as if he was both motivating himself and forcing himself, ¡°I hope the next time we fight together, I wouldn¡¯t become a burden.¡±


    Suddenly, Meinan took the Maxun away from his ears, but he was too late. His ears felt as if they had just heard a bomb explode, and all he could hear now was ringing in his ear. When Meinan finally recovered his hearing, the only thing he could hear from the communication Maxun was a busy tone.


    Meinan looked at the communication Maxun and laughed wryly, ¡°Looks like I better work harder, otherwise I will be the only burden.¡±


    ¡°I really have to go find my father.¡±


    Meinan looked a bit uneasy. Because Liola and others¡¯ escape, both he and Purity returned to their homes, so the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t cause them trouble, but even though they were living in the same house, Meinan had barely talked to his father each day. On one hand, Qiusi had been indeed busy; on the other hand, Meinan was purposely avoiding his father.


    ¡°Sigh.¡± Meinan looked depressed. In the end, he still had to go to his father.


    ¡°Why are you sighing, baby?¡±


    Goosebumps crept onto Meinan¡¯s back. The only person who would call him in such a disgusting manner was none other than his father. His father always called him ¡°baby¡±, and his mother got the nickname ¡°little dear¡± instead. What was different was that, every time Meinan heard his nickname he got goosebumps, but his mother seemed to be affectionate to her nickname, and would often return it with a ¡°little Qiuqiu¡±, then the two would get all lovey-dovey.


    This would often result in their child yelling on the side, ¡°This is ridiculous! If you two wanted to be affectionate to each other, why the hell are you two in my room?!¡±


    That¡¯s right! These two strange parents seemed to have a fetish of being watched. They always purposely ran in front of Meinan to be lovey-dovey. Even if Meinan would move, as soon as his butt leaves a chair, the other two would move their bodies to follow. In any case, they always threw themselves at each other in front of their son.


    ¡°Qiusi! Ally! If you two keep following me, I will, I will¡­¡± The young Meinan gritted his teeth. Even though it was his parents in front of him, but if they couldn¡¯t even act like parents, Meinan naturally didn¡¯t respect them much, and therefore always called them by their names.


    ¡°You will what? Baby.¡± Qiusi asked with a smile, while running his hands through his son¡¯s golden hair.


    If he could kill people with his eyes, Meinan must¡¯ve killed his father many times. Unfortunately, not only could his eyes not kill people, even if his eyes were more powerful than cannon balls, Qiusi wouldn¡¯t care. His ancestral protective shield wasn¡¯t a joke. Qiusi might not be good at anything else, but if his defensive capability was second, no one would be first.


    Ally burst into a smile, ¡°Okay, stop playing with your son. If you keep going, he might get mad again. Did you forget the time he got really angry and refused to eat?¡±


    As soon as he heard his wife, Qiusi sported a ¡°please don¡¯t¡± look, and hurriedly turn around while saying with concern, ¡°Fine, fine, fine, I won¡¯t mess with you anymore. Baby, please don¡¯t get hungry.¡±


    After the daily father-and-son ¡°tease¡±, Ally would always pinch Meinan¡¯s face, disregarding the teenager Meinan¡¯s protest. She would definitely kiss him on the forehead for good night, then walk away with Qiusi unwillingly.


    ¡°Ally¡­¡±


    Meinan unconsciously touched his forehead, and woke up from his flashbacks. Seeing Qiusi¡¯s face almost next to him, Meinan reflexively swung his right fist, and created a beautifully colored, perfectly circular black circle on Qiusi¡¯s right eye.


    ¡°You hit me¡­¡± Qiusi crouched pitifully in a corner, occasionally throwing a sad look towards him.


    Although his father hadn¡¯t made a bit of progress for such a long time, Meinan did not do what he usually would have done: go up to father and add a few more footprints to his face.


    Meinan unusually requested solemnly, ¡°Father, I want to learn as much about protective shield as possible.¡±


    Hearing what Meinan said, Qiusi paused briefly. He scratched his head and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t I already teach you? After that, all you need is to practice over time¡­¡±


    ¡°According to what principal Barbalis said¡­¡± Meinan forcefully interrupted Qiusi, ¡°Father, when you were my age, you had already been the member of something like ¡®Aklan Crazy Four¡¯.¡±


    Hearing this, Qiusi¡¯s smile disappeared, and a stunned look replaced it. The father and son looked at one another quietly for a long while, until Qiusi grunted, ¡°How much had Barbalis told you?¡±


    Meinan finally saw his father being serious, and said with a more relaxed tone, ¡°Pretty much everything. What the Crazy Four had done, Susanna was the Dragon Queen, and Gle was also one of them. Finally, the eldest Prince had a prophecy that the Dragon Emperor would be killed by his own son.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s quite honest.¡± Qiusi narrowed his eyes dangerously.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Meinan was suddenly infuriated. How much had his own father hide from him? Meinan suddenly remembered when his mother had been killed, Qiusi had a strange reaction.


    He said without thinking, ¡°What exactly happened with Ally? Why did you get so familiar with the Six Forbidden Sins who killed her?¡±


    Facing Meinan¡¯s questions, Qiusi looked at him hesitantly, as if he was trying to form the words he was about to say. Under Meinan¡¯s glare, Qiusi sighed, and sat down as if he was exhausted.


    ¡°Ally¡¯s true murderer was not the Six Forbidden Sins.¡±


    After remaining silent for a long time, Qiusi finally said something. This made Meinan widen his eyes, and asked with a stutter, ¡°B-but, weren¡¯t you the one who said the Six Forbidden Sins killed Ally?¡±


    ¡°What can I do other than saying that?¡± Qiusi asked in return, ¡°Could I really say this was all a part of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s conspiracy?¡±


    ¡°Dragon Emperor?¡± Meinan froze completely. How did this involve Dragon Emperor too?


    Ignoring Meinan¡¯s surprise, Qiusi turned around, and slowly said with a calm voice, ¡°Looks like Barbalis didn¡¯t tell you the whole story. Gle was framed by the Dragon Emperor to become the devil, did you know?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Meinan answered in a shock. He thought his father was good friends with Gle before Gle changed.


    Qiusi¡¯s figure looked lonely, but his tone was filled with laughter, ¡°Even though that guy did have quite the potential to be a devil, but he really didn¡¯t care much about his social status. To him, instead of oppressing people with a fake title, wouldn¡¯t it better to swing a magic spell at them instead?¡±


    Meinan frowned, ¡°Perhaps he didn¡¯t care about titles and status before, then he ran into something, and began to care¡­¡±


    Qiusi laughed vaguely, ¡°It¡¯s possible, that guy had always done things in the spur of the moment. However, what you said was impossible. At the time, he was extremely busy. If it weren¡¯t so, he wouldn¡¯t have been so oblivious to everything that had happened. He didn¡¯t notice it until the rumors of the devil had practically became the truth.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, you wouldn¡¯t believe what it was that made him so busy that he didn¡¯t even know he had become the devil.¡±


    Qiusi laughed, but it wasn¡¯t a warm laugh like usual, but instead with a wry tone, ¡°He had already married by then, but he loved the most beautiful lady at the time, Maylee. His wife found out about his adultery, and kicked him out of the house. So he continued to court Maylee while trying to beg his wife to let him back in his house¡­ Haha, he was a guy who deserved quite a beating.¡±


    Qiusi laughed for a while, then gradually stopped, and he fell into silence. Meinan would rather stay in the silence than to hear his father laugh in such a manner again. The laughter sounded too bleak, and it would make his heart colder than the sound of crying.


    ¡°I think you know about what happened next, which was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s crusade against the ¡®devil¡¯, and expose the devil¡¯s intent to destroy the whole world.¡±


    Qiusi remained quiet for a while, then explained with an emphasis, ¡°You know, he wouldn¡¯t want to destroy this world; whether it be for his wife, for his daughter, for his lover Maylee, or for companions like us, Gle would never even have the thought of destroying the world.¡±


    As if he was proving he believed Qiusi¡¯s story, Meinan solemnly nodded.


    ¡°Finally, Gle lost. He wasn¡¯t one to stand up against such conspiracy.¡±


    ¡°He died?¡± Meinan asked with a bit of sadness. He finally understood now, the friendship between the Aklan Crazy Four was no different than the friendship of the Troublemaking Squad now.


    ¡°No. Barbalis, Mizerui, and Maylee saved him by sending him to another world to take refuge.¡± Qiusi seemed to be sighing in relief knowing his good friend had lived.


    Hearing this, Meinan suddenly straightened his back and interrogated, ¡°You didn¡¯t go save him?¡±


    Qiusi acted as if he didn¡¯t expect such a question; his back froze, and he remained silent for a long time before he opened his mouth bitterly,


    ¡°Whether or not you believe me, I couldn¡¯t go save him. My protective shield is far too unique. The moment people see me use it, they would recognize I¡¯m Qiusi, but in order to protect others, I must not be recognized. Although we had already graduated for a long time, and not many people knew of the Aklan Crazy Four anymore, the Dragon Emperor knew, and he will think of ways to get rid of people who knew the truth like us.¡±


    ¡°At the time, Barbalis still wasn¡¯t Aklan¡¯s principal. Out of all of us, I held the highest position. Other than me, no one could shelter Barbalis, Maylee, and Gle¡¯s wife and daughter.¡±


    ¡°At the time, to protect my companions, I had to stabilize the entire Aklan. Later on, I realized the reason why the Dragon Emperor wanted to frame Gle ¡ª he wanted to conquer the entire world!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Meinan widened his eyes and dropped his jaws. Conquering the world¡­ this reason sounded completely ridiculous.


    ¡°Ridiculous, isn¡¯t it? When I first began the investigation, I was skeptical for a long time too, but now I¡¯m about 100 percent certain.¡± Qiusi¡¯s tone sounded helpless.


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor has been using the same move over and over. He had originally wanted to frame Gladiolus of the Six Forbidden Sins to be the second devil. To affect my judgment, he purposely entrusted Gladiolus to kill Ally.¡±


    Hearing Ally¡¯s name, Meinan¡¯s body froze.


    ¡°Ally did indeed die in the hands of Gladiolus, but he wasn¡¯t the true murderer, because that person is the Dragon Emperor!¡± Qiusi¡¯s back shook, and his tone was so cold. Meinan had never heard him like this before.


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor framed Gle, killed Ally, and even Susanna ended up¡­ For as long as I live, I will never let the Dragon Emperor harm anyone else close to me! Never!¡±


    Seeing Qiusi¡¯s enraged figure, Meinan finally understood why his father had his back to him; it was because he knew he couldn¡¯t hold back the emotions on his face, and as a father, he probably didn¡¯t want his child to see his weak side.


    ¡°Me, too, Qiusi.¡± Meinan said firmly, ¡°I also will never let anyone harm my companions, so please allow me to learn the true protective shield.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t called me Qiusi in a long time. I¡¯m actually not used to you calling me ¡®father¡¯.¡± Qiusi¡¯s tone seemed a bit comforted.


    He sighed, ¡°I originally didn¡¯t want to involve you in all this, but who knew you found Kaiser and Liola yourself.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser is Gle¡¯s descendant.¡± Meinan suddenly wanted to laugh. Could the Troublemaking Squad be the successor to Aklan¡¯s Crazy Four?


    ¡°And Liola is Susanna¡¯s son, if Barbalis and I guessed correctly.¡± Qiusi shrugged.


    ¡®Susanna? Wasn¡¯t that the Dragon Queen¡¯s name? If Liola was the Dragon Queen¡¯s son, doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡¯


    Meinan tilted his head for a moment, then murmured, ¡°Then could Liola be¡­¡±


    ¡°Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, that¡¯s right.¡± Qiusi answered casually, ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what the deal with Anise is, Liola should be the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, otherwise the Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t have tried to kill him again and again. Plus, when he was crossdressing, he looked practically identical to Susanna.¡±


    Meinan¡¯s head was in a mess. Things have already gotten more complex than he had imagined: Kaiser was Gle¡¯s descendant, Liola was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, and himself¡­ was Qiusi¡¯s son. Aklan Troublemaking Squad was practically the group that would go head-to-head with the Dragon Emperor.


    Meinan suddenly jumped out and, without caring whether Qiusi was trying to uphold a father¡¯s dignity, forcefully turned him around by the shoulders, then yelled loudly, ¡°Hurry and teach me the real protective shield! Otherwise we¡¯ll all be dead.¡±


    Seeing his son so emotional, Qiusi felt as if he had seen the Crazy Four back then. He felt comforted yet helpless, and said, ¡°Understood, baby.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Meinan! Did you find Liola-dage and others?¡± Purity asked anxiously, but when she heard the same question coming from the other side, she immediately knew Meinan didn¡¯t find them either. Purity¡¯s lips were trembling, and the silence continued.


    A few more comforting things came out of the communication Maxun, but Purity could not feel even slightly relieved. It was her who opened the black hole and sent them away.


    ¡®Could they really be sent to somewhere really, really far away? Or perhaps they were torn into pieces by the black hole¡­ No!¡¯ Purity forcefully covered her own ears.


    Even with her ears covered, she could still hear Meinan¡¯s voice. About not wanting to be a burden¡­


    Purity suddenly raised her head. ¡®Right! Liola-dage is so strong, Kaiser has tons of sinister plans, and Daylight isn¡¯t a weakling. Nothing bad could happen to them!¡¯


    ¡®I have to wait for them to come back¡­¡¯ Purity held her fist, and yelled loudly into the Maxun, ¡°Purity will definitely become strong and an useful companion, and never a burden!¡±


    As soon as she finished yelling, Purity slammed down the communication Maxun. ¡®Now, I must go find mama!¡¯


    Purity turned around, and suddenly realized a person was standing behind her. She was so shocked that she took several steps back, only then did she realize who the person was.


    She patted her chest, and complained, ¡°Feir-dage, why are you standing behind me? And you didn¡¯t make any sound, you almost scared me to death.¡±


    Feir smiled helplessly, ¡°You were talking to someone, and I can¡¯t just interrupt you, right?¡±


    After explaining, he asked curiously, ¡°Were you talking to Meinan? Why did you look so emotional?¡±


    Determination was on Purity¡¯s face, ¡°Meinan said, he wanted to improve his protective shield and wait for Liola and others¡¯ return. Purity also decided to understand Mechas better, so I¡¯m going to go find mama to help me assemble the best Mecha.¡±


    ¡°Ambitious! You are definitely my sister.¡± Feir gently touched his sister¡¯s head.


    Purity smiled with a slight blush. She then parted from her brother, planning to go find her mom.


    ¡°Purity.¡± Feir called out, ¡°Where did Liola and others go exactly? Do we need to go visit them? Or perhaps bring some resources to them?¡±


    Purity replied with a bit of sadness, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, and Meinan couldn¡¯t find them either.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is quite worrying.¡± Feir frowned, ¡°When I have time, I will help you look for them. If you have any news about them, tell me as soon as possible.¡±


    Purity smiled brightly, and kissed her brother on the face, ¡°Thank you, Feir-dage.¡±


    Feir smiled as he looked at his sister anxiously running off to find their mother. He took up the communication Maxun, thought about something briefly, then dialed a number.


    * * *


    Purity ran through a long hallway. As she ran, automatic doors open one after another; after she passed them, they all closed automatically. There were also many people strolling along the hallway, and they were all wearing short-sleeved military uniform fit for moving around. The colors of their uniform were always either blue, red, or yellow. Out of the three colors, most uniforms were blue, and least were red.


    Everything in the visible radius were made out of synthetic alloy, and everything seemed to be automatically controlled by Maxuns. Purity rushed into an elevator, and it was already full of people. However, as the indicator for the current floor lowered, more and more people left the elevator, until after a ¡°ding¡±, it displayed ¡°Floor B205.¡±


    The only few left in the elevator were Purity and two men wearing red military uniforms. At this time, all three of them stepped out, and the other two looked curiously at Purity and said, ¡°Purity? Didn¡¯t you aspire to be the beautiful Sorceress next to a Knight? Why are you here in the Mecha Development Department?¡±


    ¡°What? Could you be heartbroken, and decided to drive a Mecha to teach a Knight a lesson?¡±


    ¡°O-of course not.¡± Purity refuted with a pout.


    The two men burst into laughter, and one of them said while thumping his chest, ¡°What do you think? Mecha Fighters are better, right? What are Knights, anyways? Purity, if you give up on those soft-footed shrimps they call Knights, I will definitely introduce you to a handsome and strong Mecha Fighter.¡±


    ¡°Knights aren¡¯t soft-footed shrimps! I¡¯ve met with very good Knights: Jasmine is a good Knight, and so is Lanski.¡± Purity protested loudly.


    ¡°Jasmine? Lanski?¡± The two men glanced at one another, and showed a smile only men could understand, ¡°I can¡¯t deny that female Knights are indeed not bad, hehehe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean, male Knights are good too!¡± A warm and sincere smile flashed across Purity¡¯s mind.


    She said without thinking, ¡°Daylight is a very, very good male Knight. He¡¯s handsome, kind, and gentle. He always cares about his companions. If there¡¯s any danger, he¡¯s always in front of me¡­ his companions.¡±


    As she spoke, the two men¡¯s smile became more and more ambiguous, while Purity¡¯s voice shrank more and more. Even though she didn¡¯t know what she did wrong, but she felt shy, and her face blushed to a fiery red.


    When Purity finally couldn¡¯t continue, the two men burst into laughter, while one of them patted Purity¡¯s head and said, ¡°Fine, fine, we will stop criticizing your Sir Daylight. Just remember to bring him here so we can ¡®appraise¡¯ him, I don¡¯t want our princess Purity marrying a bad Knight.¡±


    Purity froze in shock. What did they mean, her Sir Daylight, or marrying Daylight?


    ¡°Purity is marrying who? Who did you say my precious daughter is marrying?¡±


    The three of them raised their head to look, and saw the Red Commander walking their way, with an obviously nervous look on her face. The two male Mecha Fighters glanced at each other, then ran away with a laugh, leaving behind a confused Red Commander and a blushing Purity.


    ¡°Baby, who are you marrying? Has mommy seen him before?¡± The Red Commander asked seriously, and without even waiting for her daughter to answer, she had a worried look while murmuring something about how a parent shouldn¡¯t keep their grown daughter.


    Purity anxiously denied, ¡°No, mommy, I¡¯m not marrying anyone, they were just being ridiculous.¡±


    The Red Commander seemed even more worried, ¡°What? You¡¯re not marrying? I thought I let you go out to find a Knight? What about that guy last time, what¡¯s his name? The boy with blue hair and always smiling? He even danced with you, and he seemed like a nice guy. You don¡¯t like him?¡±


    ¡°Mommy!¡± Purity was angry and her face became even redder.


    Seeing her daughter on the verge of turning hostile, the Red Commander coughed twice, and changed her demeanor from a neurotic mother who feared she couldn¡¯t marry her daughter off to a responsible commander.


    ¡°Why did you suddenly come find mommy? You¡¯ve already been back to the Commerce Alliance for a whole month, and you¡¯re only saying hello to mommy now?¡± Although her face remained solemn, one could hear the jealous tone in the Red Commander¡¯s voice.


    Purity touched her head with embarrassment. Since she¡¯s been back, on one hand she had been trying to avoid the Dragon Emperor, and on the other, she feared Liola and others might have been transported into the Commerce Alliance. Therefore, as soon as she got back, Purity was busy running everywhere trying to see if Liola and others were here, which lead to the Red Commander missing her every time she went to her room.


    ¡°Sorry, mommy, Purity is just too worried about Liola-dage and others.¡± Purity acted like a baby as she explained; she knew her mother couldn¡¯t stay angry at her acting as such.


    Of course, the Red Commander already knew of this, so she didn¡¯t really make a fuss to her daughter. All she did was dearly pinched her daughter¡¯s thinning chin, and reminded her, ¡°Mommy knows you¡¯re worried. But even if you¡¯re searching for them, you still have to mind your health. Your companions wouldn¡¯t want to come back and see a sick Purity, would they?¡±


    Seeing her mother worrying about her, Purity nodded like a well-behaved child. She then remembered the reason why she¡¯s looking for her mother; she suddenly yelled, ¡°Ah! Mommy, I want a set of very, very powerful Mecha!¡±


    The Red Commander was shocked at first, then she looked deeply at her daughter. She asked solemnly, ¡°Why? Didn¡¯t you want to become a Sorcerer?¡±


    ¡°Mommy, Purity didn¡¯t really want to be a Sorcerer. J-just that, if Purity didn¡¯t say so, you wouldn¡¯t have allowed Purity to go to Aklan Academy.¡±


    Purity flinched as she explained, but as she saw that the Red Commander was not angry, she became braver, and said firmly, ¡°But it¡¯s different now. Liola-dage and others are in a dangerous predicament, and Purity doesn¡¯t want to be a burden. I want to help Liola-dage, and I a-also want to become their real companion!¡±


    ¡°I would be happy to be the Sorceress protected by the Knight, but¡­¡± Purity raised her head, and her black iris were shimmering with strength and independence, ¡°But Purity really really likes my current companions, and I want to protect them with my hands, just like how they have always protected me.¡±


    The Red Commander burst out laughing, ¡°In other words, you want to be the one to protect your Knight?¡±


    Purity blinked her eyes and, for some reason, a strange scene came up in her mind: Daylight was lying weakly on the ground, and Purity was, without any hesitation, standing in front of him. Daylight was screaming behind her, ¡°Leave me here, and run¡­¡± No! Such a terrifying scene! Purity almost wanted to cry as she tries to wipe away this thought from her mind.


    ¡°What is this little girl fantasizing about now?¡± The Red Commander murmured, then habitually grabbed her own daughter by the back collar. Usually, when she begins fantasizing, even if the world fell around her, she wouldn¡¯t wake up from it.


    Purity fantasized Daylight with an apron cooking in the kitchen, while she returned home tired, dressed in a military uniform. Daylight would walk to her with a warm welcome, tell her he had prepared a bath for her, and also he cooked her favorite food ¡ª roasted duck¡­ ¡®Oh oh oh! This was quite a good feeling.¡¯ Purity seemed to be drenched in happiness.


    ¡°Purity! Purity!¡± The Red Commander called again and again futilely. Without any other options, she yelled loudly, ¡°Crap! Your Liola-dage is being chopped into pieces!¡±


    ¡°What! Who dares to bully Liola-dage?!¡±


    Purity suddenly jumped up, and looked around her. Of course, Liola was nowhere to be found, but in the broad factory room, an angel-shaped Mecha was standing upright.


    Unlike the white one, this angel-shaped Mecha was completely black and even the wings on its back was covered in a shiny black paint. A few simple lines with a golden color ran down the Mecha¡¯s forehead to its chest, waist, and hands. Other than black and gold, the only other color seen on the Mecha was the sword on its waist. The Mecha¡¯s size was comparable to the enlarged Baolilong: other than the wings, about a dozen meters high.


    ¡°S-so pretty¡­¡± Purity covered her mouth. She was moved to tears; she had never seen such a beautiful Mecha.


    ¡°The only rank-X Mecha in the Fallen Angel series, Dark Lucifer.¡± The Red Commander proudly introduced one of her best works as she turned to face her daughter.


    ¡°Rank-X Mecha?¡± Purity¡¯s jaws dropped. Weren¡¯t there only three rank-X Mechas in the world?


    ¡°Mhm.¡± The Red Commander looked warmly at her daughter, and her eyes seemed prouder than when she was looking at Dark Lucifer.


    ¡°Purity, you are the best genius Mecha Fighter I¡¯ve seen. Other than a rank-X Mecha, what else could possibly suit you? When you passed the most advanced level of Mecha controls at the age of fourteen, mommy had already began designing Dark Lucifer.¡±


    ¡°Mommy¡­¡± Purity was moved as she ran into her mother¡¯s arms. She sworn with determination, ¡°Purity will definitely use Dark Lucifer to protect all my companions.¡±

 Volume 9, 3: The Return

    Volume 9, Chapter 3: The Return


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    The once blue skies were now covered in smog, and the dark and damp skies did not produce any rain, however, the air felt almost suffocating, and the whole atmosphere felt oppressive to anyone in it. If anyone was there, they would not be able to handle it and would want to run away.


    However, this was a place where few would venture; Yaron Plains was never a good place for tourism. The plains, rated as rank-A on the danger scale, had nothing precious other than Lesser Dragons. Perhaps only principal Barbalis would be so bored as to send his own students there.


    And the situation had worsened now. More than a year ago, Miluo set this place as his base, and mustered many species of Lesser Dragons and successfully conquered Freesia. The dangerous Lesser Dragons had congregated north of the Aklan Continent, and had a stand-off against the people to the south. The thousands of miles around the location were even more sparsely populated. If any person was found in this location, they must be a scout sent to survey the area.


    At the place where all types of Dragons converged, a small figure flew around in the air. Judging by its size, it was not a flying species of Lesser Dragons. He quietly stopped mid-air, as if he was waiting for something.


    ¡­ Until a noises could be heard from afar. The figure, at first, seemed to be on guard as he observed the approaching people. As soon as he saw the man and woman flying towards him, his straightened back seemed a bit relaxed, and he quietly waited them to reach him.


    ¡°What are you doing, let me go.¡±


    The woman¡¯s originally charming voice was now flustered and exasperated. If one were to look closely, the other man wore a black Knight uniform, and the mount under him was a giant eagle. The woman was lying across on the eagle, and her fiery red hair had been messed up. No wonder her tone was rather rough.


    The man riding the eagle ignored the woman, and flew to the man who was waiting. He let the giant eagle circle around in the air, and after checking out the situation below, the man also took a deep breath.


    Yaron Plains had always been the place with the highest concentration of Lesser Dragons, but it had never been like this before: the whole plain was covered densely with Lesser Dragons, and they were orderly. Different species of Lesser Dragons were together, all quietly lying down at the place designated for their species.


    ¡°This looks serious, Mizerui.¡± The man in Black Knight uniform observed for a while, then flew back to the man, and said with a heavy tone.


    ¡°When has the Dragon Emperor done anything that isn¡¯t serious?¡± Mizerui answered with a still relaxed tone. At the moment, he didn¡¯t seem to mind the Lesser Dragons below them. Instead, his attention was on the girl lying on the eagle. He raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you really could find her. Is this an instinct between Assassins? Gladiolus.¡±


    Gladiolus didn¡¯t answer Mizerui¡¯s question, and instead asked his own, ¡°Is she actually useful? You told me to find her as soon as possible, aren¡¯t you being too cautious?¡±


    Mizerui smiled, and just as he was about to explain, the woman began to yell loudly, ¡°Hey! You guys are going too far! I didn¡¯t do anything, so why did you kidnap me here? Don¡¯t think you can just bully a woman.¡±


    Seeing the woman¡¯s stubborn expression, Mizerui answered calmly, ¡°Please don¡¯t say that. How could I possibly dare to bully you? Even if I¡¯m not afraid of you, I¡¯m afraid of the person behind you.¡±


    The woman paused, and asked skeptically, ¡°The person behind me? You mean my master, Liola?¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s smile was even more mysterious. He swung his index finger and said, ¡°No, no, no, why would I be afraid of Liola. Compared to him, I¡¯m more afraid of you, Yasha. After all, the person raised you, but you didn¡¯t become a peerless master, which means he must have cared deeply for you.¡±


    Yasha¡¯s beautiful green eyes were filled with doubt, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Mizerui smiled, but did not explain further.


    ¡°Even if she¡¯s really that person¡¯s daughter, why did you ask me to bring her here to Yaron Plains?¡± Gladiolus asked with confusion.


    Mizerui pointed below and said, ¡°You know, Gladiolus, you almost exchanged your current place with Miluo.¡±


    Gladiolus remained silent for a while, and said, ¡°I know, Qiusi was indeed terrific.¡±


    Back then, the gold-haired man with bloodied eyes charged into the Dark Street, and he looked like he would even kill a God if he were to run into one. Unbelievably, he was able to control his rage, and listened to Gladiolus¡¯ explanation even he himself couldn¡¯t believe. He told Qiusi he didn¡¯t know why he would crazily accept the request to assassinate the Prime Minister¡¯s wife. The only thing he saw was a man in black robe, without even seeing his face, then drowsily executed the mission.


    After Qiusi finished listening to his story, he was in a daze for a long, long time. Finally, he told Gladiolus the truth between Dragon Emperor and Gle. At the same time, he told Gladiolus, the person in black robe was probably the Dragon Emperor, and as for his drowsiness, he might have been hypnotized.


    Gladiolus wasn¡¯t an idiot, and he did not immediately believe what Qiusi said. But the bad happenings to the Six Forbidden Sins gave Gladiolus have no choice but begin to believe what Qiusi said, about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s plan to frame him as the second devil. With Qiusi¡¯s intervention, Gladiolus finally escaped the fate of being the devil, and because of it, he secretly helped Qiusi when he could.


    ¡°As long as we could wake Miluo up, Dragon Emperor¡¯s conspiracy will fail again this time. But


    I could only think of two ways to wake Miluo up: one, Gle could break the hypnosis himself, and the other is the Dragon Cross Necklace.¡±


    Mizerui cleared his throat, and pointed at Yasha as he said, ¡°Barbalis and I both believe, Liola is Gle¡¯s apprentice, and Yasha is Gle¡¯s daughter.¡±


    Gladiolus looked somewhat unbelievably at Yasha. According to what he saw, Liola and Yasha did not seem like the same person¡¯s apprentice and daughter. The two¡¯s powers had nothing in common, not to mention they weren¡¯t even on the same level.


    ¡°How did you know? Gladiolus asked skeptically.


    ¡°I saw it myself¡­¡± Mizerui suddenly stopped mid-sentence, then corrected himself, ¡°No, the eldest Prince Mocha said so.¡±


    Gladiolus looked at Mizerui strangely, and he could tell Mizerui was hiding something. But he had no plan to pry. After all, everyone had something they didn¡¯t want to say. If it¡¯s something Mizerui didn¡¯t want to say, no one could force him to do so.


    Yasha couldn¡¯t help but asked, ¡°What are you saying exactly? Where is my master? Didn¡¯t you say he¡¯s going to be here?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll be here soon.¡± Mizerui smiled.


    He glanced around him, and he did indeed see doubt growing in Gladiolus¡¯ eyes. To prevent him from being unhappy or skeptical, Mizerui decided to start explaining.


    ¡°Since Gle cared deeply for Yasha, he wouldn¡¯t leave his daughter here without doing something about it. The dimensional door will likely open near her, and the magic power required to open such a portal will be immense, so the Dragon Emperor will likely notice it. Instead of having the dimensional door open in Aklan Republic and give the Dragon Emperor an excuse to attack, it¡¯s better to do it at Yaron plains, because we can then take the Dragon Cross Necklace directly to Miluo, or¡­ if Gle would be willing to help us, it would be even better.¡±


    Gladiolus suddenly understood. His instincts told him, however, Mizerui seemed to be leaning more on taking the necklace Miluo, as if he already knew Gle wouldn¡¯t help them.


    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Mizerui¡¯s blue eyes flashed.


    As soon as Mizerui finished talking, Gladiolus also felt the terrifying magic power. He felt an oppressive force on his mind, and he couldn¡¯t even believe that this amount of power came from a single person. When he was born, Gle was already ¡°not in this world¡±, so he had never seen the power of the legendary devil.


    The terrifying power to split open time and space¡­ could it be devil Gle? Gladiolus opened his eyes widely. A thin crack appeared in the air, and the magic seeping through the crack became even larger. Gladiolus felt like he was practically a small fish struggling in a violent hurricane. His giant eagle also became troubled by the force, and it was struggling to keep still in the air.


    The crack gradually grew larger. Starting from a thin crack, it slowly turned into a circle large enough for several people to pass through. The scenery seen through the circle was also drastically different from Yaron Plains: it was a cliff, under the cold moonlight.


    A few people stood on the other side, and Gladiolus had seen practically all of them; it was the so-called Aklan Troublemaking Squad, a bunch of students who would dare to charge into Dark Street just to save a person. A person stood in front of the rest, one who, out of 10 people who see him, 9.9 would sigh as they claim he was yet another spoiled rich brat.


    Gladiolus looked strangely. This arrogant young man was Gle?


    The man frowned, and examined the person on the other side, then said with disgust, ¡°Your robe is ridiculously ugly.¡±


    Probably because he didn¡¯t expect Gle to criticize his robe after not seeing for so long, Mizerui laughed helplessly, ¡°Long time no see, dad.¡±


    When everyone else was shocked by this ¡°dad¡±, Gle acted like an infuriated cat. He yelled loudly, ¡°Who the hell is your father?! Call me ¡®master¡¯!¡±


    Mizerui shrugged, ¡°I like calling you dad. If you don¡¯t like it, come beat me up?¡±


    Gle narrowed his eyes dangerously, and suddenly magic power rushed through the air. The ordinarily magic power that had no shape a form began to concentrate, and everyone present who knew about the forces of magic began to yell in surprise, ¡°My god! Magic power actually materializing, what kind of power compression is this?¡±


    At first, Gladiolus was trying to decide whether he should run for his life, but the magic power¡¯s shape was beginning to look like, like¡­ Before he was ready to admit what it looked like, the materialized magic power hit Mizerui so hard in the head like a hand cracking a chestnut, and hit him right out of the air.


    Indeed, it was a giant fist¡­ no, now it turned into a palm, and it headed straight for Gladiolus. Gladiolus only had time to drop his jaws before he was slapped by the palm and flew off, streaking through the air like a falling star.


    At this time, the palm turned back into a fist, but with an enchanting beauty in it. The girl¡¯s burst into tears and yelled, ¡°Father! Father!¡±


    Hearing his daughter¡¯s cries, Gle¡¯s face had gone a bit softer. The fist gently brought Yasha to Gle, and she ran into her father¡¯s arms. She cried, ¡°I thought I was never going to see you again.¡±


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Gle patted his daughter¡¯s head, and blamed her quietly, ¡°I told you not to chase Li, but you did it regardless.¡±


    As he mentioned Liola, Yasha raised her head, and looked at the emotionless Liola standing on the side. She twisted a bit and then left her father¡¯s arms. She walked slowly to Liola and, as she had done before, called him unwillingly, ¡°Master.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Liola grunted back uncaringly.


    Hearing Liola¡¯s cold voice, Yasha looked a bit dissatisfied. She then asked, ¡°Master, do you need apprentice to stay and help you?¡±


    Liola turned around to look at Yasha, but this look stupefied Yasha. ¡®Is¡­ this my master? The same emotionless and empty-eyed master?¡¯


    Even though Liola¡¯s expression still looked cold, but for someone who had spent time with Liola, this Assassin was far warmer than before, and his silver eyes looked no longer empty; they looked like it was filled with a bit of anger and a bit of emotions.


    Seeing Liola like this made Yasha felt unfamiliar, and very disappointed. She had always wanted to break Liola¡¯s icy cold expressions and feelings, but now Liola had really melted, yet not in her hands, she felt very discouraged. It was as if the goal she had worked her whole life for had been achieved by someone else, and now everything she had done was meaningless.


    Liola thought it was strange. He hadn¡¯t even answered Yasha¡¯s question, and she had already looked depressed. Could she have already guessed he wouldn¡¯t want her to stay?


    Liola frowned and said, ¡°Up to you.¡±


    Yasha gave Liola a complicated look and returned to standing beside Gle, without saying anything else.


    In Kaiser and Daylight¡¯s eyes, this scene was unspeakably strange. Liola was obviously scared of Gle, but he didn¡¯t seem to be scared of offending Gle¡¯s precious daughter. Even Gle didn¡¯t seem to look dissatisfied despite how she acted as if she had been offended.


    ¡°Is this what they mean by there¡¯s always a thing that conquers another?¡± Kaiser asked strangely.


    ¡°No, my master is just maintaining the rule of respecting the master. Since Yasha acknowledged Li as her master, she should fulfil her responsibilities as an apprentice.¡±


    Mizerui slowly floated back in the air as he explained. He changed his name for Gle from ¡°dad¡± back to ¡°master¡±, because he didn¡¯t want another taste of the magic fist again.


    ¡°Strange people being stubborn in strange things¡­¡± Kaiser murmured, but there was something he was even more curious about. He asked, ¡°Mizerui, why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to pick you guys up.¡± Mizerui replied with a smile, ¡°And see my master, whom I haven¡¯t seen for a long time.¡±


    Gle glanced at Mizerui, and said, ¡°The dimensional door will only stay open for three more minutes, so say what you will. Those people who should leave better go.¡± The last sentence was directed at the Aklan Troublemaking Squad, who were standing there stupidly.


    Hearing there¡¯s only three minutes left, Liola and Daylight looked at one another, then they asked their two dragons to fly over, the three jumped onto the Dragon¡¯s back.


    Mizerui looked at Gle standing still, while the seconds passed by, until the last minute, when he finally sighed and said, ¡°Master, are you not coming back?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m used to staying over here.¡± Gle said lightly.


    Although he had already known Gle¡¯s decision, Mizerui couldn¡¯t help but add, ¡°Dragon Emperor has the desire to conquer the world again, master, don¡¯t you plan on stopping him?¡±


    Gle looked at him uncaringly, ¡°Not interested.¡±


    Of course¡­ Mizerui thought bitterly to himself, but he still asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°What does him wanting to conquer the world have to do with me? Even if he did blame the whole thing on me before, who cares what he conquers? Even if he really did conquer the world, maybe this world would be better than it is now.¡± Gle said coldly.


    Mizerui laughed bitterly, ¡°Master, your words are mocking at all of our hard works over the years. Qiusi is now Aklan¡¯s Prime Minister, and we can¡¯t just watch as the Dragon Emperor destroy Aklan.¡±


    Hearing his old friend¡¯s name, Gle¡¯s eyes flashed. This was when the dimensional door started to warp. Seeing the portal closing, Gle sighed, something he had never done before, ¡°It¡¯s been hundreds of years, Mizerui, I don¡¯t belong in that world anymore.¡±


    The dimensional door turned from the circle back into a crack, and slowly closed. Finally, the only thing left behind was Gle¡¯s faint voice, ¡°Tell Qiusi sorry for me¡­¡±


    * * *


    Mizerui stared at the closed dimensional door for a long time. He finally sighed, and then turned back towards Liola and others, with the smile back on his face, ¡°Alright, you guys have been gone for more than a year, so I should tell you about the situation here¡­¡±


    Before Mizerui finished, Kaiser yelled loudly, ¡°Damn!¡±


    Though Daylight and Liola¡¯s reactions weren¡¯t as exaggerated as Kaiser¡¯s, but they gazed at the endless groups of Lesser Dragons underneath. The same thought appeared in both of their minds: what¡¯s under them was a trained army of Lesser Dragons.


    ¡°These must be led by Miluo.¡± Mizerui said calmly, ¡°Being next to Gle for so long, you guys probably know about the truth back then, right? Now there is something important we must do.¡±


    Liola and others looked towards Mizerui, and Kaiser put on a sported face. Though he already knew this might happen, he definitely couldn¡¯t be a couch potato after coming back, but he had never imagined Mizerui would be waiting for them, throwing an ¡°important thing¡± at them right away.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anyone else who could do it? We just got back here. Had I known about this, I wouldn¡¯t have came back.¡± Kaiser complained like he always did.


    Mizerui put his hands down helplessly, ¡°I don¡¯t have any other choice. Liola has the Dragon Cross Necklace, and Baolilong is Liola¡¯s Dragon. These two things are required to wake Miluo.¡±


    ¡°Wake Miluo.¡± As soon as Liola heard, he immediately nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    For things that must be done, Liola had never been the type to procrastinate. He had already promised Anise to save Miluo, plus for Baolilong¡¯s sake, he had already made up his mind about saving Miluo.


    ¡°Liola, aren¡¯t you being a little too easy? At least demand something for your efforts.¡± Kaiser kept on complaining. Working for free was in the top three things Kaiser hated the most.


    ¡°Kaiser, how could you say that? Saving others is something we should all do without seeking a reward. Maintaining righteousness is something every capable person must do¡­¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes at Daylight. Seeing Daylight was about to continue his lecture on righteousness, Kaiser was sitting on the Fire Dragon without anywhere to run, so he began to consider which one was more painful, hearing Daylight¡¯s lecture or riding a roller coaster in the sky on Baolilong¡¯s back.


    Mizerui, on the other hand, was excitedly leading the two Dragons by flying in front of them, while listening to Daylight¡¯s lecture and Kaiser¡¯s moans of pain. After a short while of flying, they saw a familiar figure: a mountain-like black beauty of a Dragon was lying in the center of the army of Lesser Dragons. At this time, they stopped because they realized, unlike other places on the plains, there were a number of flying Dragons circling around Miluo. If they got any closer, they would draw attention from the Dragons.


    ¡°Hmm, someone go distract the Dragons.¡± Kaiser suggested, then immediately said, ¡°Mizerui, you go. You know teleport, so running away shouldn¡¯t be hard.¡±


    Mizerui hesitated at first, but then he thought, Liola must wake Miluo, and Daylight and Kaiser¡¯s strengths were both mediocre. If the Dragons get a hold of them, they may really be in grave in danger. Therefore, he was the best choice. Mizerui nodded.


    Mizerui took out a metallic circle, and it was covered with inscriptions. He gave this metallic plate to Kaiser, and said, ¡°This is a binding magic. You can use it by pouring a bit of your magic power into it. In theory, it should bind the target for half an hour. If it looks like Miluo might break free, then you will have to hold it with your own magic power.¡±


    Kaiser scratched his face, trying to decide whether he should tell Mizerui that Gle did teach him binding magic, but acting on Kaiser¡¯s principle of being as lazy as he possibly could, Kaiser still smiled hideously as he took the binding magic circle.


    Mizerui glanced at Kaiser. Although he knew Kaiser¡¯s smile looked like he meant something, due to time constraints, Mizerui didn¡¯t think anything of it. He turned around and instructed, ¡°Liola, remember, put the Dragon Cross Necklace against Miluo¡¯s forehead, then let Baolilong call him, until he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°As for Daylight,¡± Mizerui said seriously, ¡°You are responsible for taking care of any Dragons who would interfere with Liola. I will do my best to draw them away, but any Dragons slipping through will be up to you.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Daylight nodded seriously.


    Circled by a crowd whose average age hadn¡¯t even reached 25, Mizerui, who had been hundreds of years old, couldn¡¯t help but sigh. If possible, he didn¡¯t want to leave the heavy weight of saving the world on the shoulders of these children, but things can¡¯t just go the way he wanted them to. Mizerui tried to calm his emotions, and said to the others, ¡°I¡¯m going, then, to distract the Dragons.¡±


    Mizerui quickly glided to around Miluo. As soon as the flying Dragons saw the human, they immediately let out loud cries of warning. At this time, the originally quiet Dragons began to act like act explosively. The flying Dragons followed Mizerui like a long tail, and the Dragons on the ground also charged in Mizerui¡¯s direction.


    These noises made Miluo get up, and he looked coldly at the noises. He seemed to be tired of the noise, and he shot out a black laser from his mouth directly at Mizerui, as if he didn¡¯t care how many Lesser Dragons he would kill in the path.


    Liola and others could feel the power and speed of Miluo¡¯s laser from afar. Right as they tried to warn Mizerui, but the laser was already in front of him. Luckily, Mizerui was no ordinary person, and his flying abilities weren¡¯t something a normal Sorcerer could hold a light to. He teleported 3 meters to the side, and barely missed the laser, even though the shot did take a corner of his robe. Since Miluo was about to chase him, Mizerui immediately began to run. If he lured Miluo away, it would have defeated the point.


    Seeing Mizerui flying further and further, Miluo looked at him coldly, and finally lied down, leaving only his Lesser Dragons to chase him.


    At this time, the three people glanced at each other, then charged up without saying anything. Liola was in the lead, and Flames followed right after.


    Liola planned to attract Miluo¡¯s attention, so Kaiser could successfully cast the binding magic. He no longer hid his power, and purposely released his intense power. Surely enough, Miluo immediately opened his eyes, and let out a deep Dragon growl. Its red and cruel Dragon eyes stared right at the intruder.


    As soon as he saw the intruder was riding the symbol of Dragon race¡¯s highest species, Sacred White Dragon, Miluo¡¯s competitive heart made him want to see who¡¯s stronger. He roared into the skies; the sound pierced the skies and shook the earth.


    Though Miluo was trying to provoke its anger, but Baolilong knew this was its father. Instead of falling prey to the provocation and fight with the Black Dragon, it turned to looked at Liola, with a sad look in its eyes.


    Liola patted Baolilong¡¯s neck trying to comfort it, ¡°Your father is being controlled. He¡¯s not doing this on purpose.¡±


    Seeing the Black Dragon staring at Baolilong, and the reason he led was to draw Miluo¡¯s attention, Liola suddenly had a plan. He said to Baolilong, ¡°Can you roar back at your father? So Kaiser and others will have enough time to use the magic.¡±


    Baolilong nodded sensibly. When it turned around, Miluo was still roaring with provocation. Baolilong tried to forget the Dragon in front of its eyes was its father. The roar of the black Dragon continued, and there was no way a Sacred White Dragon could allow a lower species of Dragon to offend it over and over again.


    Baolilong also roared into the sky, and the two loud sounds of Dragon roars made all the Lesser Dragons lay on the ground, terrified for their lives. As a result, this saved Daylight quite some trouble.


    Kaiser now poured some magic power onto the binding magic circle. The two palm-sized metallic plates had, after receiving the power, emitted a faint gold light. Kaiser pointed them at Miluo, and with a flash of his blue eyes, the plates projected a giant pentacle, and locked Miluo¡¯s body tightly inside.


    ¡°Success!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly.


    Miluo finally noticed something was wrong. He struggled desperately, but the giant body could only move slightly, and could not break free. This infuriated Miluo, and his eyes were almost completely red. He was struggling so much that even his scales were trembling.


    ¡°Great, Miluo really can¡¯t move. Kaiser, you¡¯re really powerful.¡± Seeing Kaiser controlled Miluo¡¯s movements, Daylight said with praise.


    ¡°Powerful my butt!¡± Kaiser was a bit panicked. As the only Magician, Kaiser had already felt the formation trembling under Miluo¡¯s struggles. It seemed to him that Mizerui underestimated Miluo, and the binding magic was not enough!


    ¡°Hurry! Take me to Miluo. This binding magic can¡¯t hold on for long.¡±


    Upon hearing the words and seeing Kaiser¡¯s panicked expression, Daylight realized things weren¡¯t as simple as he first thought. He hurriedly directed Flames to fly towards Miluo.


    ¡°Liola, hurry up and do your thing. I don¡¯t know how long I could hold him.¡±


    About a dozen meters away, Kaiser gestured at Daylight to stop. After yelling a few reminders to Liola, he began to send more magic power into the binding magic with a serious look on his face. The trembling magic stabilized, and Miluo could no longer move, not even a light tremor.


    Liola knew the situation was dire. He quickly took off the necklace around his neck, and pushed it against the center of Miluo¡¯s forehead. White smoke immediately began to come off from the scale touched by the necklace, leaving a burnt mark in the shape of the Dragon Cross.


    Just like what Bairui had said, anyone controlled by the Dragon Emperor would be burnt by the Dragon Cross Necklace. Miluo, who was completely bound, had eyes filled with red vessels, and it looked as if it was in pain.


    ¡°Baolilong! Call your father.¡± Liola was able to sense the Dragon Cross Necklace shaking.


    Baolilong seemed a bit awkward. After all, it hadn¡¯t spent any time with its biological father. To it, Liola was the father.


    With Liola¡¯s continuous urgings, Baolilong called quietly, ¡°Papa, papa.¡±


    Miluo didn¡¯t seem to react to this at all. Liola frowned, and sank the necklace further down into Miluo. The burnt mark had deepened, and it had reached through its skins, leaving a deep cross-shaped mark on his skin.


    Miluo¡­


    The Black Dragon¡¯s struggling movement suddenly froze, in response to this familiar and long-awaited call.


    Liola could feel the Black Dragon¡¯s trembling body had stopped. Although he knew the necklace was effective, Liola was not willing to let go. The whole cross had practically sunk into Miluo¡¯s flesh, and Miluo¡¯s bloodied eyes flashed with a sense of calm.


    ¡°Child, run!¡±


    Liola stared blankly, and raised his head to look into Miluo¡¯s eye. The previously violent eyes looked suddenly calm. Could the deep warning words just now came from Miluo?


    Without thinking it for long, Liola had already sensed a powerful force surging in his surroundings, but the force appeared too suddenly. It wasn¡¯t until the person had appeared in front of him and even grabbed a hold of his shoulders, did Liola realize this man wore a purple robe.


    The handsome man examined Liola with his silver eyes, and his tone was unexpected pleasant. He said with a sigh, ¡°You really do look like your mother.¡±


    Liola froze. The feeling conveyed by the Dragon Emperor was far different than when he met him last time. Though this purple-robed Emperor was still mysterious, but now knowing this person was his biological father, Liola had an indescribable feeling.


    ¡°Child, I¡¯m happy to see you back.¡± Dragon Emperor smiled, with gratitude on his face.


    Liola wasn¡¯t an idiot. He didn¡¯t think for a bit the Dragon Emperor was actually happy to see him back. He didn¡¯t forget the person who sent him into a coma was the person standing right in front of them.


    Liola had a burst of force, and bounced back avoiding Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand. Using Miluo¡¯s forehead as leverage, he jumped towards back. Unexpected to him, the Dragon Emperor had grasped the body of the cross necklace.


    When Liola was just about to grab the necklace back, the Dragon Emperor gave out a dull roar, ¡°Child, don¡¯t do this the hard way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah right. no matter what, you will kill Liola, who cares which way it is?¡± Kaiser said with a very sarcastic voice.


    The Dragon Emperor glanced at Kaiser coldly, and his eyes were enough to make Kaiser feel a several-degree temperature drop. In this moment, a pike was swung accurately towards Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand which held onto the necklace, but right before it landed, a sword blade blocked the pike. The owner of the sword was none other than the Paladin Lancelot.


    The moment the sparks appeared from the clashing of these two weapons, Daylight circled his pike. On one side he blocked the sword, and on another he forced the Dragon Emperor to withdraw his hand.


    Being blocked by Daylight¡¯s pike, Lancelot looked to be deep in shock. He would have never imagined that, being only a Blue Knight merely a year and some time ago, Daylight was now capable of blocking his sword.


    Liola used this opportunity to grab the necklace back, and at the same time helped Daylight a bit. The two of them quickly backed up. Liola looked at the situation between the confrontation, and he quickly analyzed the situation in his head: He should be able to stalemate against one of the two, but Daylight might not be able to hold against the other one on his own. Perhaps with Kaiser¡­ Liola looked Kaiser from the corner of his eyes.


    Coincidentally, Kaiser was also looking at Liola. When their eyes meet, Liola immediately looked at Daylight. Kaiser understood Liola wanted him to help Daylight, but he shook his head slightly while looking at Miluo, indicating that he couldn¡¯t leave the binding magic.


    Now, Liola really had a foreboding feeling about the situation.

 Volume 9, 4: Father

    Volume 9, Chapter 4: Father


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Kei, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Child, why must you resist me?¡± The Dragon Emperor looked deeply at Liola, saying irresistible words. ¡°You are my child, the most talented child. Once I conquer the world, the next Dragon Emperor is you, and you will become the Emperor of the world.¡±


    He did not expect the Dragon Emperor to say something like it. Still, Liola replied indifferently, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be Emperor.¡±


    Hearing this answer, instead of being angry, the Dragon Emperor faintly smiled, ¡°That¡¯s right, each and every one of my children is very humble.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Full of suspicions, Kaiser who is used to retorting raised his tone, ¡°Latter or whatever wasn¡¯t like that.¡±


    As if he heard something unforgivable, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expression darkened, and his voice became frighteningly ice-cold. ¡°He is not my child.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Kaiser¡¯s face became puzzled. ¡°If he¡¯s not your child then whose is he? Don¡¯t tell me your wife cheated¡­¡± Kaiser didn¡¯t even finish his last word. As soon as the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes turned cold, a beam of purple light shot out from his finger and flew towards Kaiser.


    Seeing the light, Kaiser snorted and raised his hand, firing a 3 times-compressed Divine Fireball to blow the light beam away.


    The Dragon Emperor was, at first, surprised to see Kaiser easily knocking away the light beam, then full of interest, he sized up Kaiser and Daylight. The improvement in these two would so much truly impress anyone.


    ¡°What are you so angry for, your wife¡¯s cheating is none of my goddamn business.¡± Kaiser said this unhappily, but suddenly he began to smile. ¡°No wonder you want to kill Latte, turns out to be not your son.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s face fell a little, but he didn¡¯t attack Kaiser again, and he didn¡¯t pay any attention to him. He turned to Liola and his tone remained warm, ¡°Child, come with me. Father doesn¡¯t care about the prophecy anymore, you are my best child, as long as you succeed me, even if you killed me, it wouldn¡¯t matter.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola suddenly raised his head, and attempted to find traces of lying on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s face. However, seeing those pair of purple yet clear eyes, it was hard to make out any trace of lies. Liola somewhat half-believed, but if the Dragon Emperor was speaking the truth, then maybe following him back was a good chance to assassinate him. Liola thought about this hesitantly.


    ¡°Liola?¡± Kaiser saw Liola wasn¡¯t saying anything, and thought maybe he was really considering leaving with the Dragon Emperor, so he couldn¡¯t help but ask with a dim tone.


    Liola slowly turned back and glanced at Kaiser, thinking if he should leave with the Dragon Emperor, since under the current situation, it would be difficult for 3 people to escape. But if he leaves with the Dragon Emperor willingly, then the Dragon Emperor will probably promise to free Daylight and Kaiser. As for Liola¡¯s own safety, he is not worried, not because he¡¯s bragging, but if he is by himself, Liola dare say no one can stop him from escaping.


    ¡°If I go with you, can you guarantee to let both of them go?¡± Liola looked at the Dragon Emperor.


    The Dragon Emperor raised his eyebrow, ¡°Of course, you thought I mind these two? Child, they have improved, but it¡¯s still too early for them to be a threat to me.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s answer, Kaiser and Daylight cried out startlingly, ¡°Liola!¡±


    ¡°Let them go first.¡± Liola calmly said, not understanding his two companion¡¯s worried look.


    The Dragon Emperor nodded gracefully, his long slender hand indicating permission.


    Daylight and Kaiser didn¡¯t move from their spot, the determined look on both faces said they will absolutely not leave. Liola can only tell them via Baolilong talking to Flames, and Flames telling Daylight of his plan. At the same time, he promised he will definitely escape.


    Hearing the message from Flames, Daylight hesitated. Under normal circumstances, Daylight will never abandon his companion to escape, but considering if he and Kaiser stayed behind, they might become Liola¡¯s burden.


    ¡°Can you promise you can definitely escape?¡± Daylight let Flames convey.


    ¡°I promise.¡± Liola also respond this way.


    Daylight hesitated a bit and let out a sigh. He went and grab Kaiser with the intention to leave, but as soon as he pulled Kaiser, the magic spell dispersed and Miluo can finally move. He roared loudly towards the sky, blood-red eyes glaring at Kaiser. Yet as a purple light from the Dragon Emperor shot at Miluo¡¯s forehead, Miluo became tame as a domesticated horse, quietly lying down.


    Kaiser used his strength to break away from Daylight¡¯s grasp and yelled towards Liola. ¡°Don¡¯t go with him, I don¡¯t care about whatever ideas you have, do you think the Dragon Emperor hasn¡¯t thought of them?¡±


    Liola heard this and he turned and looked suspiciously at the Dragon Emperor, who paid no attention but instead calmly said, ¡°It seems your companions have a deep misunderstanding towards me. Child, I have said I don¡¯t mind the prophecy and came only take you back. Even if you don¡¯t believe father¡¯s words, do you also not believe the promise of an Emperor?¡±


    Liola became quiet for a while, then said to Kaiser, ¡°You guys leave.¡±


    Kaiser practically exploded with rage, other than being angry at Liola, in truth he is angrier at himself. Given he had indeed became stronger, yet was there wasn¡¯t anything that can be done except to turn tail and run?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kaiser.¡± Daylight once again pulled Kaiser and simply dragged him regardless of the latter¡¯s utmost struggling,


    ¡°Liola, you have to come back.¡± Daylight passed the message through Flames but at the same time firmly looked at Liola. ¡°If you don¡¯t come back, you will find four people who will risk everything to go save you.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola¡¯s body shook strongly, and he carefully nodded.


    Receiving Liola¡¯s promise, Daylight finally able to let go of some of his worries, bringing Kaiser along with him, and flew far away. But Kaiser was still anxious and struggled fiercely to throw off Daylight until Daylight shouted, ¡°Kaiser! What are you thinking about? Us staying would do nothing but obstruct Liola¡¯s escape.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser was like a balloon losing its air. In a short while, he sat on Flame¡¯s back and looked at the distant Liola¡¯s figure becoming smaller and smaller. When he finally became out of sight, he clenched his fist. ¡°I know, I know leaving was the best option, since staying behind would only hinder Liola¡­¡±


    ¡°But Daylight, I have an uneasy feeling.¡± Kaiser¡¯s voice echoed of worry.


    ¡°Did you believe the Dragon Emperor still wants to kill Liola?¡± Daylight asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Kaiser immediately denied this notion, paused for a long time only then continued, ¡°I feel the Dragon Emperor is telling the truth.¡±


    Daylight was baffled. ¡°If the Dragon Emperor spoke the truth, then isn¡¯t it even better? He won¡¯t kill Liola.¡±


    ¡®Won¡¯t kill Liola¡­?¡¯ Kaiser felt restless from these words. Why did the Dragon Emperor change his mind? Was he really not worried Liola would kill him? If he really isn¡¯t worried¡­ then what is it? From what basis does he have such certainty?


    The multitude of ideas swam in Kaiser¡¯s mind, but no matter what he came up with, he was unable to guess the Dragon Emperor¡¯s thoughts. Kaiser only has an intuition the Dragon Emperor¡¯s ideas are extremely terrifying, and moreover the consequences are what they will not be happy to see.


    Yet the crucial point among these is something that Kaiser can never imagine, because Liola is an expert at treating all important and unimportant things as unimportant as well as forgetting them. Indeed he forgot to tell Kaiser about the rumors of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s ambitions. If the Kaiser at this time knew of his ambitions, even if he used his knees to think, he would figure out the reason why the Dragon Emperor took Liola away.


    Daylight saw Kaiser¡¯s serious expression, and he comforted him, ¡°Believe in Liola, he¡¯s not the same as before, he won¡¯t easily give up life and will surely do his best to escape.¡±


    Kaiser nodded.


    ¡°Only¡­¡± Daylight sighed, ¡°when can we stop running away?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes became tense. ¡°We won¡¯t always run away. Not long in the future, surely, we¡¯ll stop.¡±


    The two flew until they could almost see Freesia, and they heard someone calling them from behind. Daylight had also sensed someone was quickly closing in on them, but he didn¡¯t dare to ask Flames stop because he feared they were pursued by people sent by the Dragon Emperor.


    As he was turning his head to see who it was, Kaiser had already patted Daylight as he yelled, ¡°Stop, stop, it¡¯s Gladiolus.¡±


    Daylight made an emergency U-turn and Gladiolus caught up to them. Gladiolus looked at the two, and frowned as he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the other person?¡±


    ¡°Dragon Emperor is holding him.¡± Kaiser answered unhappily. Without waiting Gladiolus to explain, he began to blame him, ¡°Where the hell did you and Mizerui go? I won¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t notice the Dragon Emperor was here. Why didn¡¯t you come save us?¡±


    Gladiolus remained silent for a while, then said, ¡°Unless we have the power to defeat Dragon Emperor, we cannot afford to expose Mizerui¡¯s identity. I am also using all of the Dark Street¡¯s resources to help Qiusi, so I can¡¯t afford being captured.¡±


    Due to Liola only being released by Gle short while ago, then getting captured by Dragon Emperor, Kaiser was in a terrible mood. Even though he knew Gladiolus and Mizerui were both here with the danger of being caught, and they¡¯re doing all that they could so he couldn¡¯t really ask for more¡­ Nevertheless, he was still angry.


    Unable to bear it, Kaiser ridiculed, ¡°Hmph! They were only a few people, 2 people plus a dragon and a horse. But we are 5 people plus two dragons plus a bird! Given this they still dare not fight, hmph! Cowards!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser!¡± Daylight wrinkled his eyebrows, reprimanding lightly that he should not say these kinds of hurtful words.


    ¡°Cowards? Perhaps so.¡± Gladiolus said calmly. ¡°When one has a lot of responsibilities, their life is not only their own and their courage becomes smaller and smaller.¡±


    Hearing Gladiolus¡¯ response, no matter how thick-skinned Kaiser was, he can¡¯t help but be a little embarrassed, his expression immediately became uncomfortable. Even Daylight quickly apologized to Gladiolus. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Gladiolus, Kaiser is only too worried about Liola and he didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    Gladiolus had not minded it, only nodding and instead warned with good intention. ¡°You must not put the Dragon Emperor as a common X-class individual. His power is already not something an ordinary person can imagine. Probably¡­ only the Devil King Gle has the means to fight him alone.¡±


    ¡°You should stop worrying for Liola, Mizerui will think of a solution.¡±


    Seeing that Gladiolus was not angry and kindly warning them instead, Kaiser¡¯s tensed face eased up, and he nodded no longer grumbling.


    When he heard Mizerui was thinking of a way, Daylight¡¯s mood lightened up, and he asked, ¡°Then, where do we need to go now?¡±


    ¡°We can no longer go to Freesia. A year ago, Miluo gathered the sub-Dragons from the Yaron Plains, and this was the first city attacked. Ever since then, practically everyone in the city had either died or ran for their lives.¡±


    Daylight looked at Freesia from afar. At first he didn¡¯t notice it, but after hearing Gladiolus¡¯ words, Daylight noticed, the walls of Freesia were indeed covered with dark, dried blood, and the walls were broken through in many places. Everything indicated how tragic the battle must have been a year ago.


    ¡°Mizerui wants me to bring you to the Commerce Alliance.¡± Gladiolus said. ¡°You are familiar with the Red Commander¡¯s daughter. They will probably offer shelter to you.¡±


    Daylight widened his eyes. ¡°Why not Aklan Republic? Isn¡¯t there a war going on? We will stay behind to help out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Mizerui wants me to bring you to the Commerce Alliance.¡± Gladiolus wrinkled his eyebrows and added, ¡°And I plan to do just that.¡±


    ¡°What about Meinan? Where is he?¡± Kaiser calmly asked. He believed Mizerui has his own considerations in letting them stay at the Commerce Alliance, so Kaiser didn¡¯t persist in wanting to stay at Aklan. As far as the war is concerned, whether he and Daylight was there or not there was no big difference.


    ¡°Also in Commerce Alliance.¡± Gladiolus answered without the slightest hesitation, at the same time secretly admiring Mizerui. Just now when Mizerui decided to bring these two to the Commerce Alliance, he already foreseen and told him the Prime Minister¡¯s son was already sent to the Commerce Alliance. He was still thinking why Mizerui would suddenly tell him that information, and now he finally understood. If he couldn¡¯t answer, he¡¯s afraid these two people would not go.


    ¡°Meinan is also at the Commerce Alliance, huh.¡± Even though Kaiser was relieved Meinan didn¡¯t participate in the battlefield, but it was slightly worrying that Qiusi, as the Prime Minister of Aklan, would send his own son to the Commerce Alliance. Doesn¡¯t it represent Qiusi¡¯s lack of confidence to win the war?


    Unable to understand the situation, pile after pile of questions stirred confusingly in Kaiser¡¯s head until he finally couldn¡¯t take it and yelled. ¡°Argh! I don¡¯t care anymore, let¡¯s go find Purity and Meinan first.¡±


    Daylight still wanted to say he will stay behind alone, but was cut off by Kaiser. ¡°Shut up! The war won¡¯t change whether or not you¡¯re there. First, let¡¯s look for Meinan and Purity, moreover, if Liola doesn¡¯t come back, we have to think of a way to save him.¡±


    The thought of Liola still being in the hands of the Emperor was enough to let Daylight reflect and not persist in going to Aklan.


    Seeing that they reached an agreement, Gladiolus immediately led them to set out. He wanted to complete this mission as soon as possible so he could return to the place he belongs to. He was worried about the Dark Street, which was the result of his life¡¯s work, and¡­ the girl who was always waiting by the window.


    ¡°Child, do you think I am wrong?¡±


    Alone at the Emperor¡¯s side, Liola planned to stay a little longer to give Kaiser and Daylight more time to escape further, further reducing the odds of being caught by the Dragon Emperor. Right when he was clueless of what excuse he can use to stay here, the Dragon Emperor opened his mouth. Liola fixed his state of mind; conversations are the best for delaying time. His eyes purposely revealed a look of doubt towards Dragon Emperor.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled a little and the expression on his face softened. His eyes, which used to be completely imposing, became clear and relaxed. He flew near Baolilong, slowly descended on Baolilong¡¯s back. Liola alertly watched the Dragon Emperor, even though he didn¡¯t know what plan he was mixing up, still, Liola truly dislike him going too close. It lessens the reaction time he has due to the distance.


    However, the Dragon Emperor walked naturally until he was in front of Liola. The latter¡¯s guard was on extreme alert, waiting only for any movements of the Dragon Emperor and he will immediately strike back without fail.


    It appears as if the Dragon Emperor sensed Liola¡¯s tenseness, he only smiled while gently saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous, child, I only want to see your face more closely.¡±


    With that said, the Dragon Emperor raised his right hand, and Liola automatically saw him as a potential attacker, and his right hand quickly took out Broken Silver while raising it to his chest and looking dangerously at the Dragon Emperor.


    Regarding Liola¡¯s protective action, the Dragon Emperor a little bit shocked and a dull sadness appeared through the smile on his face. His right hand was still raised, but Liola didn¡¯t detect any energy. Confused about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s intention, he alarmingly and suspiciously watched the pair of hands slowly nearing his head.


    When the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand was only a few inches away, Liola struck the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand away due to his reflexive nature to counterattack. This attack landed squarely on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand, and Liola could not feel him using any aura to protect his own hand. The soft sounds of bone cracking clearly indicated to Liola that the Dragon Emperor¡¯s bones on his hands were at least cracked.


    The Dragon Emperor only grunted and Lancelot, who saw what happened, revealed a furious look. Just when he was about to rush forward, the Dragon Emperor raised his left hand to stop his movement.


    Lancelot stepped back, only politely said. ¡°Your Majesty, please at least let me treat your injury.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor shook his head, ¡°Later. With an injury, perhaps my child will accept me more easily.¡±


    Seeing Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand hanging by his body and clearly unable to move, Liola no longer had any ideas of what he wanted to do. The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t seem to want to give up, and he raised his unharmed left arm to slowly approach Liola.


    Liola looked back skeptically, trying to find any clue in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expression. However, he found no malice on the face, but instead he was greeted with a warm smile as well as warm and perhaps even a bit silly eyes.


    Liola unconsciously thought of the excessive kind Prince Coffee from Bairui¡¯s mouth.


    At this moment, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand already made contact with Liola¡¯s black hair. Liola wanted to break away but seeing the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t even move his right hand, at one moment¡¯s hesitation, the Dragon Emperor was already touching his head. As Liola¡¯s body immediately stiffened, the Dragon Emperor indulgently pampered his hair.


    Liola was entirely confused by the Dragon Emperor¡¯s obvious cheerful expression. This action was not at all foreign to Liola, Gle had frequently in this way touch Yasha¡¯s head while insisting on leaving her red hair in a terrible mess. After she repeatedly protested, Gle would laugh heartily and move his hand away.


    Even Liola himself had also frequently massaged Baolilong¡¯s head in this way. Baolilong on the other hand, does not protest. The little dragon simply does not mind whether his hair was messy or not. He is always very happy whenever Liola stroke his head.


    But no one had ever massaged Liola¡¯s head like this, and no one had ever used such a caring and happy expression to look at him.


    A strange kind of feeling came from the bottom of his heart, Liola was a little embarrassed and wiped the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand away, even protesting, ¡°I am not a little child.¡± Only when he said it, even Liola was surprised at himself. These types of words were not like his own.


    Just like every parent who had their child protesting had he realize his child was already this grown up. The Dragon Emperor had a fleeting moment of disappointment following which he started smiling. ¡°It¡¯s father¡¯s mistake. You¡¯re already this big, yet I still think of you as a child.¡±


    Looking at the Dragon Emperor¡¯s smiling expression, Liola suddenly found himself sinking into a strange circumstance. He had always classified the Dragon Emperor as an enemy. Even when he found out the Dragon Emperor was his father, he treated it only as a simple blood relation; after all, the Dragon Emperor was not the one who raised him. But now, the reality finally sank in to him: the Dragon Emperor was his father.


    ¡°Can you¡­¡± Even though the Dragon Emperor was still smiling, but his expression was somewhat awkward. At the same time saying half a sentence then breaking off words again, it seems the words were hard to leave his mouth.


    Liola looked at him suspiciously.


    The Dragon Emperor coughed, a little silliness in his smile, ¡°Child, can you call me once?¡±


    Although not knowing what he wants to do but this request was not difficult, Liola bluntly replied. ¡°Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Immediately hearing this, the Dragon Emperor stared distractedly, a clear look of disappointment showed on his face.


    Seeing the Dragon Emperor¡¯s disappointed look, Liola doesn¡¯t know what he did wrong, but based on his past experience in which he let Gle down, a bunch of beatings or messy and wild experiences followed. As a result, Liola uncontrollably tensed up, his originally relaxed hand once again held tightly to Broken Silver.


    Disappointed for a moment, the Dragon Emperor quickly cheered up and a gentle smile returned to his face. ¡°Never mind, father¡¯s demand was too much to start with by wanting you call me father or dad.¡±


    Liola was shocked to the point where his mouth couldn¡¯t help but open slightly. He never thought the Dragon Emperor had this meaning.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, child.¡± The Dragon Emperor naturally said.


    ¡°Where to?¡± Liola reflexively asked.


    The Dragon Emperor revealed a sad expression, faintly saying, ¡°Today is your birthday, also¡­ the anniversary of your mother¡¯s death. You have never visited your mother¡¯s grave, so now, we should let her see you, and because you are the only boy she had.¡±


    ¡®Today is my birthday?¡¯ How would Liola know this? The Dragon Emperor¡¯s strange and intimate actions, his own birthday, his mother¡¯s death anniversary¡­ The various things were enough to let confuse Liola, so he didn¡¯t know what to do. The lonely Assassin suddenly finds out he does have a father and a mother.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯ve met your third brother Cappuccino but still haven¡¯t seen your eldest brother Mocha right?¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly. ¡°Your eldest brother¡¯s personality is a little odd, don¡¯t let him scare you.¡±


    Hearing these words, Liola became even more surprised. He almost forgot he has elder brothers and an elder sister before him. Not to mention his elder sister is¡­ Liola didn¡¯t refrain from asking. ¡°How¡¯s Lanski?¡±


    Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor sighed lightly. ¡°That child has been depressed recently, father is worried. Right, perhaps you can comfort that child. While we talked all this time, father still doesn¡¯t know which of you is older?¡±


    Liola answered rigidly, ¡°I¡¯m the younger brother¡­¡± Nevertheless, Anise had made him age 5 years, so he looked older than Lanski.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is, Lan will definitely be very happy to have a younger brother.¡±


    As the Dragon Emperor smiled, he took up Liola¡¯s hand. It was natural to the point where Liola forgot to be cautious. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s voice, which was full of warm and gentleness, resounded by Liola¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home, child.¡±

 Volume 9, 5: Elder Sister, Younger Brother

    Volume 9, Chapter 5: Elder Sister, Younger Brother


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Seeing Dragon Emperor¡¯s sad and pleading purple eyes, Liola had no idea what was wrong with him, but he had nodded unknowingly. He told Baolilong to follow Lancelot¡¯s Unicorn, flew past the Yaron Plains and crossed an ocean. Since these three weren¡¯t ordinary people, it wasn¡¯t difficult for them to fly continuously. This continued for a full day and night.


    When he saw the edge of another continent approaching from afar, Liola suddenly had a strange feeling. He didn¡¯t know why he was here. Wasn¡¯t he going to run away to look for Kaiser and Daylight?


    Probably noticing Liola¡¯s doubt in his heart, Baolilong slowed down its flying speed, and asked probingly via telepathy, ¡°Papa? Should we continue?¡±


    Before Liola had time to respond, the Dragon Emperor opened his mouth. His thin fingers pointed at the Dragon Continent, ¡°Child, look, that is where your home is.¡±


    ¡®My¡­ home?¡¯ Liola shook, and then began to urge, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Baolilong, fly faster.¡±


    Although Baolilong thought Liola was acting a bit strange, but it wouldn¡¯t dare to defy the person who was both its papa and its master. Hearing this, Baolilong practically darted towards the Dragon Continent, fearing Liola might think it was being too slow.


    Dragons was indeed the kings of the skies. With a dart, even Lancelot was left far behind. Originally, it looked like they were still quite a distance away from the Dragon Continent, but now they were practically instantly there. The Dragon Emperor gestured to Baolilong to fly towards the most important palace on the Dragon¡¯s Continent.


    In stark contrast to the skyscrapers in Aklan, the Dragon Empire¡¯s palaces looked completely like an ancient imperial palace. The white walls were built by laying bricks, and the surrounding pillars, whose circumference required three people reaching their hands out to cover, had various majestic Knight mounts carved onto them. Even the boundless gardens had various statues: elegant and majestic white Dragon, divine Unicorn, prideful wolf king, etc.


    ¡°Do you like your home? Child.¡± The Dragon Emperor asked warmly.


    ¡®Home¡­¡¯


    For some reason, as soon as Liola thought of this word, the images surfacing in his heart were drastically different from the elegant palace in front of his eyes. What he saw was a simple dormitory room, with an adult and a child each taking a bed, but their sleeping posture being surprisingly similar and strange. Liola could never understand, how this person and Dragon could manage to perfectly wrap themselves into a sushi roll in their sleep.


    The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t seem to like Liola¡¯s silence. He grabbed his child¡¯s hand, and jumped down from Baolilong¡¯s back. Then he took him and walked familiarly through the maze-like garden.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Liola asked with a bit of shock.


    Without answering Liola¡¯s question, the Dragon Emperor simply smiled mysteriously.


    They ran into quite a few Knights on the way. What surprised Liola was they were all at least Silver Knights. The number of Silver Knights Liola saw while he was on Aklan Continent was less than how many he saw when he took two steps here.


    The first thing these Silver and Gold Knights did upon seeing the Dragon Emperor, was giving him a Knight¡¯s salute courteously. Liola also noticed, they weren¡¯t afraid of the Dragon Emperor, and there was only looks of respect and admiration. Of course, seeing Dragon Emperor pulling Liola, many of the Knights looked surprised and curious, but no one would ask about it.


    Seeing so many Silver and Gold Knights, Liola suddenly felt a bit unexpected. After thinking for a while, he finally remembered; Kaiser seemed to have said there were only ten Gold Knights in the world? Then why did he already see more than ten Gold Knights?


    ¡°Why are there so many Gold Knights? Aren¡¯t there only ten?¡± Liola asked curiously.


    Hearing Liola¡¯s sudden question, the Dragon Emperor seemed to be surprised. He thought briefly before answering, ¡°Do you mean the Gold Knights acknowledged by Aklan?¡±


    Liola became even more doubtful, ¡°Is there a difference?¡±


    Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expressions darkened, ¡°Knight ranks had always been bestowed by the Dragon Emperor, but Aklan ignored the Dragon Empire and created their own Knight examinations. They also give people who pass their test ranks of Knight, and they randomly mixed your three royal brothers into their ten Gold Knights, hmmph.¡±


    Liola briefly thought about Dragon Emperor¡¯s answer. Thus, the so-called ten Gold Knights were simply seven people who passed the Knight¡¯s test from Aklan and the three Princes of Dragon Empire. But they didn¡¯t know, within Dragon Empire itself, there were Gold Knights acknowledged by the Dragon Emperor, and the amount of them were surprisingly high.


    Liola suddenly felt uneasy. From the looks of it, Aklan seemed to underestimate the strength of the Dragon Empire. He couldn¡¯t refrain from asking, ¡°Are the strength of Dragon Empire¡¯s Gold Knights comparable to that of Aklan?¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s question, the smile on Dragon Emperor¡¯s face and the feeling of spring breeze about him suddenly disappeared. Liola sensed the warm grasp the Dragon Emperor had on his hand had tightened, to the point where he if he didn¡¯t exert forces to resist, his wrist was at risk for fracturing.


    A strong force exploded from the Dragon Emperor, and his indescribable expression was now clearly showing anger. Liola didn¡¯t know why the Dragon Emperor would suddenly be infuriated, but he knew, he wasn¡¯t going to stand there and take a beating. In an instant, his Ki filled his limbs, and Liola was on the edge of his nerves.


    ¡°Imperial Father?¡±


    An inquiry interrupted the confrontation. The Dragon Emperor paused briefly, and the anger on his face completely dissipated. Instead, a look of agitation replaced it. Seeing the Dragon Emperor no longer angry, Liola relaxed unconsciously. Probably due to the doubt of his face being too obvious, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expression had softened; he said as he were a father teaching his child a lesson,


    ¡°Child, never insult the Knights of the Dragon Empire. They have survived the most stringent of tests. They are immaculate in their loyalty, strength, and chivalry, and they¡¯re not something who can even be compared with the Knights produced by Aklan¡¯s idiotic test system.¡±


    Liola now understood why the Dragon Emperor would suddenly be so angry, but because of this action, Liola felt himself even more confused about the man. How could an Emperor who placed such importance on his Knights would be a man who wanted to conquer the world regardless of methods?


    The person who spoke trotted to the two, and he was followed by a line of Knights, one of them was even the person with the title of Dark Knight ¡ª Blood Wolf. Everyone looked dazed; originally, they sensed Dragon Emperor¡¯s surge of power as well as the appearance of another strong power, so they came here thinking that the Dragon Emperor was being assassinated; however, the scenario they ran into was far from what they had expected.


    ¡°You¡¯re chosen a good time to come, Cappuccino.¡± The Dragon Emperor gestured his third son to come forward with his eyes.


    Cappuccino was examined Liola with surprise. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, this person was the Silver Mask who was hit by his father¡¯s Purple Tornado more than a year ago, and whose fate was never determined.


    A man whom his father wanted dead more than a year ago, was actually holding hands with his father and strolling through the garden?


    Cappuccino couldn¡¯t get any more surprised than he was now, but he didn¡¯t dare to ignore his father¡¯s gesture for him to go up. He was never scared of anything, other than his enigmatic father.


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± Cappuccino walked up respectfully, but he still couldn¡¯t hold back glancing at Liola few times. At the same time he felt comforted Silver Mask wasn¡¯t dead, and it looked like he had settled his problems with his father. From the looks of it, his sister Lanski wouldn¡¯t have to be sad anymore.


    ¡°This is your younger brother, Dragon Empire¡¯s fourth Prince, Liola.¡± Dragon Emperor announced to Cappuccino and the Knights behind him.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Cappuccino¡¯s mouth became a circular O. His mind went blank for a long while before he fumbled and asked, ¡°How can it be? When did I get a younger brother? Is he your love child?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor frowned and looked at Cappuccino, and he said with a slight reproaching tone, ¡°Nonsense. Liola is the second Queen¡¯s son, the person who went missing more than twenty years ago, and Lanski¡¯s twin brother.¡±


    Cappuccino paused, and said without thinking, ¡°But didn¡¯t Eldest brother¡¯s prophecy say that¡­¡±


    Before Cappuccino finished, Blood Wolf tugged him from behind, and he immediately closed his mouth after realizing he almost said his brother was going to kill his father in his face. Cold sweat ran down Cappuccino¡¯s back. He was, after all a Prince, even if he was a sloppy one, he still knew things he couldn¡¯t say.


    He immediately tried to change topic, ¡°Congratulations, father, on finding my younger brother. Do you need me to show him around, and arrange quarters for him?¡±


    ¡°In a bit.¡± The Dragon Emperor said lightly, ¡°I¡¯m going to take him to pay a visit to his mother. You go summon the Knights in the palace to meet up at the great hall. I will announce the fourth Prince¡¯s identity in a while.¡±


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± Cappuccino felt uneasy. He didn¡¯t know where his sister, Lanski, was, and he had a bad feeling about it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, child.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor paced away. Liola turned to look at Blood Wolf, whom didn¡¯t react at all. He had no choice but to follow the Dragon Emperor.


    Liola felt very uneasy about the Dragon Emperor announcing his identity. It seemed it would imply he would be on Dragon Emperor¡¯s side, and would become the enemies of his companions.


    * * *


    After the Dragon Emperor and Liola walked away, Cappuccino broke into pieces. He pulled his hair as he screamed, ¡°Crap, crap, crap! Has anyone seen where Princess Lanski is?¡±


    The Knights behind him looked at each other, and finally all shook their heads. Cappuccino was so angry, his face turned red. He pointed his fingers around, ¡°You, you, you, and you, weren¡¯t you following my sister closely? So why don¡¯t you know where she is? Bastards! And you guys call yourselves the Princess bodyguards!¡±


    These Knights didn¡¯t know whether they should laugh or cry. As much as they admired the Princess, they weren¡¯t just sitting idly in the palace, so how could they possibly follow the Princess around all day?


    ¡°Blood Wolf.¡± Cappuccino was frowning so much that his eyebrows were about to touch, ¡°You go summon the Knights, I¡¯m going to go find Lanski first.¡±


    Blood Wolf nodded, then shook his head and sighed, ¡°Things have gone big this time!¡±


    * * *


    Although he knew the Dragon Emperor was taking him to see his mother¡¯s grave, but Liola didn¡¯t feel anything, and he was more preoccupied with what would happen after. He thought seriously, should he escape before the Dragon Emperor announce him as a Prince?


    ¡°Your mother was an amazing woman.¡± The Dragon Emperor sighed.


    Liola¡¯s attention was pulled back by Dragon Emperor¡¯s words. If he remembered correctly, Gle had once said jokingly, perhaps he was ripped out of her mother with her bare hands, and he said it was impossible for Susanna to die from childbirth, so it was probably the Dragon Emperor who killed her.


    Because of this, Liola could never believe the Dragon Emperor, even if his back was filled with solitude and sorrow, even if he looked like he was a father treating a child, even if everything Liola had just saw was completely different than the evil empire he had imagined.


    ¡®Never trust the Dragon Emperor!¡¯ Liola told himself.


    ¡°Surely enough, Lanski did arrive first.¡±


    Dragon Emperor¡¯s voice sounded comforting. Hearing Lanski¡¯s name, Liola¡¯s body instead completely froze. When he looked up, he had realized he had already unknowingly walked up a small hill behind the palace with the Dragon Emperor. It was surrounded by grass plains, and only two graceful figures stood quietly under a kapok tree. The two familiar figures made Liola pause; he never thought even Jasmine would be there.


    The two women seemed to have noticed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s arrival. They both reflexively bowed and said at the same time, ¡°Greetings, father Emperor¡±, ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°No need to be ceremonious, child. I told you before, while we¡¯re here, we¡¯re only father and daughter.¡± The Dragon Emperor said gently.


    ¡°Sorry, father, Lan forgot again.¡±


    Lanski answered somewhat uneasily, and Jasmine didn¡¯t even look straight at the Dragon Emperor. She couldn¡¯t possibly forget, the attack dealt by this Emperor in front of her to the person she loved, and thereby causing both her and Lanski to spend the past year or so worrying. They both shed countless amount of tears every time they remembered Liola¡¯s body covered in blood.


    Jasmine could look down without looking at Dragon Emperor as a sign of respect, but Lanski couldn¡¯t. She raised her head to look, but suddenly noticed another person. The person¡¯s silver eyes were looking gently at her and Jasmine.


    Lanski¡¯s nervous heart felt like it suddenly exploded, and she didn¡¯t know to react to such pain yet incomparable joy. Her throat suddenly felt dry, and she could barely speak, ¡°Sil¡­ Silver Mask?¡±


    Jasmine was shocked, and immediately raised her head to look. She took a deep breath, and sobbed, ¡°Liola! You¡¯re still alive, you really are still alive.¡±


    Liola also panicked; he could only nodded his head and replied, ¡°Mmm, I am still alive.¡±


    Without any hesitation, Jasmine threw herself against Liola, grabbing his shirt in front of his chest to wipe away her tears like a handkerchief, while complaining to him, ¡°You bastard, you didn¡¯t even tell us you didn¡¯t die. Do you know how hard it was for me and Lanski?¡±


    Ignoring her father who was standing to her side, and ignoring her identity as a Princess, two streams of tears also ran down Lanski¡¯s face. She slowly walked in front of Liola, no longer able to control her emotions. She lightly put her forehead on Liola¡¯s shoulder, allowing the tears to wet her loved one¡¯s shoulder, as if this was her punishment for him.


    Seeing the two girls¡¯ tears, an indescribable feeling erupted from within Liola¡¯s heart. Even though they were two different girls, they both treated him well. At this time, Long Yandi¡¯s words also jumped into Liola¡¯s mind: Did Lanski and Jasmine wanted to marry him?


    ¡°So Lan and her younger brother are already affectionate to one another. Father is very comforted.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled.


    Lanski, however, was stunned. Although she heard her name, she could not understand what her father was trying to say. Jasmine also heard what he said, and for some reason, she had a bad feeling about it.


    ¡°Child, your mother loved kapok tree the most, so I planted one on top of her grave. Go over there and let your mom take a good look at you.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor gestured at the tree a few steps away. Liola looked, and surely enough, there was a tombstone underneath the tree. The simple tombstone had only a few words of epitaph, ¡°In loving memory of my beloved wife, Susanna¡±. The signature underneath was ¡°From your husband, Caffey.¡±


    It was so simple that even their identities as the Emperor and Queen were not carved on it. The Dragon Emperor walked over, and looked up at the kapoks. His expressions looked gentle as a calm lake. He lightly took a blooming kapok, and stooped over to put it in front of the tombstone. He said, ¡°Susanna, our child is here to see you.¡±


    Could this man have really killed his own wife? Liola began to believe those words less and less.


    ¡°Mom¡¯s son?¡±


    Lanski asked rigidly. Her brains didn¡¯t seem to function, or perhaps she was forcing herself not to understand what it implied. Jasmine, on the other hand, already understood. She held Lanski¡¯s hand tightly, and her face looked even worse than Lanski¡¯s. She could practically predict the amount of shock her best friend was about to receive.


    The Dragon Emperor turned, and looked at the pair of twins. He smiled and said, ¡°Yes, Liola is your twin brother. As the elder sister, you better take good care of him.¡±


    He didn¡¯t know, how cruel his sentence could have been to her. Lanski¡¯s frail body began to shake. She looked unbelievably at Liola¡¯s silver eyes, and asked with trembling voice, ¡°Brother?¡±


    Seeing Lanski was practically pleading him to deny it, Liola really wanted to shake his head and shake no, but the truth was in front of him, not allowing him to say no. Liola slowly nodded his head.


    ¡®I¡­ fell in love with my own brother?¡¯ Lanski felt dizzy, and her legs gave out; she practically fainted into her good friend¡¯s arms.


    The Dragon Emperor, on the other hand, didn¡¯t know what was going on. Although he knew Lanski had met with Liola before, he had never imagined Lanski¡¯s feelings toward Liola was anything more than ordinary classmates. He asked caringly, ¡°Lan? What¡¯s wrong? Are you unwell?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, Princess Lanski hasn¡¯t eaten anything since the morning, I think maybe she has low blood sugar.¡± Jasmine tightly held onto her good friend, and made up an excuse, ¡°Please allow me to take her to rest and eat food.¡±


    ¡°Go rest. If you feel better in a bit, come to the great hall. Father will declare Liola as the fourth Prince.¡± The Dragon Emperor kindly reminded, but Lanski¡¯s face became paler.


    Seeing Lanski in despair, Liola felt really uncomfortable; but as someone who didn¡¯t have the slightest clue about love, he had no idea what to do. Comforting people was something Liola had practically never done, so he couldn¡¯t do anything, especially in such a complex situation.


    Seeing Lanski¡¯s pale face, Jasmine was so angry that her cheeks were bright red. She said mockingly, ¡°Prince Liola, Your Highness, please excuse us.¡±


    Liola paused. Jasmine, who had always been cheerful and generous, had never spoken to him in such an angry and sarcastic tone. He looked at Jasmine¡¯s glaring eyes, and in his heart he felt he had been mistreated. He didn¡¯t wish to be the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son either, but he had absolutely no choice.


    Perhaps sensing Liola¡¯s helplessness, Jasmine did not speak a word. She held her friend and slowly left. Nevertheless, Liola heard the sound of her deep sigh.


    * * *


    After visiting Susanna¡¯s grave, the Dragon Emperor asked Liola to put on a black formal attire. A few Dragons in their human forms brought Baolilong in its little Dragon form. On one hand, Liola wanted to see Lanski and Jasmine again; on another, he really was unable to find an opportunity to escape, so he had no choice but to go to the great hall.


    Perhaps, after being declared the Prince, the Dragon Emperor would let down his guard. As such, he would have an easier time to run away, Liola decided on this plan.


    When he was at the great hall, Liola finally understood why the Dragon Empire was truly the Kingdom of Knights. Even for a summon on such a short notice, the wide hall stood four to five hundred Knights. Although the majority of them were Silver Knights, there were more than fifty Gold Knights, and he didn¡¯t know how many of them were Dragon Knights. Liola thought to himself, this much power could probably destroy Aklan without much hindrance.


    The Knights were worthy to be called the perfect Knights by the Dragon Emperor. Even though a Prince popped out of nowhere, all of them looked steadily at the Dragon Emperor with the utmost respect, and no one would even look at Liola with scrutinizing eyes, until the Dragon Emperor introduced him, ¡°¡­ Luckily, the Dragon Empire still found our youngest Prince. I hereby announce the fourth Prince, Liola.¡±


    The eyes of the Knights suddenly converged onto Liola. Suddenly becoming the focus, as an Assassin who was usually hiding in the dark, Liola felt a bit uneasy, although on the surface, he still looked coldly as he did before. All the Knights immediately performed a Knight¡¯s salute towards him. The coordinated and uniform action shocked Liola a bit, and luckily he still remembered, he had to return the salute in the same manner.


    ¡°Child, go get familiar with everyone. Father must go take care of business.¡± The Dragon Emperor instructed to Liola, ¡°If there¡¯s anything you¡¯re unfamiliar with, just ask your sovereign brothers. Cappuccino is easy to get along with.¡±


    Liola nodded. As soon as the Dragon Emperor disappeared from the great hall, Cappuccino ran up as if he couldn¡¯t wait anymore. He looked anxious but also at a loss for words. He scratched his head crazily and said, ¡°Sigh, h-how could you be my brother, and now I can¡¯t even find Lanski¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already seen her just now, at the kapok tree.¡± Liola opened his mouth and said.


    ¡°Ah¡­ she already knew?¡± Cappuccino asked with a stutter, ¡°T-then what was her reaction?¡±


    Liola remained silent. Truth was, Cappuccino already had an idea of how his sister would probably react. He said uneasily, ¡°You know, in the past year and more, she has always been worried about you, you¡­ sigh, I already don¡¯t know what to do. Just comfort her whenever you have the time.¡±


    Liola nodded cautiously.


    Suddenly returning to the palace, Baolilong seemed unhappy. It turned back into human form, and then climbed up Liola¡¯s back. It held on tightly, as if it was afraid someone would try to take it away from Liola like Latte did.


    ¡°Oh, the Sacred White Dragon seemed to be rather attached to you.¡± Cappuccino was amazed, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t my Little Fireball treat me like it?¡±


    As soon as Cappuccino said it, the Knights around were making restrained laughing noises. Their eyes were looking in the direction of the Dragons in human-form who brought Baolilong over.


    Liola looked in that direction, and saw one of them with black lines rolling down his face. The fiery red hair indicated its identity as a Fiery Dragon. Unlike Flames, however, the gender of this Dragon was obviously male. His body was also unlike Flames¡¯ thin body, and instead it was very muscular.


    ¡°Little Fireball?¡± Liola couldn¡¯t help but glanced.


    The strong, red-haired man didn¡¯t seem to want to admit, but he nevertheless bowed respectfully, ¡°Yes, Your Highness, fourth Prince.¡±


    Liola turned his head and saw Cappuccino looking enviously at Baolilong climbing onto his back, then he looked back at the Fiery Dragon, whose face looked like he had been wronged. Little Fireball was probably infuriated by his own master acting like a sulking woman. He said with repressed anger, ¡°Stop fooling around, do you really wish for me to climb up your back?¡±


    ¡°No, but ever since you were young, you¡¯ve never played with me.¡± Cappuccino seemed very depressed.


    Veins popped up on Little Fireballs¡¯ head, ¡°When I was young? When I first saw you, I had already matured. At the time you were still tiny, and you were often flighty with me. Whenever you had nothing else to do, you would grab on to me and call me ¡®Little¡¯ Fireball.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? It¡¯s been hundreds of years, and I don¡¯t remember anymore. You know older people tend to forget.¡± Cappuccino said with a laugh, and then immediately changed the topic, ¡°Brother, I¡¯ll show you around, and take you to your palace. You¡¯ve just become a Prince, so there are many things you must do, such as choosing the Knight who serve under you. Oh right, since everyone is here, go and look to see if there¡¯s any you like.¡±


    Liola frowned. He had no plans on choosing a Knight. Why would a Prince who was going to escape choose a Knight? He glanced around, and noticed many Knights looked at him with eager eyes.


    ¡°Do you need me to introduce any to you?¡±


    Without waiting for Liola¡¯s response, Cappuccino had already began saying a long list of names, while asking him what would his preferred personality in a Knight was. He then said, ¡°Lanluo and his buddies seemed more lively, but brother, you seem to be the colder kind, so Tande seemed to be more suited to you, he¡¯s as cold as an ice cube¡­¡±


    Seeing Liola didn¡¯t seem to be much interested in choosing a Knight, Cappuccino thought briefly, then nodded and said, ¡°Actually, it doesn¡¯t really matter if you choose one, since they all have to work for you after all.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liola glanced at Cappuccino curiously because he didn¡¯t understand.


    Cappuccino shrugged, ¡°Every Knight of the Dragon Empire must obey the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡± Liola paused briefly.


    Hearing Liola¡¯s question, Cappuccino pointed Baolilong with a surprised expression as he explained, ¡°The Dragon Emperor has always been succeeded by the Prince chosen by the Sacred White Dragon, so without a doubt, brother, you are the next Dragon Emperor, especially since father has been getting older, the day of your coronation probably isn¡¯t very far.¡±


    Liola¡¯s body froze. He suddenly remembered what Bariui had said about the thing the next Dragon Emperor must do on the day of his coronation: to eat his father¡¯s heart. Liola¡¯s face suddenly went pale, ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to become the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Cappuccino looked at Liola strangely. After thinking about it briefly, he patted Liola¡¯s back and comforted him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; though you¡¯ve just become a Prince, no one would oppose you being the next Dragon Emperor. Eldest brother is a fortune teller, so he had already given up being a Dragon Emperor. I like to roam around the world, and telling me to stay in the palace to be an Emperor is my worst nightmare. Lanski is also someone who doesn¡¯t care about power. Hahaha, brother, I¡¯m glad you can be the next Dragon Emperor. I thought I wouldn¡¯t even be able to run away from it.¡±


    Liola went quiet. It looked like Cappuccino didn¡¯t know about eating their father¡¯s heart was a part of becoming the next Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Papa! Baolilong is hungry.¡± Baolilong¡¯s little face was hanging above Liola¡¯s shoulder, and it showed a look of hunger.


    Without waiting for Liola to answer, Cappuccino came up with a smile, ¡°Your Dragon looks hungry, so let¡¯s all go eat.¡± Cappuccino suggested to his brother as he looked at his own matured Dragon, as if ordering him to feed the smaller Dragon. Little Fireball¡¯s mouth began to twitch at his bad master.


    Ignoring Little Fireball¡¯s murderous eyes, Cappuccino led Liola to their eatery and to ¡°feed the Dragon¡±. As soon as they walked to the great hall¡¯s entrance, a familiar and graceful figure appeared, with an unusually cold expression on her face.


    ¡°Can I bother you for a moment, Prince, Your Prince?¡± Jasmine said rigidly.


    Liola quietly handed Baolilong to Little Fireball on the side, and said, ¡°Could you please take Baolilong to find something to eat?¡±


    Little Fireball nodded, while Cappuccino didn¡¯t say anything. With an expression of ¡°hope you take care of yourself¡±, shaking his head, and sighing, Cappuccino walked away with the two Dragons.


    Liola stared at Jasmine, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Volume 9, 6: Fortune Teller Mocha

    Volume 9, Chapter 6: Fortune Teller Mocha


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Cindy, and StellarAshes.


    Jasmine walked in front of Liola, and upon seeing the girl¡¯s back, Liola felt indescribably apologetic even though he didn¡¯t know things would end up this way. He certainly didn¡¯t mean them to.


    ¡°I thought you were someone ordinary.¡±


    Jasmine¡¯s strained voice could be heard, and the trembling of it was still audible. ¡°In the end, your identity gets more and more astounding; Silver Mask, the Imperial Prince, and now the future Dragon Emperor?¡±


    ¡°I never knew I was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s son, really I didn¡¯t.¡± Liola looked down as he explained.


    Jasmine was silent for some time until she asked, ¡°Where have you been exactly, for the past year or so?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola wanted to say something, but stopped and quieted down. What should he say? That he had went to another world, and then returned to this world with the help of devil Gle? If he didn¡¯t explain the whole thing from the beginning, he¡¯d probably end up inciting more suspicion, but how could he begin from scratch? How could he tell Jasmine and Lanski that the Dragon Emperor was a heinous mastermind who, in order to conquer the world, would unscrupulously frame others?


    ¡°Can¡¯t you explain even a little bit? Just how many more secrets do you still have?¡± Jasmine¡¯s voice was agonized, ¡°Did you know, when we found out Liola was Silver Mask, how chaotic our feelings were? It would have been better if we could at least sort things out with you, but you just had to go missing, and no one even knew if you were still alive.¡±


    ¡°At the same time, Lanski and I were worried if you were dead or alive, and we didn¡¯t know how to face one another.¡± Jasmine lowered her head, ¡°Originally, we had already decided on a fair competition between us, like it always has been.¡±


    ¡°But you¡­¡± Jasmine suddenly turned around, her face already laden with tears, ¡°How could you end up as Lanski¡¯s brother? What would you have her do now? Do you have any idea how much something as simple as calling you ¡®brother¡¯ would hurt her?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola lowered his head imperceptibly, knowing he had hurt Lanski. But the current situation could not be changed by any endeavor. Blood relations wasn¡¯t something dissociated by simply saying ¡°I don¡¯t want to be your brother either.¡±


    Jasmine forcefully wiped away her tears, ¡°Tell me, Liola, who do you actually like? Do you somewhat like Lanski?¡±


    Quietly observing Jasmine, Liola suddenly realized the girl in front of him spoke only of the injustice done against Lanski, but never did she once mention herself. Liola mulled for awhile, until he sensed another familiar girl was nearby, eavesdropping. Not wanting to harm either of the two, he carefully said at last, ¡°I don¡¯t know what liking someone feels like.¡±


    Jasmine faltered. This answer was too unexpected for her; how could anyone not know what liking someone felt like?


    ¡°No matter what title I carry now, be it Silver Mask or Prince, I know who I truly am.¡± Liola said decidedly, ¡°I am an Assassin.¡±


    Both girls, near and far, stiffened at these words.


    ¡°Ever since I was young, other than the necessary training for killing people, I knew nothing.¡±


    ¡°Even before my first kill, the only thing I experienced was innumerous and heartless training. I never knew if I would survive the next moment. After I starting killing, the only things I knew of were the people to be killed and a list of those people. The only things I fathomed was that if I could not kill the person I faced, the one dying would be me.¡±


    ¡°Other than ways to survive and the thought of not wanting to die, I have never thought about anything else. Something like whether or not I liked someone eluded me.¡±


    When even survival became a luxury, who cared about power, love, or money?


    Liola apologized deeply, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve tried my best to understand love, but to this day I am still unable to, so I am unable to give you an answer.¡±


    ¡°Liola¡­.¡± After hearing Liola¡¯s sincere explanation, Jasmine¡¯s heart had already softened. She had no idea the man in front of her grew up like this. A child who was raised as a killing machine, how could he be blamed for not understanding love?


    ¡°Silver Ma¡­¡± Out from the corner came Lanski, who hesitated briefly then changed her way of addressing him. ¡°Liola.¡±


    While Jasmine was startled by her presence, Liola, who already knew Lanski was there, quietly waited for her to continue speaking.


    Lanski forced a smile, ¡°I¡¯m very happy you¡¯ve returned, brother, I¡¯ve always wondered what kind of person my twin was.¡±


    Seeing Lanski¡¯s smile, Liola only felt acutely uncomfortable. He urged, ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself to smile¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I truly am happy.¡±


    Lanski cut off Liola¡¯s words, contemplating Liola¡¯s earlier monologue. The two of them were twins; she had always been the princess everyone adored, but Liola was the child of prophecy who would kill his own father, and thus lived as an outcast and nurtured as an assassin, to the point where he was unaware of emotions¡­ the difference of heaven and earth between their situations aggrieved Lanski.


    Now that Liola was finally accepted by his father, the Emperor, how could she not feel happy for him? From a young age, her brother had undergone so many sufferings. Compared to it, Lanski felt her love was far too insignificant. She could not possibly trouble her brother even more because of it¡­


    ¡°La-Lanski.¡± Jasmine felt unbearable, for Lanski¡¯s smile was much too bitter.


    ¡°Brother, it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t understand love right now. Jasmine will teach you well.¡± Lanski smiled brightly, even deliberately glancing ambiguously at the other two.


    ¡°Lanski.¡± Jasmine quelled Lanski, and pleaded, ¡°Can we not talk about this right now, please?¡± Even if it was already impossible for Lanski and Liola, even if Jasmine herself still really liked Liola, she didn¡¯t want to see Lanski get hurt for her sake.


    Lanski could not help but nod at her good friend¡¯s plea, and though she stopped speaking about the matter, she made up her mind to find a way to match these together one day. Nobody deserved happiness more than the compassionate Jasmine.


    Though unaware of the significance of Lanski and Jasmine smiling at one another, seeing the two were no longer under a cloud of despair, Liola finally relaxed a little. As soon as he looked up, however, he saw Mizerui standing a dozen of paces away, staring at him with a terrible expression, his eyes looking like he wanted harm Liola severely.


    Seeing Mizerui, Liola sighed in relief, thinking his escape shouldn¡¯t be too difficult now.


    Seeing the three had noticed him, Mizerui walked over leisurely, and greeted Lanski indolently, ¡°Greetings, Your Highnesses, Prince and Princess.¡±


    Lanski didn¡¯t seem to have much of a response towards Mizerui¡¯s courteous greeting. Everyone knew this mysterious Sorcerer seemed to acknowledge no one but the Crown Prince. She simply nodded in answer.


    ¡°His Highness Mocha wants to see the brother he never met and had me bring His Highness the fourth Prince to him.¡± Mizerui blinked towards Liola.


    Liola understood immediately and played along, ¡°Okay, I will accompany you to go see eldest brother.¡±


    Turning around, Liola met the unquestioning eyes of the two girls, and suddenly felt compunction. Say if he ran away undeviatingly, wouldn¡¯t doing so be unfair to these two girls?


    ¡°I¡­ am going for a bit.¡± Liola struggled for a bit, but still said this to the two.


    ¡°Eldest brother¡­¡± Lanski was a bit hesitant. After all, the person who prophesied Liola would kill his father was the eldest Prince. She didn¡¯t know what Mocha¡¯s intent was in meeting Liola, but no matter what Mocha was planning, Lanski couldn¡¯t really find a way to prevent Liola from seeing him. When she was done hesitating, Lanski suggested, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen eldest brother for a long while either; how about I go with you together?¡±


    Liola and Mizerui¡¯s faces changed slightly and the latter lethargically glanced at Liola, implying ¡°you handle it.¡± Unable to think of an excuse, Liola decided to frankly deny Lanski, ¡°No, I want to see Mocha alone.¡±


    Noticing Lanski¡¯s downcast eyes, Liola couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°I-I want to ask him about the prophecy he told back then, so, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Lanski nodded, but then said worriedly, ¡°No matter what eldest brother says, d-don¡¯t take it personally; prophecies aren¡¯t necessarily true.¡±


    Liola nodded, feeling a bit apologetic underneath, for Lanski had always cared about him, yet he seemed to have done nothing but deceive the girl. He swore to himself that at the least, he would see these two again before he left, and no longer disappear without a word.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go see the baby.¡± Jasmine pulled Lanski along, then said to Liola, ¡°After seeing His Highness, come find us. We promise to take good care of the baby and not take one step away from him.¡±


    Jasmine was giggling in expectation of seeing Baolilong after such a long time and truly wanted to go hug it. But the more prominent reason was that Jasmine was skeptical of Liola staying in the palace. After all, the man had too many precedents of running away, and since she couldn¡¯t follow Liola everywhere, she decided to follow Baolilong everywhere, believing Liola would not desert Baolilong and escape.


    Liola wasn¡¯t sure if it was just a hallucination, but it seemed that Jasmine¡¯s eyes were flashing with craftiness. Nevertheless, since Mizerui was still standing on the side waiting, he didn¡¯t think much of it. After nodding to Jasmine, he left with Mizerui.


    * * *


    Mizerui still appeared lackadaisical, but Liola noticed that his his footsteps were fast and hurried, completely contradicting the relaxed look on his face. With Mizerui¡¯s fast pace, the two quickly left the imperial palace, and though they were still within the city walls, they were a good distance away. Liola raised his head, and quickly found Mizerui¡¯s destination: a lonely tower standing over a grassland. The black walls, the thin body, and the runes on the tower all looked incredibly strange.


    ¡°You troublemaker, why did you come back with the Dragon Emperor?¡± asked Mizerui blamingly after he slowed down, knowing there wouldn¡¯t be anyone around in the vicinity.


    Liola hesitated, then replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I came here as if it was the natural thing to do.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Mizerui felt an immense headache, not even able to admonish any more, and could only say helplessly, ¡°Don¡¯t you already know how powerful the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis is? Did you stare into his eyes?¡±


    Liola paused, and the deep purple eyes of the Dragon Emperor surfaced in his mind. Those caring and worried eyes gave Liola a sense of family for the first time. From then till now, every action of the Dragon Emperor reflected that of a happy father who finally had his son back as well as that of a faithful husband who had lost his wife. Realizing this, Liola¡¯s pace slowed to a stop. Was his being friends with Mizerui and Barbalis behind his father¡¯s back in a way a betrayal?


    Seeing Liola stop, Mizerui also stopped. He asked, bewildered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Liola raised his head to look at the strange tower, then turned around to look at the shining palace. He couldn¡¯t help but backed up slowly. No matter how much he speculated, the black tower was for more sinister than the palace behind him. For the first time, Liola began to have doubts about his having chosen right or wrong. Up to this point in time, he had only seen things from the perspective of the people in Aklan, and never from his father¡¯s¡­


    ¡°Liola?¡±


    Mizerui also noticed something was wrong with Liola. Deciding immediately, he charged up and pulled out the Dragon Cross Necklace hanging on Liola chest. Liola had at first thought Mizerui was about to attack him, and almost pulled out Broken Silver, but stopped when he saw Mizerui was simply pulling out the familiar necklace. Mizerui used this opportunity to press the Dragon Cross Necklace against Liola¡¯s forehead.


    In an instant, a burning sensation came from his forehead. Liola yelled in pain, and pushed away Mizerui¡¯s hand, but the pain finally cleared Liola¡¯s mind. The recurring images of those purple eyes were gone, and Liola looked nervously at Mizerui. He asked skeptically, ¡°Was I just¡­¡±


    ¡°Hypnotized, yes.¡± Mizerui said coldly.


    Liola thought it was strange, ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like I was hypnotized, just that¡­¡±


    ¡°You suddenly felt like the Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t a bad man, and perhaps you misjudged him?¡± Mizerui said bluntly. Liola nodded, and Mizerui sighed, ¡°If this hypnosis had continued, you would have felt the whole world had misjudged the Dragon Emperor, and with him taking over the world would bring everyone happiness. Then, like Lancelot, you would help him uncompromisingly.¡±


    Mizerui sedately explained, ¡°Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis is fairly mild. Coupled with the imagery he purposely created, it is actually the strongest way to control someone.¡±


    Liola froze. The imagery he purposely created? That Dragon Emperor full of fatherly love and the love for his dead wife were all fabricated?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Mocha is still waiting for you.¡±


    Liola shook his head. It didn¡¯t matter whether the Dragon Emperor¡¯s fatherly love was real or not. He knew it would be fine as long as he stood with his companions. Having made up his mind, Liola once again walked to follow Mizerui, his back facing the shining palace, and walked into the dark tower.


    When they arrived at the tower entrance, Mizerui suddenly stopped and said, ¡°You go in.¡±


    Liola looked with confusion at Mizerui, who casually shrugged and said, ¡°Mocha insists on talking to you alone.¡±


    Liola nodded, pushed open the door himself, and a long, spiraling staircase appeared before him. Liola climbed the stairs step by step, and the door behind him slammed shut with a bang. The inside of the tower suddenly lost its only rays of light. Although darkness wasn¡¯t a big problem to the Assassin, Liola felt puzzled, would the other people who came here not need light as well?


    Without even taking more than a few steps, Liola suddenly noticed fluorescent letters and symbols appearing on the two surrounding walls, some of it even looked like pictures. Two of these words written in a large font attracted Liola¡¯s attention. To anyone else here, the two words looked like nothing but symbols and pictures, because nobody understood the language; that is, unless the person looking was from the other world.


    ¡°Silver Moon,¡± The two words were written, using the language of the other world.


    Because of these two words, Liola began to carefully examine the things on the wall. In fact, if someone else saw this, they would definitely think these were drawings of a child. Every pictures and symbols seemed to have little relations with one another; some of which looked like indecipherable drawings. However, in Liola¡¯s eyes, this wasn¡¯t the case at all.


    One of the pictures had a thin and long stick. Though Liola was a bit skeptical, but this should be a painting of his Broken Silver.


    Another picture had an unusual crude gun. Judging from the shape, it should be Kaiser¡¯s gun.


    Liola followed the pictures on the wall. Some of the pictures, he knew immediately after seeing. But as he progressed, Liola practically didn¡¯t know what the pictures were about. One of picture was a doll with a X crossed on it, and another had two hearts being together within a circle. Seeing such strange pictures, no matter how much Liola guessed, he couldn¡¯t figure out what the pictures represented.


    He continued to circle a few times, but he was still clueless. Liola decided to ignore them, and walked towards to the end. The moment he stepped out of the staircase, he suddenly realized he was standing underneath the stars. This staircase reached all the way to the top floor of the tower, and the tower had no roof.


    ¡°What did you think those pictures?¡±


    With a seemingly ethereal voice and with his black long hair reaching the ground, a purple-eyed man sat quietly in the center of the floor with crossed legs. He had a black robe on him, and there were no redundant decorations in this floor. The only things there were a futon the man sat on, as well as paint and carving knifes scattered about. Liola noticed, the circular drawings on the ground looked like a magic circle, but he had no idea what it was for.


    This man must be none other than Mocha. Just seeing his purple eyes were identical to the Dragon Emperor¡¯s, Liola was certain he was the eldest prince, Mocha.


    Mocha¡¯s eyes looked at Liola coldly. Although he was waiting for an answer, he didn¡¯t actually cared about Liola¡¯s answer. Whether it be veneration, admiration, or fear, he didn¡¯t care. In fact, he didn¡¯t care about much of anything. After seeing the future, Mocha had long lost the feeling of anticipation.


    Liola thought briefly, and answered honestly, ¡°Hmm¡­ the drawings are a bit ugly.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Mocha paused, then asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Liola was quiet at first; he didn¡¯t know if he was too direct. He repeated tactfully, ¡°The drawings are a bit abstract.¡±


    Mocha still stared at him blankly. Liola didn¡¯t know what he should do. Was he supposed to lie despite what he really thought and say the drawings were done well?


    ¡°Ha¡­ hahaha!¡±


    Mocha burst out laughing. Opposite of his previous coldness, his laugh was unexpectedly hearty.


    Liola suddenly didn¡¯t know how to react. He didn¡¯t understand what Mocha was laughing at, nor did he know what response he should make. He stood still as he listened for a while. Liola suddenly realized, the sound of his laughter was quite similar to Cappuccino¡¯s.


    Finally, Mocha refrained from his laughter, but he still said with a smile, ¡°What I meant was, how do you feel about the content of those pictures.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Liola responded, although he still didn¡¯t understand why Mocha was laughing.


    ¡°I do sincerely apologize, my pictures were too ugly, hahaha.¡± Mocha couldn¡¯t help but say, and at the same time burst into laughter again.


    Liola scratched his face, deciding to add the person in front of him to his list of people who have Sudden and Compulsive Laughter Disorder, and ignored all his laughter. He asked, ¡°Could you really see the future.¡±


    ¡°Yes, although I really didn¡¯t want this ability.¡± Mocha smiled vaguely.


    ¡°Will I¡­ really kill the Dragon Emperor?¡± This was the future Liola was most concerned with.


    ¡°I foresaw you drove Broken Silver into father¡¯s chest.¡± Mocha didn¡¯t respond directly, but instead told the picture he had seen.


    This imagery was clear enough. Could driving Broken Silver into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s chest be anything other than killing him? Thinking about the Broken Silver in his boots might one day stab into Dragon Emperor¡¯s chest, Liola suddenly felt a discomfort in his heart. What was wrong? Could he still be under hypnosis?


    ¡°Brother¡­¡± Mocha suddenly called to Liola, and asked with hesitation, ¡°Do you hate me?¡±


    ¡°Hate you? Why would I hate you?¡± Liola frowned.


    Mocha remained silent for a long while before he explained, ¡°When I saw you would kill father, I thought about it for a long time. Finally, between you and father, I chose father, and so I told him my prophecy, hoping to stop this from happening.¡±


    ¡°I abandoned you, and caused you to be exiled when you were young, resulting you being trained as an emotionless Assassin.¡±


    ¡°But, perhaps I didn¡¯t stop this from happening, and instead stimulated it.¡± Mocha turned his head to look at Liola, his brother, and the only person he felt guilty towards.


    Liola was quiet. He didn¡¯t care about what had happened; it was not necessary to dwell on things that had already happened. What he truly cared about was the future. If this continue as they were, Liola was bound to oppose Dragon Emperor, and killing him seemed like the only way to resolve the problem.


    However, Liola suddenly remembered the feeling of his head being touched, as well as the kapok left in front of the tombstone.


    Facing Mocha, Dragon Emperor¡¯s eldest son, Liola naturally thought of him as the person who understood the Dragon Emperor the most. He asked the question that had been echoing in his mind, ¡°Do you think Dragon Emperor is a evil man?¡±


    ¡°Evil?¡± Mocha smiled warmly, as if he heard the words from a naive child, ¡°What do you consider as evil? Does a person who want to conquer the world represent evil? Is a person like you, who had been trained to kill since you were child and your hands are covered in blood, evil? Is the lawless Gle evil?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Liola, who only had one question before, gained nothing but more questions.


    ¡°Whenever you decide to stand on one side, the other side must be evil.¡±


    This answer didn¡¯t seem to answer anything. Liola fell even deeper into silence.


    Perhaps feeling guilty towards him, Mocha sighed, and gave him even more hints, ¡°Would you ever oppose your companions?¡±


    Liola immediately shook his head.


    ¡°Your companions include son of Aklan prime minister, daughter of a Commerce Alliance Commander, and the descendant of Gle, who had been framed. Could they ever not oppose father?¡±


    ¡°Impossible.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you vexed? You do not have any room to choose.¡± Mocha threw this conclusion cruelly.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to kill him.¡±


    Liola hesitated for a while, and finally formally admitted what he thought. Even though the Dragon Emperor had caused him much pain, the Assassin, who didn¡¯t think much of killing the Dragon Emperor, was now hesitating. He suddenly realized, the person who carried the name of Dragon Emperor was his own father. When the man who wanted to conquer the world was his father, instead of a man who could be completely described by the word ¡°evil¡±.


    Mocha suddenly stood up, and held onto Liola¡¯s shoulders. He said movingly, ¡°Then do whatever you can so you won¡¯t kill him. Brother, facts have proved that, even if I could foresee the future, the only one who could prevent it is you. Only you can stop yourself from driving Broken Silver into father¡¯s chest.¡±


    Liola looked at Mocha quietly, and he said slowly, ¡°You hope I don¡¯t kill him? Then why do you side with Mizerui? There¡¯s no way you didn¡¯t know Mizerui opposes the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t side with anyone. If there is anyone that I side with¡­¡± Mocha slowly took out a flute from underneath his robe. The wooden flute looked aged, to the point where it was beginning to decay.


    ¡°I think I side with Caffey.¡±


    Mocha lightly touched the decaying flute, ¡°Brother¡­ whether the Dragon Emperor is successful or not at conquering the world, I don¡¯t care at all. I just hope you wouldn¡¯t take Caffey¡¯s life; don¡¯t kill our father.¡±


    Looking at the decaying flute, he suddenly understood.


    He was the only prince who would play the flute in the royal garden, then falling asleep without knowing it.


    ¡°I won¡¯t kill him. I swear I won¡¯t.¡±

 Volume 9, 7: The Heart of the Dragon Emperor

    Volume 9, Chapter 7: The Heart of the Dragon Emperor


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Hey! Gladiolus, you have been treating my sister well, right?¡± Kaiser narrowed his eyes dangerously. Although he had walked away freely, he still couldn¡¯t help but worry Gladiolus would mistreat his sister. Since they were still quite far from the Commerce Alliance, Kaiser began to interrogate Gladiolus.


    Gladiolus, who was flying ahead, suddenly slipped. He said without turning his head back, ¡°Meiji has been doing fine. I originally wanted to send her to the Commerce Alliance, too, but she wasn¡¯t willing to go, so I had no choice but to assign two of the Six Forbidden Sins to protect her.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you used a third of the manpower to protect my sister. Fine, that will do.¡± Kaiser said forcefully. Although he knew, in such dire situations, Gladiolus sending two out of the six for Meiji¡¯s protection meant he was very concerned for her safety.


    Gladiolus felt a bit awkward. Had he not been facing Kaiser with his back, Kaiser would definitely jumped to the chance of mocking Gladiolus¡¯ blushing face. Even with his back turned, anyone who would carefully examined him, would realize his ears were red.


    Nevertheless, Kaiser and Daylight didn¡¯t seem to pay much attention. They had been flying towards Commerce Alliance. They even stopped for two nights to rest, but they still had not seen Liola catching up to them, nor did they receive any news from Mizerui. Both of their moods were heavy; they had just rescued Liola out of the hands of Gle, only to immediately put him back into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands. Kaiser had no idea which one was more unfortunate, being Liola or being his companions.


    ¡°The Commerce Alliance is right in front of us.¡± Gladiolus pointed at the shores vaguely visible from the horizon, while increasing his flying speed. Having been out for days, Gladiolus was already feeling homesick. As soon as he took Kaiser and Daylight to the Commerce Alliance, he planned to race back to Aklan.


    After flying for such a long time, Kaiser and Daylight both wanted to land as soon as possible. In addition, they hadn¡¯t seen Meinan and Purity for more than a year. Their anxiousness was not any less than that of Gladiolus. Flames rushed so fast that it passed Gladiolus¡¯ eagle.


    As soon as they landed, a dozen or so Mechas surrounded them. Seeing the alert postures of the guards, Gladiolus immediately yelled, ¡°I am Gladiolus, sent by the Aklan Republic, and I¡¯ve already spoken to the Alliance.¡±


    The lead Mecha Fighter immediately pressed something on the touch screen in front of him. After a while, he said courteously, ¡°This way, please.¡±


    * * *


    Kaiser and Daylight hurriedly ran past the streets of the Commerce Alliance. Having rarely seen a Dragon on the streets, many of them looked at the two as they passed, but neither of them cared, because seeing their companions was the most important thing on their minds. After knowing their companions were in the largest training center of the Commerce Alliance, the two went straight there without stopping to rest.


    Before long, the two had rushed to the training center. After a few rounds of questions, the two walked towards the special training field. As soon as they walked to the perimeter of the field, a beautiful black angel-shaped Mecha immediately attracted their attention. Not only was appearance of the Mecha beautiful, every action it performed was coordinated yet effective. The sword in its hand slice its opponent in every angle, and the body of the Mecha changed posture fluidly in the air. The battle postures of this black angel looked more like it was performing a beautiful dance of death.


    The black angel¡¯s opponent surprised Kaiser and Daylight even more. Compared to the Mecha, standing at a dozen meter high, its opponent was a Sorcerer levitating in mid air, who had a protective shield up. The shield completely protected him, and no matter how the black angel attacked, it could not break through the defenses.


    ¡°Wow, Purity and Meinan became really strong, too.¡± Daylight couldn¡¯t help but praise them. He had originally thought he had made a lot progress, but seeing his companions now, he realized that no one in the Aklan Troublemaking Squad had been idling.


    ¡°Daylight! Let¡¯s go.¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes were filled with eagerness. Not only did he want to see how much his companions had progressed, he also wanted to test himself.


    Seeing Purity and Meinan¡¯s battle, Daylight did indeed want to fight, to verify everyone¡¯s progress. Without saying anything else, Flames had charged into the field while carrying Daylight and Kaiser.


    Flames¡¯ sudden appearance surprised the two people in the field. The first to freeze was the angel Mecha which was facing Flames. When Meinan saw Purity had suddenly stopped attacking and stared at the spot behind him, he turned around curiously. The image of a giant fiery Dragon was the first thing he saw, followed by two familiar figures.


    ¡°Careful! Battle is starting.¡±


    Kaiser yelled exaggeratedly, and threw a Divine Fireball directly at Meinan, who fumbled as he put up a protective shield right before the fireball had landed on him.


    Daylight didn¡¯t want to be outdone. He released his explosive aura, and swung his pike directly at Purity. Seeing Meinan blocking the attack first, Purity didn¡¯t fumble, she elegantly used her giant sword and blocked Daylight¡¯s attack.


    Daylight¡¯s pike and the Mecha¡¯s sword went back and forth. Every time their weapons clashed, Daylight felt an intense pain in his hand. He was very surprised at how strong the Mecha was. While the sword and pike exchanged blows, Kaiser was not idle either. He mercilessly threw Divine Fireballs towards Purity, but she evaded them beautifully. Nevertheless, Daylight¡¯s pike followed her closely. The angel Mecha looked like it could not dodge the pike after evading the fireballs, and just when Daylight¡¯s attack was about to land¡­


    Clang, Meinan stood firmly in front of Purity, and his comprehensive shield stopped Daylight¡¯s pike dead in its tracks.


    Daylight and Meinan looked at one another, then laughed.


    ¡°You sure became powerful.¡± Meinan sensed the pike¡¯s powerful attack, and said honestly.


    ¡°You guys are the powerful ones.¡± Daylight smiled brightly.


    ¡°A fight is a fight, why are you chatting!¡± Kaiser rudely threw more fireballs towards Purity, who was not covered by the protective shield.


    The angel Mecha dodged as it complained, ¡°Kaiser, you¡¯re being unfair, mobbing me with Daylight.¡±


    Kaiser raised his eyebrow, and yelled loudly, ¡°How is it unfair? I was just throwing fireballs. I have yet to let you see an even more unfair attacks.¡±


    After saying that, Kaiser quickly chanted, and a long line of Fireball appeared appeared in the air. The strange thing was, instead of staying still, this Firewall was wiggling through the air like a snake. No matter how much Purity tried to dodge desperately, the fiery snake followed her closely. It was so tricky that she was about to cry.


    ¡°Purity, let me help you.¡±


    Meinan yelled loudly, and Purity rushed towards him, with the fiery snake following her closely. The instant Purity rushed past Meinan, he immediately used a protective shield, and the entire snake rammed into the shield. In an instant, endless sounds of explosions could be heard, and the air was filled with smoke, extinguishing the fire.


    When the smoke faded, Meinan opened his eyes to a pike right on his eyebrows. Kaiser had predicted the comprehensive protective shield would had been too laborious. If it were just magic, Meinan would definitely use a normal magic-stopping shield. Therefore, the cover of the smoke from the explosion of the fiery snake allowed Daylight to quickly close in on Meinan for his attack.


    Clang! This time it was a crisp metallic clashing sound. Purity wasn¡¯t idle either. She carefully examined the situation on the battlefield. Simple smoke could not possible hide anything from the sensors of the Mecha Fighter. As soon as she realized Daylight¡¯s intent to attack, Purity immediately went up to block his attack.


    At that moment, the four of them were close to one another. Their eyes exchanged mutual admiration, then immediately backed up to create distance, preparing themselves for the next round of attacks¡­


    The four people fought as if they had gone insane: from morning to dusk, from dusk to dawn. The four of them did not stop until they finally had to catch their breath. Purity walked out of her Mecha, and Daylight jumped down from Flames. They were all so tired that they fell to the floor, and no one said anything for a long time.


    After an unknown amount of time had passed, Meinan acted as if he had to muster all his courage to ask, ¡°Liola, d-did he not come back with you two?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kaiser said unhappily. It was better when it was unsaid. During their battle, he could finally not think about it, but now that Meinan mentioned it, Kaiser began to feel frustrated again.


    The four remained silent for a while, until they heard a sobbing sound. Daylight was shocked, and asked, ¡°Purity, why are you crying?¡±


    ¡°Is it impossible for Liola-dage to come back?¡± Purity cried as she asked.


    Daylight sighed, but he didn¡¯t know how he should answer. Could Liola possibly escape from Dragon Emperor and Lancelot? If he had known, he shouldn¡¯t have easily believed Liola¡¯s promise and left him behind. Daylight would always forget, Silver Mask was simply a fake Knight, while the true Liola was an Assassin, one who told lies into make-believe truths.


    Meinan vaguely sighed, ¡°Was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Purple Tornado really that powerful?¡±


    ¡°Very.¡± Kaiser answered hauntedly. The move was enough to bedridden Liola for a whole year. Both Daylight and he had originally doubted if Liola would ever wake up.


    ¡°If I knew earlier¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have stood still on the side. If I had been willing to make protective shield¡­¡± Meinan¡¯s voice began to choke as he spoke, ¡°Liola wouldn¡¯t be¡­¡±


    ¡®Uh?¡¯ Kaiser wondered, ¡®wouldn¡¯t be what?¡¯


    Daylight also stood up, and he looked somewhat baffled.


    ¡°Dragon Emperor is too outrageous. Liola-dage didn¡¯t do anything, how, how could he¡­¡±


    Before she finished, she could no longer speak. Purity¡¯s large eyes teared up endlessly, and was sad beyond belief. When Daylight saw her, he fumbled to pat her on her back while trying to find a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Purity, instead, put her head in Daylight¡¯s chest. Daylight hesitated, he didn¡¯t know whether or not he should hug Purity, so his hands were left in the air, with his handsome face completely red.


    Meinan also stood up, and tears were quietly rolling down his face. He tried to refrain from being sad and asked, ¡°Where is Liola exactly?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor took him.¡± Though Kaiser didn¡¯t want to say it, but it¡¯s been days and they haven¡¯t heard any news from him, so it was likely he had been taken away.


    ¡°What?¡± Meinan was shocked, ¡°You two¡­ didn¡¯t protect him?¡±


    ¡°Please, facing Dragon Emperor and Lancelot, who could have protected him?¡± Kaiser snapped back.


    ¡°What exactly does the Dragon Emperor want to do by taking away Liola-dage?¡± Purity yelled with a horrified tone.


    ¡°Who knows.¡± Kaiser was also frustrated. Though he said so, he thought the Dragon Emperor would probably want to kill Liola? However, Kaiser¡¯s instincts told him, perhaps it wasn¡¯t the case. When the Dragon Emperor said he wasn¡¯t going to kill Liola, Kaiser thought he was serious, but he wouldn¡¯t stupidly believe things were as simple as the Dragon Emperor taking Liola back to his rightful place.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be! We must get Liola-dage back!¡± Purity held her fist tightly and yelled loudly.


    Kaiser also knew they couldn¡¯t just leave Liola alone, but if Liola was really taken back to the Dragon Continent, then things would be rather troublesome.


    Meinan said faintly, ¡°Purity, don¡¯t be so capricious. It¡¯s been more than a year, and Liola¡¯s body was probably decaying. Do you really want to risk your life to save a corpse?¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Kaiser suddenly notice something strange was happening.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s decayed, Purity still wants to see Liola-dage one more time!¡± Purity yelled stubbornly.


    ¡°What do you mean decayed¡­¡± Kaiser was now certain, something was wrong.


    ¡°Perhaps he had already been burnt into ashes. The Dragon Emperor hated him so much, there¡¯s no way he would give a proper burial!¡± Meinan gritted his teeth, and said with pain on his face.


    ¡°Burial?¡± Even Daylight sensed what they were saying was a bit far from the truth.


    ¡°Into ashes¡­ outrageous! The Dragon Emperor must have taken Liola-dage¡¯s ashes and used it as a fertilizer!¡± Purity bawled loudly.


    Hearing the word ¡°fertilizer¡±, Meinan¡¯s face also turned pale.


    ¡°You two, STOP~~¡±


    Kaiser finally pulled his air and yelled angrily, and his yell made Meinan and Purity both freeze. They then stared blankly at Kaiser.


    Kaiser said slowly, syllable-by-syllable, ¡°Listen to me! That guy, Liola, is still quite alive. So stop talking about corpses and ashes. Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡±


    Meinan and Purity¡¯s bitter faces suddenly began to shine. They turned their head towards Daylight as if they were looking for verification, ¡°Really? Liola is still alive? The Purple Tornado skill didn¡¯t kill him?¡±


    Daylight nodded, ¡°No, Liola was simply in a coma for a year.¡±


    ¡°Coma for a year?¡±


    ¡°Mhm, that¡¯s what happened.¡±


    Daylight began to tell Meinan and Purity in detail about everything that had happened in the past year or so. When he got to a point of the story where he wasn¡¯t present, Kaiser continued the story. All the tales of the alien world and devil Gle, made Meinan and Purity drop their jaws. Had it not been Daylight¡¯s record of honesty, it would have been hard to believe such a story.


    When they finally spoke about what had happened on Yaron Plains, Meinan and Purity¡¯s faces sank again. Even though Liola might not have died temporarily, but falling into Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands meant he couldn¡¯t possibly be safe.


    ¡°We have to save him.¡± Meinan was the first to speak. It¡¯s one thing if Liola was already a corpse, but if there was even a possibility he was alive, Meinan wouldn¡¯t abandon his companion.


    ¡°I know we have to save him, but we should wait for Mizerui first.¡± Kaiser frowned, ¡°The moment we enter Dragon Emperor¡¯s lair, it would be very difficult for us to get out, so unless we have no other choice, we should not go there. Otherwise, we might not be able to save Liola, and instead, we might become hostage of the Dragon Emperor, whom he could use to threaten Liola.¡±


    Kaiser looked at his three companions, and voiced his doubts, ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking the Dragon Emperor must want to use Liola for something, and it¡¯s not as simple as simply killing him, but no matter how much I think, I couldn¡¯t figure out what Dragon Emperor wants to do with him. He even came in person to take away Liola, the person who was prophesied to kill him. If I were the Dragon Emperor, I would rather send a dozen Assassins to kill him, instead of exposing myself to this person.¡±


    ¡°Could he want to use Liola as an undercover agent? And control Liola like he did to Miluo?¡± Meinan attempted to guess.


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it, but instead of having Liola as an undercover, he would be better off by killing him and end the worrisome prophecy, then capture me and Daylight for undercover. Even though our strengths aren¡¯t comparable, but Liola couldn¡¯t access as much information as Daylight and I.¡±


    ¡°It must be something even bigger and more important, causing Dragon Emperor to risk his life instead of killing Liola.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, ¡°Let¡¯s wait for two weeks. If we don¡¯t get any news in two weeks, we will go and save him.¡±


    * * *


    Compared to the worries of his companions, Liola had spent the past few days in an unusual leisure. It was to the point where he didn¡¯t even feel he was inside his enemies¡¯ camp. At first, Cappuccino took him to pick where he would live in the palace, and to make his own, unique clothes at a tailor. They even went to the Dragon Valley where the Dragons lived. Seeing Cappuccino greet each and every Dragon as if they had known each other, Liola knew he probably had visited the Dragon Valley so much that it was like a second home to him.


    Cappuccino took him everywhere to get familiar, but it came at a cost: he would undoubtedly challenge Liola once a day. Although it also meant he will lose once a day, it became Cappuccino¡¯s daily routine, and he was never tired of it.


    During the afternoon, Liola would have afternoon tea with Lanski and Jasmine, and look at Baolilong happily playing with Jasmine.


    During the dinner, the time where the family came together to eat; the Dragon Emperor, Cappuccino, Lanski, and Jasmine, would all come together eat. In other words, everyone in the Zhuogen family, other than Mocha, who was rumored to not taking a single step out of the Astronomy Tower for years, would come together for a family meal, and this habit hadn¡¯t change.


    The days had been so relaxing that Liola had put his guards down. Other than being careful not to stare into Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes, Liola would regularly put the Dragon Cross Necklace on his forehead every night, so he wouldn¡¯t be hypnotized again without knowing, but the necklace had never burnt his forehead again.


    It wasn¡¯t that Liola hadn¡¯t thought about escaping. After all, his companions did say, if Liola didn¡¯t return, they would come looking for him. Perhaps because he ran in every way everyday, after getting to his living quarters, Liola always fell asleep the moment he touched his bed.


    Liola always thought, ¡®Tomorrow, I¡¯ll leave tomorrow¡¯, but many days had past unknowingly.


    ¡°Liola, do Kaiser and others know you¡¯re here?¡±


    Jasmine and Baolilong were playing. The latter was, after all, a child. So after it got tired of playing, it laid in Jasmine¡¯s arms and fell asleep. Jasmine didn¡¯t want to wake it, so she hugged it and began chatting with Lanski and Liola. What Jasmine thought was strange was the fact that Liola didn¡¯t mention anything about Kaiser and others.


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± Liola suddenly went blank, but then immediately said, ¡°Oh, mhm, they know I¡¯m here.¡±


    A sense of doubt flashed across Jasmine¡¯s face. During that instant, it seemed like Liola had really forgotten who Kaiser was, but how could he possibly forget?


    ¡°Your silver mask is still with Lanski. It¡¯s such a strange mask. When worn, the wearer¡¯s eyes would turn purple.¡±


    Jasmine acted as if she just remembered it, but she was certain this time, Liola did indeed hesitate a bit before he nodded. When it was about time for supper, Liola bid his goodbyes, and planned to wash up to prepare eating supper with his father.


    Seeing Liola walked away, Lanski asked hesitantly, ¡°Didn¡¯t the mask turn the wearer¡¯s eyes to gold? Jasmine, Liola seems¡­¡±


    ¡°He seems stranger and stranger.¡± Jasmine frowned, ¡°Almost as if he had become closer and closer to a real Prince.¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps he just got used to life in this place.¡± Lanski seemed a bit hesitant.


    ¡°Perhaps, I don¡¯t know either.¡± Jasmine said, but her eyes exchanged a worried looks with Lanski.


    * * *


    ¡°Liola, the tailor finished making your clothes. Why don¡¯t you try it on? It doesn¡¯t look half bad.¡±


    Cappuccino excitedly charged into the place Liola lived, with his voice arriving before him. When he kicked down the door, he saw Liola sitting blankly on his bed, as if he had been absent-minded. Cappuccino said loudly, ¡°You¡¯re still not awake? The sun is already up.¡±


    Liola rubbed his eyes, and suddenly woke up from his daze, ¡°Sorry, sovereign brother, I¡¯ve been drowsy lately.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Cappuccino scratched his face, and murmured in his mind, ¡®Sovereign brother? Yesterday you stuttered when I asked you to call me brother, and today it suddenly turned into sovereign brother?¡¯


    Liola jumped down the bed, and casually started putting on the clothes as he said to Cappuccino, ¡°It took a rather short time, did the tailor make this carefully? If this wasn¡¯t made carefully, it would be unbecoming of me to wear it as a Prince.¡±


    Cappuccino thought it very strange, ¡°Liola, didn¡¯t you say before that it doesn¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t make new clothes? Saying something about getting a few of my clothes to wear would be enough.¡±


    Liola seemed surprised, ¡°Really? Did I say that? But, sovereign brother, if a royal Prince didn¡¯t even have clothes to wear, it would bring shame to the Dragon Empire¡¯s royal family.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Cappuccino then thought, ¡®But, this is not something like you would say.¡¯ He looked at Liola elegantly putting on the formal dress strangely. He even tied a scarf with a complicated knot, and put on luxurious cufflinks on his sleeves.


    No matter how blunt Cappuccino was, he still murmured, ¡°There¡¯s must be something wrong¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Sovereign brother.¡± Liola smiled elegantly.


    ¡°Nothing¡­ nevermind.¡± Despite saying this, Cappuccino¡¯s doubts grew in his eyes.


    ¡°Papa!¡± Baolilong, who was asleep just moments before, suddenly started jumping, with the Dragon Cross Necklace raised high in its hand, ¡°Papa forgot the necklace.¡±


    Liola glanced at the necklace, and rejected, ¡°I¡¯m not wearing it, that necklace doesn¡¯t match the clothes I¡¯m wearing today.¡±


    Baolilong held the necklace in its hand, and stared at Liola blankly, as if it was suspicious of something, but had no idea what had happened.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Baolilong. I remember the tailor also made new clothes for you. Let¡¯s go try out your new clothes.¡± Liola rubbed Baolilong¡¯s head indulgently, then carried him up and walked out of the bed room.


    Cappuccino was full of doubts, and he asked the quiet Little Fireball behind him, ¡°Fireball, do you think he¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Very strange.¡± Little Fireball continued, ¡°In a short week, he practically turned into another person. This is an abnormal change.¡±


    ¡°But who dares to attack Liola under father¡¯s very own eyes?¡± Cappuccino said heavily, ¡°Unless¡­¡±


    Little Fireball looked worriedly at his master, ¡°Master, you¡¯re better off not minding it.¡±


    ¡°Not minding it?¡± Cappuccino took a deep breath, ¡°But he¡¯s my younger brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Sovereign brother?¡± Liola called out from afar.


    Cappuccino followed up anxiously, while answering, ¡°Coming.¡±


    But before he left, he glanced at Liola¡¯s bedroom out of the corner of his eyes.


    * * *


    Two figures moved quietly through the darkness, then they sneaked into Liola¡¯s bedroom. One of the two was very hesitant, ¡°You are sure, the problem was here?¡±


    ¡°Of course, in other times, he was either with Cappuccino, or with us, and during supper, everyone is present. There is no reason why he would have a problem and we don¡¯t. The problem must be with this bedroom.¡±


    ¡°Besides, he is very alert. It wouldn¡¯t be very possible for someone do something to him while he¡¯s conscious.¡±


    The other figure nodded. His strength was obvious to everyone who had seen it. Cappuccino had challenged him quite a few times, but had never won even once, even though Cappuccino was already considered strong among the Gold Knights.


    ¡°But I¡¯m worried, the person who would attack him might be¡­¡±


    ¡°Shh!¡± One of the figures heard a faint sound. She immediately grabbed the other person, and hid in the closet to the side.


    Another two figure sneakily entered the bedroom, one of them said with a refrained voice, ¡°Master, are you sure this is where the problem is?¡±


    ¡°Duh, he¡¯s either with us, or with Lanski and Jasmine. Everyone eats together during supper, so it¡¯s not easy to do any dirty tricks. There is no other place more questionable other than his bedroom.¡±


    The two people in the closet didn¡¯t know if they should laugh or cry.


    ¡°Who! Who¡¯s there?¡± Cappuccino realized faint breathing sounds from the closet. Could they be the people who were up to no good?


    ¡°We are here.¡± The two slowly opened the closet, and two graceful girls walked out.


    The two people outside of the closet were, of course, Cappuccino and its strong Little Fireball. The four of them looked strangely at one another, then said in unison, ¡°You guys are also here because¡­¡±


    Then all four stopped, and all sighed, ¡°Yup, of course.¡±


    Cappuccino said jokingly, ¡°Dear sister, you also think that something is up with our little brother?¡±


    Lanski nodded, ¡°It¡¯s quite strange. The current Liola doesn¡¯t seem like the old him at all.¡±


    ¡°Sigh!¡± Cappuccino sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s find what¡¯s affecting him together. As for the culprit, let¡¯s not look any further.¡±


    Lanski looked at Cappuccino with complicated eyes, and it looked like they both knew. She took a deep breath, ¡°But one can¡¯t exist without the other.¡±


    ¡°Brother isn¡¯t an idiot. As soon as he recovered, he must find ways to escape.¡± Cappuccino didn¡¯t seem worried. Having fought his brother for a whole week, Cappuccino knew well of his strength, and escaping shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Lanski and Jasmine took one look at one another. It looked like Liola was going to run away again. They both couldn¡¯t help but laughed bitterly.


    ¡°No matter how much I¡¯ve thought about it, I feel there¡¯s a problem with this bed.¡±


    Cappuccino looked at the bed. After saying so, without any hesitation, he immediately turned the bed over; he pulled off the sheets, took up the mattress, and even moved the bed frame, but he didn¡¯t find anything. Cappuccino scratched his head, ¡°Strange, it¡¯s not a problem with the bed? I¡¯m sure I saw him stare blankly on his bed.¡±


    The two girls froze as well. They had also thought the bed was the problem, but seeing it wasn¡¯t the case, the four of them began to wonder.


    ¡°What are you doing in my room?¡±


    A crisp and cold voice could be heard. The four of them realized now that the master of the room had came back, but none of them realized this until now. It wasn¡¯t unexpected, nevertheless, with Liola¡¯s abilities, his movements weren¡¯t something they could track.


    Getting caught red-handed was a rather shameful thing to the Prince and Princess. Finally, Cappuccino had no choice but said with a laugh, ¡°We were here to talk to you, but who knew you weren¡¯t here.¡±


    Liola asked suspiciously, ¡°It¡¯s time for supper, so father and I were eating, and I was wondering why all of you would be missing from the supper table at the same time.¡±


    Cappuccino said seriously, ¡°Because the moon is rather beautiful tonight, I suddenly wanted to go eat some barbecue. Coincidentally, I ran into our sister, so I dragged her along, but she insisted on bringing you along. Because we didn¡¯t want to interrupt Father¡¯s supper, we ended up waiting for you in your room.¡±


    ¡°My bed?¡± Liola looked at the messy bed and asked.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Cappuccino suddenly yelled, ¡°This bed is a piece of crap, and it¡¯s nothing like a bed a Prince should use. Which damn servant was it, who had never changed this bed, and caused you to spent a week sleeping in an uncomfortable bed. As your brother, I¡¯m infuriated.¡±


    ¡°I understand, thank you, sovereign brother, for your worries.¡± Liola looked at the bed and said. Although he didn¡¯t feel the bed was uncomfortable, he still replied courteously.


    ¡°Hahaha, if there¡¯s nothing else, we¡¯ll leave first!¡± Cappuccino laughed loudly, but cold sweat was already running down his back.


    Liola said strangely, ¡°Weren¡¯t we going to eat barbecue?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ that, right.¡± Cappuccino looked helplessly at his sister, then asked, ¡°Let¡¯s go barbecue, sister?¡±


    * * *


    ¡°Hmmph!¡±


    A cold laughing voice echoed within the palace. This was the deepest place within the palace, and it had always been the living quarters of all the Dragon Emperors. In the wide hallway, the Dragon Emperor dressed in his purple robe, was sitting on a chair, and a person kneeling on one knee below him was covered in a robe, therefore, making it impossible to see his face. He held a crystal ball in his hand, and it had reflected the scenes from Liola¡¯s bed room.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. As long as it¡¯s not my power, the Dragon Cross Necklace is completely useless.¡± The Dragon Emperor said, ¡°Idojin, how long until we can completely control him? Cappuccino and Lanski have already noticed something is wrong.¡±


    The man named Idojin nodded, ¡°You Highness, the fourth Prince doesn¡¯t have much resistance left. If we infuse a large amount of magic now into the magic circle at the ceiling above his bed, we can control him completely.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then do it.¡± The Dragon Emperor said coldly, ¡°I need a truly obedient Prince to succeed me.¡±


    ¡°But, Your Highness, when we completely control the Prince¡¯s mind, if you want to restore his previous consciousness, the success rate is only about 30%.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t care a bit. Ever since the ancient times, the Dragon Emperor only needed its ambition. He never needed, nor wanted, other consciousness.


    Idojin nodded courteously, ¡°Understood. Then we shall complete the whole magic tonight.¡±


    Seeing his two sons and daughter laughing in the crystal ball, a slight mercy flashed across the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes, ¡°Then let them finish the barbecue for today.¡±


    * * *


    Liola walked slowly back to the palace, with the smell of barbecue on his clothes. This made him really uncomfortable: a Prince should always keep his cleanliness. When he lowered his head to look at Baolilong, who was asleep in his arms, he realized his degree of dirtiness was truly horrifying: the clothes which had just been sewn today, was covered in oil and dirt, with several spots near its joints cut open.


    ¡°Really..¡± Liola complained lightly, but he wasn¡¯t mad. A child should be hyper as it was.


    When he was back in his room, Liola suddenly noticed the Dragon Emperor and another man covered in black robe. Though he was confused, he still bowed courteously, ¡°Greetings, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Mm, come here, let father get a good look at you.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly.


    Liola put Baolilong on a desk; it murmured a few things, then curled up and continued its sleep. Liola then walked towards his father. Although he didn¡¯t know why his father would come looking for him in the middle of the night, but he wasn¡¯t one to disobey His Highness.


    The Dragon Emperor reached out and touched Liola¡¯s familiar face. A pain flashed through his heart, and he was silent briefly, then asked, ¡°Child, do you have any wishes?¡±


    ¡°Wishes?¡± Liola was baffled. What wishes would he have?


    ¡°Yes, say it, child, as long as it¡¯s not too much, father will help you.¡± This was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s last act of kindness to his youngest child.


    Liola was quiet for a moment, and said, ¡°Companions¡­¡± But as soon as he said so, Liola frowned. The word was familiar to him, yet distant at the same time. Even though a few blurred figures flashed across his mind, but he could not remember their exact looks.


    The Dragon Emperor was quiet for a while, then said leisurely, ¡°Understood. I promise you, I wouldn¡¯t ask you to slay them.¡±


    ¡®Slay them?¡¯ Liola suddenly felt an intense pain in his heart.


    ¡°Go lie down, child.¡±


    ¡°Father, you are standing, and a child shouldn¡¯t lie down while¡­¡± Liola hesitated.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I command you to lie down.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, this is just a small ritual, to make you rightfully a Prince, one who will succeed me as the next Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Me? But what about Cappuccino¡­¡± Liola seemed a bit unwilling to become a Dragon Emperor, as if he had a natural fear to becoming it.


    ¡°You are the most talented child, and you are the strongest. You also are the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s master, and you even had a bond with your Dragon, so you will live a long life. You used to be an Assassin, cold-blooded and merciless. Child, no one is more suited to receive the ambition than you, and become the only monarch under the sun.¡±


    ¡°Lie down, child, everything will be okay.¡± The Dragon Emperor urged gently.


    Though Liola was hesitating, but he still obeyed his father and lied down.


    ¡°Idojin.¡± The Dragon Emperor called out.


    Idojin said ¡°yes¡± courteously, then he slowly flew up in the air. With both of his hands raised high, a simple wind blade torn away the wallpaper on the ceiling, showing the magic circle underneath. He slowly infused magic into the circle, and the magic circle was activated. Light slowly reached out from the circle, reaching down from the ceiling, and surrounding Liola¡¯s body in the circle of light.


    When the circle¡¯s light became brighter and brighter, Liola realized images flashing through his mind. No, perhaps it wasn¡¯t flashing, but instead it felt more like images being forcefully pulled out. The intense pain as a result of feeling as if his brain had been carved out piece by piece had made Liola moan and yell painfully while holding his head. He couldn¡¯t endure this pain; he leaped, trying to force his way out of the circle.


    However, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s powerful purple aura exploded, pressing Liola firmly back onto the bed, and he was completely immobilized. More and more emotions were forcefully removed. Liola continued to yell. Other than the physical pain, Liola noticed one familiar figure after another: Kaiser, Daylight, Purity, and Meinan¡­ his companions¡­ all that remained was their names and their identity. The time they had spent together was now just like a file recording of an event, and simply a record, without any meaning to him anymore.


    Liola¡¯s face grew more and more pale, but he became more and more quiet. The pain sensation from his head was still there, but he didn¡¯t seem to care anymore. Just like enduring the cruel Assassin training before, no matter how painfully, he wouldn¡¯t make any sound. Except¡­ when a certain someone could no longer incite any thoughts in Liola¡¯s head and becoming a familiar stranger, he would suddenly grunt. It was a sound far more unpleasant than a simple headache: it was a heartache¡­


    ¡°Papa! Papa!¡± Baolilong had already been awakened by Liola¡¯s painful yells, but since the Dragon Emperor¡¯s aura had immobilized it as well, it had no choice but struggle and cry.


    Slowly, Liola had completely quieted down. Other than his pale face, no one could tell he had been any different. Idojin knew, it was about done. He infused the last strand of magic into the circle. After the circle exploded with a blinding light, it disappeared entirely.


    ¡°Is it done?¡± The Dragon Emperor asked lightly, seemingly ignoring the fact that Idojin was completely exhausted because he had exerted too much magic.


    Idojin struggled to stand up, ¡°Yes, the magic circle finished successfully.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor withdrew the aura inhibiting Liola and Baolilong. Baolilong immediately ran into papa¡¯s arms, and yelled, ¡°Papa, papa.¡±


    Liola looked at it, without any expression on his face. Nevertheless, he knew, this was the Sacred White Dragon who recognized himself as its master.


    A few anxious footsteps could suddenly be heard. Before long, the bedroom door was barged open. Cappuccino¡¯s worried face had, after suddenly seeing the Dragon Emperor, became pale. He said uneasily, ¡°Father¡­ child heard brother¡¯s scream, therefore¡­¡±


    ¡°Just a small ritual.¡± The Dragon Emperor explained, ¡°A ritual to confirm Liola as the Dragon Emperor¡¯s successor.¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine¡¯s hearts raced, and a cold and unnerving sense made the two tremble. They looked at Liola; he looked to be unharmed, and he was looking down on Baolilong, but something was wrong.


    How could they be looking at the person they love, but feel a sense of cold in their heart? As if the person they saw was something horrific.


    Fearing there was something wrong with Liola, Cappuccino tried to call out, ¡°Liola?¡±


    Liola raised his head slowly, and a pair of motionless silver eyes looked at Cappuccino while replying, ¡°Yes, sovereign brother?¡±


    Cappuccino took a deep breath. There was no difference between what Liola called him now and before, but why? Why did he sense himself falling down a snowy mountain? Those eyes¡­ those eyes were the epitome of something wrong.


    ¡°Liola? Are you okay?¡±


    Lanski looked at those two silver eyes, and her body could not stop trembling. It was then when she suddenly remembered, Liola had once said before, no matter what title he held now, he knew himself to be an Assassin. At the time, when Liola said it, Lanski felt nothing but sympathy, but she didn¡¯t think Assassins were very scary; but now, seeing those two eyes¡­


    Assassin! This word imprinted heavily in Lanski¡¯s heart.


    ¡°What did you do to him?¡± Jasmine¡¯s face was pale. She clearly sensed, this wasn¡¯t Liola, at least not the young father who would, once upon a time, gently rub Baolilong¡¯s head.


    If Yandi was still here, she could definitely tell everyone clearly, this was the ¡°void¡± eyes. The person in front of them, was the top Assassin ¡ª Silver Moon!

 Volume 9, 8: Side Story: Misery

    Volume 9, Chapter 8: Side Story: Misery


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Bar-bar, where is papa?¡±


    A golden-haired, blue-eyed, and a cute child everyone would love, asked timidly. The bearded man, who was sitting next to him, was writing down some magic notes. He helplessly put down his pen, and turned around to look at the child.


    ¡°If you call him papa again, he will definitely slap you.¡± Barbalis advised helplessly. The old and young sitting in his bedroom were both stubborn. The old wanted the young to call him master, and the young called the old nothing but papa. This would continue until child abuse would happen, and when Susanna finds out about it, she would angrily run off and abuse the old one.


    Gle¡¯s abusive and masochistic actions had never stopped since Mizerui could speak, but the end result had always been the old and young resulting with bruised faces. And afterwards, they would squeezed together and fall asleep on the same bed because they were too tired. Gle¡¯s habit of lying on his stomach had never changed, and little Mizerui¡¯s habit of lying with his face down on top of Gle hadn¡¯t changed either.


    Barbalis looked at this scene until Mizerui turned seven, when a sudden holiday called ¡°Aklan Crazy Four¡¯s Graduation¡± had appeared. The whole academy held a banquet for three days and three nights to celebrate the Crazy Four¡¯s graduation, while the four of them glared at Mizerui and argued for three days and nights.


    Susanna insisted on taking Mizerui with her. Her reasoning being, if Gle took Mizerui, no one would know if he would even live to the day when the four of them promised to meet up the following year. Barbalis had also strongly agreed with her.


    However, Mizerui, himself, insisted on staying with Gle, ignoring Susanna¡¯s heartfelt pleads. Finally, the other three could do nothing as they saw Gle taking Mizerui away. This event had caused the other three heartfelt regret for the next dozen of years to come.


    The next year, Gle really did come empty handed by himself.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Mizerui?¡±


    ¡°I lost him.¡± Gle shrugged.


    For the first time ever, Barbalis joined Susanna in her actions to fix up Gle.


    A dozen years later, Mizerui suddenly appeared out of the thin air, but during this period of time, where exactly had Mizerui gone to? It had always been a mystery¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Papa, what magic circle are you drawing?¡± Mizerui was sitting on the ground, staring at the all powerful Magician father as he had to, for the first time, use a magic circle to cast magic. What kind of magic could it be?


    Gle gave him a knock on the head as usual and corrected, ¡°It¡¯s Master!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Mizerui held his head. Deciding to completely skip the name, he asked again, ¡°What kind of magic circle is this?¡±


    Gle said triumphantly, ¡°This is a time magic circle, and I will use it to travel into the future.¡±


    ¡°Future?¡± Mizerui didn¡¯t understand what future was. Nevertheless, he was very interested in the magic circle. He was very curious as to what magic spell it could possibly be to force Gle to use a magic circle.


    Gle was on the ground for a long time, drawing the magic circle, to the point where his back was starting to hurt. The circle was indeed difficult to create, and even Gle didn¡¯t have much confidence on its success, however, he also didn¡¯t want to experiment with his own life. Gle commanded Mizerui, ¡°When I say go, grab something and throw it in.¡±


    Mizerui looked around excitedly. He finally grabbed Gle¡¯s long sword, and fumbled to the edge of the magic circle, awaiting Gle¡¯s signal. Gle began to infuse large amount of magic into the circle. It was a difficult spell, and he wasn¡¯t going to hold back, he was going to give it his all.


    Magic was quickly drained out of his body, and even for Gle, the rate of magic loss had caused his face to turn pale. However, as the magic circle began to glow, his heart was filled with excitement. It continued on until the magic circle grew blindingly bright, and Gle had used up all his power. He was weak but he still yelled loudly, ¡°Now!¡±


    A crisp sound of metal striking the ground could be heard. This made Gle frown. Theoretically, the sword should have disappeared, and therefore not emitting a single sound.


    Did he fail¡­? Gle was unhappy, he had never failed before. When the blinding light gradually faded away, there was, surely enough, a sword sitting in the center of the magic circle.


    ¡°What the hell! How could I have failed? You must have thrown it too slowly, Mizerui. I¡¯m going to beat you until your head is covered in bumps.¡±


    Gle¡¯s eyes circled around the room, but he didn¡¯t see Mizerui¡¯s little body. He froze briefly, then raised his head to look at the door: the door was locked in several places, and it was locked from the outside; therefore, Mizerui couldn¡¯t have gotten out.


    Gle turned his head back to look at the magic circle again, and he froze for a long, long time¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°Ouch!¡±


    Two moans of pain could be heard in unison. Mizerui held his head in pain, with tears rolling around in his eyes. Luckily enough, since Gle had often beaten his head, he could handle this bit of pain. On the other hand, the man Mizerui hit complained for a long time.


    ¡°What a little runt! You want a beating?¡±


    Mizerui raised his head to look. A man with green hair reaching his shoulders was looking back at him angrily. The man was wearing a Magician robe.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Mizerui asked curiously. Wasn¡¯t he just in papa¡¯s room, watching him use a magic circle?


    The green-haired man was obviously more curious than he was. He snapped, ¡°Are you freaking serious, you fell out of the sky on my head, and you ask me who I am? Shouldn¡¯t that be my question? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a small Magician who just learnt levitation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not! I¡¯m a very powerful Magician, the Magic genius Gle¡¯s only apprentice!¡± Mizerui protested loudly.


    ¡°Uh? Gle?¡± The green-haired man widened his eyes, clearly in complete disbelief of what the child said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Mizerui raised up his chin.


    ¡°What¡¯s up? You are yelling loudly.¡±


    Mizerui looked at the direction of where the other sound came from. A man with black hair reaching his hips and handsome look was walking towards him, with a brilliant crown on his head. Mizerui thought it strange, and despite his young age, he knew the only person who would wear a crown in the world, and it was the Dragon Emperor.


    Could his papa¡¯s magic circle have sent him to the Dragon Continent?


    The green-haired man said with a strange look, ¡°Some strange child says he¡¯s Gle¡¯s eldest apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Gle¡¯s eldest apprentice? Isn¡¯t that Mizerui?¡± The handsome, black-haired man seem puzzled.


    ¡°I am Mizerui!¡± Mizerui was confused.


    ¡°Speaking of Mizerui, this child looks quite like that guy Mizerui. Hehe, could this be his love child?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The green-haired man turned around, but could no longer find the child.


    * * *


    Many, many scenes quickly flashed before Mizerui¡¯s eyes, as if he was sitting on a moving train, and the views slipped by quickly. Mizerui looked at them blurrily, and then he couldn¡¯t resist using his hands to touch those pictures. As soon as he touched one of them, Mizerui was quickly sucked into one. When he finally recovered from the shock, he was again standing in a strange place.


    He saw two groups of people confronting one another. On his left, there was only one man dressed in a purple robe, and several people to the right. The man with black hair in front seemed somewhat familiar to him? Mizerui narrowed his eyes, and yelled, ¡°Ah! Those eyes¡­¡±


    As soon as he made a sound, a hand suddenly covered his mouth. The smell of blood barged into Mizerui¡¯s nose. He raised his head to look, and saw the person covering his mouth was drenched in blood, his golden hair was messy, and his clothes were soaked in so much blood that it was hard to tell what color they were. He could vaguely make out some black and white stripes¡­


    ¡°Shh! You can¡¯t help with anything here. Leave now.¡±


    The gold-haired man seemed to treat his wounds as nothing, and he still acted with class. He smiled as he pushed Mizerui, who then fell into an abyss. Now, the scenes were beginning to move vertically.


    Mizerui floated in the air. While bored, he desperately flung his limbs around, putting his hands and feet into an unknown scenery. This time, when he rolled out, he fell securely into a seat. He was clueless as to where he was. He saw people around him standing and sitting, but strangely enough, everything else was completely transparent, and there was nothing there other than people. Mizerui timidly lowered his head to look, and saw there was nothing under his butt, even though he was sitting upright.


    ¡°G-R-E-A-T!¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s attention was drawn by a loud yell. He saw a green-haired young man talking excitedly with another man.


    He had no idea what the green-haired man whispered to the the black-haired man. The green-haired man raised his head and said immersively, ¡°If we catch him for the bounty, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food or clothes for a long while.¡±


    The black-haired man looked in Mizerui¡¯s direction. At first, Mizerui thought they were looking at him, but after paying attention, he realized they were looking at the man sitting next to him. This man with a gold-framed glasses seemed rather familiar. The man didn¡¯t look back at him, but rubbed his head, instead.


    His eyes were looking at the two man. There was disdainful look in his sharp, golden eyes, and a sinister smile was on his mouth.


    ¡°Get off at the next exit.¡± The black-haired man said as if he was both talking to his companion and at the man with the gold-framed glasses.


    The man with the gold-framed glasses pushed Mizerui again, putting him back into the boundless list of endless sceneries.


    Having seen this again and again, and being raised by Gle after all, Mizerui had already figured out what was happening. In fact, just based on the fact that Gle drew a temporal magic circle, Mizerui had already predicted what would happen. He just didn¡¯t know why he would fly around like this, and when he could actually stop.


    Although a bit worried, Mizerui was still young, and he faced such a situation with a rather playful attitude. He sneaked into one scenery for a while, then run into another in the next. After getting back many times, Mizerui began to play without any worry. As soon as he came back, he went into another scene.


    After a long time, Mizerui began to feel tired. He sat quietly in the darkness, watching the pictures roll by. Even though each of these scenes had many people, Mizerui always felt alone. He would often be sent back without saying a word, so it made no difference whether he saw anyone.


    ¡°Can I not go back anymore¡­¡± Mizerui finally began to worry. He sat and stared blankly in the darkness, not knowing what he should do. Though he knew of magic, he was far from knowing things like temporal magic. In fact, other than Gle, there might be no one who could come up with something as terrifying as temporal magic.


    Suddenly, a white hand broke through the darkness and grabbed Mizerui by his ankle. With a sudden pull, Mizerui didn¡¯t even have time to scream before he was pulled into someone¡¯s arms.


    Mizerui paused, then raised his head. A man wearing a long robe was smiling while looking back at him.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Mizerui asked.


    The man examined him with interest as he answered, ¡°I¡¯m Mocha.¡±


    Little Mizerui frowned, ¡°Mocha? Are you trying to trick a five year old? Let me tell you, I¡¯m already seven, and I¡¯m not so easily tricked. Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know Mocha is a kind of coffee.¡±


    The man looked awkward as he tried to explain, ¡°But I really am called Mocha. I have two younger brothers, and they are called Latte and Cappuccino.¡±


    Mizerui heard, and looked very skeptical. He examined Mocha, trying to find evidence of lying on his face. After all¡­ what kind of parents would call their children Mocha, Latte, and Cappuccino?


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard of Dragon Emperor¡¯s three coffee princes?¡± Seeing Mizerui¡¯s expression, Mocha asked angrily and jokingly at the same time, but then he frowned, ¡°Right, perhaps you really didn¡¯t know. Which space and time do you come from? Why were you floating around in the spatiotemporal tunnel?¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s jaws dropped. He remembered; he had indeed heard of the three coffee princes, when he heard the eldest prince had a celebration for his hundredth birthday.


    ¡°Prince Mocha¡­ h-how old are you this year?¡± Mizerui asked anxiously.


    ¡°Me? A hundred and fifteen.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Mizerui yelled in shock, ¡°Did I go fifteen years into the future?¡±


    ¡°Crap, I don¡¯t know where papa went. I saw a lot of strange scenarios and I want to tell him about it.¡± Mizerui sighed.


    ¡°Strange scenarios?¡± Mocha smiled and said, ¡°You have seen the past or the future, right? But how did you enter the spatiotemporal tunnel?¡±


    ¡°My papa drew a temporal magic circle.¡± Mizerui suddenly looked at Mocha, ¡°Prince, how did you put your hand there?¡±


    ¡°I am a fortune teller.¡± Mocha immediately saw Mizerui¡¯s skepticism as soon as he finished. He explained patiently, ¡°In fact, this was a gift. When I close my eyes, I can often see the situation in the spatiotemporal tunnel, and all the pictures flowing through the tunnel.¡±


    Mizerui suddenly realized, ¡°So because you would often see the future, everyone thought you could predict the future?¡±


    ¡°As long as you could tell them the future, who would really care how you actually knew?¡± Mocha answered with what looked like a smile.


    ¡°But that¡¯s fine too. Wouldn¡¯t you know everything then? And you would never do the wrong thing.¡± Mizerui said with a bit of jealously.


    Mocha looked deeply at Mizerui for a while, before finally leisurely saying, ¡°Child, you must have seen the future too. I think it¡¯s my duty to tell you, being able to see the future doesn¡¯t mean your life isn¡¯t without its questions. I am often vexed over whether I should tell the prophecy. Many prophecies turned out to be self-fulfilling. Had I not said anything, perhaps things wouldn¡¯t have happened at all.¡±


    Mizerui was thoroughly confused. With his curious nature, he asked, ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°Such as¡­¡± Mocha turned around, so this child wouldn¡¯t see his pain through his eyes.


    ¡°I saw¡­ that my future younger brother would kill my father, but I don¡¯t know if my telling of this predicament could cause my father to hate my brother, and therefore my brother would end up killing my father, making my prophecy to be the culprit. Or perhaps if I don¡¯t say anything, but the reason for my brother killing my father had nothing to do with my prophecy. If that¡¯s the case, would I be neglecting to help my father?¡± Mocha said as if he was stating, yet at the same time asking himself.


    ¡°So are you going to say something or not?¡± Mizerui became more and more vexed himself.


    Mocha looked outside the window, and his voice sounded far and near at the same time.


    ¡°Indeed, am I going to say something or not?¡±

 Volume 10, 1: Silver Moon Knight

    Volume 10, Chapter 1: Silver Moon Knight


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Cindy, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Kaiser.¡±


    Concentrating on painting with magic elements, Kaiser was startled by this yell that the Mona Lisa in his hands abruptly gained a mustache. He became so angry, he grabbed his hair and turned his head to yell, ¡°What the hell, do you have any idea what time it is, what are you doing yelling so loudly in the middle of the night?¡±


    Meinan, Purity, and Daylight all stood by the door, with an expression on their faces, paled and filled with terror, indicating the bad news. Even the always resolute Daylight had knitted eyebrows.


    Seeing that even Daylight was there, Kaiser knew something was definitely wrong. While Meinan and Purity might do something as boring as waking him up in the middle of the night to pee, Daylight would never pull that kind of prank. Besides, their expressions were definitely not feigned.


    ¡°Fine, what happened this time?¡± Kaiser asked a bit helplessly. He already knew in his heart that this was no ordinary bad news.


    All three looked at each other in dismay, then finally stepped aside in silence, revealing behind them a man dressed in a strange black-and-white long robe, wearing gold-framed glasses and a tightened expression. It was a rare expression to be seen on the Sorcerer who always laughed unscrupulously.


    ¡°Uh-oh, even Mizerui is here¡­¡± Kaiser moaned as he cradled his head. Under these circumstances, he knew this had something to do with that certain someone ¡ª the guy with silver eyes. Ever since Kaiser knew Liola, he had never seen Lady Luck smile upon Liola.


    Mizerui sighed, and his tight expression relaxed slightly. He spread his arms, and grudgingly said, ¡°Yup, even I am here, so you know things are severe.¡±


    ¡°How severe?¡± Kaiser suddenly asked with anticipation: ¡°Was Aklan conquered?¡±


    While Meinan glared snappily at Kaiser, Mizerui raised his eyebrow, and shook his head.


    Kaiser continued to ask, unrelenting: ¡°Then did Miluo¡¯s army reach the Commerce Alliance?¡±


    This time, Purity puffed out her cheeks.


    Seeing Mizerui¡¯s face full of the ¡°you obviously know¡± expression, Kaiser finally gave up lying to himself and moaned, ¡°Fine, fine, what¡¯s wrong with Liola now?¡±


    Mizerui didn¡¯t answer directly, but instead spoke as if it were someone else¡¯s business: ¡°The Dragon Emperor has finally announced an heir. Fourth Prince Liola, who has just returned, is now the Crown Prince.¡±


    ¡°Crown Prince?¡± Kaiser suddenly stood bolted upright. With a frown, he tried desperately to discern the Dragon Emperor¡¯s intentions. How could he actually keep his foretold killer, his son, by his side, and even designate him as his heir? How can this be possible¡­ unless, the Dragon Emperor was one hundred percent sure he could completely control Liola.


    Kaiser abruptly raised his head, wanting to convey to his companions his speculation, but the other three were already looking at him uneasily. Now Kaiser finally realized that he had unconsciously murmured his thoughts.


    ¡°I had just heard the news from mama, and before I even had the chance to tell you guys, I ran into Mizerui.¡± Purity paused, then said hesitantly, ¡°I heard that the Dragon Emperor even bestowed Liola-dage with the title of Silver Moon Knight, could they have made peace?¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon?¡± Kaiser and Daylight blurted out in unison.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Meinan interjected. ¡°My father received the same news. Rumor has it that during Liola¡¯s Knight rank appraisal, he scared off a bunch of people by defeating ten of the Dragon Empire¡¯s Gold Knights, thereby becoming a new Rank-X figure in the world. The Dragon Emperor gave him the title of Silver Moon on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Ten Gold Knights, nine of which were severely injured, three of them had almost died. The only person with minor injuries was Cappuccino,¡± Mizerui stated the truth calmly.


    Everyone frowned, and Purity asked with a stutter, ¡°Al-almost died? Impossible, Liola-dage wouldn¡¯t kill anyone.¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s eyes lightly glanced over everyone, ¡°Perhaps Liola wouldn¡¯t, but Silver Moon¡¯s moves were all fatal.¡±


    Meinan paused, and he immediate saw Kaiser and Daylight¡¯s heavy faces. Obviously the two knew the answer. He asked his companions puzzledly, ¡°What special meaning does ¡®Silver Moon¡¯ carry? What does it have to do with Liola?¡±


    Kaiser glanced at Meinan, and pouted, as if he was unwilling to speak of the name, ¡°Silver Moon¡­ is Liola; it was Liola¡¯s name when he was an Assassin.¡±


    Meinan and Purity were both confused. Even if so, what of it?


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the name ¡®Silver Moon¡¯.¡± Daylight frowned, and hesitated to speak, ¡°My master had spoken of Silver Moon. He was the top Assassin. Everyone in the Martial Arts World would turn pale whenever they heard of his name. No matter who his target was, he never hesitated, and he always attacked fatally. Some people said he had no heart at all.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, ¡°Yup, even my malicious great-grandfather said, being the puppeteer that he was, even he didn¡¯t want to look at Silver Moon¡¯s eyes, because it made him feel like he wasn¡¯t looking at a human eyes¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Purity asked while baffled, ¡°Are you guys talking about Liola-dage? Why does it seem like you¡¯re talking about someone else.¡±


    ¡°No, Liola isn¡¯t Silver Moon.¡± Kaiser said firmly, ¡°He isn¡¯t anymore.¡±


    Daylight nodded seriously. Having been to the other world, no one understood better than him and Kaiser how much different Liola was now compared to Silver Moon.


    ¡°Perhaps he is again.¡± Mizerui said lightly.


    Kaiser and Daylight suddenly widened their eyes and glared at Mizerui. Despite how quiet his statement was, the shock value of what he said was too immense. The two opened their mouths again and again, but no words came out, especially when Mizerui¡¯s eyes showed a deep self-blame and sadness. A foreboding feeling overcame the two.


    ¡°What happened to Liola exactly?¡± Meinan broke the silence, ¡°No matter what happened, we have to at least know, so we could come up with a plan.¡±


    ¡°I was careless.¡± Mizerui sighed, and said with self-blame, ¡°At first, Dragon Emperor wanted to use hypnosis to control Liola, but I uncovered the plan, and Liola returned to his old self. I thought if he was alert, and with the Dragon Cross Necklace with him, then it would be impossible for the Dragon Emperor to control him. Coincidentally, because Miluo seemed to be ready to make trouble, I went to help Qiusi investigate, therefore leaving the Dragon Continent¡­¡±


    ¡°I had never imagined¡­ The Dragon Emperor would actually use a Magician¡¯s power. The Dragon Cross Necklace only had the power to resist Dragon Emperor¡¯s power, but it was powerless towards anyone else. I had forgotten Liola wasn¡¯t familiar with magic, so he might not have suspected anyone using magic against him, in the end¡­¡±


    Everyone¡¯s face changed. Kaiser, on the other hand, didn¡¯t find himself surprised. Perhaps when he heard the title of Silver Moon Knight, he had already guessed it; if he weren¡¯t controlled, why would Liola bring back the name he was trying to avoid like the plague?


    However, with a last bit of hope, Kaiser still asked, ¡°He was controlled?¡±


    Mizerui didn¡¯t answer, but instead frowned, until the eight eyes staring at him were about to burn through his robe, then he said with uncertainty, ¡°Should be, but his situation might be a bit more severe¡­¡±


    ¡°Does he not remember us?¡± Kaiser frowned. Since things had already happened, all he could do now was ascertain what happened, then devise a plan.


    ¡°He remembers. He remembers me, you, and everything that happened.¡± Mizerui answered eloquently, as if he thought remembering wasn¡¯t something good.


    ¡°Was only his body controlled?¡± Kaiser relaxed his eyebrows. If that were the case, things would be much easier.


    Mizerui suddenly became quiet. This silence felt like a heavy weight on everyone¡¯s hearts, until Kaiser couldn¡¯t take it anymore; he suddenly jumped up and yelled, ¡°Mizerui! I don¡¯t care what you¡¯re thinking about. Tell us quickly and clearly what happened.¡±


    ¡°Problem is, I don¡¯t know how to tell you!¡± Mizerui suddenly yelled back, and everyone was stupefied. They had never seen Mizerui lose control like this, and even Mizerui, himself, seemed surprised. He bit his lip tightly, and there was tightness about his face as well. His otherwise careless attitude had now turned into an unapproachable coldness.


    ¡°Mizerui-dage, d-don¡¯t get angry. We¡¯re just really concerned about Liola-dage. It¡¯s almost been two weeks and he hasn¡¯t came back at all. Now with the news of him being controlled, we¡¯re really worried¡­¡± Purity¡¯s eyes were filled with tears. Her voice choked more and more as she spoke.


    Hearing what Purity said, Mizerui¡¯s tightened face relaxed a bit. He sighed, ¡°Sorry, I really don¡¯t know how to describe his situation. He didn¡¯t lose his memory, nor was he following simple orders as if his body was controlled. However, he does indeed obey the Dragon Emperor now, and he never mentioned anything about you.¡±


    Mizerui paused a moment, then hesitantly continued, ¡°In fact, after I found out something was wrong, I¡¯ve only observed him, but I never spoke to him. I, I¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to get close to him?¡±


    Daylight finished his thought for him. Everyone, including Mizerui, all turned their heads to look at him. He stated calmly, ¡°It is an nonexistent existence, to the point where one couldn¡¯t even call him cold. His eyes had no coldness, or I should say, there is nothing in his eyes. It¡¯s a kind of ¡°void¡± eyes. He no longer acts like a living person, but instead a statue, one moving statue no one wants to get close to, never mind talking to it.¡±


    Hearing such a description, Mizerui¡¯s eyes seemed surprised. This was indeed the feeling Liola gave him now.


    ¡°This is the description of Silver Moon.¡± Daylight was silent for a while, and continued, ¡°This is what has been said by the people from the other world who had seen the true Silver Moon.¡±


    In fact, this was what Yulie relayed from Yandi. These words had, at the time, gave Daylight quite a shock. He had thought Liola was cold enough, but it wasn¡¯t until hearing what Yulie had to say about Liola, did he know that Liola¡¯s coldness had already made plenty of progress. At least he was like a living person rather than a statue.


    ¡°A moving statue?¡± Meinan frowned, trying to imagine what Liola looked like, but he couldn¡¯t possibly associate a moving statue and void eyes to a person.


    Though Kaiser had not heard Yandi¡¯s words, but out of these companions, he was the first one to see Liola. Although Liola had already been ¡°personified¡± by Anise, but his eyes were still missing the fluctuations of a normal person; therefore, he could imagine what a walking statue would be like.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go bring that guy. If it was the work of magic, perhaps I have a way.¡± Though having said this, Kaiser didn¡¯t feel confident at all. Despite his progress in magic, he still specialized in attack magic. He didn¡¯t have the slightest grasp on magic that controlled people. But seeing everyone¡¯s faces, he bit the bullet and said it first.


    Everyone nodded. Truth was, everyone was worried sick in the past week. Now that they¡¯ve received the bad news, their determination to bring Liola back was stronger than ever.


    Mizerui¡¯s face suddenly changed, and he hurried to stop them, ¡°No, you can¡¯t go¡­¡± Before he even finished, everyone looked at him with determination, as if the looks carried the meaning of ¡°don¡¯t try to stop me¡±.


    Mizerui felt a serious headache coming onto him. He paced back and forth impatiently, while his thin finger constantly tapping his forehead, hoping to think of a good way to bring Liola back. However, no matter how much he thought, he didn¡¯t see even the slightest possibility of taking Liola away from under the constant eye of the Dragon Emperor.


    Mizerui sighed, ¡°No¡­¡± Seeing their eyes and their unwillingness to give up, Mizerui added immediately, ¡°At least not yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for you to take Liola out of the Dragon Continent, even I couldn¡¯t do it with teleportation. Dragon Emperor isn¡¯t to be underestimated. I guarantee that the moment you take a step onto the Dragon Continent, you will have no chance of escape. I think, perhaps the Dragon Emperor even hopes for you to go there, so he could catch you to threaten Qiusi and the Red Commander.¡± Mizerui said as he looked at Meinan and Purity, and sure enough, their expressions changed.


    ¡°Then Kaiser and I will go. Even if we¡¯re caught, we can¡¯t be used to threaten anyone. As long as we could see Liola, perhaps we could wake him up.¡± Daylight said with determination.


    Now, even Mizerui began to examine this possibility. After thinking about it for a while, he raised his head and looked at Kaiser and Daylight, ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t regret this? If you are caught by the Dragon Emperor, even I wouldn¡¯t have any way of saving you. You may end up in jail, or tortured, or even dead¡­¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank, and then he murmured, ¡°It¡¯s probably all of them. We¡¯ll be thrown in jail first, woo, I hope their jail has decent food. Then we will be interrogated and tortured¡­ What kind of torture would they use? Whips, pulling off nails, hot iron, slow slicing, woo, but what do they want to know anyhow? I don¡¯t know anything, so there is nothing I could say, and as such, I will definitely end up killed. I wonder how I will die¡­ I hope they don¡¯t bury me in the sand, then cut open my scalp and dump cement in it, that would be a horrible way to die. Getting disembodied by horses pulling on my limbs wouldn¡¯t be much better either. In that case, perhaps getting decapitated would be the best way to go¡­¡±


    ¡°K-Kaiser¡­¡± Daylight dumbfoundedly stopped Kaiser from continuing.


    Mizerui also had cold sweat running down his back. Fortunately, Kaiser wasn¡¯t the lead prison guard in the Dragon Empire, otherwise he would seriously reconsider his own undercover missions. He said with a bitter laugh, ¡°So you¡¯re unwilling to go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going! Do I even have a choice?¡± Kaiser snapped back, then added abusively, ¡°I don¡¯t believe those stereotypical Knights could think of more intense tortures. Worst case scenario is having my corpse cut up or skinned, I, Kaiser, fear nothing!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, go and save Liola-dage.¡± Purity movingly grabbed Kaiser¡¯s hand, and promised with seriousness on her face, ¡°Purity will definitely learn sewing. When the time comes, I will be able to sew you back together to a complete Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°Damn you¡­¡±


    Meinan heavily nodded, ¡°Mhm, it wouldn¡¯t matter if you get skinned either. I¡¯m good at drawing, and I will definitely draw a super-duper handsome face on top of your bloodied muscles that can be used as your face.¡±


    ¡°You two¡­!¡±


    With a hideous look on his face, Kaiser held up his giant gun and approached the two. Meinan and Purity immediately ran behind Daylight¡¯s back.


    Acting as the ¡°meat shield¡±, Daylight didn¡¯t know what to do. Kaiser was so angry now that he suddenly went to the other extreme and burst into laughter.


    Kaiser said with sincerity, ¡°I also know how to barbecue. Do you want to try how it feels to be cooked by a cannon? It should be very fun. You know, my white flame can, in an instant, cook your entire body; crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and even your bones will be soft enough to chew. Tsk tsk, I heard a man¡¯s meat is chewy, and women¡¯s meat melt in your mouth.¡±


    With a pale face, Meinan gulped, imagining his meat being chewed. Purity, on the other hand, was about to cry, and her face was full of repent, ¡°K-Kaiser, we were just joking!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late¡­¡± Kaiser laughed sinisterly, then walked closer and closer to the two¡­


    ¡°Okay, stop playing, don¡¯t forget Liola is still being held by Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Daylight solemnly interrupted the three in the heat of it. Hearing Liola, all three of them went quiet, and all their eyes returned to Mizerui. Daylight looked at him seriously, and said firmly, ¡°We must go save him.¡±


    ¡°Of course, us four must go save him.¡± Meinan especially emphasized ¡°four¡±.


    ¡°You and Purity can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course we can!¡± Purity immediately interrupted Mizerui, ¡°At least if I can go, we can use black hole to escape.¡±


    ¡°Or use black hole for suicide.¡± Kaiser added with a bitter look on his face.


    Purity touched her head in embarrassment, ¡°That¡¯s the last resort.¡±


    Meinan also said calmly to Mizerui, ¡°I must go. If Liola really turned as emotionless as you said, then he will likely attack us. I believe none of us could be comparable to Liola in terms of speed, so only my comprehensive shield could block him, then we could think of ways to return him to his senses.¡±


    Mizerui frowned; it did seem like a reasonable plan. Even if they had no choice but to push Liola into a black hole, it would be better than leaving him by the Dragon Emperor¡¯s side. However, how could he possibly sneak these four into the palace to see Liola? Mizerui unconsciously said his question out loud.


    ¡°Oh, someone could help us.¡± A smile grew on Kaiser¡¯s face. Seeing Mizerui¡¯s skeptical eyes, he added, ¡°There are people we can absolutely trust. I can even guarantee they would want Liola return to his old self, and they would even oppose the Dragon Emperor because of it.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes were brimming with light, ¡°Lanski and Jasmine.¡±

 Volume 10, 2: Direct Knight

    Volume 10, Chapter 2: Direct Knight


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Jasmine held the little guy in her hand while feeling helpless and distressed. Ever since the day Liola had his Knight examination, Baolilong had been curling its little body into a ball. It spent most of its time curled up next to the door, and it would occasionally peek outside, waiting for a certain someone to arrive. This would continue until the night, and the little figure would walk sadly with its head lowered, back to Jasmine¡¯s room, and then continue to curl up in a ball on the bed, quietly letting its tears flow on the sheets.


    Jasmine¡¯s heart ached in seeing the situation but, there was nothing she could do. This all started on the day of the Knight examination¡­


    Baolilong transformed into a large dragon and carried Liola to kick-off the test against Cappuccino and Little Fireball. Although Liola¡¯s strength had far surpassed Cappuccino, things were a different when Little Fireball came into the picture. The tacit cooperation between Cappuccino and Little Fireball had unexpectedly caused Liola and Baolilong some struggles.


    Because Liola had been too strong, they had always been able to defeat their opponents with Liola¡¯s strength alone, so Baolilong¡¯s mission was, at most, carry Liola into the sky. Therefore, their combat coordination was practically non-existent. This had never hurt them much before, but now during aerial combat, and running into Cappuccino and Little Fireball, who had countless battle experiences, their lack of coordination was a fatal weakness.


    During one of the confrontations, not only did Baolilong¡¯s lightning not able to put a scathe on Cappuccino¡¯s dragon, Little Fireball, it was burnt by it. Baolilong fell to the ground, and returned to its human shape, hoping to run back into papa¡¯s arms to cry, but it was tossed away.


    ¡°Useless thing, scat!¡±


    The papa in Baolilong¡¯s heart was looking at it with emotionless eyes, and spoke with a cold tone.


    ¡°Papa, papa¡­¡± Baolilong cried as if it had been maligned. Every time it had done something wrong, as long as it cried, Liola would always walk over it quietly and carry it in his arms.


    Liola did indeed walk over, but instead of carrying Baolilong, he swept with his feet, kicking the little figure out of the arena, so it wouldn¡¯t obstruct him in his test.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Jasmine and Lanski, who had been watching from the side-lines, screamed in unison, then ran towards Baolilong.


    Baolilong struggled to sit up, stared at its papa, who was still in the arena, as thought it had no idea what happened. Tears still stained its cheek, but Baolilong didn¡¯t dare to bawl now. Instead, it said timidly, ¡°Papa?¡±


    Liola slowly turned his head, and then said coldly, ¡°You should call me ¡®Master¡¯.¡±


    Hearing Liola¡¯s cold tone of voice, Baolilong pouted and started crying. It still didn¡¯t dare to bawl, so it sobbed and said desperately, ¡°Don¡¯t want master; papa is papa¡­¡±


    Practically at the same time, Liola¡¯s figure warped, and suddenly appeared in front of Baolilong, with his left hand raised high.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Noticing he was about to do something, Lanski rushed up to protect Baolilong.


    A crisp slap sound echoed in the arena, and Lanski practically flew off. When she turned her head around, half of her face swelled, with blood oozing out the side of her mouth. She tried to shake off the dizziness, but she couldn¡¯t believe such a heavy slap was originally aimed at Baolilong.


    ¡°Liola!¡± Jasmine yelled angrily, and she reached out her hand to slap Liola, but instead, Liola grabbed ahold of her wrist.


    Liola¡¯s emotionless cold eyes stared back at her, and slowly bent her wrist backwards. Jasmine¡¯s face suddenly turned pale, because she couldn¡¯t believe the man in front of her would hurt her like this.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Lanski stood up, and yelled with a refrained voice, ¡°Sovereign brother, Jasmine is my friend, so you shouldn¡¯t hurt her.¡±


    Liola slowly let go of Jasmine¡¯s arms, but she was already in so much pain that cold sweat ran down her back, however, didn¡¯t dare to scream, so she gritted her teeth. She raised her head, trying to gaze into the eyes of man in front of her. Those pair of silver eyes that had once moved her, was now filled with a piercing cold, and his tone was even more heartless,


    ¡°Unless you don¡¯t want to live anymore, never, ever, attack me.¡±


    * * *


    Remembering what Liola had said, Jasmine tightened her grasp on Baolilong. The little guy in her arms refused to adjust, and stubbornly called Liola ¡°papa¡± rather than ¡°master¡±. Liola¡¯s response was even simpler: just a word, ¡°Scat¡±.


    This was the result of Lanski and Cappuccino desperately stood in front of Baolilong. Otherwise Li¡­ that man, might not have even said a word, but gave it the knuckle treatment, instead. Jasmine pouted.


    ¡°Papa, papa¡­ doesn¡¯t want Baolilong anymore?¡± Baolilong curled up some more, and cried quietly.


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± Jasmine felt bad. She put her face against Baolilong¡¯s head, and kissed its hair, while comforting it, ¡°Liola would never abandon you. He cares deeply about you, even though he never says it, but he really does, right?¡¯


    Baolilong cried, and then opened its big eyes to look at Jasmine, while answering assuredly, ¡°Papa cares about Baolilong the most! He would touch Baolilong¡¯s head every time. If Baolilong did something wrong, crying would immediately stop papa from being angry, and he would even hug Baolilong.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. Even though he doesn¡¯t speak much, and sometimes he even looks cold, but he is truly good to you. He is a gentle and good father.¡± Jasmine said with a hoarse voice. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was telling those words to Baolilong or herself.


    Baolilong suddenly began to struggle, and then jumped out of Jasmine¡¯s arms. It began to move its little feet towards the door.


    ¡°Baolilong, where are you going?¡± Jasmine seemed hesitant.


    Baolilong answered while it continued walking, ¡°To go find papa.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Jasmine panicked as she rushed to stop Baolilong, but Baolilong desperately struggled and yelled, ¡°Baolilong wants papa! Papa¡­¡±


    ¡°No, did you forget? If you aren¡¯t willing to call him ¡®master¡¯, he will beat you.¡± Jasmine advised painstakingly, while holding her arms even tighter, fearing that it would begin to struggle once more.


    ¡°Papa wouldn¡¯t beat Baolilong!¡± Baolilong puffed its cheeks, and angrily refuted.


    Jasmine buried her face into Baolilong¡¯s white hair, and her voice was incomparably miserable, ¡°Liola wouldn¡¯t beat you, he really wouldn¡¯t. Then¡­ who exactly is that man? Why does he have Liola¡¯s silver eyes, appearance, memory, but he¡¯s definitely not him.¡±


    Baolilong seemed to have noticed the sadness of the person behind it. It stopped struggling, and clumsily turned around. It patted Jasmine¡¯s head, then sincerely comforted, ¡°Jasmine, don¡¯t cry¡­¡±


    ¡°Baolilong¡­¡± Jasmine hugged Baolilong¡¯s little body tightly. She could no longer hold back her tears, ¡°I¡¯m scared, scared that Liola may never change back. If he stays like this forever, what do we do?¡±


    Baolilong tilted its head, and its puffed cheek looked like it was thinking hard, but in a few seconds, Baolilong seemed to have given up; it said naturally, ¡°Baolilong doesn¡¯t know, but Kaiser knows. Baolilong waits for Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± Jasmine raised her head. Although teardrops marked her face, her eyes were filled with hope, ¡°Right, his companions would never abandon Liola. Hmm, I think I know what I can do: I should try to find a way to contact Kaiser.¡±


    Baolilong nodded desperately in agreement, ¡°Find Kaiser, find Kaiser!¡±


    (¡°Leave It to Kaiser Disease¡± had proved, through its symptoms, it was a contagious disease that could be spread among humans and dragons, and its epidemic continued to spread¡­)


    * * *


    ¡°Little Fireball, I need to ask you a serious question.¡± Ever since that day, Cappuccino had been bored. There were only a handful of times when he was serious, but now, he was solemnly asking his own dragon a question.


    ¡°No.¡± Little Fireball denied it without a second thought.


    ¡°Hey¡­ I haven¡¯t even asked the question I wanted to ask?¡±


    Little Fireball shrugged, and apologized without being sorry in the slightest, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s a habit I¡¯ve developed from spending a long time with you. Continue, then.¡±


    Cappuccino looked afar, and he had the same look on his face as the first time he went to challenge a Dragon alone. When he saw the Dragon¡¯s strong body, he fell into a trance, then into another trance, and finally asked the person next to him, ¡°My mission is to defeat this Dragon? You¡¯re joking. Is today April Fools, and you¡¯re tricking me? Maybe my mission is just to take a picture of the Dragon?¡±


    But now, Cappuccino was more than willing to wrestle barehanded with three giant Dragons than¡­ to speak with his own brother, who was a tenth the height of a dragon. Unfortunately, this the mission his baby sister gave him: to chat with Liola, and to find out what exactly was wrong.


    Seeing Liola walked while emitting a freezing presence, and thereby causing a whole road to be filled with Knight Ice statues, Cappuccino seriously thought wrestling with three Dragons wouldn¡¯t be so bad. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°Actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Today isn¡¯t April Fools.¡± Little Fireball rudely interrupted.


    ¡°Or perhaps¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, Princess Lanski wouldn¡¯t want a picture.¡± Little Fireball glanced in disdain at his own Prince.


    Cappuccino¡¯s lips trembled, and gestured at the magnificent Knight ice statues, then said painfully, ¡°L-Little Fireball, I¡¯m going to freeze to death.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master, your Dragon is a Fiery Dragon.¡± Little Fireball pointed at itself, ¡°I¡¯ll be in charge of melting you.¡±


    Remembering his baby sister¡¯s pleads, then seeing the Knight ice statues his brother made, Cappuccino¡¯s face warped. Finally, his sister¡¯s tearful eyes barely won over his brother¡¯s freezing presence. Cappuccino pitifully dragged Little Fireball¡¯s clothes, ¡°Then come with me!¡±


    Little Fireball¡¯s mouth twitched, and then said with disdain, ¡°You¡¯re not a child anymore, go by yourself!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you just accompany me on the side.¡± Cappuccino blinked like a little child with tears in his eyes.


    Little Fireball¡¯s shoulders twitched uncomfortably, then earnestly rejected, ¡°No, go by yourself.¡±


    ¡°H-How could you be so heartless, you cold blooded animal!¡± Cappuccino yelled emotionally.


    Little Fireball nodded, ¡°Yup, or are you going to tell me you¡¯ve heard of a warm blooded Dragon? Normally speaking, reptiles are cold blooded.¡±


    Hearing this, Cappuccino blinked, as though he realized something. He examined Little Fireball, ¡°You actually admitted you¡¯re a reptile? Don¡¯t tell me you¡­ are also afraid of my little brother? To the point you¡¯re willing to admit you¡¯re a reptile?¡±


    Little Fireball glanced at the Fourth Prince from the distance, then decided right on the spot to use a tone that infuriated Cappuccino and admitted, ¡°Yup, master, I have scales, so no matter how you categorize me, I belong in the reptile family. Even though you flunked Biology ¡ª and just about everything else for that matter ¡ª you should at least know that cold blooded animals couldn¡¯t live in a too cold or too hot of a climate, right? So¡­ you have to chat with the Fourth Prince by yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I am a reptile, too!¡± Cappuccino held his fist, and announced loudly and shamelessly.


    ¡°You¡¯re a mammal.¡± Little Fireball glanced at his master. Clearly, even a Dragon learnt Biology better than Cappuccino.


    ¡°I can¡¯t breastfeed! So how could I be a mammal, but¡­¡± Cappuccino crouched, got on all four and crawled a bit. He then raised his head and said triumphantly, ¡°Look, I can crawl; therefore, I must be a reptile!¡±


    But as soon as he raised his head, Cappuccino suddenly realized, while he was crawling on the ground, Little Fireball had actually backed up a dozen meters away, and continuously spitted out fireballs to warm his hands, while looking at his own Prince with sympathy.


    ¡°Why is it so cold?¡± Cappuccino felt the hair on his back standing up. Unless¡­.


    He turned his head only to find a pair of cold silver eyes staring at him. Cappuccino screamed on top of his lungs, ¡°Ah~~~ I¡¯m dead! I¡¯m dead! I¡¯m going to freeze to death!¡±


    ¡°Sovereign brother, Father asked me to find you, so you could take me to pick some Knights.¡± Liola stated coldly, as if he didn¡¯t hear Cappuccino scream, nor did he see the strange sights of his own brother crawling around on the ground.


    ¡°Pick Knights?¡± Cappuccino blinked, he then got up from all fours and stood in his two feet. He asked skeptically, ¡°Why all the trouble? You¡¯re already the successor, does it really matter if you pick some or not?¡±


    ¡°This is father¡¯s command.¡± Liola answered as such.


    Cappuccino paused a moment. He didn¡¯t understand the intent of his father¡¯s command, but he sighed. Why would he bother guessing? No matter what his intent was, could he really disobey it?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. At this time, the Knights should still be practicing, so we will definitely find them on the training grounds.¡± Cappuccino shrugged, thinking this was also a chance for him to see if Blood Wolf was there. Having traveled the world, Blood Wolf had always been more knowledgeable, and perhaps he could immediately determine what the Dragon Emperor had done to Liola.


    Thinking this, Cappuccino¡¯s spirits had lifted and began to walk almost impatiently, to take his brother towards the training grounds. On the way, he didn¡¯t forget his sister¡¯s orders, and he kept talking.


    ¡°I wonder what Kaiser and others are doing right now? They might even be confronting the Black Dragon King right now, and that would be bad. Rumor has it, there are countless Lesser Dragons under his control, and even Qiusi couldn¡¯t formulate a plan¡­ right, you still remember Kaiser and others, right? ¡± Cappuccino pretended to be relaxed, and asked casually.


    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡± Liola was quiet for a while, but still answered.


    What was up with the hesitation? Perhaps there¡¯s hope¡­ Cappuccino tried to suppress the excitement in his mind. He asked carelessly, ¡°Where did Kaiser, Daylight, and you disappeared to? I don¡¯t think you went to the Commerce Alliance. I heard Purity and Meinan looked for you non-stop for more than a year, and the only place they didn¡¯t look was the Dragon Continent.¡±


    Liola stopped, and Cappuccino stopped with him, and looked with anticipation. Liola said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t mention them. Father doesn¡¯t like to hear about them.¡±


    Hearing this, Cappuccino replied with a bit of disappointment, ¡°Oh.¡± However, he thought that it was better he had gotten a response at all, which meant he still cared about his companions.


    ¡°Right.¡± Cappuccino suddenly thought of an actual question he actually wanted to ask. Seeing training grounds weren¡¯t far away, he hurriedly asked, ¡°Why did Father give you the title of Silver Moon?¡±


    Without waiting for Liola¡¯s answer, Cappuccino began to talk to himself and guessed, ¡°Lancelot¡¯s title is Paladin because he¡¯s a Holy Knight, and he has always been honorable, so Father gave him that title, hoping him to be the idol for all the Holy Knights. Blood Wolf was the opposite. He is a Dark Knight, and his personality is quite weird, despite him being very strong. Father also gave him the title of Darkness. However, as for your ¡®Silver Moon¡¯, I don¡¯t really understand it. ¡®Silver¡¯ makes a bit of sense, since your eyes are unique and they¡¯re silver. ¡®Moon¡¯, on the other hand, is strange. I can¡¯t fathom what ¡®Silver Moon¡¯ means.¡±


    Cappuccino was just far too curious; to the point that even Liola¡¯s frozen aura did not seem to damper his curiosity. He stared at his brother, hoping to get an answer, ¡°Why exactly ¡®Silver Moon¡¯?¡±


    Liola stopped. Because it was a question his sovereign brother had asked, he habitually thought it was something he should answer. Nevertheless, this question wasn¡¯t so easily answered as it wasn¡¯t a yes or no question, but Liola knew the answer to it.


    Many memories pierced through Liola¡¯s thoughts, and he said as if he were reciting, ¡°Silver Moon, a name of my past, a name of an emotionless top Assassin who would always obey orders.¡±


    Hearing this answer, Cappuccino¡¯s pupils dilated. ¡°Emotionless, always obey orders, top Assassin¡± ¡­Are these really what their own father want his child to turn into? So when he gave Liola the title of Silver Moon, was his intention to turn Liola back into the original Assassin?


    ¡°Father, you are his and Susanna¡¯s son¡­¡± Cappuccino¡¯s face suddenly turned pale. When he saw Liola¡¯s still expressionless eyes, Cappuccino¡¯s heart panicked even more.


    ¡°Sovereign brother, the training ground?¡± Liola couldn¡¯t understand why Cappuccino¡¯s face turned pale, but all he wanted to do was carry out Father¡¯s commands.


    Cappuccino took a few deep breaths, and decided in his mind. For his brother, for Lanski, and even for the dead Susanna, he would do everything in his power to help his brother escape, from this place he should be calling home.


    ¡°Training ground is ahead. How many Knights will you be choosing?¡± Cappuccino began to walk forward again, while advising him, ¡°The problem isn¡¯t really with how many you choose. More importantly, you have to choose compatible ones, especially since you are the successor, so all the Knights must obey you. As long as you feel compatible with them, even their strength isn¡¯t really an issue.¡±


    With Cappuccino¡¯s nagging, the two stepped into the training grounds. The Dragon Empire¡¯s training ground wasn¡¯t something that can be compared to those in Aklan Academy, since the majority of the Knights were Dragon Knights, and because the large size of Dragons, the training grounds were considerably larger. At a glance, one can see many giant circular arenas on top of the plains, and many Knights were dueling on top of them.


    The training grounds were so large that they looked like track fields circling the arenas, and one could not judge the length of the fields around each. There were many Knights wearing armors standing in formations, running uniformly on those tracks.


    What¡¯s even more were Knights who were holding weapons, practicing how to pierce, stab, swing, etc. They all looked spirited, and their war cries pierced the skies.


    Cappuccino and Liola stopped at the training grounds¡¯ door. Technically speaking, the ¡°door¡± was nothing more than an outpost made of stones, with guards standing on either side of it. As soon as the guards saw Cappuccino, they started smiling a bit indecently, as if to imply they had an idea of what Cappuccino usually did here. However, when they see Liola¡¯s silver eyes, they obviously panicked a little, then formally saluted and yelled, ¡°Greetings, Fourth Prince, Your Highness¡­ and also Third Prince.¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­¡±


    Cappuccino didn¡¯t know where to hide his shame, but this was already better than he expected. Had he been alone, not only would the guards not salute to him, they might even start warning this Prince that training grounds forbid alcohol, picnic, flirting with female Knights, etc.


    Liola returned the formality coldly, and then went in ahead. After all, he only asked Cappuccino to lead him to the training grounds. Since he was already here, there was no longer a need to follow Cappuccino.


    When Liola walked into the training grounds, the two guards finally relaxed. They looked at Cappuccino, who pretended to be solemn, and the two began to chatter, ¡°Why are they so different when they¡¯re both Princes?¡±


    Cappuccino pouted his mouth with dissatisfaction. Although one of the guards saw him, he didn¡¯t seem to fear him, and began to shake his head, ¡°Look! Look! That Fourth Prince, he is a successor after all. He doesn¡¯t even need to be angry to appear imposing, but look at our Third Prince¡­ sigh!¡± The guard sighed exaggeratedly.


    ¡°Oh, our Third Prince, he doesn¡¯t seem imposing even if he¡¯s angry.¡± Another guard knocked his head as though he was vexed by something. A moment later, they both burst into laughter.


    ¡°Hey! You two, at least when I¡¯m here for a picnic, I did bring you two some drumsticks. Do you really have to make fun of me?¡± Cappuccino protested loudly.


    ¡°Right, right.¡± The guard nodded, then added, ¡°Afterwards, when Second Prince came and saw the picnic baskets on the ground, who yelled, ¡®I didn¡¯t come here for picnic! It was the guards who ate it. Look, there¡¯s still oil on their lips, and there are chicken bones on the ground¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Cappuccino¡¯s face suddenly changed, and smiled, ¡°Well¡­ Ah! My sovereign brother went in, I better go help them pick a Knight. You guys continue what you¡¯re doing, I¡¯m going in.¡±


    The guards refrained from laughing while they saw this unscrupulous Prince walk into the training grounds.


    As soon as Cappuccino walked into the training grounds, he saw the trail of ice statues Liola left behind. Cappuccino thought it strange. In under normal circumstances, the Knights training in the training grounds could ignore inspecting Royal Members or High Ranking Knights, as this was an order from the Dragon Emperor, to prevent interference on the Knight¡¯s training. However, this order clearly was completely useless in Liola¡¯s presence.


    ¡°Even without having to salute, such a cold creature would cause their skins to freeze, even if his eyes didn¡¯t land on him.¡± Cappuccino signed, not knowing whether this was evidence of the cruel nature of his brother, his qualifications to be a King, or perhaps even the mercilessness required to be a King?


    Seeing Liola getting further and further away, Cappuccino panickedly jogged up to his brother. The Knights¡¯ responses were also quite strange: when Fourth Prince walked by, everyone froze on the spot, but when the Third Prince yelled, ¡°Brother, wait for me,¡± and then jogged by, everyone felt a warm breeze pass by and defrosted them. The Knights seemed to smile helplessly, shaking their heads at this indecent Prince.


    Cappuccino caught up to Liola, and secretly observed him. He noticed his brother was continually walking forward emotionlessly, nor did he look at the Knights around him. Cappuccino scratched his head; how would he possibly find a suitable Knight like this?


    He knew suitable Knights weren¡¯t an easy thing to find. Rumors had it, when their eldest brother was still a Knight, before he became a fortune teller, he only had two Knights following him, and they were both his friends growing up. Second brother Latte¡­ Cappuccino frowned upon this brother of his. He had his own army of Knights, but he only paid attention to Lancelot and ignored all his other Knights.


    As for himself, Cappuccino scratched his face; he was on good terms with most of the Knights. However, the most loyal one was probably none other than Blood Wolf. That guy and him were practically¡­ in others words, one was an indecent Prince, and the other was an indecent Knight; together their indecency endangered the world¡­ Wait, how could he even include that last thought from those guards?!


    Why wasn¡¯t there a good example for his brother to follow? Cappuccino bitterly thought about the reality of it all. He couldn¡¯t use himself as a role model, right? Could one¡­ below freezing Prince plus one below freezing Knight end up creating a new ice age, and freeze the rest of the Dragon Empire¡¯s reptiles to death?


    Cappuccino awoke from his daze, realizing his brother had gotten far again; he hurriedly caught up, and then asked, ¡°Brother, what kind of Knight are you looking for?¡±


    Liola stopped, and his eyes glanced across the Knights, as if freezing rays had been swirled by. The sound of things freezing could be heard continuously. He went silent, and continued to walk forward.


    Seeing this, three black lines fell down Cappuccino¡¯s forehead. He laughed bitterly, ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll be looking for the Knight who doesn¡¯t freeze¡­¡±


    Seeing Liola walking away, and his quick footsteps seemed to indicate his intention to walk a full circle around the training ground, Cappuccino sighed at his labored life, then followed him.


    ¡°You¡­ are Silver Mask?¡±


    A hesitating voice asked. Liola stopped quickly, so fast that Cappuccino almost couldn¡¯t brake in time and rear-ended him. Liola turned his head, looking at the person who spoke. It was a Dark Knight. Liola examined the person: he had deep purple hair and black eyes, and somewhat cold expressions¡­ he looked familiar, but that was it.


    ¡°Do you know this Knight?¡± Cappuccino asked curiously.


    Liola¡¯s mind drew blank. He didn¡¯t know who it was, but since this person called him Silver Mask, it should be someone who knew him.


    The purple-haired Knight seemed to have guessed what was going on, and he said directly, ¡°I¡¯m Yizhou.¡±


    ¡®He even said his name, so now you should know who he is, right?¡¯ Cappuccino looked back at Liola with hope, but the latter, regardless of whether he recognized him, remained emotionless. Not being able to judge whether Liola recognized the man, Cappuccino had no choice but to ask again, ¡°Do you know him?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Liola continued to remain silent. It seemed like, regardless of whether he was Silver Moon or Liola, his habit of forgetting would never change.


    Cappuccino scratched his face. His brother had probably forgotten the man completely. He shrugged at the Knight, ¡°Never Mind whether he knew you before, he forgot you now. Describe how you knew him, and perhaps he would remember.¡±


    Yizhou looked at Liola strangely, as if he couldn¡¯t believe how much Liola had forgotten. He reminded Liola, ¡°I have a twin brother, his name is Yiyu, and he¡¯s a Sorcerer.¡±


    ¡°Violet Academy.¡± With such a reminder, Liola finally remembered.


    Yizhou nodded, and Liola didn¡¯t say anything else. The two remained quiet, and they looked remarkably similar. The only difference was the degree to which they were frozen. At least Yizhou was within the tolerance of a normal person, while Liola was the absolute zero, who was practically holding a sign that says, ¡°Don¡¯t get close, or else you have to be responsible for your own safety¡±.


    ¡°Yizhou, ah, I¡¯ve heard about you. Aren¡¯t you the genius Silver Knight who just got here? You¡¯ve already reached silver rank at such a young age, it¡¯s quite something.¡± Cappuccino broke the endless silence, and asked excitedly.


    Yizhou glanced at Cappuccino, as if he was thinking about how he should answer. He finally nodded, and rigidly thanked him, ¡°Thank you, Third Prince, for your compliments.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, no problem¡­ hahaha¡­¡± Cappuccino laughed, but the two people in front of him sank into silence again, which made his laugh more and more awkward. He cursed in his mind, thinking that he jinxed it, and now there really was an icy Knight. No! He could never let his brother be matched up with this Knight; otherwise even Little Fireball couldn¡¯t defrost him!


    ¡°Brother, I say, let¡¯s go find your Direct Knight. I know many talented Knights¡­¡± Cappuccino thought to himself, they have to at least find a Knight with a burning passion, so he could at least bring the temperature around his brother back to humanly tolerable levels.


    ¡°He will do.¡±


    Who would have known Liola would point his finger at Yizhou, who was standing in front of him, completely stupefying Cappuccino.


    ¡°Why pick me?¡± Yizhou was even more shocked than Cappuccino, and he was also confused. Anyone could see his situation with the Fourth Prince was terrible. In addition, they used to enemies; so theoretically, Liola should have never picked him. In fact, in the silence just now, Yizhou had thought of the possibility of being kicked out of the Dragon Empire for angering Liola in the past.


    Instead, he ended up being a Knight working under Liola, which would make him the successor¡¯s Direct Knight, and also the future Dragon Emperor¡¯s Direct Knight. This was practically the highest honor among Knights.


    Liola glanced at him, and said, ¡°You¡¯re very quiet.¡± Since he had chosen a Knight, he had also finished his Father¡¯s order. Liola walked away without turning his head and, towards the exit to the training grounds, without giving the Knight he had just chosen any instructions.


    Yizhou, who had won the highest honor for Knights by being ¡°quiet¡±, was now even quieter. He didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or¡­


    Cappuccino, on the other hand, began to panic, and he yelled loudly, ¡°Wait, brother, let¡¯s pick a few more. You want quiet ones, no problem, I know many mute Knights, and even if they aren¡¯t, I¡¯ll beat him until they are¡­¡±


    Liola completely ignored his brother, and continued his quick footsteps toward the exit. Cappuccino dropped his shoulder in a depressed manner. He covered his face with infinite sadness, ¡°My God, my God. Two frozen guys were put together. My spring, summer, and autumn will now all be gone. Does it mean the only thing left is a never-ending winter?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master, I¡¯m coming!¡± Little Fireball, in his small Dragon form, used all of its power, shooting out a long stream of fire, then asked while trying to catch his breath, ¡°Are you melted now?¡±


    A human-shaped charcoal spit out some black smoke, and then fell to the ground.

 Volume 10, 3: The Glamorous Female Knight

    Volume 10, Chapter 3: The Glamorous Female Knight


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes. Special thanks to Igatau for informing us of this missing chapter.


    Cappuccino crept to the outskirts of the palace slowly, with his back glued to the wall. He took a deep breath, mustered all his courage and peeked his head over, then immediately withdrew it. He then gestured panickedly with his hands at Little Fireball, who was walking over leisurely.


    Little Fireball glared at its master strangely, and asked jokingly, ¡°What?¡±


    Cappuccino used the quietest voice he could, ¡°Go help me scout ahead for any obstacles.¡±


    ¡°What kind of obstacles?¡± Little Fireball raised its eyebrows.


    ¡°You know, the one, the very cute¡­¡± Despite saying the word ¡°cute¡±, Cappuccino¡¯s face was filled with fear.


    ¡°Very cute?¡±


    ¡°With those watery blue eyes¡­¡±


    ¡°Blue eyes?¡± Little Fireball raised its eyebrows again. Though as soon as its Prince uttered the word ¡°cute¡±, it knew very well what he was talking about, but it didn¡¯t want to fulfill its master¡¯s wishes.


    Cappuccino finally added the last hint with a painful voice, ¡°The one who kept calling out ¡®brother¡¯ with a pleading voice¡­¡±


    With this much description, Little Fireball realized it couldn¡¯t play dead anymore. At that instant, he suddenly noticed a few thin cream white strands of hair. It was silent for a bit, then finally, with whatever little sense of duty and responsibility it felt towards its master, it opened its mouth, ¡°Are you talking about the girl above us, who is looking down from her window, named Lanski?¡±


    Cappuccino suddenly looked up, and he was shocked to see her sister on the window frame, using the most terrifying bio-weapon he had known ¡ª the cute blue eyes. She looked at him with grievance, while Jasmine was standing next to her with a snappy attitude. She held a small Baolilong in her hands, who was sleeping soundly in her arms.


    ¡°Sister, good morning.¡± Having reached this point, Cappuccino had no choice but bite the bullet and force a smile to greet his sister, while acting as though he had never asked his Dragon to go scout ahead for some terrifying obstacles with blue eyes.


    Though she knew Cappuccino was referring to herself, Lanski didn¡¯t seemed to be bothered by her brother¡¯s usual strange behavior. She asked with a pouted mouth, ¡°Third brother, where is Liola?¡±


    ¡°Strange, I am Third brother, yet you don¡¯t call Liola Fourth brother¡­¡±


    Cappuccino murmured, but then he was shot by the cute blue rays. Cappuccino had to answer her while trembling, ¡°He went to the the training grounds to pick a Direct Knight, then I don¡¯t know where he went. He probably went to see father, to report on a successful mission.¡±


    Hearing Liola went to see father, Lanski frowned. She looked at Jasmine on her side, and realized she had the same worried look. Nevertheless, there was little they could do; the Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t someone these two could go up against.


    ¡°Third brother, did you chat with Liola? Did you find out anything about why he¡¯s acting like this?¡± Lanski looked down at Cappuccino again, and asked anxiously.


    ¡°Technically¡­ yes.¡± Cappuccino forced a reply, even though he said 9.5 out of 10 sentences spoken between them. He didn¡¯t know whether his brother heard his words or not, considering Liola¡¯s answers were mostly ¡°yes¡± and ¡°no¡±.


    Hearing this, Lanski¡¯s spirit seemed lifted. She asked hurriedly, ¡°Then, do you know what happened with Liola?¡±


    Cappuccino crouched, and answered with a stutter, ¡°Well, yes and no, but truthfully you and I both know, he¡¯s under someone else¡¯s control, right?¡±


    Of course Lanski knew, but she kept trying to comfort herself by telling herself that perhaps her father had only been temporarily unhappy¡­ But in the past few days, she had felt helpless towards Liola¡¯s changes, and plus Baolilong would constantly cry, hoping papa would come and hold its crying face. Lanski felt very sad, and she could no longer lie to herself.


    Her face sank. She could no longer suppress the boiling anger in her heart. She stood up and yelled emotionally, ¡°Who controlled him? Why don¡¯t you just say it straight? Everyone knew, Eldest brother know, you know, and I know; it¡¯s father! Father controlled Liola, controlling his very own son!¡±


    ¡°Princess Lanski, don¡¯t say that!¡± Cappuccino suddenly changed his expression, and he yelled solemnly. Lanski didn¡¯t expect her Third brother with such a casual personality would yell at her so seriously. She suddenly froze, and instead, it was Jasmine who spoke, ¡°Are you really that afraid of him? So much that you wouldn¡¯t even speak of the truth everyone knows?¡±


    Cappuccino glared at Jasmine, and answered with a gloomy tone, ¡°You don¡¯t understand!¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t!¡± Jasmine¡¯s body was trembling from anger, and she held Baolilong closer in her arms.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what kind of family you have. Children afraid of the father, and the father harming his own child. Plus, you guys can witness your own brother being harmed, but wouldn¡¯t dare to stand out to help.¡±


    Cappuccino¡¯s face suddenly went warped. He spoke word by word, ¡°Do-not-talk-like-that!¡±


    ¡°I am going to talk exactly like that! You¡­¡±


    ¡°Miss Jasmine,¡±


    Jasmine was interrupted by the quiet Little Fireball, whom spoke calmly, ¡°You think there¡¯s no one else here just because you can¡¯t see anyone, but it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean there really is no one there.¡±


    Jasmine paused, and a scary thought went through her head. She sat down slowly, and she pulled Lanski down as well. After taking a few long breaths, she finally said, ¡°Sorry, we¡¯ve had something wrong to eat, and that put us in a bad mood, so we said a bunch of nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Reeeally?¡± Cappuccino dragged the syllable like a scumbag, ¡°I think it¡¯s because ¡®that¡¯ is here. I heard the days where girls loose blood, they always get moody.¡±


    Though she knew Cappuccino was probably trying to change the topic, but Jasmine was in no mood for jokes. She snapped back, ¡°Scram!¡±


    Faced with opposition even with his good intentions, Cappuccino touched his nose and left quickly with Little Fireball.


    * * *


    Jasmine looked worriedly at Lanski, wondering how she would react to what they just found out. She believed that Lanski heard the other meaning in Little Fireball¡¯s words. Perhaps¡­ the Dragon Emperor had always knew what his children were doing. If he finds out they wanted to go against him, would they have the same ending as Liola? Thinking about this, Jasmine felt a spinal shiver. She really couldn¡¯t believe, a father would turn his own children into such a cold machine.


    Lanski forced her lips together tightly. Having seen Cappuccino¡¯s serious face, she finally realized perhaps she herself had been too naive. She began to think about things she had never doubted before, and many thoughts raced through her mind.


    She didn¡¯t realize until now; she had been doubting many things, but because of the fear for the truth, she unconsciously buried these doubts deep in her heart while lying to herself. Now, however, these doubts were uncovered. Lanski began to shiver uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms around herself, but no matter what she did, she couldn¡¯t drive the cold sensations away from her heart.


    Jasmine couldn¡¯t help but shake her sister¡¯s* shoulder. Lanski still bit on her lips, and her face was filled with hesitation and struggles. Finally, she wanted to look for some comfort; she turned and asked Jasmine with a bitter smile, ¡°Jas¡­ how did you think my Second brother died?¡±


    [T/N: Sorority Sister.]


    ¡°Killed by Miluo!¡± Jasmine answered almost without thinking.


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Lanski didn¡¯t expect Jasmine would answer without any hesitation. She thought the latter didn¡¯t know the truth. When she wanted to speak her thoughts, Jasmine suddenly hugged her, with a voice that was, though trembling, filled with certainty, ¡°Miluo killed him, Miluo killed him, it must be¡­¡±


    Lanski felt Jasmine¡¯s tremble, and realized that perhaps her sister had already knew the truth about her father, but didn¡¯t knew how to say it, or perhaps could never say it. With tears, she hugged back, no longer denying what she said, ¡°Yes, Miluo killed him¡­¡±


    ¡°But, Jasmine, I¡¯m scared¡­ Scared Liola would also get killed by Miluo.¡±


    Jasmine¡¯s body suddenly went rigid. When she pulled her head up again, her face was as pale as Lanski¡¯s. The two looked at each other. Within each other¡¯s worried faces, an even stronger emotion was there ¡ª a flame of determination to protect someone. They no longer needed any more words. The two, who had lived together since childhood, already knew what the other was thinking.


    After a long while, Lanski acted like nothing had happened. She murmured, ¡°Ah, well, I must be thinking too much; Liola couldn¡¯t possibly get killed by Miluo in the palace. Let¡¯s not think about that. Is Baolilong about wake up? Let¡¯s go find some lunch.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, otherwise baby would yell hungry again when it wakes up.¡± Looking at the cute sleeping face of Baolilong in her arms, Jasmine finally smiled slightly.


    * * *


    As Cappuccino had guessed, Liola was indeed going to see his father. After receiving orders from the Dragon Emperor, he went back to get Yizhou to go back with him.


    In the hallway, the Dragon Emperor sat on the throne, with only Idojin under his cloak next to him. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s purple eyes stared at the Knight his successor had chosen. Truthfully, he didn¡¯t really care if Liola had a Direct Knight or not. Like what Cappuccino said, all the Knights must obey the Dragon Emperor, so it made little difference whether he had chosen a Direct Knight.


    He just wanted to see what kind of person Liola would choose, and therefore, determine if Liola¡¯s emotions had been completely wiped or not.


    Other than ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty¡±, Yizhou hadn¡¯t said anything else, but the Dragon Emperor could tell, from his cold eyes, that this Knight wasn¡¯t some passionate, kind man. The Dragon Emperor seemed satisfied.


    ¡°With his age and corresponding strength, he is indeed a Knight with potential. Nevertheless, his present strength wasn¡¯t enough. Child, why don¡¯t you pick some more powerful Gold Knights. Isn¡¯t it better to have strong companions?¡± The Dragon Emperor was actually very satisfied with Liola¡¯s choice, but he wanted to hear it in his own words.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need them.¡± Liola answered.


    ¡°What don¡¯t you need?¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled slightly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need companions.¡± Liola answered straightforwardly.


    ¡°Ah¡­ right, you don¡¯t need companions.¡± The Dragon Emperor¡¯s smile grew, but his tone changed. He said, ¡°But lately, father wants to send you to do a few things, and having a few Direct Knights would make it easier to accomplish your task.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t answer. He was waiting for the Dragon Emperor¡¯s command, not advise.


    ¡°Father helped you choose a Knight, tell me if you¡¯re satisfied.¡±


    Of course, the Dragon Emperor knew his successor would never say he¡¯s not satisfied. Sure enough, Liola didn¡¯t say anything, nor did his expression change. Instead, it was Yizhou who looked slightly unhappy.


    At this time, sounds of footsteps could be heard from the door to the hallway. Liola didn¡¯t turn his head, but instead instinctively judged the person¡¯s strength from the footsteps. Judging from footsteps on the marbled floor, they were firm, but it wasn¡¯t the usual deep sound from a Knight. Instead it was crisp, which indicated the person was probably not a man. The crisp sound didn¡¯t suggest she valued dexterity, or otherwise the sounds would be far quieter. The firm steps further suggested the person would be a power-focused Knight.


    A woman who focused on power, Liola concluded. Though this conclusion was a bit strange; ordinarily speaking, a woman¡¯s physical strength was less than that of a man, so most of them focused on dexterity; Lanski was the best example of this, but Liola didn¡¯t think his conclusion was wrong.


    The footsteps stopped right behind Liola. A tender and soft voice could then be heard, ¡°Greetings, Your Highness the Fourth Prince.¡±


    Liola turned around and nodded. Like what the Dragon Emperor predicted, he didn¡¯t seem to object. It was Yizhou who seemed to pause at the sight of this person: this Knight was a woman, one whose appearance could be described as voluptuous. Her seductive green eyes were electrifying, and her wavy hair reached her chest.


    As soon as she saw Yizhou was looking at her, she flirtatiously tilted her head, and pouted her fiery red lips. She played with a strand of her blonde hair in front of her chest, trying to attract Yizhou¡¯s attention to it. Her white busty chest looked like they were about to burst out of her low-cut vest. Even the cold Yizhou turned his head awkwardly, trying to look away.


    ¡°Hehe.¡± Seeing Yizhou turn his head, the glamorous female Knight began to giggle, with a sense of tease in her green eyes.


    Yizhou tilted his head slightly to look at Liola. He was curious: how would the Fourth Prince, who was even colder than himself, react. He saw Liola¡¯s eyes glance past the female Knight¡¯s entire body.


    What made Yizhou¡¯s eyes almost pop out was, Liola actually went up and touched the female Knight¡¯s arms, waist, and thighs. These actions even shocked the female Knight. According to her research and what she had seen, she thought this Prince was someone who kept his distance from all the girls.


    Then Liola reached back, and grabbed the female Knight¡¯s weapons from her back: they were duo axes, 1.5 persons in length, and 3 times wider than Liola. He elegantly turned it in his hands. The axes looked extremely heavy, and an onlooker would probably worry whether Liola¡¯s thin arms would break. However, he easily swung it around, nodded, then gave the axes back to the female Knight.


    The female Knight used both of her hands to receive the axes with a surprise. She knew, these giant axes couldn¡¯t even be held up by non-power-focused Knights. She didn¡¯t expect such a thin Prince could easily swing them around with one hand, as if the axes were thin swords. The female Knight blinked, and immediately understood the successor wasn¡¯t someone she could mess with.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± The Dragon Emperor looked at the successor¡¯s actions curiously.


    Liola nodded, ¡°Strong arms and thighs, and flexible waist. Her overall strength is acceptable.¡±


    So he was touching the female Knight to feel her muscle, Yizhou suddenly realized. Truth was, this explanation was far more believable than the ice cube Fourth Prince flirting with female Knights.


    ¡°Acceptable?¡± The female Knight seemed angered, and her originally tender voice began to raise, ¡°Sorry, Prince, Your Highness, though I wouldn¡¯t dare to say I¡¯m comparable to the Paladin or Dark Knight, but among the Knights, I dare to say the amount of Knights stronger than me can be counted with the fingers on two hands. My kind of strength is only just acceptable?¡± She said mockingly.


    Liola didn¡¯t answer her question. To him, there were only a few people he had to respond to, and it definitely didn¡¯t include this female Knight, who was about to become his subordinate.


    Flower actually regretted it the moment the words left her mouth. No matter what, the person in front of her was the successor, the future Dragon Emperor, and her immediate boss. She couldn¡¯t afford to anger such a person, so she had to quickly make it up. Flower showed a flirtatious smile, ¡°But the Prince¡¯s lesson is correct. Flower should train more. How could the successor¡¯s Direct Knight be weaker than the Paladin and the Dark Knight?¡±


    Flower said with a stutter, but her eyes did not forget to pay attention to Liola¡¯s reaction. However, his expression hadn¡¯t changed a single bit ever since she walked in. He really couldn¡¯t tell if he was mad or not. Could this person be an ice cube? Flower thought angrily.


    ¡°Enough, Flower.¡± The Dragon Emperor waved his hand to stop Flower, and said to Liola,


    ¡°Since you think Flower is not bad, then take her as a Direct Knight. Two Knights don¡¯t seem enough¡­¡± The Dragon Emperor pondered.


    At this time, Idojin walked a step forward in his cloak, and whispered a few things to the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor tilted his head to listen, then smiled, ¡°Is there really such a coincidence?¡±


    ¡°Sir Yizhou.¡± The Dragon Emperor suddenly said quietly.


    Yizhou shook a bit, then took a step forward and replied, ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a Sorcerer twin brother?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yizhou¡¯s gaze looked towards Idojin, and said, ¡°My brother is master Idojin¡¯s apprentice.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor smiled with satisfaction, ¡°Then it¡¯s decided, Yiyu will also become the successor¡¯s direct subordinate.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Yizhou nodded. This was a good news to him. He had been used to fighting with Yiyu, and one could say that their combined power was more than double of his on his own. This was indeed useful to Yizhou, who was a Direct Knight to the successor but only with a Silver rank.


    ¡°Then all of you may leave. Child, stay for now, Father has a mission for you.¡±


    The two Knights saluted to the Dragon Emperor and the successor, then left quietly.


    * * *


    As soon as they stepped out of the hallway, Flower began to complain, ¡°What the hell? Is that really a Prince? He¡¯s a big ice cube. Third Prince is far more interesting.¡±


    Yizhou remained silent, but the same concern was raised in his mind. When he saw Liola before, he was cold, yet not freezingly so like now. Plus, he used to hang around several Aklan Academy students, but now he was always alone.


    ¡°He has no reaction to salutes either, looks like our days will be terrible. I have heard originally that the successor looks great, and I was so happy.¡± Flower pouted, showing her dissatisfaction.


    Yizhou was thinking of a way to tell his brother the news. As for his coworker¡¯s complaints, they went in one ear and out the other. He didn¡¯t even bother to glance at her. His foot turned, and he was about to leave when¡­


    Bang! A giant noise later, Yizhou widened his eyes. He looked down at the right foot he put forward. About a centimetre away from his toes, a giant axe clashed with the ground, creating a crater of about ten meters long and five meters wide, and its depth could not be determined.


    Yizhou¡¯s eyes slowly raised from the crater. An arm full of muscle with veins popping was holding the handle of the axe. Flower slowly raised her head; her originally seductive face had now two veins showing on her forehead. Under her eyebrows, the two originally water eyes now looked like they were two pots of boiling water!


    Yizhou¡¯s eyes suddenly grew to twice its size. His body froze as he looked at his coworker, who suddenly turned hostile.


    Flower raised her index finger and waved it; with her ferocious and dangerous eyes, she said, ¡°Never, ever ignore me.¡±


    Being suppressed by Flower¡¯s imposing attitude, Yizhou couldn¡¯t move, and he had to nod. He had to admit defeat in front of someone with greater power; he had no intention to be the guinea pig to test out exactly how strong Flower¡¯s vein-popping arm was.


    Flower used her strong arms to returned the axes to her back. Her hands rubbed on her face, and when she raised her head, it revealed that seductive face again. She twirled her hair with her finger, and complained somewhat unhappily, ¡°Such a bother! My hair is all messed up! Ah, but maybe a messy hair looks even more sexy. Zhouzhou, don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Yizhou¡¯s mouth twitched a little, and he held his fist a bit tighter. He had never heard anyone calling him like that, but when his eyes were fixed on the crater on the ground, he suddenly relaxed his fist.


    ¡°Aiya, did my makeup got smeared?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, ah, such a bother, my boobs are too big, and the zippers are bursting open. Zhouzhou, help me pull it up~¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Yizhou looked as Flower showed her back unreservedly. He suddenly thought, perhaps the ones who would have terrible days from now on would be him and his brother.


    * * *


    The Dragon Emperor looked at the successor, who was standing below him quietly. Liola¡¯s recent performance had made him quite satisfied. During his Knight certification, the strength he demonstrated had actually surpassed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expectation. That cold, terrifying presence was very befitting of an Emperor. Though he was somewhat unamicable, so it was disadvantageous for winning over the Knights¡¯ loyalty. It didn¡¯t matter, though, when he succeeds with the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, Liola would change eventually.


    Then, there was only one thing left: completely severe Liola¡¯s bonds with his companions!


    The Dragon Emperor already had a plan for this. He smiled lightly and said, ¡°Child, are you familiar with the battle situation in the Aklan Continent?¡±


    Liola slowly shook his head. The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t ask him to pay attention to the northern continent¡¯s war. Naturally, Liola paid no attention to it, and therefore knew nothing of it.


    ¡°Miluo had already led the Lesser Dragons to attack Aklan. Their war path had been successful, and they¡¯ve almost made it to where Qiusi is.¡± The Dragon Emperor pondered, while observing the successor from the corner of his eyes. Liola didn¡¯t seem to act like he cared after hearing this. The Dragon Emperor continued satisfactorily, ¡°Though we¡¯ve heard rumors about Qiusi not being able to defend and planning on retreating, but I do not believe Qiusi only had such measly amount of forces.¡±


    ¡°Even after cornering him like this, he still isn¡¯t willing to show his true hand. This person is surely more complex than I thought¡­¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled, but his smile was frosty, ¡°He is a worthy opponent, who stopped me for hundreds of years.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor said lightly, ¡°I feel he¡¯s too dangerous.¡±


    Liola¡¯s face had been emotionless, but now his eyes flashed with a cold light. Having long been an Assassin, his instincts told him the Dragon Emperor had already given him a mission. Liola answered directly, ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Slow down, my understanding child.¡± The Dragon Emperor¡¯s purple eyes became deep and dark, and he revealed a smile, then said word for word, ¡°This time, I will go myself, to get rid of this dangerous factor.¡±


    Then, the Dragon Emperor tilted his body slightly towards Idojin, and said, ¡°Idojin, is everything ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Idojin bowed slightly, then took out a staff adorned with a giant jewel at the end. He began chanting some mysterious incantation. A magic circle began to tinkle in the air, and the light grew brighter and brighter. Its size also went from about the size of a fist to eventually about the height of a person. The light also turned more gentle, no longer blinding.


    ¡°Go in, child, and help father get rid of anyone who may pose a threat.¡± The Dragon Emperor stood still, and his thin, long finger pointed directly at the magic circle. He smiled as he gave the kill order to his child.


    Liola¡¯s expression was cold as always. He elegantly pulled out Broken Silver and, with a familiar twist, unsheathed the weapon quietly. The Broken Silver shined with a silver light; like its master, the thin blade seemed to be filled with a sense of cold.


    With his years of training to step silently, Liola stepped into the magic circle, to carry out the mission ordered by his father. The goal of this mission was, to thrust Broken Silver into the chest of his companion¡¯s father.

 Volume 10, 4: The Final Tear

    Volume 10, Chapter 4: The Final Tear


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Prime Minister, the Black Dragon King is already not far from here. Our front lines can¡¯t hold on for much longer, so please, Prime Minister, please leave the capital as soon as possible.¡±


    The representative from all over Aklan were protected by Soldiers surrounding the borders. The recent defeats they¡¯ve suffered and the fact that they would soon be forced to leave their homes, had filled their faces with despair. Only a few of them still acted normally, and these were the people who were worriedly pleading their Prime Minister to leave.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. You guys leave first. My teleport is far faster than Maxuns.¡± Qiusi answered with a smile, with an expression unbefitting of a Prime Minister who was about to be forced out of the capital of his own country.


    Hearing Qiusi¡¯s answer, these people relaxed a bit. Even though they knew little of Magic, but Prime Minister Qiusi¡¯s immense magic strength was well known. To ask such a Sorcerer who excelled in teleportation to use a transportation tool seemed a bit¡­ redundant.


    They nodded, ¡°We understand, then we will leave first. Please, quickly retreat to the city behind the capital.¡±


    Qiusi smiled and nodded, then looked as all the representatives leave one by one under the guard of the Soldiers, until finally, he was the only one standing there.


    It wasn¡¯t until now that Qiusi withdrew his smile, and his brows frowned at the same time. He turned around to look deeply at the meeting room of the Aklan Republic. The broad meeting room was in the shape of a fan, with a podium in the center of it. Facing the podium, were ascending levels of seats. Qiusi¡¯s position was on the side of the podium. As Aklan¡¯s Prime Minister, this was a place he visited everyday.


    Most of the time he came here to see the representatives as though he was coming to see a show: they argued about everything ranging from national matters to whether they should put garbage cans on the streets. Occasionally, after an argument with his son and being in a bad mood, he would come here and yell at the representatives, calling them bad examples for the society, and using their apologetic feeling to balance the hurt his son had caused him¡­


    ¡°Is it right or wrong to abandon this place?¡±


    Qiusi thought carefully. What made him feel helpless was how the Dragon Emperor almost never acted as expected. Sometimes, the Dragon Emperor would indeed devise a sinister plan, but some other times, his actions seem to convey a sense of kindness. Qiusi had always thought it was a way to make him lower his guard, but strangely enough, the end results of those times proved that the Dragon Emperor really wasn¡¯t malicious at those times.


    This characteristic of the Dragon Emperor had always made Qiusi felt helpless. If everything the Emperor did was malicious, he would actually feel slightly better, but this two-sidedness actually made Qiusi grow tired from guessing.


    Thinking about Dragon Emperor¡¯s volatility, Qiusi suddenly remembered his old friend, Susanna. Susanna stood by the Dragon Emperor at the time, and due to the nature of their confrontation, Qiusi and his companions could never ask why their good friend would betray them. Gle had always thought she simply treated lovers better over friends.


    But, ever since they sent Gle to the other world, the Dragon Emperor had been quiet for hundreds of years. Although sometimes he would come up with various plans, Qiusi determined the plans didn¡¯t seem to have taken much thought, such as framing Gladiolus. Despite being the top Assassin in this world, Gladiolus lacked much strength. If Qiusi really were infuriated by his wife¡¯s death and used all his powers as a Prime Minister, leveling the Dark Street wasn¡¯t out of the question for him.


    Qiusi had been thinking for many of years and he had always thought the Dragon Emperor¡¯s quietness must have something to do with his good friend Susanna, but could Susanna¡¯s death turned the Dragon Emperor¡¯s volatility into purely evil?


    ¡°Whatever, whether you¡¯re evil, or switching between good and evil, I must rid you while I¡¯m still alive. I will never allow my child to sink into¡­ the same fate as me ¡ª to struggle against the Dragon Emperor throughout his entire life.¡± Remembering his son, Qiusi forced out any thoughts about his past, and held his determination to fight to the death against the Dragon Emperor.


    Suddenly, a strong and powerful magic fluctuation appeared behind him. Qiusi was shocked. He didn¡¯t think there would be such a powerful Magician in this world he didn¡¯t know about. At this point, Qiusi knew without guessing the appearance of such a strong person must have something to do with the Dragon Emperor, but he didn¡¯t really care ¡ª he was too confident in his own comprehensive protective shield, since it was the reason he had lived for the hundreds of years of struggle against the Dragon Emperor.


    Truthfully, Qiusi¡¯s attack power was absolutely nothing in the face of a rank-X person, but his defense¡­ let¡¯s put it this way, Qiusi had been faced with Assassins under every strange situation one could think of: eating, showering, sleeping, etc. In one of the worst cases, he was suffering diarrhea when he ran into a damned female Assassin. That time, he was sitting on the toilet, accompanied by varying water sounds as well as the smell of his food poisoning. Because it was far too stinky, the female Assassin had covered her nostrils with toilet paper. She jumped from every angle to attack, but she could not break his protective shield.


    Finally, Qiusi slowly stood up from the toilet, wiped his butt, flushed, washed his hands, then walked past the female Assassin¡¯s body who was vomiting blood from being far too furious. He then yawned, and climbed on the bed to sleep¡­ And then, rumors were, the female Assassin had since then quit the profession of being an Assassin.


    After that, the Dragon Emperor had never sent anyone else to assassinate him, probably because he didn¡¯t have too many Assassins under his commands, and he couldn¡¯t afford to lose them like this.


    Could it be the assassination attempts he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time be starting again? Qiusi was actually facing the situation with an attitude of wanting to watch a good show. He turned leisurely and saw a magic door fluctuating before him. Qiusi guessed this may very well be another assassination attempt. A familiar figure emerged from the magic circle, then the figure staggered a few times, then fell to the ground, and stopped moving.


    Qiusi opened his eyes wide, and looked shockingly at the unmoving body on the ground, then yelled in shock, ¡°Liola?¡±


    The person on the ground struggled a bit, then raised his head. Painful expressions filled his face.


    ¡°Are you¡­ being controlled by the Dragon Emperor?¡± Qiusi remembered what Mizerui said, and put up his guard. He didn¡¯t forget this person used to be top Assassin of the other world who could get his way unhindered.


    ¡°M-Mizerui was¡­ by¡­ the Dragon Emperor¡­¡± Liola struggled to get up, but with a frown, he spit out a mouthful of blood. He forced his body up, but he was powerless to move again.


    ¡®Mizerui? Damn! Didn¡¯t I tell him to be careful, and don¡¯t act rashly by himself?¡¯ Qiusi had a rough expression on his face. Truth was, when he heard Mizerui say that Liola had completely sunk under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, he advised Mizerui to leave the Dragon Continent. After all, the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t possibly have not known Mizerui¡¯s true intent by now, but he refused to go. Qiusi could therefore do nothing but ask him to be careful.


    ¡°What happened to Mizerui?¡± Qiusi walked towards the Assassin on the ground. As usual, his protective shield surrounded his body every second of the minute.


    Liola shook his head disgruntledly, and this action made Qiusi knit his brows even more, but all of a sudden, a purple figure flashed out of the magic door. The sword in his hand were intertwined with powerful purple aura, and the target was Liola on the ground. Qiusi didn¡¯t have time to think, nor did he have the time to run over, so he had to extend the range of his comprehensive shield, so he could include Liola into the shield.


    The protective shield successfully blocked the Dragon Emperor¡¯s attack. When the purple aura collided with Qiusi¡¯s shield, it created a beautiful purple fireworks, but the protective shield remained unscathed by this beautiful purple aura.


    ¡°This plan is surely dirty enough.¡± Qiusi¡¯s voice was unusually dry.


    The Dragon Emperor ignored Qiusi¡¯s accusation of being low, and instead walked curiously around Qiusi¡¯s shield, carefully observing this legendary shield that stopped him for hundreds of years, as if he was waiting¡­


    ¡°Is Mizerui okay?¡± Qiusi suddenly remembered.


    The Dragon Emperor answered casually, ¡°Mocha is in the way, so it¡¯s not easy for me to attack.¡±


    ¡°I see how it is.¡±


    Qiusi nodded, so Mizerui must be out of harm¡¯s way for the time being. Qiusi couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly. What a joke! Mizerui, who had always carelessly walked around in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s presence, was going to outlive Qiusi himself, who was always careful and scared of being assassinated by the Dragon Emperor. Blood oozed out of Qiusi¡¯s mouth, and it dripped past his neck, until it colored his chest.


    ¡°Sigh, looks like I can¡¯t see my baby, Meinan, marry a girl. It¡¯s all his fault; he looks perverted. It¡¯s not like he hadn¡¯t gotten himself a girlfriend, but he still couldn¡¯t get me a daughter-in-law.¡± Qiusi sighed, and couldn¡¯t help but reminded Liola, ¡°You have to remind Meinan, when he marries a girl, remember to bring her to me to see. It would be best for them to burn a few wedding photos. Also, when they get me a grandchild, don¡¯t forget to bring the child to my grave to call me grandpa.¡±


    [T/N: in traditional Chinese beliefs, burning things for loved ones will make them receive it in the afterlife, hence the common practice of burning paper (fake) money; so Qiusi¡¯s dialog for them to bring her for him to see was by burning pictures]


    Liola¡¯s body trembled slightly, and the hand holding onto Broken Silver could no longer continue to stay at the same place. He suddenly pulled Broken Silver out of Qiusi¡¯s chest, knowing full well that this action could make Qiusi, who was still smiling lightly, lose much blood from his wound. Qiusi, who was covered with blood, suddenly lost more blood, turning his face completely pale. His body, like autumn leaves, shook a few times then fell face-first towards the ground.


    Liola, practically out of reflex, threw down Broken Silver, and reached up to catch Qiusi¡¯s falling body. At the same time, he felt the warm blood from Qiusi, Broken Silver had fallen onto the ground, making a crisp metallic sound.


    Compared to the warmth of the blood, Qiusi¡¯s face against Liola¡¯s neck was deathly chill. Had it not been his weak breathing, Liola would¡¯ve thought he was holding a dead man. Nevertheless, he knew, if the man wasn¡¯t treated soon, he would not be far from a dead man.


    Liola didn¡¯t realize until now, he actually missed. Had his attack landed on the heart, Qiusi wouldn¡¯t still be alive.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t worry, cough cough¡­ You didn¡¯t do it willingly. Meinan¡­ he will forgive you.¡± Qiusi said while coughing blood. The attack probably hit his lungs.


    The words shot through Liola¡¯s heart like an arrow. He suddenly understood, just now, using the opportunity of Qiusi putting himself within his shield, he jagged Broken Silver through Meinan¡¯s father¡¯s chest¡­


    Qiusi, who was nearly unconscious at this point, suddenly felt Liola¡¯s body shaking. He struggled to raise his head, only to find two streams of tears running down from the silver eyes. The pain in the silver eyes was obvious to anyone who would set their eyes on it. Qiusi tried to force himself conscious, and comforted him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s okay, everyone will understand, nobody would blame you.¡±


    Hearing Qiusi¡¯s comforting, Liola¡¯s eyes were nearly covered by the raging tears. He no longer hesitated. He held Qiusi with one hand, and used his other hand to quickly tap the Qiusi¡¯s pressure points across his chest. Qiusi felt something refreshing coming out of Liola¡¯s fingers, and suddenly, the pain sensation dropped quickly, and the taste of death he had sensed was slowly fading.


    [T/N: This refers to a previously noted topic: In Martial Arts novels, hitting different pressure points usually have various effects. In this case, it¡¯s implied that tapping Qiusi¡¯s chest pressure points would stop/slow his bleeding.]


    ¡°What are you doing? My successor!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor seemed to have noticed something was wrong. He was already very unhappy with Liola catching Qiusi¡¯s body, and now he was sensing Qiusi¡¯s life stabilizing, so he knew Liola had something to do with it. This made Dragon Emperor so furious that his tone was filled with anger, thereby completing forgetting his usual elegant tone. His purple eyes were practically spitting fire, and he yelled, ¡°Kill him! Liola, you must kill him for me!¡±


    Liola¡¯s body trembled, but no actions were taken. Although he was still under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, instincts continuously told Liola he couldn¡¯t kill the man in his arms, absolutely not!


    Seeing Liola not moving an inch, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s body began to shake. Having seen Liola went with the plan to assassinate Qiusi, he thought his successor was complete without any problems, but now it was failing mere centimeters before the finishing line, how could the Dragon Emperor not be enraged?


    However, thinking about Liola¡¯s recent ¡°good behavior¡±, such a good successor was not easy to find. As such, the Dragon Emperor forced down the anger in his mind, and decided to have Idojin increase the control when they get back. As for now, he decided to kill Qiusi himself.


    Sensing father¡¯s anger, Liola felt so bad, as though someone was squeezing his heart tightly, and he had to rely on his instinct to disobey the order. However, he quickly noticed father was already walking his way. His immense murderous intent clearly told Liola he decided to handle Qiusi himself, and this made Liola panick to the point where he couldn¡¯t breathe.


    ¡°Leave quickly! Use your teleport.¡± Liola whispered.


    Though Qiusi heard Liola¡¯s reminder, but losing so much blood had made him unable to even talk, let alone using advanced magic like teleport. He could only smile bitterly while being only half conscious. He had thought he might¡¯ve come out with this life, but it looked difficult now. Nevertheless, forcing the Dragon Emperor to do it himself was better, at least it would reduce this pitiful child¡¯s guilt.


    The person in his arms didn¡¯t respond and looked like he was about to pass out, Liola understood it was impossible for Qiusi to use teleport to escape. He put Qiusi on the ground gently, then turned to walk towards the Dragon Emperor, hoping to plead for mercy on Qiusi¡¯s behalf. Liola saw his father¡¯s cold purple eyes, and a gust of emotionless wind blew on the successor¡¯s heart and made it colder again.


    Though tears were still on his cheeks, but teared silver eyes quickly returned to the emotionless state. Liola quietly chanted again, ¡°Kill, kill, kill¡­¡±


    The Dragon Emperor stopped, and looked suspiciously at the change that occurred in the successor¡¯s attitude. However, he was unsure; should he go up and end Qiusi¡¯s life, or wait to see if his successor would return to his control, obey his order, and kill Qiusi? He glanced at Qiusi, who had obviously sank into unconsciousness. Despite getting Liola¡¯s help, he could tell, without treatment soon, Qiusi still could not escape death¡¯s grasp.


    Seeing Qiusi like this, the Dragon Emperor calmed down. He playfully looked as the successor sank into his own struggle. Liola repeated ¡°kill¡± quicker and quicker, and his colder and colder eyes both told the Dragon Emperor, the emotionless side of him was winning.


    The Dragon Emperor found this interesting, so he casually sat down on a chair near him. Coincidentally, this was Qiusi¡¯s Prime Minister chair.


    Liola bitterly struggled between being controlled and his instincts. Suddenly, his body froze, and he yelled angrily, ¡°Kill!¡± Then turned around and flew towards Qiusi¡¯s body.


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s interest piqued; he had originally thought that, by the looks of it, the successor was going to struggle for quite some time, but Liola¡¯s suddenly change made Dragon Emperor skeptical. When he looked towards Qiusi, he noticed another person appearing next to Qiusi. Had it not been Liola¡¯s yell, the Dragon Emperor honestly didn¡¯t realize the arrival of this other person.


    ¡°Barbalis.¡± The Dragon Emperor showed a smile on the corner of his mouth, ¡°So it was your arrival that reaffirmed the successor¡¯s determination to kill. How ironic.¡±


    Truth was, Barbalis had already sensed it when Qiusi was seriously injured. When he rushed here, he struggled to find an opportunity to save Qiusi. Fortunately, Liola sank into a struggle, and the Dragon Emperor had disgustingly put his attention on watching the successor struggle. Barbalis decided to use this time to take Qiusi away without anyone noticing, and he did indeed do a good job because, after all, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t notice him, but it wasn¡¯t enough to conceal from himself from Liola, an Assassin who could determine the number of enemies from hundreds of meters away.


    It was too fast!


    Although Barbalis had immediately used teleport the moment he touched Qiusi, Liola¡¯s speed was far too quick. Before he even fully finished pronouncing ¡°kill¡±, he had already appeared next to Qiusi. Without a weapon, Liola¡¯s right hand exploded with his blood aura, and threw it at Qiusi without. Qiusi was immediately covered in blood, and then teleport finally activated, making both Qiusi and Barbalis disappear.


    ¡°Purple Tornado?¡± The Dragon Emperor suddenly stood up in shock. Although it wasn¡¯t a purple aura, it was indeed a red aura laced with the color of blood, but the move was indeed Purple Tornado, the very move he once used on the successor.


    The Dragon Emperor began to laugh loudly. He knew, despite the fact that Liola did not die from receiving a hit, he was a peerless Assassin with a strong body whereas Qiusi was simply a weak Sorcerer with a serious injury before the attack. Even an idiot would know, Qiusi was gone, and his successor had successfully completed the mission.


    Qiusi was dead¡­ Liola knew it well in his heart. The man whom he injured and who desperately tried to comfort him was dead. Meinan¡¯s father was dead, killed by his own hands!


    Everything was over!


    Liola felt as though he saw Meinan¡¯s vengeful eyes, Purity¡¯s unbelievable tears, Daylight¡¯s disappointing headshakes, and Kaiser¡¯s rigid face, never smiling again. He had felt himself falling into an abyss, one he could never climb out of, and no one would ever come rescue him.


    There was no one named ¡°Liola¡± in the world, because the person who gave him this name would no longer call him with a smile. The only thing that remained, was a heartless emotionless Silver Moon Knight!


    * * *


    In the broad bedroom, where there were only a few simple furnitures: a bed large enough for four or five people to sleep on it, a desk and chair that, despite its simple designs, were made out of the finest wood; next to the desk, it was a bookshelf as large as a side of the walls, and the opposing wall was full of weapons and armors. Had it not been for the fact that there was a dressing table in the room, with make up and jewelry boxes lying orderly on it, one could never tell this was actually a girl¡¯s room. Or to put it more accurately, two girls¡¯ room.


    Even though, as the Princess¡¯s playmate since she was young, Jasmine had her own room, but the two girls had shared common interests and had grown used to living in the same room. According to them, living in the same room meant they could share clothes, make-up, and books, and they would save the trouble of having to borrow from one another.


    At the time, neither of the two girls could be seen in the room, but the sound of water could be heard coming from a door, and one could vaguely hear girls talking.


    ¡°Baolilong, take off your clothes and come here, I¡¯ll wash your head.¡±


    Jasmine smiled as she crouched next to the path, and her body was covered in a healthy, light bronze color. She looked as Baolilong clumsily pulled the clothes on its body. Though Jasmine really wanted to go up and help, but Baolilong insisted it would take its own clothes off, because Liola had always demanded that of it.


    Jasmine looked as the white chubby Baolilong pouted its mouth despite the seriousness on his face, and struggled to take off the clothes on its body. Jasmine couldn¡¯t help but scream in her heart, ¡°It¡¯s so cute.¡±


    ¡°I have never known before, our Jasmine liked children this much. Your expression is practically like a mother looking at her own child.¡±


    Lanski was already lying in the bath, and only her white shoulders were still showing above the water. Her cream-white golden hair was also tied up above her head, showing her long heck. Despite her liking in Baolilong, she wasn¡¯t close to Jasmine¡¯s near passionate love. Even after knowing Baolilong was the little Sacred White Dragon from before, Lanski only acted surprised but her affection towards it had not grown.


    Finally, Baolilong took off the clothes on its body. With a bare white chubby body, it walked towards Jasmine, while murmuring complaints, ¡°Don¡¯t wash head, don¡¯t like washing head.¡±


    ¡°No, then your hair would get dirty, and it would itch.¡± Jasmine would never allow Baolilong to get dirty. Jasmine was far more strict on the matters of cleanliness compared to Liola, and she was at the point of wanting to spray some perfume on the baby.


    After Jasmine washed Baolilong, she put him in the bath. She then put two plastic toys in the shape of a steak and a chicken drumstick for Baolilong to play with. Now, Lanski finally couldn¡¯t wait anymore. She took a lipstick in her hand, and wrote on the wall, ¡°Can we start discussing now?¡±


    Jasmine didn¡¯t seem surprised. She took out another lipstick she had prepared, and wrote back, ¡°Mhm, but truthfully, I can¡¯t think of any good ideas. We aren¡¯t strong enough, and the only person who could rescue Liola might be that weird Sorcerer, Mizerui. But we can¡¯t even talk openly now, how could we avoid your fathers¡¯ ears and find him in the Astronomy Tower?¡±


    With Cappuccino and Little Fireball¡¯s advise, the two finally understood the Dragon Emperor might be monitoring his children 24 hours a day, but they had no idea how exactly he did it. To play it safe, they decided to communicate via writing in the bathroom.


    They thought the Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t come spy on the girls in the bath, right? But to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, they each smuggled a lipstick into the shower. On one hand they could use writing to avoid eavesdropping; on another, lipstick written on the glossy bathroom walls could be completely wiped away without a trace by using a wet towel.


    Lanski thought briefly, then wrote, ¡°And even though Mizerui looked quite close to Liola, he is, after all, eldest brother¡¯s subordinate. Would he really help Liola escape? Eldest brother¡­ was the very person who prophesied Liola would be the one to kill father.¡± Lanski could never let go of the fact that her eldest brother had told this prophecy and it led to Liola being exiled at such a young age. She didn¡¯t believe such a thing as a prophecy, nor did she believe Liola would kill their father.


    ¡°But I think Mocha shouldn¡¯t be on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s side. Rumors are, Mocha moved out of the palace into the Astronomy Tower due to a big fight he had with the Dragon Emperor at the time.¡± Jasmine wrote. Because of her outgoing nature, Jasmine was close to many of the Knights within the palace. Though the Knights would never disobey or betray the royal family, they still would gossip among themselves. Jasmine had heard quite a lot of rumors ever since she was young, and this was the reason why she was more familiar with the Dragon Emperor than Lanski.


    Lanski hesitated, but at least there was hope. Without thinking for long, she wrote, ¡°All right, then let¡¯s go find eldest brother, and ask him to let Mizerui take Liola away. However, how could we avoid father finding out?¡±


    Jasmine began to laugh, ¡°Let¡¯s say our Princess wants to find her eldest brother to predict who her future husband would be; wouldn¡¯t that work?¡±


    Seeing Jasmine¡¯s words, Lanski didn¡¯t play around like she had done before. She was only bitterly laughing, and this laughter immediately reminded Jasmine, the person they were trying to find a way to save was the person Lanski liked, who also happened to be Lanski¡¯s twin brother¡­


    Jasmine cursed to herself, thinking she was quite the idiot! She could¡¯ve poked fun at anything but this. Recently, due to Liola¡¯s changes, they both had been busy trying to find the reason or think of a way to rescue him, so neither had time to think about their feelings, and therefore Lanski could finally shrug off the shadow of falling in love with her own brother. In the end, Jasmine couldn¡¯t believe she reminded her of it¡­ Jasmine really wanted to drown herself in the bath.


    Seeing Jasmine¡¯s gloomy look because she had said the wrong thing, Lanski burst out a laughter, then wrote elegantly, ¡°This reason isn¡¯t bad; let¡¯s use it.¡±


    Jasmine looked at Lanski apologetically, but Lanski¡¯s face was full of determination. Jasmine knew, nothing could change her mind, so there was no more point in saying anything else, because doing so may have the opposite effect.


    Though Jasmine didn¡¯t seem to argue back, Lanski could still tell, on her uneasy expression, she indeed felt guilty. To change her mind, Lanski looked towards Baolilong, thinking about grabbing it to play with Jasmine. But when she looked, she realized Baolilong was standing there frozen, and it was not playing with its toys.


    ¡°Baolilong, what¡¯s wrong? Is the water too hot? Are you dizzy?¡± Lanski asked caringly.


    Baolilong turned its head, and its originally pink eyes had now turned deep red. Both Lanski and Jasmine were deeply shocked by the blood-colored irises. Jasmine immediately grabbed ahold of Baolilong, and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Baolilong, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Pa¡­ Papa¡­¡±


    Wrapping itself in Jasmine¡¯s arms, Baolilong trembled fearfully, with tears filling its eyes. Because of its connection to Liola telepathically, it had sensed something very wrong with Liola: Liola¡¯s heart was filled with pain and despair, and it was indirectly affecting Baolilong. Being young, Baolilong had no idea how to handle such intense negative emotions, so it had no choice but held its body rigidly, except it couldn¡¯t hold back the trembles.


    ¡°Baolilong?¡± Jasmine had sensed the terror in the child she was holding. She knew this couldn¡¯t be simply the longing for its father. Baolilong had never looked so terrified, or perhaps, the young Baolilong didn¡¯t even know how to be terrified.


    Lanski knew there was no point in guessing. She suddenly jumped out of the bath, and yelled at Jasmine, ¡°I¡¯ll go look for Liola! You look after Baolilong.¡± After that, she ran out of the bathroom without turning back.


    Jasmine could only helplessly nod and hold the child even tighter in her arms, hoping to reduce its fear. She was praying to herself, ¡®Liola, Liola, please don¡¯t be trouble again!¡¯

 Volume 10, 5: Baolilong All Grown Up

    Volume 10, Chapter 5: Baolilong All Grown Up


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Jasmine held Baolilong tightly and sat in the bedroom. She would occasionally raise her head to look at the door, hoping Lanski could find Liola quickly. On one hand, it could abate Baolilong¡¯s strange actions, and on another, she was worried about how Liola was doing.


    Truth was, Jasmine had a faint foreboding feeling. Even though Liola had turned cold in recent days, it hadn¡¯t affected Baolilong like this. Now, even with the distance between them, Baolilong acting this terrified must mean Liola¡¯s situation was even worse now.


    However, Jasmine could not fathom any kind of situation that would be worse than a cold Liola.


    At this time, the door was barged open. Lanski practically charged in; as a Princess, she had never lost her calm like this before. Though she was trying to catch her breath, she quickly explained the situation, ¡°I-I finally found Liola¡¯s Direct Knight. He told me, he had just left Liola. The Dragon Emperor asked Liola to stay in the great hall, and it seemed like he was giving Liola a mission.¡±


    ¡°I went to the great hall, and the only person there was father¡¯s Sorcerer, and a magic circle, but the Sorcerer wouldn¡¯t tell me what happened, and even warned me against touching the magic circle. I-I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± Lanski was anxious to the point of almost falling into pieces.


    ¡°Mission?¡± Jasmine suddenly felt very scared of this single word. With the amount of Knights under the Dragon Emperor, there was absolutely no lack of people who would help him do things. If he looked for Liola, then it must be intentional, and now Jasmine didn¡¯t think for a second that the Dragon Emperor would do anything kind to Liola.


    When Jasmine was about to discuss this mission with Lanski, she saw Lanski staring towards her arms. She instinctively lowered her head to look, and her eyes widened. Baolilong was was emitting a red light all throughout its body. If it were just red light, perhaps the two wouldn¡¯t be so surprised; after all, its eyes had changed to a red color, so emitting light wasn¡¯t too far off from it. However, the red light felt like it was thick and sticky, and it made them very uncomfortable. Had Jasmine not liked Baolilong as much as she did, she would¡¯ve already pushed it away.


    ¡°Baolilong? How do you feel? Tell me, okay?¡± Jasmine asked very patiently, while trying everything in her power to control her tone so there would be no tremble in voice, and Baolilong wouldn¡¯t be able to hear the fear in it.


    Baolilong didn¡¯t answer Jasmine. Its body shook more and more, almost to the point of escaping from Jasmine¡¯s arms. She held her hands tighter, as though she wouldn¡¯t let go even if it would cost her her life.


    ROOOAR!


    Baolilong suddenly let out a piercing Dragon roar. Lanski was the first to cover her ears in pain. Jasmine, who was holding Baolilong, was in even more pain. As soon as the roar went off, her ears went deaf almost immediately. Her head felt like there were a thousand bells ringing inside. She was almost purely sustained by the determination not to let go, or else she would¡¯ve already fainted. Nevertheless, she wasn¡¯t in a good situation; her consciousness was virtually consumed by her headache from the roar, and she could only hang her hands around Baolilong.


    While covering her ears, Lanski, who was crouching on the floor, suddenly noticed the disgusting red light was expanding outward, and it had already reached her foot. Lanski looked worriedly towards Baolilong and Jasmine. She saw Baolilong mercilessly pushed Jasmine off to the bed, and it endlessly roared towards the sky, while crazily ripping off the clothes on its body.


    ¡°Baolilong!¡±


    Lanski screamed, trying to get Baolilong¡¯s attention, but her scream could not be heard over the Dragon roars. With no other choice, she stepped into the red light. As soon as she did, Lanski took a deep breath; an evil cold rushed into Lanski¡¯s body from her feet, and reached all the way to her heart. At that moment, Lanski nearly felt her heart froze.


    Luckily, Lanski immediately realized the cold was purely psychological and not physical. Even though this psychological coldness was no easier to bear than a physical one, but at least it did not impede her movements.


    Lanski quickly stepped up, and grabbed Baolilong, hoping to stop whatever it was doing. Her hand did indeed grab Baolilong¡¯s shoulder, but as soon as it noticed someone was touching it, it immediately shrugged off the hand, turned around, and roared angrily, ¡°You should never touch a Dragon with a master! Especially a Sacred White Dragon, you damn human!¡±


    Lanski could barely breathe under the imposition of the Dragon. When she finally recovered, Lanski suddenly remember, the voice sounded nothing like Baolilong¡¯s tender child tone, but instead, it was a more matured, solemn voice. ¡®What exactly was going on?¡¯


    At this time, Baolilong¡¯s clothes were mostly gone, but it continued to tear it from its body. After a painful roar, a large piece of something was thrown onto the ground. Lanski looked carefully, and she almost fainted: it was a large piece of skin. Lanski was out of it by now, and she asked helplessly, ¡°Baolilong, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡±


    Baolilong who had sunken into frenzy would obviously not answer her. Tearing off a large piece of skin didn¡¯t seem to satisfy it, and it desperately tore off more of its skin. Every piece of skin it tore off was accompanied by another loud, painful roar, but that didn¡¯t seem to stop it from continuing.


    Before long, Baolilong¡¯s body was a horrifying sight: its body was covered with torn skin, and its red muscles could be seen at various places. Strangely, however, there was not a single drop of blood.


    Seeing Baolilong like this, Lanski didn¡¯t even know if she felt pity or fear. Along with the coldness reaching to her heart, the once prideful Princess was now in tears while hugging her own shoulders, despite not crying as much as before.


    While Lanski was crying with her head lowered, she suddenly heard a sharp yell. She raised her head, only to see Jasmine passing out after screaming, and a little person with its red muscles appeared. Its white long hair was fluttering behind it, which made a terrifying contrast with its red muscles. The only thing redder than its muscles was its demonic pair of eyes.


    Bang! Lanski passed out as well.


    * * *


    When Lanski opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar ceiling she was used to seeing. However, she was a bit lost and did not know what had happened. Out of habit, she looked to her left; sure enough, Jasmine was lying on her left, but now she was frowning and talking in her sleep, ¡°Baolilong¡­¡±


    That name made Lanski remember everything. She seemed to have seen Baolilong tearing off all of its own skin? Lanski immediately sat up and looked around, but Baolilong was nowhere to be seen.


    She was confused again. Could everything she thought she saw be a dream? Lanski got out from under the sheets, and walked off her bed. She walked back and forth around where she remembered Baolilong was, but she did not see a single piece of skin, nor the heart-chilling red light. Although everything in the room was in order, Lanski still couldn¡¯t relax, because, most importantly, Baolilong still was nowhere to be found.


    Lanski went back to the bed and woke Jasmine up. After a brief period of absent-mindedness, Jasmine was even more anxious than Lanski. She grabbed Lanski and ran out of the room to begin their search for Baolilong while calling its name. The star filled skies and the lack of any human being other than Knights who were standing at their posts told them it was far past midnight.


    The Knights on guard duty looked at the two girls strangely, but because one of them was a Princess, they didn¡¯t dare to tell her to quiet down at night. Even if she were to suddenly want to burn down the palace in the middle of the night, none of these guards would dare to stop her, and perhaps they might even go find wood to help her light the fire.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Liola¡¯s room.¡±


    An idea suddenly dawned on Jasmine. Without hearing Lanski¡¯s response, she grabbed her and ran off in a hurry. After rushing to his room, the two women were about to kick open the door, but the doors suddenly opened by itself. The one opening the door was not Liola, but instead a young, beautiful teenager.


    The two women stared blankly at the child. The child had the white hair they were familiar with, but instead of the short hair style they were used to, the child had dense white hair reaching all the way to its waist. Its oval face looked as clean as a piece of white jade, and two red eyes were hanging on it like rubies, plus it had lips just as red to match.


    The contrast between the red white showed the unique beauty of the child. In addition, its slender body, despite being only as tall as Lanski¡¯s shoulder, but judging from the body¡¯s proportion and its age, when this child grows up, it would undoubted be a person who would put everyone into a trance¡­ regardless of their gender.


    ¡°Baolilong?¡± Jasmine tried to ask. Though the child was different from Baolilong, but the white hair, oval face, and the face all seemed to be a shadow of Baolilong.


    The child frowned, pouted unhappily, and then asked in a tawdry tone, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯s the middle of the night. Isn¡¯t it rude to come to our room right now?¡±


    The two girls paused after hearing. The expression on its face and its tone was far different than Baolilong. Was this child really Baolilong? Jasmine was about to ask something else when another voice interrupted her.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Liola got up from the bed, and walked over while asking. When Lanski saw Liola was actually back in his room, she asked anxiously, ¡°Liola, are you okay? Did father do something to you?¡±


    Compared to Lanski¡¯s panic, Liola seemed very calm. He stated, ¡°Father helped me change my name.¡±


    ¡°Changed your name?¡±


    Lanski would never have imagined this answer. It was strange to suddenly change his name, and if it were simply changing a name, how could it have affected Baolilong so severely¡­ Wait! Wasn¡¯t Liola a bit different? Lanski suddenly had a strange feeling; Liola didn¡¯t seem as cold and heartless as before?


    ¡°How come you seem different?¡± Even Jasmine thought it was strange.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Liola asked with some confusion.


    Of course! Lanski was rather happy. Had it been the cold Liola before, he would not have replied with another question. Instead, majority of the time he would simply answer with ¡°yes¡± or ¡°no¡±. Could Liola have really returned to how he was before?


    ¡°What did the Dragon Emperor change your name to?¡± Jasmine asked with a frown. Though she also noticed a change in Liola, but she wasn¡¯t as happy, because she did not believe the Dragon Emperor would allow Liola to escape from his control. At the same time, Jasmine was now certain, the young teenager must be Baolilong, and the changes with Baolilong were real as well. There was no way the things that caused Baolilong¡¯s terrifying changes were a good thing.


    ¡°Silver Moon.¡± Liola¡­ no, Silver Moon answered it as such.


    ¡°Silver Moon? Isn¡¯t that your title? Why would you replace your name with your title?¡± Lanski felt like a bucket of water had been poured over her head. The two words were filled with chill. When Liola turned cold, this was the title the Dragon Emperor gave him. Now, even his name changed? Wouldn¡¯t this mean this was a situation even worse than before, even though Liola seemed okay now?


    Lanski was still worried. She began to ask again, ¡°Lio¡­¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon¡± Silver Moon calmly interrupted Lanski.


    Lanski paused briefly. After exchanging skeptical glances with her friend, Jasmine tried to ask, ¡°Li¡­ uh, well, aren¡¯t you planning on looking for Kaiser and others? Weren¡¯t you good friends with them before?¡±


    ¡°The situation is different. Now that I am the successor, I shouldn¡¯t leave the palace on my own without father¡¯s permission.¡± Silver Moon smiled lightly as he explained, ¡°Plus father doesn¡¯t really like those people. So I have no choice because I don¡¯t want father to be unhappy.¡±


    If anyone had seen Silver Moon¡¯s smile, and his dignified look despite being in pajamas, everyone would probably praise the Dragon Emperor¡¯s successor for showing a royal demeanor. However, these people would never include the people who knew Liola before. When Lanski and Jasmine hear him calling Kaiser and others as ¡°those people¡±, they immediately understood ¡ª Liola did not return to his old self.


    ¡®But at least this is better than being cold, right?¡¯ Lanski tried to comfort herself.


    ¡°Are you going to leave or not? I want to sleep!¡± Baolilong yelled loudly, while angrily eyeing the two girls, but it still couldn¡¯t help but yawn a few times. Although it had grown up, its oval face still made it cute nevertheless; it was just changed from a baby¡¯s cute to an adolescent cute.


    Jasmine didn¡¯t have time to guess Liola¡¯s situation, because her attention was pulled towards Baolilong. She couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Baolilong, why did you suddenly grow up? We saw you tearing off your own skin, and I fainted because of it. Are you really okay?¡±


    Baolilong didn¡¯t show an ounce of care towards Jasmine¡¯s concern. Seeing the two weren¡¯t willing to leave just yet, and asked more questions instead, it yelled angrily, ¡°None of your business! Leave now, I want to sleep.¡±


    ¡°B-Baolilong¡­¡±


    Jasmine felt she couldn¡¯t handle such a blunt retort. How could the cute little Baolilong she remembered say something like this to her? In the past, no matter how angry Baolilong was, at most it would pout and say something like ¡°Baolilong is getting angry¡±.


    ¡°Baolilong, you¡¯re acting impolitely.¡± Silver Moon blamed lightly.


    Being told by its master, Baolilong held back its sleepiness, lowered its head, and acted as if it was in regretful. Nevertheless, judging the fist it held on its sides, and the angry looks on its face, one could tell its regret wasn¡¯t even 1/100 as much as its anger.


    ¡°Is there anything else? If not, it¡¯s getting late¡­¡± Silver Moon tactfully reminded the two they should leave.


    Though knowing there was nothing she could do by staying, Jasmine still was reluctant to leave Baolilong. It wasn¡¯t until Lanski tugged her did she withdraw her stare and said her goodbyes, ¡°Then Liola, we¡¯ll be off now.¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon, it¡¯s Silver Moon. Please don¡¯t call me by the wrong name again. Good night.¡± Silver Moon reminded Jasmine of her mistake, nodded, and courteously said good night.


    ¡°Mmm¡­ Good night.¡±


    Jasmine was careful not to say the word ¡°Liola¡± again, but for some reason, she didn¡¯t really want to call him Silver Moon, as if doing so would mean Liola would never return.


    ¡°Good night, brother.¡± Lanski unconsciously chose another name. Though she was not as stubborn as Jasmine towards the name ¡°Liola¡±, but she still wanted to avoid the name ¡°Silver Moon¡±.


    The two girls exchanged a look, quietly agreeing to discuss this after they go back to their room, so they turned to leave. What they didn¡¯t see, however, was Silver Moon face turning completely blank the moment they turned. Had it not for his hand moving to close the door, one would mistake him for a statue, and his elegant and courteous expressions before was now completely gone.


    * * *


    Baolilong raised its head. Despite its arrogant attitude towards the two girls, when it was looking at Silver Moon, it carefully and quietly asked, ¡°Master, can we sleep now?¡±


    Silver Moon didn¡¯t speak, but thought about it, and Baolilong got the answer via telepathy. Having matured, it was now extremely tired, and it quickly ran to the bed and began to snore.


    Silver Moon quietly stood still, without any sign of wanting to go to bed. A few minutes later, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s purple figure appeared in the room, and Silver Moon naturally performed a Knight¡¯s salute towards the Dragon Emperor, as if he had already been waiting for his arrival.


    ¡°You did very well.¡± The Dragon Emperor praised him without holding back, although he knew Silver Moon didn¡¯t care a bit about it.


    Sure enough, Silver Moon had no reaction. Unless the Dragon Emperor wanted to see a reaction, Silver Moon would never do something he didn¡¯t have to.


    The Dragon Emperor had lived for such a long time, plus the knowledge accumulated over the years by the heart of previous Dragon Emperors, there was practically nothing he didn¡¯t know. However, after seeing Silver Moon, he finally understood what it really took to be a true Assassin.


    ¡°Assassin must use various different ways to kill, and impersonating another identity is but a basic skill.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor remembered. After Qiusi was taken away, Liola¡¯s humanity seemed to have completely dissipated. Even the Dragon Emperor thought, had he closed his eyes, he wouldn¡¯t be able to notice Liola from a centimeter away.


    When the Dragon Emperor impatiently called Liola a few times but didn¡¯t get a single response, he yelled angrily, ¡°Silver Moon Knight!¡±


    Liola responded. He turned, with his eyes looking at the Dragon Emperor, looking¡­ The Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t sure if he really was looking back. He felt that Liola¡¯s eyes had practically no reflections.


    What the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t know, the Assassin Silver Moon had his Heart of Consciousness active all the time. He knew everything that was happening within a dozen meter radius of him, even the slightest wind couldn¡¯t escape from Silver Moon¡¯s Heart of Consciousness. As such, Silver Moon would take notice of everything without ever looking directly at anyone¡­ except perhaps one ¡ª a woman named Anise, and also named Bairui.


    The Dragon Emperor quickly noticed, the successor would only respond to the name ¡°Silver Moon¡±, and the word ¡°Liola¡± seemed to have nothing to do with him anymore. The Dragon Emperor decided on the spot, and changed his successor¡¯s name to Silver Moon. He knew this was the top Assassin¡¯s name, and he could vaguely notice, that after his successor had killed Qiusi, he had lost every last bit of hope.


    Abandoning the name Liola, meant he also abandoned anyone who would call him Liola.


    The Dragon Emperor was not too satisfied with Silver Moon¡¯s lack of humanity. This colder-than-ice feeling would make it hard to be around him, and all the Knights working in the palace wouldn¡¯t be happy that his successor was no different from a corpse. When he was about to impatiently tell Silver Moon to act a bit more normal, Silver Moon began to speak,


    ¡°Assassin Rule #7, use every method available to kill. Impersonating someone else to close in on the target is a basic skill. Who do you want me to impersonate?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor paused, and commanded somewhat skeptically, ¡°A Prince.¡±


    Then, he received a flawless Prince: his actions elegant, his strength amazing, yet within him, he was a cruel and heartless top Assassin. At the same time, he would only obey the Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders. It was simply perfection!


    The Dragon Emperor slowly closed his eyes, and murmured, ¡°Gle, oh Gle, as much as I hate you, I must thank you. I thank you for creating such a perfect future Dragon Emperor for Dragon Empire.¡± After saying that, the Dragon Emperor sensed the irony in his words, and he began to unleash a crazed laughter.

 Volume 10, 6: Aklan School of Magic

    Volume 10, Chapter 6: Aklan School of Magic


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    To save Qiusi, Barbalis had activated teleport as fast as he could, but he still underestimated Liola¡¯s alertness and speed, and therefore caused Qiusi to sustain yet another attack. Barbalis knew Qiusi¡¯s wounds meant there was not a second to waste. However, due to the limited distance of teleport, he had no choice but to continuously activate teleport, and rush towards the Commerce Alliance, hoping they have recently invented even better healing Maxuns.


    To avoid wasting any time, Barbalis teleported directly to the room where the three Commanders meet with their subordinates. When he completed casting the last teleport, the two of them appeared directly in the center of the meeting room ¡ª the spot where the three Commanders were.


    The three of them were frowning as they listened to their subordinates¡¯ report on the battle situations in Aklan, and they were in the middle of the dilemma of whether they should contact Aklan¡¯s Prime Minister Qiusi. Little did they know, after a flash, an Aklan Prime Minister with a foot in hell¡¯s gate appeared in front of them.


    ¡°Hurry! I want the best healing Maxun!¡± Barbalis immediately yelled at the three.


    The Red Commander was the first to react. Even though shock was still visible on her face, she said immediately, ¡°Follow me!¡±


    Barbalis didn¡¯t waste any time on pleasantries. He carried Qiusi and followed. Even though the Red Commander¡¯s footsteps were quick and hurried, Barbalis felt the warmth quickly draining from Qiusi¡¯s body. He wished she knew teleport as well, so she could take Qiusi directly to the Maxun.


    Luckily, the place the Red Commander was heading to was not far from the meeting room. A large metal door with an ¡°X¡± marked on it. The Red Commander swiped her badge, and the door opened. The room was giant, perhaps because whatever inside was enormous.


    It was a giant healing Maxun Barbalis had never seen before. Its volume was quite possibly larger than a matured Dragon. A normal healing Maxun was usually made of a simple cylinder with liquid inside, a control panel, and a base. This healing Maxun, however, had more than two dozen tubes coming out of the liquid chamber, each connecting to a complex instrument standing at a person¡¯s height. The Maxun¡¯s control panel almost made Barbalis dizzy: it had hundreds of buttons, dozen or so knobs, and many switches.


    The Red Commander pressed a few buttons on the control panel. A robotic metal arm held a stretcher reached up to Barbalis, who immediately placed Qiusi onto the stretcher. The robotic arm moved again, putting the patient on the stretcher into the liquid chamber.


    The Red Commander performed a series of healing tasks. She first stabilized the patient¡¯s wounds, and then began to analyze the injuries so she could come up with a best plan of action.


    The Maxun quickly stopped Qiusi from bleeding. When the analysis result was displayed, the Red Commander began to stare blankly at the screen, because the situation was worst of its kind!


    The Maxun was, undoubtedly, great at treating physical injuries; even if the patient had all of his bones broken, it wouldn¡¯t be a big problem for the Maxun. For a normal healing Maxun, organ damage usually would be a problem as well, but to this Maxun, which was the result of the Commerce Alliance¡¯s highest technology and tremendous amount of money, it was also a piece of cake.


    The only problem remaining was a damage method that even the highest of Knights may not know: sending aura directly into the opponent¡¯s body to damage them. The healing Maxun had no way of expelling the aura. All it could do was repair the body the moment the aura would cause any damage, and when the aura finally dissipates on its own, then the patient would be cured¡­ assuming, of course, the patient would be still alive by then.


    ¡°Go look for Meinan.¡±


    The Red Commander said, then focused her attention back onto the control panel, trying to find a way to save the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, because she wasn¡¯t completely confident it were possible, the Red Commander had to ask Barbalis to look for Meinan, so he could see his father for what may be the last time.


    Hearing this, Barbalis¡¯ face was filled with despair. He wanted to remind the Red Commander with something like ¡°try your best¡±, but when he saw the Red Commander focusing all her attention on the control panel, and her hand, despite it being not very fast, was nervous to the point of sweating, he knew the Red Commander was indeed already trying her best.


    Barbalis walked to the door to the room, with a heavy heart, to look for his good friend¡¯s son. Who knew that, as soon as he opened the door, he would see Meinan standing outside trying to catch his breath, with Kaiser, Daylight, and Purity were standing behind him, as they always have.


    ¡°Qiusi, he¡­¡± As soon as he said those words, he saw Qiusi in the giant healing Maxun. Meinan could not believe what he saw. He walked, step by step, towards Qiusi. He looked through the thick glass at the person inside. His head was completely in a mess now. He had never seen his father through a layer of glass, because his father would never get hurt, right?


    Wasn¡¯t his almighty comprehensive protective shield protecting Qiusi at all times? How could he have gotten hurt?! And he¡¯s almost dead? Impossible!


    ¡°How did you guys know¡­?¡± Barbalis asked Kaiser quietly.


    ¡°Today¡¯s meeting was about the issue with Aklan Republic, so Purity asked us to use the surveillance Maxun to spy on the meeting.¡± Kaiser explained quickly, then worriedly glanced at Meinan. He turned his head towards back towards Barblis, and asked as quietly as he possibly could, ¡°What¡¯s Qiusi¡¯s situation?¡±


    Barbalis didn¡¯t answer; he didn¡¯t want to reply with that answer. Simply by looking at him frowning and refusing to answer, Kaiser immediately understood, the situation was far worse than they could imagine, or perhaps even¡­


    Kaiser turned around to look at Meinan, who acted as if he didn¡¯t even know where he was, or what he was doing. He could only stare blankly through the glass, at his father. When Purity saw Meinan like this, she felt bad in her heart. When she wanted to go over to comfort him, Kaiser stopped her. She looked at Kaiser in confusion, who shook his head, because it wasn¡¯t time to comfort Meinan yet.


    Kaiser turned around, with anger in his eyes, as he asked with a refrained voice, ¡°Who hurt Qiusi?¡±


    Hearing this question, Barbalis¡¯ face instantly changed colors. He had been worried sick about Qiusi¡¯s condition, and had forgotten about this serious question: the person who injured QIusi was Liola, but how could he tell Kaiser and others this?


    Seeing the changes in Barbalis, Kaiser immediately felt doubt in his heart. Barbalis must know who it was, but he didn¡¯t want to tell them. Why wouldn¡¯t he? Could it be because he was afraid they might go against their judgment for revenge? So the answer might be¡­ Dragon Emperor? Shouldn¡¯t be; Kaiser immediately opposed his own conclusion; the answer would be far too obvious, and even if Barbalis did not say so, they would have guessed the same.


    Could it be Lancelot? Blood Wolf? Kaiser almost guessed even Cappuccino. But he thought again, if Cappuccino could beat Qiusi, he would already have been the Dragon Emperor by now, and he wouldn¡¯t still be a Prince.


    No matter how much Kaiser guessed, he never thought once ¡°Liola¡± might be the answer.


    ¡°Barbalis, do you really plan on not telling us? You know Meinan would never let this go. Despite how much he says he hates his father, but even an idiot knows how close those two are. So you better tell us now, otherwise¡­¡± Kaiser began to threaten.


    ¡°Maybe later!¡± Barbalis interrupted Kaiser¡¯s threats, and his eyes focused on Qiusi in the liquid chamber. He was screaming in his heart, ¡®Qiusi, oh Qiusi, I really hope you¡¯ll be okay. As long as you live, then this issue with Liola injuring you could be told as a joke later on, but if you¡­¡® Barbalis didn¡¯t even dare to think about what would happen.


    ¡°Sigh!¡±


    The Red Commander finally stopped, but her face was full of sadness. Meinan seemed to have woken up from a dream, and asked hurriedly, ¡°How is my dad? Is he okay?¡±


    The Red Commander was apologetic, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. We can do little for Prime Minister Qiusi. This is a move very few Knights know: the attacker sends Ki into the body to continuously cause damage. The healing Maxun cannot expel the Ki, so it can only heal where the Ki damages the body, until the Ki dissipates on its own.¡±


    ¡°However, Prime Minister¡¯s Qiusi¡¯s condition is not very good, and the Ki that entered his body was stronger than anything I¡¯ve seen before¡­¡± The Red Commander tried to say it as tactfully as she could, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Prime Minister may not be able to outlast the Ki.¡±


    ¡°Is there any other methods?¡± Meinan forced himself to calm down. The teaching of the Glory family was to always keep calm; impulse wasn¡¯t something that could resolve problems.


    ¡°There is another way. If you could find someone with even more powerful aura, enough to expel the Ki in his body, then the Prime Minister¡¯s wounds aren¡¯t that bad at all¡­ but there are no Knights in the Commerce Alliance.¡± The Red Commander said straightforwardly.


    ¡°Mommy! What do you mean there are no Knights? Brother is a Knight.¡± Purity yelled loudly, then hurriedly rushed out, ¡°I¡¯ll go look for brother.¡±


    The Red Commander, however, smiled bitterly and helplessly. Her daughter was rather impulsive. If Feir could heal Qiusi, she would¡¯ve already asked her son to come, but she knew, Feir¡¯s strength was miles from that of Qiusi, so how could he have a more powerful aura than the person who beat Qiusi?


    ¡°An even more powerful Knight? Lancelot is probably out of the question, but what about the Dark Knight Blood Wolf?¡±


    As soon as Kaiser spoke this hypothesis, Barbalis suddenly yelled in shock, then immediately disappear. Seeing him like this, everyone guessed he must be gone to look for Blood Wolf, and this calmed everyone down. After all, Blood Wolf had always been on good terms with them, and with his strength¡­ although they haven¡¯t seen it, Blood Wolf was supposed to be on par with Lancelot, so he couldn¡¯t be much worse, right?


    ¡®Meinan¡­¡¯


    Meinan felt as if someone was calling out to him. He turned to see Qiusi, despite being in the liquid chamber, had opened his eyes some time ago, and was looking at him with a weak smile. Meinan hesitated, and then walked next to the liquid chamber, but in that instant, he did not know what he should say to his own father. He began to talk whatever came to his mind, ¡°H-how are you feeling? Is it painful? Ah¡­ Barbalis is already on his way to look for Blood Wolf, who will be able to treat your wounds shortly.¡±


    Qiusi kept looking at Meinan with a smile, and his lips seemed to have opened and closed. However, there was no way Meinan could hear what he said through the liquid and thick glass.


    The Red Commander patted Meinan¡¯s shoulder, gesturing him to look at the screen on the control panel. Only one word appeared, ¡°Really¡­¡±


    Meinan blinked, and asked with uncertainty, ¡°This is what Qiusi said?¡±


    The Red Commander nodded. Another sentence appeared on the screen, ¡°Sorry, Commander, could I speak to my child alone?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    The Red Commander nodded, and beckoned Kaiser and Daylight to leave the room together, leaving Meinan standing by himself.


    * * *


    To suppress the uneasiness in his heart, Meinan yelled out blame the moment he opened his mouth, ¡°What are you doing? Can¡¯t you wait until your wounds are treated if you have something to say? Do you find it funny to talk while lying inside a healing Maxun?¡± However, he didn¡¯t realize his voice was trembling.


    Qiusi smiled. Even though Meinan¡¯s tone was quite bad, but Qiusi could see the sorrow and shock on his child¡¯s face, and he really wanted to say something to comfort his own child, like ¡°I¡¯ll be fine¡±. However, Qiusi knew, whether he could make it was still anyone¡¯s guess, so he had many things he must tell his son first.


    ¡°Meinan, do you remember what I¡¯ve told you before, the enemy who killed your mother is the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    ¡°I know, I won¡¯t hate Gladious, don¡¯t¡­¡± Meinan was going to say ¡°don¡¯t worry¡±, but he suddenly closed his mouth before he finished. He was unwilling to say that because, if his father really had nothing else to worry, then, then¡­


    ¡°Meinan, you have to remember, you must remember; the Dragon Emperor isn¡¯t just the enemy who killed your mother, he¡¯s also the person who killed your fa¡­¡± Qiusi suddenly stopped, and changed what he was going to say, ¡°The person who harmed me was also the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Though Qiusi did not finish what he said, but the letters ¡°fa¡± was clearly written on the screen. Meinan had to take several deep breaths before he could calm down, and he said with a smile, ¡°When you¡¯ve recovered, we will avenge mother together.¡±


    Qiusi sighed deeply, ¡°Originally, I didn¡¯t want you involved in this battle, but now, I have no choice anymore.¡±


    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t have a choice. The Dragon Emperor killed my mother, and harmed my companions again and again. Even the Aklan Republic has been torn by the flames of war. Even if you don¡¯t let me join, I would jump in myself; I will protect my companions and country.¡± Meinan said with a firm tone.


    Qiusi looked deeply at his child. He felt the child was practically a clone of him; what he said now was practically no different than what Qiusi said himself years ago. Seeing his child like this, as a father, Qiusi felt both proud and yet sorry, because Qiusi knew very well the heavy responsibilities this child would have to shoulder.


    ¡°The protective shield I taught you last time, have you made any progress?¡± This was what Qiusi cared about the most. If Meinan did not learn the shield well, he might not even be able to protect himself, let alone his companions and country.


    Meinan nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing constantly with Purity. Ever since Kaiser and Daylight came back, other than eating and sleeping, we¡¯ve been constantly practicing all forms of battles. I dare to say, although I¡¯m not up to your level yet, but I¡¯m at least 60% there. In a few years, I will definitely surpass you.¡±


    Seeing his child could say he would surpass his father in a few years without shame, Qiusi smiled. Even though there might be a degree of exaggeration in what he said, but Qiusi believed his child wasn¡¯t one to lie, and him saying a declaration like this must mean he was quite confident.


    ¡°Then now I can tell you.¡± Though saying he was about to tell Meinan something, Qiusi instead asked a question, ¡°In your opinion, what do you think of the battle situation between Aklan Republic and Miluo?¡±


    Meinan¡¯s face sank. He had spent his recent days learning how to fight, but it was impossible for him not to care about his home country. He had always known Aklan had losing one battle after another, but the more Aklan lost, the less Meinan worried. Because he knew, his father was not an incompetent Prime Minister; Aklan had stood still under his control for hundreds of years, and there was no way it could be wiped off so easily.


    Qiusi must have his plan, perhaps, a trap. Meinan had always thought of it so.


    After a few thoughts, Meinan finally said his guess, ¡°Aklan has been losing badly, but I think, that¡¯s only what it looks on the surface, and you must have your own plan.¡±


    Qiusi smiled; probably because nobody understood a father better than a son¡­ suddenly he felt an intense pain coming from his chest, and blood oozed out of his nose and mouth, which made the liquid chamber red.


    ¡°Qiusi? Father?¡± Meinan couldn¡¯t help but yelled loudly. The blood covered up his vision, and he could no longer see how Qiusi was doing, this made him even more nervous and terrified.


    Before long, the liquid chamber cleared out the blood, and the wound caused by the Ki in Qiusi¡¯s body was also healed, but the already weak Qiusi was now even worse. He knew he did not have much time left, so he said to comfort his son, ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t talk for now, listen to me.¡±


    Meinan had originally wanted to prevent his father from continue talking, so it wouldn¡¯t take away his already fading strength, but seeing Qiusi¡¯s pale yet determined face, he knew he couldn¡¯t possibly stop him, so all he could do was carefully listen to everything his father had to say.


    ¡°I did indeed have my own plan. I¡¯ve been Aklan¡¯s Prime Minister for hundreds of years. I know the Dragon Emperor loves to assassinate, and I¡¯ve encountered many of them before. Of course, the Dragon Emperor found out later that it was pointless to assassinate me, so he stopped trying.¡± After saying that, Qiusi looked somewhat proud.


    ¡°However, I could only save myself, and no other.¡± Qiusi¡¯s face darkened, ¡°One time, I openly recruited many talented individuals, but they all died, one by one, in the hands of the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Finally I understood. I could not show my true strength on the surface, otherwise the Dragon Emperor would take them out one by one. I secretly nurtured quite a number of people, and of those, the most helpful ones were Barbalis and Gladiolus.


    ¡°In the Dark Street, Gladiolus had helped me train many Knights, powerful ones who are not loyal to the Dragon Emperor, including Assassins. Even though I don¡¯t like this method, but at least, when the Dragon Emperor sends for Assassins, there will be people who knew how to counteract them.¡±


    ¡°I see, so Dark Street is the secret strength you are talking about.¡± Meinan finally understood.


    ¡°And Barbalis, he helped me built Aklan¡¯s School of Magic.¡±


    ¡°School of Magic?¡± Meinan was shocked. He had always lived in Aklan Republic, but had never heard anything about a School of Magic. The only school that came remotely close to magic was the School of Sorcery.


    Qiusi smiled, ¡°Didn¡¯t you all call Barbalis expulsion madman? Plus, in the years, isn¡¯t the School of Sorcery¡¯s graduation rate terrifyingly low?¡±


    Meinan nodded. This was the truth: Aklan School of Sorcery wasn¡¯t a place where a normal person could graduate.


    ¡°In fact, those people who were expelled, despite not having graduated, they were sent to the School of Magic to ¡®further their education¡¯.¡± Qiusi looked with satisfaction at Meinan¡¯s dropped jaw, then continued, ¡°Barbalis had been acting crazy for many years, and he made Aklan School of Sorcery look completely messed up. Many people believed it was his friendship with me that kept him in the principal seat of Aklan Academy¡­ But truthfully, because of this, we were able to evade the Dragon Emperor from finding out the truth.


    ¡°Barbalis¡¯ magical prowess is actually quite high, but he never liked to show off his magic. The only person who possessed stronger magical abilities than him was none other than Gle, but on the subject of magic controlling techniques, perhaps even Gle wouldn¡¯t be a match for Barbalis. After all, because Barbalis couldn¡¯t match Gle in raw power, he had spent much time on control.


    ¡°In these years, he relied on his sharp senses toward magic, and picked out the students with the potential to be Magicians, and then find all sorts of excuses to expel them from school. On the surface, those students would then leave with disappointment¡­


    ¡°But in fact, after that, Barbalis made all those people go into the School of Magic¡­ cough, cough!¡±


    Qiusi started coughing again, because the Ki in his body was beginning to act up again. Although it was not as severe as the outbreak before, he still felt horrid having a Ki rolling around in his body. With every cough, a few strands of blood could be seen near his mouth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it anymore, rest first.¡± Meinan saw this, and hurriedly advised.


    Qiusi shook his head, and continued, ¡°Just a bit more. Meinan, to hide the power, and to force the Commerce Alliance into this matter, I chose to let go of most of our land, even if it includes the capital. I wanted to use this as an excuse to make the Commerce Alliance fear they may be Miluo¡¯s next target, so most of the people in the Alliance would choose to support us. The three Commanders promised me before, if the majority of people in the Alliance agrees, they would definitely ally with us. When that happens, even if I show my hand with my secret force, the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the Dragon Emperor seems to know this well, so¡­¡± Qiusi smiled bitterly, so the reason used Liola to get rid of Qiusi.


    ¡°Meinan, you have to help me lead those hidden powers.¡± Qiusi had sensed his heart beating slower and slower, and he could almost no longer feel his hands or feet. He tried to hold down his discomfort, and continued to explain, ¡°Though Gladiolus and Barbalis are both stronger than you, they aren¡¯t the people who could plan and organize everything. You must be the commander behind them, but you mustn¡¯t appear anywhere on the surface, and use everything you could to make the Dragon Emperor ignore you, otherwise you won¡¯t be able to stop his assassinations¡­¡±


    Other than that, there was another reason he could not speak: the Assassin may very well be Liola, and Qiusi would never want to imagine the scene of companions killing one another.


    ¡°I understand, I will definitely do as you say, father¡­¡± Meinan solemnly accepted his father¡¯s request, and then smiled bitterly, ¡°However, can I not say ¡®don¡¯t worry¡¯? You know, in stories, whenever someone says this, another person dies right after, so it¡¯s far too ominous¡­ father?!¡±


    Before Meinan finished, he saw Qiusi close his eyes, and then slowly lowered his head¡­ Scared, Meinan charged up, and hit desperately at the glass, yelling desperately, ¡°Father! Qiusi!¡±


    ¡°Father! Please, don¡¯t die. Didn¡¯t you always say you want to see your grandson?¡± Meinan smiled dryly, ¡°There are many pretty female Mecha Fighters, and they all have great bodies. I¡¯ll go find one now and marry her, and you will have a grandson in ten months¡­ please, don¡¯t die now, I still haven¡¯t told you how sorry I am, because I¡¯ve misunderstood you about mother¡¯s death, I¡­ sorry¡­¡±


    Meinan put both of his hands against the glass, but he couldn¡¯t touch his father inside. He knew, he lost his only relative, the father who had always loved him. Meinan choked a few times, and yelled from the bottom of his heart, ¡°Papa!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I seemed to have heard just now, that you¡¯re getting married?¡± Qiusi suddenly opened his eyes, and looked left and right, ¡°Who is it? Who is my daughter-in-law? Is she pretty? Does she have a good body? Is her butt big enough? She has to have a big butt in order to give birth to¡­¡±


    Bang!


    Meinan¡¯s forehead suddenly rammed into the glass, and his eyes stared at Qiusi, who blinked as though he was innocent. However, while he was doing, he began to cough again. Seeing this, Meinan¡¯s eyebrows knitted again.


    At this time, Barbalis finally brought Blood Wolf back. No one knew where Barbalis had dug Blood Wolf out of, because his Knight uniform didn¡¯t even look like a uniform anymore, but instead, a rag that was put onto his body with ropes.


    * * *


    Blood Wolf, who was dragged here by Barbalis without so much as a ¡°hi¡±, looked at Qiusi inside the liquid chamber. He scratched his head then greeted, ¡°Hello, Qiusi, how did you end up like this? I can¡¯t believe someone broke through your ¡°shell¡±! That can¡¯t be? Your turtle shell is the strongest thing I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    Qiusi smiled bitterly, but he couldn¡¯t say his ¡°shell¡± was not destroyed from the outside, but instead he was attacked from within.


    ¡°Heal my father quickly!¡± Meinan was too anxious to care about courtesy, so he yelled directly.


    Being commanded by a youngster, Blood Wolf didn¡¯t seem to care; he shrugged and replied, ¡°Whatever, but at least you have to tell me what the situation is, right? Though the Knight uniform I¡¯m wearing is broken beyond recognition, I don¡¯t even remember where my Knight badge is, and everyone says I don¡¯t look like a Knight¡­ but even if so, you can¡¯t possibly assume I¡¯m a healer, right? Why would you look for me to heal him?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Commander¡­¡±


    Meinan hurriedly pulled open the doors, and saw others waiting outside as they were before, including Feir, who had arrived later. He quickly asked the Red Commander to explain the situation to Blood Wolf. The Red Commander nodded, and then repeated everything she had said before to Blood Wolf. Truth was, because Blood Wolf was a Knight after all, when the Red Commander mentioned the Ki damaging Qiusi from within his body, he had already understood everything.


    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s the most troublesome wounds.¡± Blood Wolf knew things would be difficult, and he said straightforwardly, ¡°Hey! Who attacked you? If it were the Dragon Emperor, how much of your funeral money do I have to pay?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Can¡¯t you be a bit more subtle?¡± Qiusi didn¡¯t know how to react; he¡¯d never thought someone would ask a dead man how much of his funeral one should pay.


    ¡°Who cares about subtlety?! Do you really think you have a lot of time to waste on talking? Tell me quickly, who did it?¡± Blood Wolf snapped.


    Qiusi couldn¡¯t say anything, and then he glared at Barbalis; couldn¡¯t he have told Blood Wolf on the way? How could Qiusi possibly say it now?


    ¡°It was probably Liola who did it.¡± Daylight said as a matter-of-fact.


    As soon as this came out, everyone froze: Qiusi and Barbalis¡¯ mouths both became O¡¯s; Kaiser paused briefly, then murmured, ¡°So that¡¯s who it was, no wonder no one was willing to say anything¡±; Purity had disbelief all over her face; the most important person, Meinan, had his mind completely blank upon hearing this, and he didn¡¯t know how to react.


    Sure enough, Purity¡¯s voice raised a whole octave to emphasize her doubt, ¡°How could it be Liola-dage? He would never do something like this!¡±


    ¡°However, this Ki indeed feels like Liola¡¯s.¡± Daylight was simply speaking his observations honestly, and he didn¡¯t feel a single bit like he was accusing Liola for injuring Qiusi.


    ¡°Liola?¡± Blood Wolf paused, and then frowned, while murmuring, ¡°Crap, now we really will have a funeral¡­¡± He didn¡¯t seem to notice he was rubbing salt into the wound.


    Hearing what Blood Wolf said, Meinan didn¡¯t have time to care who injured his father, and asked quickly, ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re not weaker than Liola, right? Why don¡¯t you save my father?!¡±


    Blood Wolf frowned and answered, ¡°Whether I¡¯m stronger than Liola, I don¡¯t know, but sending aura into others¡¯ body to damage is a move very few Knights actually know. Those who do not know this move could not possibly drive out the aura; after all, it¡¯s harder to drive it out than to put it in.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know it?¡± Barbalis¡¯ face turned pale.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know it.¡± Blood Wolf admitted openly, and explained, ¡°This move isn¡¯t exactly easy to learn. And by the way, even Lancelot doesn¡¯t know it. He thought this move was too evil, so he wasn¡¯t willing to learn it. I do know of one Knight who knows this move, but his strength is far below Liola¡¯s, so he can¡¯t drive out the aura in Qiusi¡¯s body either.¡±


    Everyone went silent. Neither the Dark Knight nor the Paladin knew of it, this was practically giving Qiusi a death sentence. After all, Liola¡¯s strength was at rank-X. If these two rank-X Knights couldn¡¯t help, their only other choice left would be the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just look for Liola? He was the one who sent in the aura, so he must be able to drive out.¡± Daylight said this simplest answer.


    ¡°Liola is under control, he wouldn¡¯t help us.¡± Kaiser frowned. If he could even kill Qiusi, the level which Liola was controlled was far more than they had imagined. They would not be able to release this control anytime soon.


    ¡°Liola will recover.¡± Daylight believed it as such.


    ¡°But my father doesn¡¯t have the time to wait!¡±


    Meinan suddenly yelled loudly, and it echoed through the entire room. After that, the room was filled with silence, and awkwardness was on everyone¡¯s faces. Kaiser was trying his hardest to hint with his eyes towards Daylight to not provoke Meinan anymore, but Daylight had no idea why Kaiser was blinking his eyes so much, as if his eyelids were having a seizure.


    Daylight then nodded, and explained, ¡°Right, we don¡¯t have much time. With my estimates, my master¡­ Ah! My master in the other world, he taught me acupuncture¡­ a move that, with my current strength, could suppress 60% of the aura within Prime Minister¡¯s body. Plus, there is another acupuncture point that would lower his bodily function to its lowest, where he¡¯s practically in a fake death, and it would be enough to keep the Prime Minister alive for a year or so.¡±


    Having said this, Daylight looked a bit worried. He said, ¡°It means we have to restore Liola to his old self within a year; otherwise, I¡¯d have to use all of my power to maintain the Prime Minister¡¯s life, and even then it will only last another half a year or so.¡±


    Daylight tried to think desperately, trying to remember any other way his master had taught him that would extend the Prime Minister life. He didn¡¯t notice that, after listening to what he said, everyone¡¯s faces looked surprised, and then gradually were filled with a light of hope; finally, they were all emotional and happy.


    A year! Originally they thought Qiusi could not even live past tonight.


    ¡°My father can last a year?¡± Meinan hurriedly to confirm this, but truthfully, he knew Daylight too well: he knew Daylight would honestly say what he was confident of, and he would not alter it one bit. Since he said a year, then it must mean a year. Meinan¡¯s excitement simply wanted to hear it once again.


    ¡°Mhm, a year. But if I use all my power, then a year and a half.¡± Daylight explained in detail.


    ¡°A year is enough! Enough! We can definitely restore Liola within a year.¡±


    Meinan was emotional beyond belief. At first he held Daylight by his shoulders, and thanked him endlessly, which made Daylight feel very awkward. And then he ran towards the glass, and said hurriedly, ¡°Papa, papa, did you hear? Don¡¯t worry, my companions and I will definitely save you.¡±


    Qiusi smiled. He believed in his son, and the companions he had chosen.

 Volume 10, 7: The Crowd’s Standpoint

    Volume 10, Chapter 7: The Crowd¡¯s Standpoint


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Exhales, this should be fine.¡±


    Qiusi was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. Though his chest rise and fall once only in a long while, and his breathing was so subtle that it was hard to notice, but his life signs maintained steady, nor did he cough out any more blood.


    After observing for three hours, Daylight fell to the ground in exhaustion. He continuously used two difficult methods of acupuncture: suppressing the aura and faking death. Since he rarely used acupuncture, Daylight had already exhausted himself, but to ensure no accident would happen in the following year, he forced himself to observe Qiusi for three hours. Fortunately, everything went very successfully, despite him never having used such methods before.


    Hearing Daylight¡¯s words, Meinan was completely certain his father wouldn¡¯t be dying in the next year. He could finally relax a little, but what replaced his worries, was now what his father had entrusted in him. Meinan understood that, in the days to follow, he would be quite busy. If it were possible, he would very much hope to obtain Kaiser¡¯s help: he was very confident in Kaiser¡¯s ability in coming up with plans.


    Meinan paced around in the room. The Red Commander had already left due to official business, so everyone present on his side. Since everyone was there, Meinan decided to make some announcements and have a discussion.


    ¡°I want to have a talk with you all.¡±


    As soon as he spoke, everyone¡¯s attention was on him. Seeing this, Meinan began to talk about the secret strength Qiusi had hidden. When he talked about Barbalis, everyone¡¯s jaws dropped, with a ¡°That can¡¯t be?!¡± look on all their faces. Everyone looked around, but Barbalis had already hid himself.


    ¡°This damn geezer actually knows how to be shy, ugh, disgusting.¡± Kaiser laughed as he acted as though he was vomiting. He knew there was no way Barbalis could¡¯ve left when Meinan was about to say something important, so he was probably shy and used stealth.


    Meinan continued without hiding anything, including Qiusi entrusting to be the commander in the dark. He believed his companions wouldn¡¯t betray him, so there was no need to hide anything.


    After having said everything, Meinan paused for a moment, to let everything he had said sink in.


    ¡°So the Dragon Emperor really isn¡¯t a good person.¡±


    ¡°Duh, what kind of idiot would still think the Dragon Emperor is a good person by now?¡±


    Kaiser turned his head and snapped, but then immediately shut up, because the person who spoke was not a member of the Aklan Troublemaking Squad nor their principal, nor the Blood Wolf who acted all ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything¡±; it was the person whom Purity dragged here, and then quietly stood still, to the point where everyone had forgotten his existence ¡ª Purity¡¯s brother, Knight Feir.


    Feir saw the rigid atmosphere, and he finally understood nobody noticed him until now. He smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, I didn¡¯t think you guys would be talking about such important secrets, a-and no one made me leave, so I thought I could stay to listen. I¡¯ll leave now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, my brother is one of us.¡± Purity stubbornly grabbed a hold of her brother, and forced him to stay.


    ¡°He is a Knight, how could you guarantee he¡¯s one of us? And it¡¯s too late for you to leave; you¡¯ve almost heard all of it!¡± Kaiser explained straightforwardly, then impolitely asked, ¡°Feir, tell us yourself. Which side are you on?¡±


    ¡°Runt, I remember you were quite close with a number of Knights on the Dragon Continent.¡± Blood Wolf seemed to have carelessly mentioned, and then turned around to pretend to look around.


    Purity¡¯s face suddenly went pale. She tugged her brother¡¯s arm, and asked, ¡°Brother?¡±


    Feir was silent for a bit, then he said slowly, ¡°I can only ask you to trust me. I am a part of the Commerce Alliance, and even though I am a Knight, I am a Knight belonging to the Commerce Alliance. As for my acquaintances with many Dragon Continent Knights, there is a special reason, but before I secure their approval, I cannot tell you the reason.¡±


    ¡°Trust¡­ nowadays how much is ¡®trust¡¯ worth?¡± Kaiser murmured, and his dissatisfaction was obvious, ¡°I trusted Liola¡¯s words that he¡¯ll be back, but now he¡¯s now a puppet successor. However, what could we do to you other than trust you? It¡¯s not like we could do anything to you while we¡¯re on your parent¡¯s territory.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there are no other promises I could give you. Then I¡¯ll leave now, so I won¡¯t prevent your future conversation.¡± Feir stood up, courteously performed a Knight salute, and turned to leave.


    Purity seemed unhappy. She turned angrily, ignoring Kaiser. The latter knew his words were indeed hurting, but he would never take it back; one could say he purposely made Feir leave. After all, they didn¡¯t know Feir very well, and letting him hear all that was already dangerous enough, particularly to Meinan, Barbalis, and Gladiolus.


    ¡°Hey! Dragon Continent Knight, which side are you on?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes now moved to Blood Wolf, who had been pretending to be invisible, then asked bluntly.


    ¡°Who?¡± Blood Wolf acted all innocent. After seeing everyone looking at him, he stood up, and stretched, ¡°I should probably get back now. If Cappuccino can¡¯t find a drinking buddy for a long time, he might fire me.¡±


    Kaiser raised his eyebrows, and snapped, ¡°Are you pretending to be dead? Do you want a taste of my grandfather¡¯s new magic?¡±


    Though Kaiser acted rather impolitely, but Meinan was only quietly looking as the situation unfolded. He did indeed need to understand Blood Wolf, and where the Dark Knight¡¯s attitude stood. He knew Kaiser was asking on his behalf, and Meinan actually secretly felt thankful.


    Blood Wolf sighed, and even Barbalis didn¡¯t say anything to stop Kaiser. Seeing he had to answer, Blood Wolf shrugged, ¡°My boss is Cappuccino, so whatever he wants is what I do. I¡¯m just a subordinate; I don¡¯t have the right to choose.¡±


    ¡°Yes, then what exactly does Cappuccino wants to do?¡± Kaiser took the opportunity to keep asking. If they could find out Cappuccino¡¯s attitude, that would be even better.


    ¡°Him?¡± Blood Wolf scratched his face, and instead threw a question at Meinan, ¡°If one day, your father wanted to conquer the world and it wasn¡¯t even his choice to do so, and a bunch of people wanted to see your father dead, what would you do?¡±


    Meinan froze, and he could not answer.


    Blood Wolf explained leisurely, ¡°To me, there¡¯s only what I like and don¡¯t like, and there¡¯s not a difference between righteous and evil. I help you because I like you runts, I help Cappuccino and Lancelot because I like those two, but all in all, I am closer to Cappuccino and Lancelot than you. If one day you are up against them on a battlefield, I will be standing with the side I¡¯m closer with. How¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Other than a formal confrontation, everything else doesn¡¯t concern me.¡± Blood Wolf said as a matter of fact, ¡°Also, everything you¡¯ve just said, I didn¡¯t hear any of it. If it gets out, it had nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡± Kaiser pouted, but he understood Blood Wolf¡¯s standpoint. Even though Kaiser could not convert Blood Wolf to be on their side, but simply because Blood Wolf mentioned Feir¡¯s acquaintance with Dragon Continent Knights and his promise to not tell anything were already plenty of help to them.


    ¡°How is Liola anyway?¡± Kaiser asked hesitantly.


    ¡°Not well. He was already in a bad shape, and when Cappuccino¡¯s Little Fireball was gossiping with Blackie, I heard that he had gotten worse.¡± Blood Wolf scratched his face, because he couldn¡¯t imagine what being worse could mean. Could there be any situation worse than a living freezer?


    ¡°Is it because he hurt Qiusi?¡± Meinan asked.


    Blood Wolf shrugged. The news of Qiusi¡¯s injury had not been spread yet, and Cappuccino didn¡¯t know at all, therefore he had no idea if it caused Liola¡¯s condition worsening.


    ¡°I heard Baolilong suddenly grew up, and it looked quite beautiful, or so my little perverted Blackie said. Blackie was itching when it saw the images Little Fireball sent over, almost to the point of wanting a wolf-Dragon love, but the difference in body size was too big¡­¡± Blood Wolf remembered the news that made him sweat: his Blackie would want to flirt with a genderless Dragon; he didn¡¯t know where it learnt it from.


    ¡°Baolilong grew up? I want to see!¡± Purity yelled in surprise.


    ¡°What exactly does being worse mean?¡± Kaiser pouted. Mizerui¡¯s last report was scary enough, and how exactly would it be now?


    ¡°How would I know, ah¡­ I¡¯ll just go back and see now. I¡¯m quite curious myself.¡± Blood Wolf murmured.


    ¡®Yes! Let¡¯s go back and see the beautiful white Dragon.¡¯


    ¡®Shut up! You damn pervert. I warn you, touching a minor Dragon is a felony. Besides, its master is scary. If you get fried into ¡°Fried Wolf¡±, it¡¯s none of my business!¡¯


    ¡°Can you bring me a message to Liola?¡± Meinan suddenly said.


    ¡°Well¡­ say it, but I might not be able to deliver it.¡± Blood Wolf said casually.


    Meinan was silent for a while, took a deep breath, and said, ¡°You tell him, I don¡¯t blame him, nobody does. Tell him we¡¯re all waiting for his return.¡±


    Blood Wolf¡¯s leisure look suddenly disappeared, and he looked deeply in Meinan¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°I swear to Darkness, I promise to deliver ¡®you don¡¯t blame him¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Meinan nodded.


    ¡°Blackie! Let¡¯s go find Cappuccino and Little Fireball.¡± Blood Wolf summoned a giant black wolf, and jumped out of the balcony. With sound of many Mecha Fighters¡¯ yelling in surprise, he disappeared from the horizon.


    ¡°If that message could wake Liola, it would be great.¡± Seeing Blood Wolf leave, Kaiser murmured, but he didn¡¯t hold much hope for it.


    Meinan also did not count on it being successful. As such, the tasks his father entrusted him must still be done. He yelled towards the air, ¡°Barbalis, I want to know your thoughts. Would you and Gladiolus be willing to have me as your behind-the-scenes commander?¡±


    Barbalis slowly appeared, and his attitude was serious for once. He nodded, ¡°Of course, I watched you grow up, and I know how much you are like Qiusi. As for Gladiolus, you don¡¯t need to worry: your father had predicted this and he told Gladiolus from the start, both Qiusi and you are his boss.¡±


    Since there was no more problems with Barbalis, Meinan took a deep breath, then turned towards his companions. His heart was even more worried than when he asked Barbalis. After all, his father didn¡¯t even say a thing to Barbalis about Meinan, which meant his father, had already known they would not oppose Meinan as the commander. However, his companions were different, because they had no obligations to help him.


    Meinan earnestly opened his mouth to say to his companions, ¡°My situation is very dangerous. Being with me is very dangerous, and helping me is even more so.¡±


    ¡°Do you need my help?¡± Daylight asked directly.


    Meinan was a bit hesitant. He knew, in an all-out war like this, a person was not going to make much of a difference. Should he really drag his companion down like this? Facing the unknown danger, Meinan really wanted his companions by him. After all, he was just a young adult in his early twenties. Having suddenly shouldered such responsibilities, it would be a lie to say he wasn¡¯t scared or nervous.


    ¡°Mm, if there are Knights in the Dark Street, I could use my master¡¯s training method to train them. Yes¡­ after teaching them, I could go find Liola, and hopefully find a way to bring him back to save the Prime Minister.¡± Daylight, instead, was thinking about what he could do to help.


    Kaiser continued after, ¡°No matter how good Aklan School of Magic, it would definitely not as insane as my grandfather Gle. Roar! He has quite a destructive tendency, and the goal in his life was to find a magic circle that would be enough to destroy the world¡­ ugh! I guess the Dragon Emperor was right in a sense. Though he never succeeded, he did find quite a number of large scale destructive magic. Though no one could be as crazy as him, making magic circles by gesturing with his hand, but with enough people cooperating, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Kaiser added, and angrily added, ¡°As for that troublesome idiot Liola, if I have time I¡¯ll go save him.¡±


    ¡°You guys¡­¡± Warmth surged up in Meinan¡¯s heart, and even his eyes felt damp.


    ¡°Ah¡­ You don¡¯t have Mecha Fighters, so what should Purity do?¡± Purity¡¯s face sank. She suddenly noticed she didn¡¯t seem to have any uses.


    ¡°No! Purity, your mission is even more important.¡± Meinan said solemnly, ¡°I need you to communicate with your mother first, and try to tell her the truth about the Dragon Emperor and his desire to conquer the world. Only with the support of the Commerce Alliance could we emerge from this war as victorious.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Purity earnestly nodded.


    ¡°Now, all three Commanders should¡¯ve known about my father, but they may not announce it immediately, to prevent panic in the Alliance.¡± Meinan thought about it carefully, and said decidedly, ¡°Nevertheless, we are going to spread the news of Qiusi falling.¡±


    Kaiser nodded, agreeing, ¡°Although this would cause panic in Aklan, the people will know sooner or later. It would be better to announce it early, and the Commerce Alliance could then make up their mind to face against Miluo.¡±


    ¡°What is the actual strength of the Dark Street and Aklan School of Magic?¡± Meinan asked with a frown.


    Barbalis answered, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about Dark Street, but School of Magic has more than 2,400 Magicians, real Magicians, plus more than 900 Sorcerers with special abilities. All their abilities have been screened; some of them are even fortune tellers.¡±


    ¡°Fortune tellers?¡± Meinan was a bit hesitant, ¡°I heard the Eldest Prince, Mocha, is also a fortune teller.¡±


    Barbalis nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right, and his ability to do so is downright scary. Rumors say he could foretell every details of the future, and it¡¯s something our fortune tellers can¡¯t even come close. Mizerui can attest to this fact himself.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that terrible?¡± Kaiser frowned, ¡°What if he foretells our ambushes, isn¡¯t it all over?¡±


    ¡°Mocha¡¯s attitude is uncertain at the moment. I think his reasoning is somewhat similar to Blood Wolf. What is certain, however, is the Eldest Prince doesn¡¯t seem to care about the outcome of this war. As long as¡­ it doesn¡¯t affect the Dragon Emperor¡¯s life, he usually wouldn¡¯t say anything about the future.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser¡¯s face darkened, and said with a bitter laugh, ¡°Crap, I wanted to say the way to reduce casualty was to kill the bastard Dragon Emperor in one shot.¡±


    ¡°I think so, too.¡± Barbalis agreed naturally.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say Liola-dage would kill the Dragon Emperor?¡± Purity suddenly remembered the Eldest Prince¡¯s prediction. She asked skeptically, ¡°If Liola-dage would kill the Dragon Emperor, then why wouldn¡¯t the Eldest Prince interfere?¡±


    Hearing Purity¡¯s question, everyone went silent. Without knowing what the fortune teller¡¯s thoughts, everyone couldn¡¯t possibly guess why.


    ¡°But if it were Purity, she must be very sad. Brother would kill her father, then what is she to do? She can¡¯t just kill brother either.¡± Purity lowered her head as if she were in pain, almost to the point of tears.


    ¡°If Mocha doesn¡¯t want to kill his own brother, what is he going to do to prevent Liola from killing the Dragon Emperor?¡± Kaiser suddenly asked strangely.


    Daylight answered naturally, ¡°If it were me, I would think of a way to make my brother stay as far away from my father as possible. If they never see each other, they could never kill one another.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ we will have an uncanny ally, and this ally may have some very unique purpose.¡± Kaiser suddenly smiled mysteriously.


    * * *


    Meinan had always thought he was the luckiest. His father had always had to struggle on his own on the seat of command, but at least Meinan had Kaiser¡¯s help. Because as such, Meinan didn¡¯t collapse the moment he suddenly shouldered so many things.


    The first news to be released was about Qiusi¡¯s serious injury and the subsequent coma. The world immediately turned upside down. The citizens of Aklan Republic who retreated now sank into a complete despair. Though Meinan did not want his citizens to be afraid, but he had no other choice. This allowed him understand how Qiusi had always faced dilemmas when he had been in office.


    Then, they thought of ways to avoid the Dragon Emperor, so he would think Meinan wasn¡¯t a threat at all. This was relatively simple: he asked Daylight pretend his acupuncture failed, and Qiusi resulted in a coma. Since Qiusi was indeed in a coma, even the Maxun could not determine why, so the Red Commander did believe their story.


    Meinan then acted like a person who lost all ambition due to the loss of his father. This was a serious test to the cleanliness, and beauty-loving Meinan, because no one who lost their ambitions would still keep clean and orderly. Therefore, Kaiser had the strictest of rules for Meinan: he could only bath once per week, change clothes every three days. He was also not allowed to put on fragrance nor comb his hair!


    Meinan was in so much pain that he thought it would be better to go to Dragon Continent and kidnap Liola back to wake Qiusi.


    ¡®Bathroom, my bathroom¡­¡® It had only been a day since Meinan stopped showering, but his body was already itching, and he couldn¡¯t stand his own stink. He fell to the ground powerlessly and crawled towards the bathroom.


    ¡°I already locked it up, and Daylight has the key. I told him he can only give you the key once a week, and only ten minutes each time.¡± Kaiser explained, and mercilessly added, ¡°You know Daylight is as stubborn as a rock, so he will definitely remember my request.¡±


    ¡°NOO!¡± Meinan yelled in pain while covering his face. This ¡°no¡± echoed in the room three times before it dissipated, and his pain was easy to see.


    ¡®Comb, where¡¯s my comb? My hair has hundreds of knots now.¡¯


    ¡°Hmm? I told Barbalis to take that to Auntie. Oh right, and I also gave her your mirror with a pink butterfly.¡±


    ¡®What! My favorite pink butterfly mirror? My god, I was going to pass that down to my son, then my son¡¯s son, then my son¡¯s, son¡¯s son, as a family heirloom!¡¯


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you at least consider giving it to a daughter?¡±


    ¡®No, this is just too stinky. It¡¯s the third day, and I wouldn¡¯t dare to take off the tissue rolled up in my nostrils, because I might die from the stink. Let¡¯s use a bit of perfume to cover it. Where is my musky perfume?¡¯


    [T/N while in English, ¡°cologne¡± would make more sense than ¡°perfume¡±, but given the fact that Meinan was often seen as girly and he calls it ¡®strawberry¡¯ perfume in a minute, it might make more sense this way.]


    ¡°Musky?¡± Kaiser lowered his head and smelled himself, ¡°Are you talking about the one I sprayed on myself?¡±


    ¡°No, my god! The one you sprayed was my favorite strawberry perfume. It¡¯s a discontinued version, and I only have one bottle of it. I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to use it usually, you, you, how much did you use?!¡±


    ¡°A drop¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°¡­Not even a drop left.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Did I put on too much? No wonder everything I ate lately tasted like strawberries.¡±


    ¡°Duh! Is there anyone who would use a whole bottle of perfume all at once?! My poor strawberry perfume! Sigh, forget it; what¡¯s done is done¡­ Then I want to change clothes. It¡¯s been three days. I can at least put on some new clothes, right?¡±


    ¡°Uh? Yeah you can.¡± Kaiser scratched his face, ¡°But I have to think, where I hid your clothes. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll find it within a week.¡±


    A week later¡­


    ¡°I finally remembered where your clothes were.¡± Kaiser said seriously, ¡°Did you know? Because you had too much clothes, I had no idea where to put it. Finally, I found a mysterious, bottomless hole on the wall. Then I threw all the clothes in, and it didn¡¯t even get full at all.¡±


    ¡°A bottomless hole?¡±


    ¡°This is the hole. Look, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure you can find it if you crawl in.¡± Kaiser gestured at a square trapdoor.


    ¡°I-Isn¡¯t that the trash hole?¡±


    Kaiser asked after a brief moment of silence, ¡°How often do they usually collect garbage?¡±


    Purity walked by, and she happily provided the answer, ¡°We don¡¯t have to collect garbage here at the Commerce Alliance. This is connected to the incinerator, so whatever you throw in is turned into ashes in a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, you know, these past few days, I am very thankful for your help. Come! Let me give you the longest and tightest of hugs to express my gratitude!¡±


    ¡°Damn! You smell like poop, stay away from me! My god, murderer! Someone is trying to kill me with a poison gas¡­¡±


    * * *


    As for the Commerce Alliance, though Purity did seriously wanted to finish her mission, and she did tell the truth to her mother, but since all the Commanders had been extremely busy, the Red Commander simply disregarded her daughter¡¯s words, even after hearing it again and again. She treated the words as her daughter¡¯s school life, and anything that didn¡¯t sound reasonable, she thought of it as her daughter¡¯s daydreaming¡­ Unfortunately, due to the amount of daydreams Purity had, the Red Commander didn¡¯t think any of it was true.


    Nevertheless, it was difficult to let the Commerce Alliance know the truth, and same was true for the alliance between the two. There also wasn¡¯t anyone from Aklan important enough to discuss the alliance with them. Though Meinan was the Commander, he couldn¡¯t expose himself, or otherwise, he may very well die in the hands of the Dragon Emperor the next day.


    ¡°The strongest, most important person would probably be Barbalis, and we have to send him to discuss an alliance.¡± Kaiser had no choice but suggest this. Meinan knew Barbalis was the best candidate, but his inexperience with politics, when compared with the Yellow Commander, who was the in-charge of taking care of all the politics, would mean he would get ripped off.


    ¡°Throw a communication Maxun in his ear, and you can monitor the situation in the meeting room. You can then command Barbalis during the meeting.¡± Kaiser suggested this as a way for Barbalis to be the representative, and still have a way for Meinan to do the negotiations.


    Meinan nodded; this was the only choice. Nevertheless, his father had once taught him, a successful negotiation depended as much on the tone and posture of the speaker as the content of what it being said. It was even more difficult than acting, because acting was just an act, after all, but negotiation would affect the interests of two nations. Reaching an agreement while both sides were considering of their own country was the most difficult part of the alliance negotiation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this side to you and Purity. Meinan, Daylight and I will each go to the Dark Street and the School of Magic, and we¡¯ll teach the people there ways to increase their strength in a short time.¡± Kaiser scratched his face. He thought it was actually fortunate Gle brought up that duel, because it resulted in them tripling their strength in a short three months.


    Meinan nodded earnestly, then suddenly asked again, ¡°Are you sure the reason you¡¯re going to the School of Magic isn¡¯t because I¡¯m too stinky?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡± Kaiser seriously denied, ¡°How could I leave you because of your decadent style! It¡¯s a symbol for your sacrifice for your country and, the world¡¯s happiness!¡±


    ¡°Really? I am very touched! You truly are my good companion. Come! Let me give you the deepest of hugs!¡±


    ¡°Scram! You rotted poop. If you come any closer, I¡¯m going to have to defend myself with my gun!¡±


    * * *


    Despite the fact that the return to normal temperature moved Cappuccino (¡®If I knew this before, I wouldn¡¯t have dug out my Dragon-skinned coat last night¡¯), but when he looked to the left, the left face was perfect; he looked to the right, the right face was immaculate; he looked up, the posture was elegant; he looked down, the legs were long¡­ Ah! No, but his posture was imposing. No matter how Cappuccino looked, he sensed some unspeakable strangeness.


    ¡°Sovereign brother, is there something strange with my clothes or posture? Why have you been staring at me?¡± Silver Moon looked strangely at Cappuccino.


    Cappuccino was shocked. The brother, who was usually only saying one thing per question, was now actually asking questions today! ¡®My god, could brother be evolving on a day-to-day basis? If this continues, he might actually start joking tomorrow!¡¯


    However, Silver Moon was still earnestly waiting for Cappuccino¡¯s answer. Cappuccino used his ¡°waving hand¡± move, and said casually, ¡°Uh, I was just thinking how awesome your posture is. I¡¯m just taking a few more looks so I could imitate it later.¡±


    ¡°Sovereign brother, flatter me.¡± Silver Moon smiled vaguely.


    ¡°A monkey wearing human clothes is still a monkey.¡± Little Fireball walked coldly behind him.


    Cappuccino coughed loudly, and asked, ¡°Right, congratulations on your Dragon growing up. How come I don¡¯t see it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no suitable clothes for it, so the Tailor is measuring it to make something else.¡± Silver Moon explained.


    ¡°Uh, I heard you changed your name?¡±


    Cappuccino scratched his head, and he had a bad feeling! ¡®Brother isn¡¯t called something like¡­ Caramel Macchiato, right? A name like that would be too complicated, and it would fit better for a girl. Blue Mountain would be better; it¡¯s simple and concise!¡¯


    Silver Moon nodded, ¡°Correct. Sovereign brother, please call me ¡®Silver Moon¡¯ from now on.¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon.¡± Cappuccino frowned. All right! He admitted this name was better than Blue Mountain, but, despite the beauty of the name, it always gave him the shivers. He suddenly remembered, when Liola was explaining the origin of the title, it was the name of the top Assassin¡­


    Silver Moon suddenly frowned slightly, and looked towards the horizon and said, ¡°It seems that Sovereign Brother¡¯s Direct Knight is back.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Blood Wolf is back? Really, so quickly?¡± Cappuccino couldn¡¯t believe what he said. This morning, he heard someone dragged Blood Wolf off to the Commerce Alliance, and now he¡¯s already back? Did the guy rushed back?


    Cappuccino opened his eyes wide to look at the distance. Sure enough, a giant, black wolf tried to catch its breath as it landed from the air. The wolf¡¯s head was also swerving left and right, as if it was looking for something. The Knight with ragged clothes, who was riding on top of the wolf, fell off from it, head first. He reached out his right hand towards Cappuccino, and said with a tremble in his voice, ¡°Cappuccino¡­¡±


    ¡°Blood Wolf! What happened to you? Who attacked you? Seeing how weak you are, and how battered your clothes are, it must¡¯ve been a strong enemy?¡± Cappuccino asked emotionally.


    ¡°Not an enemy, just a pervert!¡± Blood Wolf angrily yelled, ¡°A pervert who had forgotten its master. It ignored me, and crazily rushed back. Its speed surpassed the limit of what a human body could handle, resulting in my stomach seizuring. The gastric acid flowed upward, which burnt my esophagus, and caused me to vomit acid. It was quite sad, Woooo¡­¡±


    ¡®Basically he got wolf-sick.¡® Little Fireball walked past coldly.


    Cappuccino opened his mouth wide, ¡°Wow! That must be a faster-than-sound speed. The wind almost tore your clothes into rags.¡±


    ¡°Clothes¡­ were because I haven¡¯t changed in three months.¡±


    ¡°Damn! Stay away from me.¡± Cappuccino didn¡¯t forget to add a kick to his own Knight.


    Blood Wolf dodged this kick. He did not seem to notice Liola until now. He immediately stood up, and formally saluted the successor, ¡°New successor, greetings.¡±


    ¡°Long time no see, Sir Blood Wolf. You are still interesting as always.¡± Silver Moon had been watching their interactions with a refrained smile.


    Blood Wolf blinked. He suddenly felt the content of his stomach really coming up his esophagus. He could not believe Liola actually said he was interesting with such a smile¡­ If this was before, shouldn¡¯t he have watched their ¡°show¡± without emotion, and then still couldn¡¯t understand they were just joking?


    ¡°Right, long time no see. I remember when you rejected the offer to be a Prince, but now you¡¯re a successor. You¡¯ve made quite a bit of progress when we haven¡¯t seen each other for a while, and I can¡¯t help but admire you. It¡¯s almost like how much a woman change when she turns 18, or how much a man change¡­¡± Blood Wolf started talking nonsense to keep Liola here, while blinking his eyes in ¡°Morse Code¡± to Cappuccino, trying to find out how much Cappuccino knew.


    Blood Wolf blinked, ¡®Hey! Is his current situation better or worse than before?¡¯


    Cappuccino blinked, ¡®I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s better for the weather; it¡¯s not so cold anymore. But it¡¯s not so great to my stomach. Every time I see him, my stomach hurts.¡¯


    ¡®I think you¡¯ve had too much to drink, and now you have an ulcer in your stomach.¡¯


    Cappuccino blinked, ¡®If I have an ulcer in my stomach, you must have a hole in yours!¡¯


    Blood Wolf then started blinking repeatedly¡­


    Cappuccino frowned and blinked back, ¡®Hey! There is no code with that many blinks in a row, right?¡¯


    Blood Wolf covered his right eye, and said painfully, ¡°That¡¯s because my eyelid is having a seizure!¡±


    Cappuccino blinked, ¡®¡­¡­¡¯


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to blink at me just for dots!¡±


    Silver Moon blinked, ¡®If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll go find my Direct Knight now?¡¯


    ¡°¡­¡± Cappuccino and Blood Wolf nodded awkwardly. They saw him blinked goodbyes, then left.


    Blood Wolf complained loudly, ¡°Look! I told you Morse Code is out of style. Next time we¡¯ll use Martian to communicate. Practice now! N1shi1gzhi1t?¡±


    ¡°Qsi1bn1!¡±


    * * *


    Silver Moon had a smile on his face as he walked to the Knights¡¯ training grounds. The Knights on the way all stared as the successor passed, almost as if they were enjoying the spring breeze passing. Everyone was surprised. Could it be that winter was already here, and spring wasn¡¯t too far away? It was changing quite quickly: it was deep freeze yesterday, and today was already spring? Could it be summer tomorrow, and could the successor be depressed the day after? Every Knight began to worry.


    ¡°Good day, Fourth Prince.¡± A certain Knight, who called in sick yesterday, had not seen the winter, so he warmly greeted the Prince.


    ¡°Good day.¡± Silver Moon nodded with a smile.


    The Knight who had successfully greeted the successor seemed to have set an example for others. The Knights all mustered up their courage, and walked up to greet the Prince. Silver Moon nodded back to each of them. He continued down the road he took while turning the Knights into statues yesterday, but wherever he walked today, little flowers began to bloom on the road.


    Silver Moon walked into the training grounds, and immediately found his Direct Knight, Yizhou. He also saw his twin brother Yiyu. They were in the middle of a duel with another group of Knights. Silver Moon stopped, trying to observe the power of his Direct Knight.


    Their opposing side was a group of two Knights; one Dragon Knight, and the other was a Knight with a giant snake. Their teamwork seemed to be very good: the Dragon Knight flew in the air, and the Snake Knight was on the ground. In comparison, Yiyu and Yizhou was down one mount. Although Yiyu knew levitation, but its capacity could not be compared to a Dragon. So naturally, he stayed on the Water Dragon. The two of them seemed to be helpless against the attacks from both the ground and the air, and they had to keep running away. Even though Yiyu would occasionally use a few magic attacks, they were all dodged.


    It looked like they were at a disadvantage. Since it was rare for a Sorcerer to be present, there were quite a few Knights watching this battle, but none of them seemed to think highly of a group with a Knight and a Sorcerer, so they were all hoping to see them lose. They would occasionally yell things like ¡°Turn back and fight!¡±, ¡°Stop running!¡±, and ¡°Do you want to switch off the Sorcerer?¡±


    Silver Moon, on the other hand, glanced at the situation, and predicted his Knight would win.


    A battle was not always won by the side with the most support. Yizhou¡¯s Water Dragon flew around in the air, but it was not flying in a straight line to escape, nor was it flying up high to avoid the Snake¡¯s ground attack; it was simply barely dodging all the attacks from the Dragon and the Snake. The bystanders yelled in joy, and some of them even praised the Water Dragon Knight¡¯s flying skills.


    Yiyu, on the other hand, was casting while observing the situation. His attack speed and accuracy was horrific. They were easily dodged by the Knights, and causing many observers to boo at him.


    Before the ¡°boo¡± sounds went on for long, a sudden ¡°bang¡± was followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. All the Knights dropped their jaws. Yiyu and Yizhou also stopped, while Yiyu was looking at his ¡°masterpiece¡± with satisfaction ¡ª a giant Snake tied up in a bowtie.


    ¡°I think the bowtie is a bit skewed.¡± Yiyu smiled sinisterly. He held up his hands and formed a frame at the Dragon and Snake, and it made the two Knights grit their teeth.


    One of them jumped up and yelled, ¡°How could you use this kind of method win?! This doesn¡¯t count. How could a Knight use something as low as this?¡±


    Yizhou didn¡¯t respond. This was just his brother¡¯s twisted sense of humor. He, himself, preferred actual fights. Yiyu, on the other hand, wouldn¡¯t back down; he said loudly, ¡°Tsk tsk! You sure are a sore loser for a Silver Knight.¡±


    The Knight grunted loudly, and looked at Yiyu with disgust, ¡°You are just a low Sorcerer, a shameless lowlife, with a useless profession that does nothing but fireworks!¡±


    Yiyu¡¯s eyes were practically flame. As a Sorcerer who possessed quite the strength, the thing he hated most was someone saying a Sorcerer was useless. Holding the staff tightly in his hand, Yiyu decided to teach this Knight a lesson about the power of the so-called useless Sorcerer!


    He began chanting the strongest spell he knew. Yiyu was going to give it his all, even if it meant to kill the Knight before him. So what? Anyone who discriminated Sorcerers deserved to die!


    Yizhou hesitated, and he turned around to look at his brother. Seeing Yiyu¡¯s face, he knew his brother was now in a murderous mood. Nevertheless, with Yiyu¡¯s temperamental nature, this was really not all that uncommon.


    Yizhou frowned. He didn¡¯t know whether he should stop Yiyu. He knew if Yiyu did not vent his anger, he would be in a bad mood for a long time. Therefore, as long as this spell wouldn¡¯t kill a Silver Knight, Yizhou would let his brother do whatever he wants. As long as there was no life in question, he believed he could control everything else as the Direct Knight to the successor.


    ¡®It shouldn¡¯t kill him, right?¡¯ Yizhou observed.


    The Knight grunted coldly, and released his Silver Aura. He seemed to carelessly anticipate Yiyu¡¯s attack, because he did not think Yiyu could break through his own aura.


    Silver Moon, however, did not agree with the Knight. His accurate sense of detecting the strength of others, made him aware that this magic was a piercing one, enough to break through the Silver Knight¡¯s aura and kill him.


    When a ray of black collided with the Silver Aura, the Knight immediately realized something went wrong: his aura quickly collapsed, and he had no other means of defense. Seeing the ray piercing through the aura, and the ray was headed straight to his own chest, the Knight¡¯s eyes were filled with the terror of death.


    Clang! A blood-red aura suddenly enveloped the Knight. After the ray collided with the red aura, it exploded. When the dust collected, the Silver Knight¡¯s shaken face could be seen, but he was not injured.


    Everyone looked towards the person who released the aura, and finally realized the successor had been in the training grounds. Silver Moon walked up to the arena, and calmly said to the Knight, ¡°My Sorcerer wanted to take your life because of your insults, but I blocked it for you. You are not injured, and now you should apologize for your insults.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry, Your Highness¡­¡± The Knight was at a loss.


    ¡°Not to me, but to my Sorcerer whom you insulted.¡±


    The Silver Knight panicked as he saluted Yiyu, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve insulted you. On my Knight¡¯s honor, I promise it won¡¯t happen again. I also express my admiration for you.¡±


    Silver Moon nodded, then beckoned them two, ¡°I have something to tell you two. Follow me.¡±


    They immediately followed, even Yiyu, who always loved to complain, didn¡¯t say a word. He knew the power in his magic. The spell technically wasn¡¯t that strong, because a linear spell usually couldn¡¯t hit its opponent. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Yiyu knew the arrogant Knight wouldn¡¯t even try to dodge, he wouldn¡¯t have used the spell either. The uniqueness of the spell was that, if it landed on its target, its piercing properties were incredible.


    However, the successor managed to stand under the arena and expand his aura onto the arena, and easily blocked his attack. Even though Yizhou knew Silver Moon¡¯s strength better than Yiyu, he had never seen this kind of speed when it came to releasing aura, nor did he ever see the blood-red aura return to Silver Moon. He had only seen it appear out of nowhere then disappear into the thin air.


    A powerful strength had always been the fastest way to impress people.


    ¡°Fourth Prince, what will we be doing?¡± Yizhou asked.


    ¡°Prepare to lead an army to Aklan Continent, to stop the Black Dragon King¡¯s southward invasion.¡±

 Volume 10, 8: When Caffey Was Still Caffey…

    Volume 10, Chapter 8: When Caffey Was Still Caffey¡­


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°You want to challenge me?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor was rather surprised. There was rarely anyone who would challenge him. Before he ascended to the throne, his personality was gentle, and he rarely fought with anyone. After his coronation, nobody would dare to challenge the Dragon Emperor. But now, a woman suddenly wanted to challenge him?


    ¡°Yup, I heard the Dragon Emperor has been undefeated for hundreds of years?¡± The girl¡¯s eyes seemed to be filled with a craze for combat.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled. He had only been on the throne for almost a hundred years, so where could his title of being undefeated for hundreds of years have come from? But, to everyone else, the Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t just one person. The Dragon Emperor¡­ also the King of the Dragon Continent, was an undefeatable symbol for the leader of all Knights.


    ¡°So, are we going to have a duel or not?¡± The girl asked impolitely.


    ¡°A Knight challenger must first provide the name and rank.¡±


    ¡°My name is Susanna, and healers don¡¯t have ranks.¡± Susanna casually announced her name.


    Getting challenged by a healer? The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t know how to react. Though within the Dragon Continent, there were some who would secretly call him the most useless Dragon Emperor in history, but getting challenged by a healer was still ridiculous.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Another big boy rushed hurriedly over and yelled loudly, ¡°I¡¯m Gle, Magician, and I want to challenge you, too!¡±


    Yet another challenger? The Dragon Emperor thought the situation was getting interesting, especially when the Royal Knights at his side were so angry that their faces turned purple. Had the Dragon Emperor not have stopped them, they might have already chopped the two into pieces.


    ¡°Well, fine, I am Caffey. My rank¡­ I guess Dragon Emperor.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor unexpectedly chose to battle. It was widely known that combat was something he avoided whenever he could. Compared to fighting, he¡¯d rather swing the sword around like a beautiful dance. He performed a Knight salute, then unsheathed his thin sword, while smiling vaguely at the two youngsters.


    Though the fact that the Dragon Emperor had accepted this challenge made all his Knights drop their jaws, but since it was the will of the Dragon Emperor, they had no choice but to obey and back off to give them room for the fight.


    Susanna turned around and impolitely said to Gle, ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t want to bully him in a 2v1. I challenged him first, so you have to let me fight him first.¡±


    Gle shrugged. He did somewhat follow the rule of ¡°first come first served¡±, especially when it was the crazy woman, Susanna, who arrived first. If he didn¡¯t let her go first, they might end up fighting each other first.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming, Caffey.¡± Susanna¡¯s interest in the battle had peaked, and she no longer wanted to wait a single moment. As soon as she finished, she charged immediately, regardless whether her opponent was ready.


    ¡®She called me Caffey¡­¡® The Dragon Emperor blinked. ¡®How many years had it been?¡¯ Other than Bairui, Miluo, and his own eldest son, no one had ever called him by his name. When this girl called him Caffey, he suddenly remembered, right, his name was indeed Caffey, so why did he always refer to himself as the Dragon Emperor?


    ¡°Why are you frozen?!¡±


    Susanna¡¯s fist arrived before her voice. When Caffey heard the word ¡°frozen¡±, the fist already collided with his face. He didn¡¯t remember he was in a fight until now.


    ¡®Sigh, looks like my condition to stop and ponder hasn¡¯t improved. Crap! I didn¡¯t even use my aura? This punch is gonna hurt.¡¯


    ¡°Wow, damn!¡± Gle widened his eyes, ¡°Susanna, you beat the Dragon Emperor into the ground in one punch. What¡¯s the point of the rest of the fight?¡±


    Without the protection of his aura, Caffey¡¯s body was likely less strong compared to Susanna, especially when his face clashed against her fist. It would¡¯ve been strange if he didn¡¯t fall. Caffey felt like he could see stars, and his cheek hurt so much that it felt like he had been disfigured.


    Susanna carefully observed at Caffey lying on the ground: though his elegant face was now half bruised, he seemed to have looked even more pitiful? This could easily ignite a woman¡¯s desire for caring and protection! No! She had to hit him harder so he would puff up like a steamed bun, and she could save her fellow females.


    Caffey had just finished looking at the stars. When he turned, a large fist appeared right in front of his face. Caffey¡¯s first reaction was actually thinking, ¡®Was she¡­ always targeting my face?¡¯


    As if to confirm Caffey¡¯s hypothesis, Susanna landed all her punches in his face. Her punches were so fast that the Knights on the side were watching as though they had forgotten the person who was getting a beat on was their own Emperor. They stared blankly at the crazy woman, swinging mercilessly as though she was beating on her cheating husband.


    ¡°Susanna¡¯s fists are merciless to faces. Sigh, pitiful.¡± Gle shook his head and sighed, though he thought it was strange for the Dragon Emperor to not use his aura to defend, nor did he fight back. Could he really be that confident?


    ¡°Whew! This will definitely leave him disfigured.¡± Susanna punched to the point where she had to try and catch her breath. She was confident her punches were enough to disfigure a man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Miserable! Really miserable!¡± Gle couldn¡¯t bear the sight and turned his head. This was the elegant Dragon Emperor just moments ago, but now it was a medicine-flavored steam bun. It was puffy and purple, and hard to look at.


    Susanna looked. She thought it was her best masterpiece in her history of disfigurement; never had there been another person whose disfigurement was as thorough as this. She couldn¡¯t help but put her hands on her hips and laughed into the sky. She finally helped her female sisters relieve yet another problem!


    At this time, Caffey¡¯s right palm lightly covered his face. After a faint purple light, he removed his hand, and an elegant yet handsome face appeared again. He could now finally open his mouth to speak; before, his mouth was swelling from the punching, and he couldn¡¯t speak at all. Caffey asked with confusion, ¡°Why would you only aim for the face? It¡¯s not a vital organ.¡±


    ¡°Because it is my honor to disfigure handso¡ª ¡­ wait! How did your face return to normal?¡± Susanna fell to her knees. She grabbed Caffey¡¯s face and looked left and right, but not a single trace of bruise could be found. Her masterpiece was now completely gone, and she felt deeply disappointed.


    ¡°I healed it with healing magic.¡± As for Susanna holding his face, Caffey simply blinked without saying anything.


    ¡°Healing magic? Why would a Knight use healing magic? Do you even know what a Knight is? A Knight is what charges into the frontlines as meat shields! And I also despise people who steal my jobs!¡± Susanna gritted her teeth. She wanted to beat on him again, but she knew this man¡¯s healing magic was far too powerful. She couldn¡¯t believe he healed his wounds in the blink of an eye, and his healing magic may very well have surpassed hers, the actual healer¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Caffey apologized. He wasn¡¯t aware he had robbed someone else of their job. True, as a Knight, it was unfitting of him to learn those healing, sealing, and hypnosis magic. ¡®Sigh! I really shouldn¡¯t have.¡¯


    ¡°Hey, Caffey, do you want me to disfigure your or not?¡± Susanna complained, ¡°If you heal after I beat you, isn¡¯t that just a waste of my effort? And I would never be able to disfigure you. You are a man, why do care about your appearance? Does it really matter if you let me disfigure you?¡±


    ¡°Uh?¡± Caffey paused, ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. But even if I don¡¯t heal it, won¡¯t it still heal itself over time?¡±


    ¡°Then what do you think if I cut it with a knife?¡± Susanna earnestly tried to think of another plan.


    Caffey thought about it seriously, about whether this method of disfigurement would work. However, after thinking about it for a while, he explained, ¡°Then it would last a bit longer, but it would still heal itself eventually. I am a Holy Knight, and my body can already heal itself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s troublesome. So what can I do to destroy your face?¡± Susanna actually asked the person receiving the disfigurement, on how she could do it; it was practically identical to asking a pig how it could be cooked into a meal.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Caffey actually gave this some thought. He was frustrated that, despite his Kung Fu being so-so, his healing magic was practically unparalleled, and his self-healing powers were strong as a result. No matter how much he thought, he could not think of a way to permanently disfigure him. He was now regretting learning healing magic too seriously, resulting to the current situation.


    Finally, Caffey shook his head in depression and said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t find a way. Perhaps you can tell me what you¡¯re trying to do by disfiguring me, then perhaps I could help you find another plan.¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t use your face to philandering around, causing women heartaches!¡± Susanna said righteously.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Caffey tilted his head and thought, ¡°Well, I think you could marry me, then you could manage how I live, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to seduce any women with this face. What do you think of that?¡±


    ¡°I see? But I¡¯m still a student, so I can¡¯t go with you to the Dragon Continent! Even if I marry you, when I¡¯m not next you, you would still have affairs!¡± Susanna was a bit frustrated. It would be years before she could graduate, and he could potential harm hundreds of hearts in the few years!¡±


    ¡°Hmm! Fine, then before you graduate, I¡¯ll stay here with you.¡± Caffey stated this compromise.


    The Royal Knights screamed on the top of their lungs, ¡°My God! Someone contact Eldest Prince now! Dragon Emperor¡¯s ¡®Intermittent Idiot Syndrome¡¯ is having an attack again!¡±


    ¡°What, did you just do something stupid?¡± Susanna turned her head and asked with confusion.


    ¡°Did I?¡± Caffey thought briefly, and then suddenly clapped his hands together, ¡°I know, it must be because I stood still while you beat me up, and I even forgot to release my aura to block it.¡±


    ¡°I see. That was indeed stupid. Don¡¯t forget to release your aura next time; you are a Knight after all.¡± Susanna nodded.


    ¡°I know. I won¡¯t forget it again.¡± Caffey nodded, then thought about it and said with a smile, ¡°Actually, it doesn¡¯t matter if I forget it. You¡¯re going to marry me, and you can remind me whenever I forget it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, then it doesn¡¯t matter if you forget.¡± Susanna patted her chest and promised, ¡°I will remember to remind you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. It¡¯s great to have a wife.¡± Caffey smiled idiotically.


    Gle felt a bit speechless as he witnessed the conversation between two people with less than 50 IQ. He was quiet for a long time, doing something stupid ¡°again¡±? And he had a son¡­ Gle couldn¡¯t refrain from asking Caffey, ¡°Hey, how did you even marry your first wife?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? It was through matchmaking.¡± Caffey smiled as he answered.


    It sounded fairly normal. Gle scratched his face. Maybe he was thinking too much¡­


    Caffey added, ¡°I saw her picture in the personals sections of a newspaper. I thought I probably was old enough for marriage, so I ran to ask for her hand in marriage. In the end, however, it turned out I was looking at some old newspaper, and she was already married.¡±


    ¡°What? Then how did you marry her? Don¡¯t tell me you stole her away from her husband?¡± Gle widened her eyes.


    ¡°No, why would I do something bad like that?! The newspaper was fifty-some odd years old. The girl who published her info was already dead for more than a decade. Luckily, she did have children, so, I ended up marrying her granddaughter.¡± Caffey patted his chest, as if he was proud of it.


    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re so lucky. Good thing you did marry one, otherwise you would¡¯ve gone there for nothing!¡± Susanna¡¯s face full of the ¡°you¡¯re so lucky¡± look.


    ¡°I know, right?!¡±


    Gle¡¯s mind suddenly went blank. He couldn¡¯t believe that, other than Susanna¡¯s tofu-filled brain, there was another person in this world whose head was filled with soy milk, and this guy was actually the Dragon Emperor. How could the Dragon Empire not had collapsed yet¡­?


    Probably because he saw Gle staring at Caffey, with a skeptical look on his face, the Royal Knight patted Gle¡¯s shoulder and explained, ¡°The Dragon Emperor married a long time ago, right after his coronation. They had a child the next year. Mocha, the Eldest Prince, acted as the Regent Emperor when he was three. Luckily, four years weren¡¯t enough to collapse an Empire¡­¡±


    ¡°Please thank your Eldest Prince on my behalf.¡± Gle¡¯s face was covered in black lines.


    The Knight seemed to be used to it. He simply nodded.


    ¡°Ah! Wait, wait, do you have a son named Cappuccino?¡± Susanna suddenly remembered the 3v3 duel they had.


    ¡°My third son is named Cappucino.¡± Caffey asked back in shock, ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡®Is there anyone who doesn¡¯t know about Dragon Empire¡¯s three coffee Princes¡­?¡¯ The bystanders were speechless.


    ¡°I¡¯ve fought with him. It was strange, I always thought the name Cappuccino sounded familiar!¡± Susanna was deep in thought, ¡°And your eldest son Mocha, I¡¯ve heard this name somewhere too!¡±


    Caffey asked skeptically, ¡°Hmm? Have you seen my eldest son, too? But he rarely leaves the Dragon Continent.¡±


    ¡°Then did you know my second son, Latte?¡±


    ¡°Oh, oh, oh! I¡¯ve heard of it. This name sounds really familiar!¡± Susanna suddenly stood up, ¡°I must¡¯ve seen your family somewhere, otherwise I couldn¡¯t have known all three of your son¡¯s names.¡±


    ¡®Perhaps you¡¯ve met the Dragon Emperor¡¯s three sons in a coffee shop. Mocha, Latte, Cappuccino, how could anyone not recognize the pattern¡­?¡¯ Gle facepalmed; he couldn¡¯t bear to listen any longer.


    The principal, who had passed out from blood rushing to his head when Susanna challenged the Dragon Emperor for a duel, had now suddenly woken up. Without knowing what had happened, he yelled as soon as he woke, ¡°Dragon Emperor! Sir! Please forgive me, and forgive this rude female healer.¡±


    ¡®Dragon Emperor, I am the Dragon Emperor!¡¯


    The Dragon Emperor slowly stood up, and smiled elegantly at the principal, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about, it was nothing. No need to mind it.¡±


    The principal was so moved that he was about to burst into tears. At the same time, the Royal Knights were also almost in tears, because the Dragon Emperor finally returned to how he was before. Looks like his Intermittent Idiotic Syndrome attack was over. They wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the Dragon Emperor insisting on staying in Aklan or marrying the Empress who tried to disfigure him¡­


    ¡°Caffey, let me take you to my dorm? You can get familiar with the surrounding.¡± Susanna tugged Caffey¡¯s shirt.


    ¡°¡­¡± The Dragon Emperor frowned, and rejected, ¡°No, sorry, I can¡¯t stay here.¡±


    ¡°Why? You just said you were going to stay here with me!¡± Susanna was a bit unhappy.


    ¡°Just think everything that happened now as a joke. I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Though he was apologizing, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s face looked somewhat impatient.


    ¡°What are you saying? Was what you said about marrying me a joke, too?¡± Susanna¡¯s voice raised an octave, ¡°Let me tell you, I was very serious!¡±


    ¡°Susanna!¡± Gle grabbed Susanna. He had noticed there was something weird with the Dragon Emperor. Could the ¡°Intermittent Idiotic Syndrome¡¯ those Knights were talking about real?


    ¡°Let me go!¡± Susanna struggled to break free from Gle¡¯s hands. She yelled angrily, ¡°Stinky Caffey, rotten Caffey, liar Caffey, I hate Caffey the most!¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t hate me. I really do want to marry you.¡± The ¡°Dragon Emperor¡± yelled with shock, but then he immediately returned to his previously solemn look, and looked as though he was angry at what he had just said moments ago. He turned without saying another word and left with a fast pace, almost like he was trying to flee from a crime scene.


    ¡°Caffey!¡± Susanna yelled explosively, ¡°Are you going to marry me or not?!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor stopped, but he never turned around. Only a person close to him could see; his body was trembling.


    ¡°Caffey?¡± Susanna wasn¡¯t someone who would give up easily. She walked up carelessly, and her toned arms held the Dragon Emperor¡¯s thin body tightly. She said capriciously, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to leave! If you don¡¯t marry me and let me manage your life, then I have to disfigure you.¡±


    ¡°No! You have to marry me.¡± Susanna angrily stomped and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already promised you to remind you to release your aura! If you¡¯re not by my side, how am I supposed to remind you?¡±


    ¡°Can you¡­¡± The Dragon Emperor¡¯s voice sounded rather dry, ¡°¡­ call me again? With¡­ the voice before.¡±


    Unsure of why Caffey was so abnormal with his attitude, Susanna was somewhat furiously. She purposely leaned up against him next to his ear, took a deep breath, and exploded like an atomic bomb, ¡°Caffey~~ You¡¯re not allowed to not marry me! Do you hear me?!¡±


    Gle suddenly covered his ears. Even being this far away, he felt his ears were about to explode, so the Dragon Emperor¡¯s ear drum had probably burst. However, the Dragon Emperor had self-healing capabilities¡­ perhaps this actually would make them quite a matching couple?! Gle murmured to himself.


    Surely enough, Caffey¡¯s hands covered his ears, and emitted two rays of purple lights to heal. Nevertheless, he still had headaches for a long time. As soon as his eyes recovered from being two whirlpools, Caffey turned and faced Susanna, and smiled very happily, ¡°I understand. I wouldn¡¯t dare not to marry you! But, can you promise me something?¡±


    ¡°Tell me, unless it has to do with philandering.¡± Susanna narrowed her eyes.


    ¡°Ha, I¡¯m not interested in philandering. However, can you call me Caffey a hundred times a day?¡± Caffey looked longingly, and his eyes were filled with pleading.


    Susanna actually had a desire to touch Caffey¡¯s head. Such a dangerous guy! He could even seduce her, so surely the decision to marry him and save him from her sisters was the best decision.


    Susanna said with hesitation, ¡°Call you a hundred times like that? That might be a bit difficult!¡±


    ¡°No, no, just normally would be fine. You can loudly once a day.¡± Caffey quickly clarified. Yelling a hundred times a day was something even his healing abilities couldn¡¯t handle.


    ¡°Idiot! I would definitely call you more than a hundred times a day; this isn¡¯t a request at all.¡± Susanna glared at Caffey.


    ¡°Oh, then two hundred times a day then.¡± Caffey raised the number happily.


    ¡°Idiot! I would call you at least five hundred times a day!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Mhm!¡± Susanna nodded heavily.


    Calling him Caffey five hundred times a day, then it would be fine, right? Caffey would then always continue to exist¡­


    * * *


    Later, in the Imperial Palace of the Dragon Continent¡­


    ¡°What exactly happened?¡± Prince Mocha emotionlessly questioned the Knights, ¡°Why would my father¡¯s ¡®Intermittent Idiot Syndrome¡¯ turn into an ¡®Intermittent Serious Syndrome¡¯? Do you think it¡¯s not troublesome enough that he becomes stupid sometimes, so now you guys turned him into a full blown one?¡±


    ¡°Uh, we didn¡¯t want it either. It looked like it was because of the new Empress¡­¡± The Knights said with a bitter face.


    Mocha¡¯s face sank and said, ¡°You mean the person who calls Caffey over and over, even in the middle of night, to the point where I have to wear earplugs to sleep, who also happened to be my stepmother?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, and also the lion roar that scared me once a day?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ that¡¯s the Empress.¡± The Knights all said in unison.


    ¡°What does father like about her?¡± Mocha could not understand, unless father liked women who were stupid and loud?


    One Knight murmured quietly, ¡°Instead of asking what the Dragon Emperor likes about her, we should be asking what she likes about the Dragon Emperor. I think she¡¯s at least a bit more normal than our Dragon Emperor, just that she loves to call his name, and she wants to beat any handsome Knight¡¯s face. There¡¯s nothing else weird about her.¡±


    Mocha did indeed hear this Knight¡¯s outrageous words, just damn, he actually secretly agreed with him! Though this new Empress wasn¡¯t any normal person either, but ¡°normal¡± was only relative. Compared to his own father, his stepmother did look indeed like a normal person with a couple of strange habits!


    ¡®Luckily, I¡¯m more like my mother. Sigh! I¡¯m worried about my third sovereign brother¡¯s future. He¡¯s quite like father¡­¡¯ Mocha¡¯s stomach began to hurt again.


    Mocha sighed. Forget it! If his father liked her, and she liked him back, what else could he ask for? Just that they must hand out earplugs from now. Mocha looked at the books, hmm! The money for earplugs will come out of father¡¯s allowances then!

 Volume 11, 1: The Attack Order

    Volume 11, Chapter 1: The Attack Order


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°¡­ As Knights who maintain righteousness, we can no longer withstand the Black Dragon King¡¯s cruel actions. We must take up arms against him, so the Knight¡¯s honor and glory would not be tarnished.¡±


    Having said this, the Dragon Emperor paused briefly, and he glanced at the Knights lined up before him. It had been a long time since the Dragon Empire had gathered such a large amount of Knights; the Knights and their mounts lined up neatly one row after another, looking like an endless ocean. At the tip of this ocean of Knights, was the Dragon Emperor with his purple robe, and behind him was Prince Silver Moon in black and his Sacred White Dragon.


    The eyes of the Knights were filled with sparkles of discontent, to the point where their bodies began to tremble. The Knights had already been unhappy with the brutalities of the Black Dragon King. Had their emperor not remained silent all this time, they might have already raised their swords, charged towards Aklan Continent, and declared war against the Black Dragon King.


    Seeing this, the Dragon Emperor smiled in his heart, though his face remained the same solemnity and concern for life.


    The Dragon Emperor withdrew his warm smile, and his eyes could no longer cover his true desires; however, in a situation like this, any Knights who looked upon him would simply interpret it as the Dragon Emperor¡¯s decision to finally take action.


    ¡°I hereby declare the commander in chief to my successor. We shall attack Aklan, and drive out the Black Dragon King!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s dignified and deep voice echoed throughout the ocean of Knights. At that moment, the Knights remained silent, as they all looked at the Dragon Emperor, the leader of all Knights, in both disbelief and anticipation.


    After the Dragon Emperor nodded with a smile, reassuring his declaration was definitely not the Knight¡¯s hallucinations, all the Knights cheered, like the crowd of a coliseum. The cheerful and excited roar could be heard everywhere. The crowd yelled, ¡°long live the Dragon Emperor¡±, and many also chanted the successor¡¯s name.


    War, was now inevitable.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled, and said quietly, ¡°Silver Moon, my son, as I¡¯ve already instructed Miluo, you will have a fake battle with him. We cannot have too much casualties among our ranks so our true strength would not be weakened, but we must also have some casualties, or others will surely become suspicious. After the battle, Miluo will retreat to Freesia, and you will hold your ground. Using the excuse that Miluo had not been defeated, hold Aklan sturdily, and never return it to the Aklan government.¡±


    Though the Knights had been as loud as a stampede of a thousand Dragons, to the point where even a shot from a Mecha¡¯s cannon would be buried in the sounds of their cheer, and though Silver Moon¡¯s face had been smiling without a single bit of change, the Dragon Emperor already knew what Silver Moon was capable of, and he was, therefore, certain he had heard and would perfectly execute the orders as given.


    Soon, the Aklan Continent would fall into hands. Two thirds of the world were practically already in his pockets, and only the Commerce Alliance left¡­ the Dragon Emperor tried to calm his beating heart. He had already waited for such a long time, and in a short while, his wishes would be fulfilled, just a little while¡­


    The Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t refrain the smile on his mouth nor the avarice in his eyes. Nevertheless, all the Knights were drenched themselves in the upcoming honor and glory, no one noticed anything different about the Dragon Emperor¡­ or perhaps, one should say, almost no one noticed.


    * * *


    Hearing the news of her father planning to attack the Black Dragon King, Lanski did not feel a single bit of excitement like her fellow Knights. Instead, her face went pale and she immediately dragged Jasmine off. There was no time; Liola was about to go to war. Lanski had no firm idea what would actually happen if that were the case, but she knew, if this continued, Liola would truly disappear, and Silver Moon would be all that¡¯s left.


    ¡°Silver Moon!¡± Jasmine yelled angrily, ¡°I can only see feint and disgust in that guy¡¯s eyes. That ¡®thing¡¯ isn¡¯t Liola!¡±


    This was what Jasmine thought of Silver Moon after observing him. Lanski, on the other hand, remained silent; she did not feel happy at all despite seeing Liola smiling and answering questions. She never wanted to see him acting so artificial like this, and she would rather have the previously cold Liola back.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let this go on. Let¡¯s go find eldest brother.¡± Lanski grabbed Jasmine, and ran desperately towards the tower where her eldest brother lived.


    The two girls ran as though they were flying. They went out of the palace, over the grasslands, but after they saw a shadowy figure, they suddenly stopped. The person wore a long robe of black and white. He was leaning against a tree, and leisurely pushed up the glasses on his nose.


    Lanski and Jasmine looked at one another, neither was sure what Mizerui was up to. Judging by the looks of it, he was waiting for them. Though they were curious as to how he knew they were going to look for Mocha, but knowing the mysterious nature of this Sorcerer, it wouldn¡¯t be too strange if he knew.


    ¡°Mizerui, what is up?¡± Lanski asked hesitantly. Though she really wanted to ask him directly whether he was willing to help Liola, but having thought about his father¡¯s ears everywhere, she didn¡¯t dare to ask.


    Mizerui acted like she didn¡¯t notice the two until now. He glanced at the girls from the corner of his eyes, acted as if he were careless, and said, ¡°Go back. Perhaps it would be a good idea to say goodbye to the successor, for there may not be another chance for you to see him.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lanski suddenly felt nervous. Could it be that Mizerui also thought Liola was gone?


    ¡°Are you not willing to help him? Haven¡¯t you always been in good terms with them? Why are you watching from the sidelines at a time like this?!¡± Jasmine inquired angrily.


    Facing the two girls¡¯ anger, Mizerui pushed his glasses somewhat helplessly, but he didn¡¯t know how to explain.


    Lanski said coldly, ¡°If you aren¡¯t willing to help Liola, then get out of my way. I¡¯m going to go to my eldest brother.¡±


    ¡°Princess, Your Highness.¡± Mizerui sighed, then asked back, ¡°If Liola doesn¡¯t come back, wouldn¡¯t it be even better?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking ab¡­¡± Lanski wanted to continue, but Jasmine pulled her from behind, and she suddenly shut her mouth.


    She looked at Mizerui skeptically, whom then playfully blinked at her. Lanski wasn¡¯t an idiot. She realized Mizerui¡¯s attitude was not just standing idly by at all. Instead, like her, he couldn¡¯t state his intentions explicitly. Lanski thought about what Mizerui said, ¡°If Liola doesn¡¯t come back¡± could very well be interpreted in another manner: it could imply that Liola had escaped her father¡¯s control, and therefore never came back?


    This would mean Mizerui did indeed plan to help Liola? After thinking about it, Lanski began to smile. After exchanging a look with Jasmine, she couldn¡¯t hold back the happiness from her face, ¡°You¡¯re right. I should indeed bid farewell to my brother. Then I¡¯ll take my leave first.¡±


    Mizerui nodded, and watched as the girls left. He pushed his glasses again, and murmured to himself, ¡°Such naive girls. If you could guess what my words mean, do you really think the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t? Fortunately, he¡¯s far too happy now to remember to keep tabs on us, otherwise¡­¡±


    He looked afar at the place where all the noises were coming from, and he heard the successor¡¯s voice. The successor was now speaking words of encouragement to the Knights, and waves of cheers followed.


    ¡°Dragon Emperor, Qiusi¡¯s defeat and the world slowly falling into your hands. Hasn¡¯t the series of victories made you anxious? You¡¯d allow Liola to leave your sights now, which means you are indeed anxious. After all, you¡¯ve been waiting for an eternity¡­¡±


    Mizerui pushed his glasses, and light flashed across his eyes. His mouth with a smile looked unbelievably like the devil in the other world: like Gle, his smile carried a sense of a prank and sinister.


    * * *


    ¡°Hey! Hey! Who is this super handsome man?¡±


    Flower widened her beautiful eyes, and her bright red lips formed an ¡°O¡± shape. Her tone sounded like a lustful woman who hasn¡¯t seen a handsome man in hundreds of years. Had it not been a public place like this, with a bunch of Knights present, she would¡¯ve pounced at him, and then carefully examined his face.


    Standing next to her, Yizhou was the unfortunate soul she asked. He showed a strangely repressed expression, and then answered with a rigid tone, ¡°Fourth Prince.¡±


    Having received an answer, Flower glared at Yizhou instead, and snapped, ¡°Duh! Of course I know he¡¯s the Fourth Prince!¡±


    Yizhou was a bit speechless, ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°How could that Prince be so cold last time, and one day later, he suddenly turned into a handsome man who greets people with smiles?¡±


    Flower ignored Yizhou¡¯s speechlessness, and she began to murmur to herself, while throwing a few more looks at the eye candy she called the ¡°handsome man¡±. Flower¡¯s words made Yizhou quiet, for his obvious change did indeed make him skeptical as well, and he was certain there was something wrong. After his brother Yiyu had gotten close to the Prince, his playful smile had never seemed to change.


    Yizhou tilted his head to look at his brother, and his attitude seemed quite strange. Flower had been toying with both of these brothers, but since Yiyu did not respond at all, she began to toy only with Yizhou.


    It was quite strange to him. With Yiyu¡¯s bad temperament, how could he have withstood Flower¡¯s disgusting jokes? Yizhou, who deeply understood his brother¡¯s personality, didn¡¯t think this could be a normal occurrence.


    Especially since Yiyu treated this whole thing as if it were classified, and he had been acting secretive. Whenever Yizhou asked, Yiyu always dismissed his brother with the ¡°I am the only one who could know about it¡± look.


    The only thing Yiyu would know and he wouldn¡¯t, would be magic. Yizhou lightly glanced at the Fourth Prince; could it be magic?


    This glance coincidentally was met with Silver Moon¡¯s eyes. Silver Moon, with his delicate look, was always carrying a faint smile, and he looked elegant but not fake. There was nothing anyone could nitpick about. However, this was the exact reason that would give anyone who had actually seen ¡°Liola¡± a feeling of inconsistent.


    This nearly perfect Prince was not Liola.


    Yizhou had only seen Liola a few times, and this was what he felt. How could people who were more familiar with him not notice? He then saw Princess Lanski running towards them. Judging from the direction she was heading, she was most likely here to see the successor.


    Prince Silver Moon seemed to have noticed Yizhou¡¯s eyes shift, so he looked in the direction of Yizhou¡¯s eyes. He, too, noticed Lanski.


    ¡°Why are you in a hurry, sister?¡± Silver Moon asked with a smile.


    Yizhou strangely noticed, Princess Lanski¡¯s face was initially full of excitement, but after hearing what Silver Moon said, her body froze, and even her expression seemed to become cautious.


    ¡°Li¡­, brother, I heard you¡¯re going to war, I wanted to say goodbye to you.¡± Lanski seemed a bit uneasy to refer to Silver Moon as ¡°brother¡±.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Silver Moon smiled happily. He hugged Lanski lightly, and kissed her on her white forehead, ¡°Then, goodbye, sister.¡±


    Lanski seemed shy at first, and then rigid again. She said uneasily, ¡°Goodbye¡­ brother.¡±


    Silver Moon smiled, then turned to walk towards Yizhou, as if he wanted to give them an order. When he turned around, he missed Lanski¡¯s rapidly changing expression: it looked like a sad and longing expression. She mouthed a few words, then turned and ran. When she ran, there seemed to be something glittering left in the air.


    ¡°Farewell, Liola?¡± Flower murmured with a frown.


    Yizhou heard, and looked at her, but she was also looking back at him while being puzzled. It seemed that both of them had ¡°seen¡± what Lanski said, but neither could understand what it meant.


    Yizhou secretly kept these ominous words in his heart.


    ¡°Yiyu, Yizhou, Flower, you all know, I am leading an army to defeat the Black Dragon King.¡± Silver Moon withdrew his smile, and said lightly.


    Three of them realized the successor was talking in a very serious attitude. Even Flower hid her playful look, and she listened quietly to the successor.


    ¡°You have just became my Immediate Knights, and although it may seem a bit early for me to say this, the situation is indeed urgent and time would not allow me to get to know you better.¡± Silver Moon glanced at three of them. Though his expression wasn¡¯t harsh, the silver eyes made three of them feel a sense of chill.


    After glancing at them, Silver Moon finally said what he wanted to say, ¡°I need your loyalty.¡±


    Seeing their confused looks, Silver Moon added, ¡°Absolute loyalty; Soul Devotion.¡±


    Soul Devotion! All three of them shook a bit. Ever since the beginning of time, this was the utmost way to express one¡¯s loyalty. Though soul was simply a vague concept, and calling it a Soul Devotion might seem a bit exaggerated, but this proved the importance of such allegiance. Many Knights spent their lives looking and never finding a person who would swear such an allegiance to them.


    Nevertheless, the Dragon Empire Royalties were the exceptions. Many Royal Immediate Knights would actually swear such allegiance to them, but it often happened after knowing them for a long time, or even after the Royalties had done something that touched the Knight, would the Knight take the initiative to swear such an oath.


    After swearing a Soul Devotion, there would never be room for regret. An oath of this magnitude had often been called another name outside of the circle of Knights ¡ª Devil¡¯s Vow.


    The true story of where this name came from had been long forgotten, but everyone knew, after swearing such an oath, even if the person they sworn to became the devil, ghost, or a lunatic who wanted to destroy the world, the Knight¡¯s loyalty could not change. Soul Devotion was, therefore, a vow that basically sold their soul and consciousness.


    For the three of them, who had only been Silver Moon¡¯s Immediate Knight¡¯s for a few days, Soul Devotion was far too much.


    Having been requested to swear the Soul Devotion, all three of them were frowning. They had no idea Prince Silver Moon would request such an oath at this time, or more specifically, they did not expect him to ask for Soul Devotion. Normally speaking, an oath was something that the Knights would have to actively do rather than requested.


    ¡°Prince, Your Highness, is this really necessary? We are all your Immediate Knights, and this oath is already going to be a matter of time¡­¡±


    Compared to the two men who were frowning instead of answering, Flower, who had more interpersonal experiences, was the first to respond; she began to squeamishly and tactfully speak. An ordinary person would probably had fallen head over heels with Flower¡¯s flirtatious attitude, but Silver Moon was no ordinary person. Under his veil of smile was solid ice; he didn¡¯t need faked kindness, nor nice words. He only wanted accurate answers, so he could accomplish Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders.


    Silver Moon still kept his smile, but his eyes were cold as he looked at the three. Even Flower couldn¡¯t continue to act flirtatious. All she could do was shut her mouth.


    ¡°This is too fast. It can¡¯t be done.¡± Yizhou answered straightforwardly. He had already known, no matter if the person in front of him was Silver Mask, Liola, or Prince Silver Moon, he wasn¡¯t one who wanted flattery, and only truthful answers, so Yizhou gave him exactly that.


    Compared to Flower¡¯s fake and superficial words, Silver Moon appreciated Yizhou¡¯s directness, but this wasn¡¯t the answer he wanted. Without the answer he wanted, he wouldn¡¯t be able to accomplish the Dragon Emperor¡¯s order, and the prime directive of an Assassin was to accomplish his mission at all costs.


    Silver Moon¡¯s eyes looked around, and said faintly, ¡°There are too many secrets for you to know now. If you are not willing to swear by Soul Devotion, then you never will have the right to know.¡±


    Hearing the word ¡°secrets¡±, Yiyu and Flower acted as if they had trouble containing their excitement. Ever since ancient times, anyone whom the Emperor shared secrets with had always been his true confidant, and Silver Moon was undoubtedly the future Dragon Emperor. Judging by the situations now, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s powers would only last a short while. Becoming the Dragon Emperor¡¯s confidant would put them in a position above all other Knights, and to them, if they could obtain such a position, so what if they have to serve someone evil?


    Thinking about this, both of them fell on a knee, and answered, ¡°Your Highness, please accept my Soul Devotion. No matter my body or soul, I will serve you wholeheartedly. No matter heaven or hell, I will follow you. No matter what comes in your way, my sword will cut them down for you. Even if I die, the flame of my soul will burn for you, to brighten your path or to ignite your enemies. My loyalty to you will remain until the day my soul dissipates.¡±


    Getting two vows of Soul Devotion, Silver Moon smiled with satisfaction. As the Dragon Emperor knew it wouldn¡¯t be easy to get a Soul Devotion, his orders were to obtain at least one vow, so they could be used later on. Having received two, he had fulfilled the orders given to him. Therefore, Silver Moon didn¡¯t seem too dissatisfied about Yizhou, who had been standing there without saying anything else.


    In fact, he didn¡¯t feel anything. It didn¡¯t matter to him if he were facing such a harsh vow, or a Knight who refused to give his loyalty, he felt no joy nor unhappiness. ¡°Accepting mission¡± and ¡°accomplishing mission¡± were all there were to Silver Moon.


    Mission was completed, and it was time to go back to report. Silver Moon turned, and walked towards where the Dragon Emperor was.


    ¡°Brother, what¡¯s wrong with you? Why wouldn¡¯t you swear your loyalty to the Prince? Are you an idiot? You are going to do it sooner or later, so what does it matter if you do it now? Look at yourself! You¡¯ve probably upset the Prince.¡± When Silver Moon walked away, Yiyu immediately jumped up, and began to scorn at his quiet brother.


    Yizhou looked quietly at the successor¡¯s back. Being an introvert, he had always been more observant than others, such as, the moment the successor turned away, his eyes turned completely lifeless.


    Or another example: the last time he saw the Prince walking in the palace, every step he took was exactly one meter long. The reason why he discovered this was because the floor tiles in the palace was exactly one meter long, and the successor¡¯s ankle had always landed perfectly on the line between the tiles.


    What did this mean? Yizhou was actually not too sure himself, but instinctively he frowned at such actions, and he quietly took note of them. It wasn¡¯t until he had been asked to swear his loyalty that he remembered them from the depths of his mind. After thinking about it for a while, though never figuring out why the successor acted like this, but a feeling of not serving him did indeed arise.


    The feeling was far too natural to him, much like a human wouldn¡¯t swear loyalty to a Mecha or a healing Maxun.


    Maxun¡­ Yizhou seemed to had a realization. He raised his head again to look at the successor¡¯s back.


    * * *


    ¡°Oh? Only Yizhou was unwilling?¡± Hearing Silver Moon¡¯s report, the Dragon Emperor said with a surprise, ¡°I thought he would be the first to swear his royalty, that cold and heartless Knight¡­¡±


    Silver Moon stood still quietly. He didn¡¯t have the slightest of reactions to what the Dragon Emperor said.


    ¡°Even if he¡¯s not willing, it doesn¡¯t matter. Having two Soul Devotees would be enough.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled mockingly, ¡°Soul Devotion isn¡¯t really worth much nowadays. They were willing to swear to you after only knowing you for days.¡±


    Back then, there were many Knights who were with him in many difficult times; fighting for their ideals together, and finally swearing their souls to him¡­ The fire of his Knights souls probably didn¡¯t even exist anymore. A distant memory suddenly barged into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart. The things no one knew, now buried in the depths of history, was the only reason why the heart of the Dragon Emperor still existed.


    The Dragon Emperor recovered from his flashbacks, and looked at the successor standing in front of him. His eyes were filled with mixed emotions; this should be the last one, right?


    ¡°Go rest for now, and prepare for the imminent battle.¡±


    Silver Moon nodded, then left quietly.


    ¡°Your Highness, Idojin thinks, it doesn¡¯t seem like an appropriate moment for the successor to leave your sight.¡±


    Idojin, who had his head bowed behind the Dragon Emperor, finally spoke; but as soon as he did, he seemed to have felt like he said something he shouldn¡¯t have. He then remained silent and awaited for the Dragon Emperor¡¯s response.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Dragon Emperor did not appear angry, ¡°Do elaborate.¡±


    ¡°Though the hypnosis has been thoroughly completed, but a person¡¯s heart is hard to predict. Idojin thinks we need some more time to make sure the hypnosis is stable, to ensure the plan would be foolproof.¡± Idojin said his thoughts calmly, without trying to persuade any further. He knew the Dragon Emperor had ten thousand years of unparalleled wisdom, and all he had to do was point it out.


    The Dragon Emperor was silent for a while, before he answered, ¡°You¡¯re right, Idojin, a person¡¯s heart is indeed unpredictable. Even after years, for the weakest person, he may still not surrender under the power of magic. However, do you know what would actually truly make him surrender?¡±


    Idojin bowed slightly, ¡°I do not know.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor looked at the successor¡¯s back as he was leaving, and a light flashed across his eyes. He said with an almost cruel tone, ¡°By taking out every last place he could turn back, so there is nowhere he could go even if he turn back. Rather than forcing him to forget his companions, it would be better for his companions to forget him, to even hate him, and his companions will therefore reassure our control over him.¡±


    ¡°However, I do believe, his companions already know the truth of the matters, and they wouldn¡¯t easily hate the successor.¡±


    Hearing Idojin¡¯s words, the Dragon Emperor suddenly burst into endless laughter, to the point where tears were visible from the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, Idojin¡­ ever since the ancient times, hatred has always been something easy to provoke. As long as my poor successor does something unforgivable, such as injuring or killing people important to his companions, then it wouldn¡¯t matter if he had his reasons, or if he couldn¡¯t control it; his companions would have no choice but to hate him. This was why I made the successor kill Qiusi. Obviously, my successor didn¡¯t naively think his companions would forgive him, so he sank into despair, and he gave up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a shame, Qiusi didn¡¯t die, and this was out of my expectations.¡± The Dragon Emperor closed his eyes; his fingers were quickly tapping, and his mind was calculating.


    ¡°Nevertheless, it doesn¡¯t matter. The damage caused by a war is far greater. By that time, not only his companions would hate him. I¡¯m going to make it so that, other than standing between the Knights of the Dragon Empire¡­¡±


    ¡°Deserted by all, no where to go!¡±


    A piercing pain suddenly surfaced in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, but instead he began to laugh. He elegantly put his hand in front of his chest, or rather¡­ in front of Caffey¡¯s chest.


    ¡®Oh, yes, Caffey, just like you.¡¯

 Volume 11, 2: Let’s Go Find Liola

    Volume 11, Chapter 2: Let¡¯s Go Find Liola


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Hey! I say, can you guys stop being so excited? I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re just researching, but don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re really going to use this magic. If you destroy this secret base, Barbalis will skin you all alive.¡±


    Kaiser said loudly, but on the other hand, his eyes were racing. He finally realized, out of ten people who research magic, nine of them have problems in their minds. He had originally thought only his great-grandpa Gle was a psychopath who would research magic circles to destroy the world. He had never thought, after arriving at the Aklan School of Magic, he would find such psychopaths in the world weren¡¯t rare at all.


    No wonder the Magicians would be extinct, because they were all impractical lunatics! Kaiser, for the 3588th time, cursed these Magicians who had nothing but magic between their eyes and the back of their heads.


    Originally, these two thousand something Magicians were still gritting their teeth at the Great Devil King Gle, accusing him as the main reason why Magicians declined, and something about him being the unforgivable culprit. However, the moment Kaiser used Gle¡¯s magic circles, one could not imagine how fast their attitudes changed!


    Gle immediately turned into the greatest king of Magic. Though their title for Gle remained identical as before*, but their tone of voice changed dramatically, changing from a discriminatory voice to an incomparable respect. The Magicians even wanted to go to the other world to welcome back the greatest highness himself.


    [T/N: Literal translation: Big, magic/devil, king. Because the word ¡°Demon¡± in Chinese, can be interpreted both demon/monster or magic, their name for Gle changed from big demon king to big magic king, even though the characters are identical.]


    To this, Kaiser only made one response, ¡°You crazy?! This world is messed up enough with just a Dragon Emperor. If we add another ¡®Great King¡¯ to the mix, we¡¯ll be close to the end of the world.¡±


    Kaiser looked at a bunch of frenzied Magicians, and he felt quite a headache. Nevertheless, these people were indeed specially discovered by Barbalis; their potential were amazing, and they quickly learnt to handle Gle¡¯s magics. Kaiser believed that, before long, they would definitely make a horrifying bunch of dangerous people.


    However, these Magicians all seemed to share a common ¡°illness¡± among Magicians: they liked research, and they had little interest in actual combat.


    Kaiser even had to use his great-grandpa¡¯s magic as bait to make these Magicians practice battle with Knights.


    Could such a hurried training be enough to defeat the large Knight armies of the Dragon Emperor? Kaiser was unsure, but one thing he was sure of, whether victory or defeat, many of the Magicians and Knights in front of him would be consumed in the tides of the upcoming battles.


    Thinking about this, Kaiser felt heavy in his heart. He wasn¡¯t at all prepared for the atrocities of war, and he even believed he couldn¡¯t possibly ever be prepared. Nevertheless, for his companions, he had no choice but bury his nervousness under the disguise of a ruffian¡¯s smile.


    Got trouble? Look for Kaiser¡­ at least he had to made them feel Kaiser was always behind their backs! He held his fist tightly, and yelled again loudly, ¡°Hey! You bastard, stop sneaking out for research! Go back to training with your Knight! Or otherwise you won¡¯t be attending my next lesson on magic circles!¡±


    Kaiser clamored, but without directing his words at anyone in particular. Strangely enough, a few Magicians ran panickedly out of the crowd, and they pulled their robes as they ran towards the training grounds, fearing that they might not be able to learn the magic circles.


    Kaiser raised his eyebrows. There were more than two thousand Magicians here, only God knew he couldn¡¯t have possibly kept track of who ran back. Nevertheless, whenever he occasionally yelled like this, there were always a few idiots who ran back to practice obediently. Tsk, these idiots were supposed to be the talented Magician geniuses. It must be a very fine line between idiots and geniuses.


    Surely enough, the only true genius was the one and only Kaiser¡­ or so Kaiser thought to himself.


    ¡°Kaiser!¡±


    Kaiser tilted his eyes, and said lazily, ¡°What?¡±


    Daylight sprinted over, and grab ahold of Kaiser, then began running. It was so abrupt that Kaiser almost flew in the sky like a kite in Daylight¡¯s hands.


    ¡°What? What? Help! This guy is kidnapping me!¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly. Unfortunately, the surrounding Magicians backed off as they saw Daylight charging by, letting him go completely unhindered. There was no one who wanted to rescue such a noisy prisoner.


    Daylight grabbed this ¡°kite¡± back to his room unimpeded. After he closed the door, Daylight turned around to see, the two blue-eyed men were already staring at one another.


    The gold-haired, blue-eyed man seemed to be unhurried. He looked at Kaiser with a relaxed attitude, and he would occasionally make a face, which made Daylight rather confused.


    No matter how much he was unwilling to, Kaiser still spoke, and he asked depressedly, ¡°What did that guy do now?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Mizerui acted as if he were puzzled.


    ¡°Who else?! That trouble-loving bastard who turned on his own words!¡± Kaiser was so mad that his hairs were almost standing up. He kept pacing back and forth while murmuring, ¡°That jerk. I already have enough to worry about, and if I get anything else, I will be bald soon¡­ If he causes me anymore trouble, I-I will go pull out all of his hair! So he can be bald with me!¡±


    Daylight couldn¡¯t refrain from bursting into laughter.


    ¡°Too bad! You wouldn¡¯t be able to pull his hair this time. He¡¯s technically not the culprit behind what¡¯s happening now.¡± Mizerui smiled as he looked at Kaiser¡¯s head full of green grass, imagining it turning into a shiny bald head. Mizerui¡¯s smile grew bigger and bigger. Seriously, it actually made him want to cause more trouble for Kaiser.


    ¡°Technically not the culprit? So he¡¯s the accomplice?¡± Kaiser grabbed his hair, completely forgetting he was just talking about his balding problems moments ago, ¡°What exactly is happening?! Stop trying to torment me!¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor has sent an army to fight Miluo.¡± As soon as Mizerui said what he said, a Magician and Knight froze next to him. He added, ¡°And our Prince Silver Moon is the one leading the army.¡±


    ¡°Dragon Emperor attacking Miluo?¡± Kaiser frowned even more. He murmured, ¡°They¡¯re on the same side¡­ Ah! I know, they¡¯re having a fake war!¡±


    Kaiser jumped up, and yelled loudly, ¡°The war is just a cover up. The truth is, the Dragon Emperor was about to annex Aklan into his hands!¡±


    Mizerui nodded with satisfaction. Kaiser indeed lived up to the best advisor Meinan trusted; he had quickly grasped the truth of the matter.


    ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t affect Liola much, since there¡¯s no danger at all.¡±


    After spending three seconds thinking about Liola¡¯s situation, then judging it to be harmless, Kaiser decided to put that on the side, and began to think about the situation with Aklan. If Aklan were to fall into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands, he figured, the lunatic would never let it go again. Truthfully, there weren¡¯t enough people of importance on Kaiser¡¯s side to demand Aklan back.


    If Qiusi didn¡¯t wake up, even if the Dragon Emperor were to offer Aklan, the representatives wouldn¡¯t even dare to accept! Though Meinan might have controlled the real power of Aklan, but to those representatives, Meinan was nothing.


    ¡°We do really need Qiusi after all¡­¡± Kaiser frowned, and thought¡­ wait! Something as important as the Dragon Emperor attacking Miluo would not take long to reach them. If so, why would Mizerui come all this way to simply tell them this?


    Kaiser looked at Mizerui skeptically, and he looked up and down as he said, ¡°You¡­ look like you have a lot of time on your hands?¡±


    ¡°Me? Why would I have a lot of time? The Dragon Emperor now knows I¡¯m a spy, and I¡¯m busy trying to avoid being assassinated.¡± Mizerui said with a laugh, completely unlike a person who was worried of being killed.


    ¡°If you¡¯re so busy, why would you come all the way to tell me something I might know in the next minute? Hmm?¡± Kaiser raised his voice towards the end of the sentence, to indicate his extreme mistrust.


    ¡°Aiya!¡± Mizerui acted innocent, ¡°I¡¯m worried about you guys, so I couldn¡¯t wait to come and tell you that.¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s expressions changed dramatically; his face was filled with a disgust like he had just seen poop. He waved Daylight over, ¡°Daylight! He said he¡¯s worried about us! The wanted criminal Mizerui would actually worry about us! No one could possibly believe that. Tell me, do you believe him?¡±


    Daylight glanced at Kaiser, then at innocent-looking Mizerui. He felt a bit helpless like he was stuck between them. He smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Kaiser waved his hand impatiently, then turned to look at Mizerui, and said with a showdown tone, ¡°Fine, fine, stop playing. Tell us now why you¡¯re really here!¡±


    Seeing this, Mizerui put away his innocent expression, and he said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m here to see if there¡¯s anyone who¡¯s interested in sneaking the successor off during the chaos of war.¡±


    This sentence sounded like a thunder, and it completely froze Kaiser and Daylight. A few minutes had past before Daylight finally looked happy. Nevertheless, he looked towards Kaiser with uncertainty, and the latter began to think after the shock. Sneak Liola away during the chaos? But, if Liola wasn¡¯t willing to leave, and called in reinforcements to capture them, they might have a hard time escaping. After thinking about this, Kaiser began to frown again.


    ¡°This time, I will help you.¡± Mizerui said lightly.


    Kaiser quickly turned his head, then yelled, ¡°Are you telling the truth?¡±


    Mizerui lifted his eyebrows, as if he was unhappy with Kaiser doubting him, ¡°Yes, really.¡±


    Kaiser jumped up, and yelled, ¡°Then what are we waiting for?! Hurry, go bring that guy back. I¡¯m going to pluck all of his hair!¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± Daylight cheered as well. They could finally get Liola back. He said excitedly, ¡°I¡¯ll go grab Meinan and Purity.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kaiser and Mizerui both said in unison.


    Daylight, who had already turned around and was about to leave, froze and then asked, ¡°Why? They want to go save Liola too.¡±


    Kaiser shook his head, ¡°They are both too important, and we can¡¯t risk their lives. Meinan has control over the people in the Aklan secret base, and Purity is the Red Commander¡¯s precious daughter. If they were to fall into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands, everything will be terrible.


    ¡°But there¡¯s no way they wouldn¡¯t get involved.¡± Daylight frowned. He, too, knew the specialness of Meinan and Purity¡¯s identities, but had he been in their shoes, he would never stay behind.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t tell them.¡± Kaiser glanced at Daylight. Undoubtedly, Daylight wouldn¡¯t stay behind, so he said directly, ¡°So us two will go.¡±


    Daylight nodded, just like Kaiser had predicted, without a bit of hesitation.


    ¡°Great! Then let¡¯s go.¡± Mizerui suddenly said.


    Kaiser paused, and asked back, ¡°Now?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Mizerui didn¡¯t seem to think of it as strange. He shrugged and said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be here if it weren¡¯t now.¡±


    ¡°W-Wait! Isn¡¯t that way too fast? I haven¡¯t even written a will yet¡­ wait! What the hell am I saying?! I mean, I haven¡¯t told them what to do if I die¡­ Damn! Why can¡¯t I say something not so ominous?¡± Kaiser frowned, with frustration on his face.


    ¡°Shut up! Are you saying you¡¯re doubting what I do?¡±


    Mizerui seemed to be full of confidence. Without another word, a few rays of light shone from his hand, and a bright magic circle appeared in the air. Without waiting for the two¡¯s reactions, Mizerui walked into the circle, not caring about whether they followed.


    Daylight looked at Kaiser, waiting for his response. Kaiser buried his face into his right hand and cried, ¡°God, you¡¯re raised by my great-grandpa Gle¡­ who the hell wouldn¡¯t doubt you?!¡±


    Daylight smiled, and he had understood Kaiser¡¯s decision. Without any further hesitation, he turned and stepped into the magic circle¡­


    * * *


    The blue skies were completely clear, and the sun rays were fierce enough that sweat was running down everyone¡¯s back. The air was also tense, without the slightest breeze. It was as if the heavens and the earth noticed the tension of the situation. The skies were filled with mounts and Knights, and no one had ever seen as grand of a scene as this.


    Three thousand Knights with flying mounts flew by. Of them, two hundred had gold lining on their uniforms, eight hundred with silver lining, and the rest had blue linings. A formation and an army like this could only be formed from the base of all Knights ¡ª the Dragon Empire. Nevertheless, before today, nobody could¡¯ve guessed the Dragon Empire could form such an impressive army.


    It was probably enough to take over the world¡­ that is, if there were no secret base organized by Qiusi and Barbalis and their 2400+ Magicians, 900+ Sorcerers with special abilities, and if there were no Gladiolus and his Knights.


    On the other side of the Knights was the airspace above the Aklan capital. It was filled with flying lesser-Dragons, and the ground was also covered by restless lesser-Dragons. This place used to be a crowded city, but now one could only hear the angry cries and footsteps of the lesser-Dragons.


    On the other hand, the Knights stood by with discipline, and only sound from their side was the sound of their Dragons flapping their wings.


    Though there was no sound, but one could tell from their passionate eyes, how much they wanted to raise their weapons and exterminate these evil lesser-Dragons. Some were even fantasizing whether they would be the hero who would drive the heart into the Black Dragon King.


    Everyone was waiting for the successor¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think we¡¯re waiting for exactly?¡±


    Yiyu asked his brother with a whisper. He had already been impatient while standing on his brother¡¯s Water Dragon. However, when no one else was moving, he couldn¡¯t just simply charge in. It¡¯s not like he wanted to be on a suicide mission, but waiting for such a long time had made him quite frustrated. He was looking with dissatisfaction at the successor ahead of him.


    Yizhou¡¯s patience was far better than his brother. He was practically admiring the successor. No one had ever heard stories where the commanding officer was standing at the absolute front of the army, especially when they were only one kilometer away from their enemies. To these flying lesser-Dragons, one kilometer was only a matter of a sprint.


    ¡°Ah, ah, the Prince is just way too handsome.¡±


    Flower, despite her bad temperament, didn¡¯t seem impatient at all. She could spend her entire life watching that handsome back.


    ¡°Bit**.¡± Yiyu grunted.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Flower¡¯s seductive eyes slowly turned around, but a vein could be vaguely seen on her forehead.


    ¡°Quiet.¡±


    Yizhou quickly reminded, because the successor had finally moved. The white Dragon slowly flew around, and the successor, with a black Knight¡¯s uniform, had a solemn expression. His thin lips slowly opened, and said lightly, ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±


    Despite how quiet he was, all three thousand of them heard clearly.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The Knights answered thunderously with their high morale, as if they were shouting with all the emotion bottled up inside from waiting.


    Did they need tactics? Probably not¡­ Silver Moon thought to himself. They weren¡¯t here for a battle, but instead a massacre. Moments ago, Idojin had already used magic to inform him, the strongest group of lesser-Dragons had already been called back to Freesia by Miluo. The only ones left behind in the Aklan capital were simply cannon fodders, so all they needed to do here was simply perform a thorough massacre.


    A massacre would allow the Dragon Emperor to acquire the Aklan continent, let the Knights awaken the boiling fighting spirit in them that had been asleep for long, and let the whole world rest, because they would think the Black Dragon King would have failed.


    To Silver Moon, massacre was simply nothing but a visit to his old profession¡­


    With a fatally beautiful shine of silver light, the Broken Silver had been unsheated. The silver light reflected off the eyes of every Knight present, to the point where a bystander couldn¡¯t tell if the Knights¡¯ eyes were shining or if it was the flashing light of the Broken Silver.


    Broken Silver pointed straight at the place occupied by the lesser-Dragons. The silver-eyed man yelled with a crisp voice, ¡°Charge!¡±


    Almost at the same time, all the Knights shouted. Be it bloodlust or passion, everything would turn into a sharp sword that would make a river of blood run through the capital city of Aklan.


    The Knights charged by Silver Moon, towards the restless lesser-Dragons. Silver Moon no longer had any emotions on his face. He fully understood, at this time, he didn¡¯t need to fake anything else. The bloodthirsty Knights could no longer see him in their eyes. Other than the blood of their enemies, nothing else could attract any of their attention.


    Silver Moon stayed still quietly, as if the killing and shouting around him had nothing to do with him. When the first Knight who charged up to the Aklan city plunged his sword without any hesitation into the body of a lesser-Dragon, and then pulling it out, large amount of blood spilled out. The whole world seemed to have turned black and white, and only the bright red color of blood could bring the world any bit of color. All the Knights went into a frenzy and charged forward as if it were a race. The lesser-Dragons began to counter-attack, but they were no match for the strong Knights¡­


    As the roars of the Dragons continued, the metallic walls of Aklan city were now more like waterfalls of blood. The corpses of the lesser-Dragons had been stepped on and torn into pieces. The red from the blood and muscles of the lesser-Dragons looked as if it formed a thick, colored carpet on the ground. It was nauseating yet had a strange appeal.


    ¡°Yizhou, quickly! Let us go kill!¡± Yiyu yelled with excitement on his face.


    Yizhou shook his head. Although he loved battle as well, he knew the mission of the immediate Knights was to protect His Highness, and they can never leave his sides under any circumstances.


    ¡°You! Whatever, I¡¯m going to go and kill.¡± Yiyu didn¡¯t seem to care about what his brother¡¯s response. He wasn¡¯t a Knight after all. He used his levitation, and threw out a few fireballs he had prepared impatiently.


    When Yizhou frowned and was about to call back his brother, he heard the successor¡¯s voice.


    ¡°You can all go.¡± Silver Moon said lightly.


    Yizhou turned around to look at the successor. Since the successor had given the order, and he remembered the successor¡¯s strength had far surpassed his, staying to protect the successor was indeed fairly pointless. Therefore, it would be better for him to follow orders and go to accumulate his combat experience.


    Thinking about this, Yizhou nodded, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Then quickly flew forward to rendezvous with his brother, so they could cooperate with one another to kill.


    At this time, only Silver Moon stood alone outside of the battlefield. He didn¡¯t not receive an order from the Dragon Emperor to kill lesser-Dragons himself, so he didn¡¯t move. He was simply waiting for the moment when this ground-staining massacre would end.


    He didn¡¯t like the smell, the smell of blood. This made him remember Qiusi¡¯s blood¡­ Silver Moon¡¯s hand shook slightly. What was he thinking? He¡­ was actually ¡°thinking¡±? This was not allowed.


    Silver Moon drove the thoughts out of his mind. Cold and heartless, was all an Assassin should have.


    At this time, a lesser-Dragon panickedly flew away from the battlefield. Silver Moon remembered, this was a specie called Pterodactyl¡­.


    When the panicked Pterodactyl saw a Knight alone, its animalistic instinct reacted, and it charged at Silver Moon. Silver Moon¡¯s eyes flashed, and Broken Silver mercilessly cut the Pterodactyl into two halves. The warm blood sprinkled from the air. The White Dragon did not move because it did not receive an order to do so, and the blood fell on Silver Moon and the White Dragon¡­


    * * *


    ¡°Hmm, I saw a bunch of beasts running on the ground. They look a bit like the transformed Baolilong.¡± Purity said with a sniff.


    ¡°They are Earth Dragon.¡± Kaiser observed and concluded.


    ¡°Kaiser, what about the snake that¡¯s about a dozen meters long with spots all over its body?¡± Liola asked lightly.


    ¡°Dragon Snake.¡±


    Meinan asked with a shake, ¡°T-Then, the ones flying in the air, with thin wings like a bat, and a thin and long face, what are they called?¡±


    ¡°Pterodactyl.¡±


    * * *


    Was this his illusion? Yizhou didn¡¯t know what to do. At first, he saw a Dragon charging towards the Prince, and he instinctively turned around to rescue, even though he knew it wasn¡¯t needed¡­


    Sure enough, as soon as the lesser-Dragon reached the Prince, he had already neatly split the Dragon in half. Yizhou saw much blood spilled towards the Prince, but he did not dodge. ¡®Was there something in the Prince¡¯s eye¡­? It was Dragon¡¯s blood, right? It¡¯s not, and it can¡¯t be, his tears.¡¯


    What reasons were there for the successor to cry in such a clear and complete victory?


    Yizhou thought it was strange, so he thought he must¡¯ve made a mistake. It must¡¯ve been blood. He didn¡¯t think about it anymore. Without anymore thinking, he commanded the Water Dragon back into the fray¡­ On his way back, he suddenly felt something in his heart. He instinctively turned his head to look, and he suddenly realized, three unknown figures appeared out of thin air next to the Prince, and they were all attacking the Prince.


    ¡°Protect His Highness!¡± Yizhou instinctively yelled, while turning his Water Dragon once again.


    Unfortunately, Yizhou did not have a presence like Silver Moon. In a situation where the air was filled with cries and chaos, not many Knights actually heard him or realize the situation. Yizhou charged as fast as he could. He saw a semi-transparent force pushing onto the successor, and the successor released his blood Aura in defense. However, another green-haired Assassin raised his gun, and a couple of white bombs were shot towards the successor. With the force upon him, the successor only barely managed to dodge the bombs.


    Yizhou suddenly noticed those white bombs could actually turn. When the successor dodged them, they immediately turned around to attack again. This time, however, the successor did not manage to dodge one of them. The bomb pierced the blood Aura, and a bloodied hole appeared on the successor¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°A Knight is coming! Daylight, go handle him.¡± The green-haired Assassin yelled loudly.


    ¡®Daylight?¡¯ Yizhou recognized the name. Wasn¡¯t he a student in the Aklan School of Knights? Indeed, he recognized this blue-haired Knight to be the same person as one of the successor¡¯s companions. So why would he be here to Assassinate the successor?


    Yizhou didn¡¯t have time to think. He suddenly noticed, despite the fact that this Knight was still wearing a blue-lined Knight¡¯s uniform, his power level was nowhere comparable to a Blue Knight¡­


    His strength was immense, and he continuously attacked and defended at the same time. Yizhou suddenly realized, Daylight¡¯s pike was dancing around in a perfect circle. While he was attacking, he was also defending. What kind of pike technique was this? He had never seen anything like it¡­


    Yizhou would never think for a moment he would lose to Daylight. The fight he had with Daylight before was unfair, and he believed he was no worse than Daylight, so why was he having a hard time handling Daylight now¡­ He ignited his unyielding spirit, and completely released his Silver Aura. His attacks suddenly had increased strength.


    Daylight¡¯s eyes still looked as determined as ever. A warm and comforting light was emitted from his body. The fluent circles kept attacking and defending, and not even a drop of water could pass through. It was just like Daylight¡¯s personality ¡ª though not sharp, but every step he took was firm and steady.


    White Aura! The Aura unique to the Paladin actually appeared on Daylight¡¯s body!


    ¡°How is that possible?!¡±


    Yizhou yelled in surprise. With the lapse of his concentration, Daylight¡¯s pike accurately landed on his abdomen, then another hit landed on his chin. Yizhou grunted, and he felt dizzy. The Water Dragon realized his master¡¯s disadvantage, and quickly flew away from the Fire Dragon.


    Yizhou shook his head, trying to shake off the daze. He suddenly remembered, he was here to rescue the successor. He immediately looked in the successor¡¯s direction, but he saw something that made his heart tremor: the successor was bound by materialized gravity, and the white fireballs were hitting him mercilessly. Though he had a Blood Aura in his defense, but the piercing abilities of the fireballs were horrific. They forced through his aura, and created blood fountains everywhere they hit.


    ¡°Sorry! This is the only way to take you away.¡± The green-haired youth looked quite pained. He practically said the words after taking several deep breaths.


    The successor didn¡¯t answer, and he was using his Blood Aura to resist the pressure coming from the gold-haired man. But when he was being flanked on both sides, and his wounds were increasingly severe, losing was just a matter of time.


    Yizhou knew, he had no chance of rescuing the successor by himself. He couldn¡¯t even handle just Daylight. He commanded the Water Dragon to fly towards the battlefield. He must attract other Knights¡¯ attention onto the successor¡­


    However, when he turned back around, he noticed a Fiery Dragon with a Knight in white uniform slowly descending in front of him. Yizhou could tell, based on Daylight¡¯s determination, he couldn¡¯t possibly get through.


    Yizhou¡¯s face sank. He asked with a lowered voice, ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing? You¡¯re attacking the successor of the Dragon Empire.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Daylight refuted loudly, ¡°He¡¯s not any successor. He¡¯s our companion, Liola.¡±


    Yizhou froze a bit, but he didn¡¯t know how to respond. If he¡¯s their companion, why would they be attacking him? Confused, Yizhou felt like something was wrong, but as the successor¡¯s immediate Knight, his only choice was raise his weapon to protect his Prince.


    Daylight raised his pike again. The duel between the two Knights was again in motion. This wasn¡¯t the first time they fought. The last time they did was for their own academy, and this time was for the same person. Different names, but the same person nevertheless: his Prince, and his companion.


    Daylight held tighter to his pike. This time, he decided to be the one to attack. Flames seemed to have sensed its master¡¯s determination, and it quickly charged. When it was just about to collide with the Water Dragon¡­


    A solemn yell could suddenly be heard. It was enough to cause the earth to tremble, which revealed how powerful the source of the voice was.


    ¡°The Knights of the Dragon Empire! What are you doing? Can¡¯t you see your Prince is under attack?¡±


    The Knights who were focused on killing suddenly paused. They all instinctively looked towards the place where the successor was. Their faces instantly turned pale as they saw the successor being flanked by two people, and he was seriously injured with blood dripping from his body. He was also under heavy pressure with many white bombs circling him, and they looked like they were about to attack at anytime.


    And this angry voice came from the person in the air; he was riding a white unicorn, with the title of all Knights¡¯ role model ¡ª the Paladin Lancelot.


    Lancelot mercilessly glanced at the Knights, then immediately turned to rescue the successor. The unicorn quickly flew towards the successor.


    Yizhou finally relaxed. With the Paladin here, and successor¡¯s own incredible strength, the successor¡¯s safety shouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore. Yizhou looked towards Daylight, because now, he thought, he could give his all in a duel without having to worry about the successor¡¯s safety¡­


    Daylight looked up towards the Paladin. Without any hesitation, the Fire Dragon flew towards the Paladin.


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?¡±


    Yizhou yelled. Daylight simply turned and smile, then said, ¡°We¡¯ll have our fight some other time.¡±


    ¡°You really plan on fighting with him?¡± Yizhou paused, then said, ¡°You know¡­ that is the Paladin, right? You can¡¯t possibly win.¡±


    The Paladin was one whom all the Knights looked up to. Never mind fighting with him, even having a friendly spar with him was considered an idiotic act¡­ Wasn¡¯t this common knowledge among all the Knights? Why would this Knight charge up to him without any hesitation?


    At this time, the fiery Dragon had already left with its master, and the only words left behinds were, ¡°I never thought about winning, as long as I can hold him off, for my companion¡­¡±


    ¡®For his companion¡­¡¯ Yizhou looked towards the successor, and he understood it wasn¡¯t a fight he could join. He could only quietly watch and observe. What exactly was companionship¡­ Could it have been more important than a Knight¡¯s loyalty to his superior?


    The Fiery Dragon was flying practically at its limit, and it appeared in front the unicorn in an instant, which caused the unicorn to panic as it tried to stop. When it realized it was a Dragon in its path, the unicorn, which was even more prideful than Dragons, let out an angry cry, and its crisp sounds of anger roared through the skies.


    Lancelot was visibly surprised, because of both the fact that someone was blocking his way, which he thought only Blood Wolf would do something like that as a prank, and the person blocking him was a familiar face who had, in the short timespan of a year, attained the Aura unique to him.


    Indeed, this Aura belonged to only Daylight. Lancelot clearly knew, this wasn¡¯t like his Aura. What was different was that, if Lancelot¡¯s white Aura was a blinding sun, then Daylight¡¯s white Aura was more like comfortable sun under which people would want to lie down for a sunbath.


    To someone like this, Lancelot¡¯s eyes were actually filled with appreciation, but Daylight¡¯s actions made it impossible for him to give him praise. His face sank and he yelled, ¡°Why are you attacking the successor? Didn¡¯t he used to be your companion?¡±


    Hearing this, a sense of pain flashed across Daylight¡¯s eyes. Be it him or Kaiser, could any of them want to hurt Liola like this? But with them being surrounded by Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights, other than seriously injuring him and taking him away, did they have any other choice?


    Daylight held his fist, and yelled loudly, ¡°Do you seriously not understand, Paladin?! Do you seriously think the Silver Moon now is the same person as Liola before? Are your eyes completely blinded that you can¡¯t see Liola¡¯s changes? He had already turned into the thing you hated the most ¡ª an Assassin!¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s body shook. How could he not have known? But¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can shake my resolve! As a Knight of the Dragon Empire¡¯s Royal Family, I will not allow you to continue your offenses against the successor.¡± Lancelot yelled loudly, but no one knew if the words about his resolve was aimed at himself or Daylight.


    Daylight held his pike tightly. He didn¡¯t think his powers were enough to defeat the Paladin, but even if it were to cost his life, he would use his body to stop the enemy for his companions. Having never served the Dragon Empire Royalty, this was Daylight¡¯s own way of the Knight!


    ¡°This is bad¡­ Why didn¡¯t you guys act faster? Lancelot and I are both here, and you guys still aren¡¯t done?¡±


    A lazy voice could be heard from the other side, but his actions were vague at all. The Dark Knight¡¯s legendary black pike was already in his hands, and the giant black wolf under him was also showing its teeth, ready to attack.


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Kaiser growled. Liola wasn¡¯t far from collapsing, and they would¡¯ve been able to take Liola away in a moment¡­ But now the two rank-X Knights appeared, and all the Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights also realized the situation. If they don¡¯t run now, he thought they could then go have a free lunch in the Dragon Empire jail. Or worse, they could go see how the death sentence was carried out in the Dragon Empire.


    ¡°Daylight! Come quick!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly.


    Daylight turned to look, and saw the Dark Knight arriving. Now, he knew the plan couldn¡¯t be continued. His eyes turned towards Liola, and saw him covered in blood¡­


    ¡®Ah! I¡¯m really sorry, turning you like this, but still not being able to take you away.¡¯ Daylight¡¯s eyes were apologetic.


    Daylight gazed at Liola, and realized his silver eyes were looking at Kaiser with a bit of coldness. He sensed something wrong, and he wanted to say something to remind Kaiser, but a red light already exploded without any warning. Daylight¡¯s heart tightened, and immediately flew towards Kaiser.


    However, Liola was faster, and the black figure had already reached Kaiser, with Broken Silver shining a silver light mercilessly¡­


    In that instant, Kaiser knew he couldn¡¯t have used any magic to save him¡­ no, perhaps one magic can!


    ¡°Li-o-la!¡±


    There was no need for immense magical abilities, or anything else. This magic was simply a name. Kaiser knew, to the Assassin, this magic was more terrifying than anything else. He didn¡¯t believe he would completely abandon this name.


    Silver Moon¡¯s body froze, and he said, word by word, ¡°I am Silver Moon.¡±


    ¡°You idiot! Silver crap is more like it. Why are you changing your name? Liola is Liola!¡± Kaiser snapped, though he wasn¡¯t confident whether Liola would really stop his attack, but he may never get this chance again. He forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart, and talked to Silver Moon like how he acted around Liola back then.


    Silver Moon¡¯s body trembled. The emotionless silver eyes were now filled with anger. He yelled back, ¡°I am Silver Moon, Silver Moon!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Liola! Liola!¡± As if trying to compete to see who could yell louder, Kaiser used every last bit of strength he had to yell as loud as he could.


    After he yelled, everything went quiet. The Knights didn¡¯t know what was going on. Why would the Assassin and the successor be arguing? This was not right¡­


    ¡°Oh! Right, Liola, I almost forgot, Meinan asked me to tell you something.¡±


    Blood Wolf showed the smile of a ruffian, and Lancelot raised his eyebrows, but still didn¡¯t say anything. He already knew his old friend had the weird habit of helping their enemies, and he would never change no matter what he said. Luckily, Lancelot¡¯s personality was rather righteous, so he didn¡¯t think there was anything that couldn¡¯t be said.


    Silver Moon turned, and emotionlessly looked at Blood Wolf, as if he was trying to convey his lack of interest. Blood Wolf smiled, and said straightforwardly, ¡°Meinan said, he doesn¡¯t blame you, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Such a short phrase, without any sort of moving tone or atmosphere, and Blood Wolf even said it like a ruffian, but it was enough to make Silver Moon completely freeze. Meinan¡­ doesn¡¯t blame him? Was that possible?


    ¡°Meinan, he, he¡¯s not mad¡­? Qiusi¡­¡± Liola raised his head, and asked with some difficulty.


    ¡°That guy is lying on a bed, sleeping his ass off, and just waiting for you to go wake him.¡± Kaiser interrupted Liola, and quickly explained Qiusi¡¯s situation.


    ¡°Qiusi¡­ Meinan¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Silver Moon¡¯s body began to tremble, and Broken Silver landed on the ground with a crisp clang.

 Volume 11, 3: Shadow of Death

    Volume 11, Chapter 3: Shadow of Death


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Why are you sorry? It¡¯s not your fault.¡±


    Seeing Liola returning to his old self, Kaiser felt a bit relaxed. Their mission might be a success. Even if there were thousands of Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights present, who would dare to defy the successor¡¯s orders?


    ¡°Kaiser¡­ thank you for coming to rescue me.¡±


    ¡°Why are you thanking us? When have you turned so mushy¡­?¡± Kaiser hesitated. Right! Liola never did something this sentimental! This wasn¡¯t him¡­


    Kaiser was surprised. When he raised his head once again, the heartless and emotionless silver eyes were already in front of him, and Silver Moon¡¯s right hand was already emitting a red light. It was about to collide onto Kaiser¡¯s body¡­


    Kaiser yelled in panic, ¡°Anise would be heartbroken!¡±


    Silver Moon paused briefly, but then his right hand still headed towards Kaiser. This gave Kaiser just enough of a window to use a short-distance teleport to move to Mizerui. Silver Moon¡¯s hand missed, but the ground now had a giant crater on it. With the smoke coming out of it, nobody could tell how deep the crater actually was¡­


    Seeing this, Kaiser¡¯s face went a bit pale. He asked in disbelief, ¡°Do you really plan on killing me, Liola?¡±


    Silver Moon didn¡¯t respond at all. He slowly turned, and gave orders, ¡°Paladin, Dark Knight! As the successor, I command you, catch Mizerui alive; as for anyone else, KILL-AT-WILL!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    The two Knights heard the successor, immediately answered solemnly, and began to move. The two had been good friends for years, so cooperation between them was naturally very good. They charged at Mizerui. Catching someone alive was obviously harder than killing them, especially when Mizerui¡¯s powers were above them, so capturing Mizerui was definitely the first thing they should do.


    Kaiser¡¯s face turned even more pale. At first, with Mizerui¡¯s presence, he thought even if they failed, they could at least get away. However, now he was being harassed by two X-ranked Knights. He might not even be able to save himself, let alone protecting him or Daylight.


    ¡°Run!¡± Mizerui yelled immediately.


    Kaiser¡¯s heart tightened, and he looked at Daylight from afar, ¡°No, Daylight¡­¡±


    Seeing two Knights charging at him, Mizerui said angrily, ¡°Damn, just leave first!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s lips pouted, and flew a few meters back, leaving the burden of stopping the two Knights to Mizerui. He began to chant a teleportation spell, and his body slowly began to disappear¡­


    Daylight frowned. He wasn¡¯t sure what he should be doing; should he be helping Mizerui, or using the opportunity to run?


    Silver Moon didn¡¯t give Daylight any time to think. After seeing the two Knights went to surround Mizerui, he immediately charged at Daylight. He held his Broken Silver tightly. Despite having sustained quite a number of injuries, they would not obstruct his movements.


    ¡®Flames, could you out-fly Baolilong?¡¯


    It was impossible. Baolilong was too fast. In the air, no living creature could possibly out-fly it.


    The only thing left was to fight. Daylight tried to prepare his mind to it. Even if his powers were already no match for Liola¡¯s, and even if there were thousands of Knights surrounding him, Daylight had no plan on giving up.


    As soon as he raised the pike in his hand, Silver Moon drew nearer, but Daylight suddenly felt the air around him had change¡­


    ¡°Kaiser?¡±


    ¡°Duh! Do you really think I would abandon you and run?¡± Kaiser suddenly appeared behind Daylight. He snapped, but then immediately added, ¡°Ah ah! Silver Moon is almost here. Quick, hold him off for now while I channel a teleport.¡±


    Daylight turned around, but suddenly realized¡­ his body couldn¡¯t move at all! He was in shock, and he wanted to warn Kaiser, but his lips couldn¡¯t move. All he could do was think in panic, how could it be?


    ¡®Flames! Hurry and fly away! I can¡¯t move.¡¯


    ¡®Master¡­ I can¡¯t move either.¡¯


    Kaiser chanted, but he saw Daylight standing still without moving an inch, while Silver Moon was charging at him¡­ The channel could not be stopped, or they would both be dead, but Daylight¡­


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Daylight could finally make a noise, but by then, Broken Silver had already pierce through to the back of his chest. Warm blood spilled out onto Kaiser¡¯s face. Kaiser widened his eyes, but Kaiser¡¯s channel didn¡¯t stop, nor could it stop.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you block?¡±


    Silver Moon looked even more surprised than Daylight. He froze, and he looked at Broken Silver, with only its handle visible.


    ¡°Hmm, for some reason, I couldn¡¯t move just now.¡± Daylight smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, I let you hurt me.¡±


    Silver Moon¡¯s hand shook. This situation was actually quite similar to what happened with Qiusi¡­ should he pull Broken Silver out, or not?


    Kaiser finally finished his channel. He reached out and grabbed Daylight. Naturally, Broken Silver left Daylight¡¯s chest. Another similar scene happened: Daylight¡¯s blood rained towards Silver Moon much like Qiusi¡¯s before. The teleport then activated, and the two people and the Dragon began to fade in the air.


    There was still time to stop them¡­ Silver Moon¡¯s battle instincts told him as such.


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Daylight smiled and said, ¡°I forgot to tell you. I don¡¯t blame you either. Come back soon, Liola.¡±


    Silver Moon didn¡¯t move. He quietly watched as the two disappear. But what wouldn¡¯t disappear, was the blood of his companion covering his body.


    ¡®Why do they all not blame me?¡¯


    ¡®Why would they wait for me, whose hands are stained in blood? I¡¯ve already hurt too many¡­ How many more must I hurt before it¡¯s enough?¡¯


    Two streams of tears rolled down his face. Silver Moon roared into the sky, ¡°Why¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°Kill!¡± The tears rolled out of cold eyes, rolling past the face that was once again emotionless. Exploding with a blood Aura, Silver Moon gave commands to his Dragon, ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±


    Baolilong was surprised. The command was far too vague, and it didn¡¯t say who to kill¡­ Baolilong pouted, and flew towards the fleeing lesser-Dragons below.


    Before reaching where the lesser-Dragons were, the Blood Aura had already impatiently extended out. Like a fatal poison, everywhere it reached, death followed. The lesser-Dragons cried as they continued to run desperately, trying to escape this fatal God of Death, but they couldn¡¯t possibly outrun the king of the skies ¡ª Sacred White Dragon.


    The Knights stared blankly as their successor chase and kill thousands of lesser-Dragons. The Broken Silver in his hand was obviously no longer than half a meter, but the silver light coming off of it reached several meters. With every swing, a few lesser-Dragons were diced up into pieces. It was even more brutal than the Knights in their earlier slaughter. This made the Knights feel cold in their hearts. They then stopped to think, did their faces looked this blood-lust before?


    Seeing the successor chasing and killing lesser-Dragons, Yizhou frowned. His earlier negligence now made him unwilling to leave the successor¡¯s side. However, despite how much his Water Dragon tried, they could not catch up to the successor in his killing frenzy. They could only keep up a dozen or so meters behind him, but this was enough for Yizhou to see the successor¡¯s situation.


    ¡®Why are you killing with tears rolling down your face, successor?¡¯


    * * *


    ¡°That was quite dangerous.¡±


    In the air not far away from the Aklan capital, the Dragon Emperor held his hands on his back, and said leisurely with a laugh.


    Hearing the dissatisfaction in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s words, Idojin tried to catch his breath as he responded, ¡°I deserve to die; I let the successor break free of control back there.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor smiled for a while, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. If it weren¡¯t for Blood Wolf¡¯s message, the successor wouldn¡¯t have broken free of control. Fortunately, we predicted Mizerui would never let this opportunity to take the successor away pass, so we were waiting on the side¡­ Otherwise, I might have lost a great successor, but now, haha, we¡¯ve hit multiple birds with one stone. We will conquer Aklan, catch Mizerui, and got the successor to hurt another one of his companions.¡±


    Idojin quietly waited for the Dragon Emperor to stop laughing before he asked, ¡°Your Highness, the successor¡¯s personality seemed to have changed, and now his killing intent is immense. Should we order him to stop killing?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor threw a look at Silver Moon. After being silent for a while, he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, let him go kill. The more he kills, the harder it would be for him to turn back. It just so happened that an all out war is drawing near. Caffey¡¯s loving image isn¡¯t suitable for war, so it is time to change the Dragon Emperor¡¯s image, to reassert the dominance of the Dragon Emperor in the Knights¡¯ hearts Their performance today was terrible.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Idojin courteously bowed.


    The Dragon Emperor looked down; the lone Sorcerer seemed to be crumbling under the siege from the two legendary Knights. Who knew such a lawless Sorcerer would end up like this? The Dragon Emperor reached out his hand to cover the smile on his face, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to go have a talk with Mocha. Idojin, head back.¡±


    Idojin followed orders and activated a magic circle, knowing the Dragon Emperor¡¯s destination was the Eldest Prince¡¯s tower. He opened the circle to a place near the tower, then stepped into the circle. As soon as they did, the strange atmosphere of the tower surrounded them. The Astronomy Tower was already strange before, but now it looked like the living quarters of Satan with its gloom and darkness.


    Despite the strange atmosphere, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t seem to mind. He said lightly, ¡°With everything happening now, child, do you still not want to talk to father?¡±


    Strangely, as soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding strange atmosphere suddenly felt like it froze. This suffocating sense of freezing maintained there for a few minutes, then in an instant, it completely dissipated, much like a stormy skies suddenly turned completely clear.


    Seeing this, the Dragon Emperor put on a triumphant smile. He gestured towards Idojin to tell him to stay, and walked alone into the tower. When he saw the strange graffiti on the wall, his eyes were filled with greed. He refrained the desire in his heart, and continued to walk up, until he saw the skies once again, and the Prince dressed in robe with his back towards him.


    ¡°Long time no see, my child.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled faintly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, I am not worthy of it, Your Highness.¡± Mocha didn¡¯t appreciate it even slightly. His tone was cold, unlike that of a child towards his own father.


    A sense of coldness flashed across the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes, but he then immediately returned to normal. He said as though he didn¡¯t care, ¡°Child, you seemed to have gotten yourself a bad friend. Mizerui dared to work with bandits, and they tried to kill your younger brother. Luckily, the Paladin and the Dark Knight both arrived in time, and prevented a tragedy.¡±


    Hearing the Dragon Emperor say this, Mocha obviously wouldn¡¯t believe the superficial meaning of these words. He was quiet for a bit, then said, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Future.¡± The Dragon Emperor practically answered emotionally, but then immediately went back to his previously elegant posture, ¡°Child, are you still unwilling to predict the future for your father?¡±


    Hearing this, Mocha slowly stood up. He turned around, with pity on his face, ¡°The future you don¡¯t have? Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Stop, I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re father or the Dragon Emperor.¡± Mocha looked sadly at the father who was no longer a father.


    ¡°I can see, the path to your future has nothing but endless sorrow and pain, just like the path you¡¯ve paved up to this point. The shadow of death covers the path ahead of you, with endless regret and tears¡­¡±


    Mocha stopped, with refrain and pain on his face. He sighed, and practically begged, ¡°Please stop, father, please. Death is already too near, and it¡¯s covering the person even you wouldn¡¯t want to send to hell¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor yelled loudly, losing his elegant presence. His face was almost turning blue, and the good mood he had for what happened before had now dissipated. His chest rose and fell with anger, and his body trembled. He had to hold his fists tightly to suppress the anger in his heart.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can be imprudent simply because I¡¯ve tolerated you over the years!¡±


    Hearing this, Mocha sighed quietly. His words of persuasion hadn¡¯t worked for hundreds of years, so why would it work now the situation was advantageous to the Dragon Emperor? He could only do what he could, to save those whom can be saved, and the ones he cared. However, his hard work¡­ with the tragedy of his younger brother, Mocha couldn¡¯t help but ask himself: in all these years of his hard work, who did he really save?


    ¡°Child, are you still unwilling to predict for your father?¡±


    Saying this, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s face was now completely purple, and the killing intent in his heart had risen. Though Mocha¡¯s ability to foretell the future was indeed very useful to him, but in the years past, he hadn¡¯t given the Dragon Emperor a single prediction. The Dragon Emperor had long wished to rid of him. The only true reason he hadn¡¯t killed Mocha was simply to leave a backup body.


    Caffey didn¡¯t have many children, and not many successors could be chosen, especially when Latte wasn¡¯t truly Caffey¡¯s descendant. Though Lanski¡¯s talent for martial arts was quite high, but she¡¯s a girl. Not that the Dragon Emperor hated the girls, but the heart of the Dragon Emperor had been passed down from the body of a man, and he would naturally choose a man to succeed him.


    Before Liola¡¯s appearance, the only successor to the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart was Mocha and Cappuccino. Cappuccino had always acted like a wild horse since birth. Even if he were to suddenly hear about Cappuccino¡¯s death, the Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t find it strange. Under a such situations, to ensure there would be a successor, naturally Mocha couldn¡¯t be killed.


    However, there was Silver Moon now. A powerful, cold, yet obedient puppet. If Mocha wouldn¡¯t predict the future for the Dragon Emperor, then he would be useless!


    Mocha put up his guard as he and the Dragon Emperor looked at one another. The former seemed to have realized the latter¡¯s intent. After thinking briefly, Mocha said, ¡°Understood. Let Mizerui go, and I will predict the future for you.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s irises shrank. He didn¡¯t know if Mocha was trying to fool him, since the content of the prediction depended on no one but Mocha. Even if he¡¯s lying, the Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t know.


    ¡°However, my predictions won¡¯t just be things you want to hear, and they will only be truths. Truths are often hard to swallow, so you must promise me, no matter what my prediction is, you wouldn¡¯t kill Mizerui out of anger¡­ or me.¡± Mocha carefully added him. The Dragon Emperor had never displayed such obvious intent to kill, but the situation now was obviously different.


    Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s doubts mostly went away. He thought briefly, then nodded.


    Without saying another word, Mocha crossed his legs and sat down. The magic circle drawn on the ground began to emit a faint purple glow, which made Mocha¡¯s figure blurry. At this time, like the Dragon Emperor, he had his eyes only half opened. If one were to look closely, they would see something strange: the images reflected in his eyes were completely different than the surroundings. Despite the fact that Mocha¡¯s eyes remained still, the images reflected off them were quickly scrolling.


    The Dragon Emperor waited quietly while staring at Mocha¡¯s eyes, but he was unable to see the images reflected off it. Nevertheless, the Dragon Emperor knew Mocha was indeed performing his prediction. As such, greed had once again filled his eyes. Knowing the future¡­ was more precious and hard to get than anything else.


    As he looked, the Dragon Emperor suddenly noticed, pain began to surface on Mocha¡¯s face. At first, he locked his eyebrows, and then his whole body began to tremble. After that, two streams of tears actually rolled down¡­ As far as he could remember, the calm and quiet Eldest Prince had never lost it like he had now. At that moment, the Dragon Emperor actually didn¡¯t know what he should do.


    ¡°No!¡±


    With a heartfelt roar, Mocha jumped up. At this time, his face was covered in tears, and both of his hands held tightly to the clothes in front of his chest, as though his heart would¡¯ve beaten out of his chest had he not done so.


    ¡°Mocha?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor called out hesitantly. Though he thought of the possibility Mocha was perhaps faking it, but the Dragon Emperor knew the Eldest Prince was way too prideful. Back then, he¡¯d rather separate himself from the world and live alone, than to serve the Dragon Emperor who was no longer Caffey. Would such a prideful Prince now act to the point of endless tears? Even the Dragon Emperor found this hard to believe.


    Mocha¡¯s hands were still trembling as they held on, but his face seemed to have gradually calmed down. He slowly relaxed his hands, then smiled weakly, ¡°Sorry, I lost it. Fortune telling is something rather unstable. Sometimes I would see things I don¡¯t want to see.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor remained silent. Fortune telling wasn¡¯t something common, especially for someone as powerful as Mocha. Even if there may be one better later on, he had far surpassed any fortune tellers before him. Therefore, the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t judge his words.


    ¡°My prediction remains the same; you will be killed by your son.¡± Mocha said lightly.


    The Dragon Emperor laughed coldly and said, ¡°Every Dragon Emperor was killed by his son. You know that¡¯s not what I want to hear.¡±


    ¡°After you, the power of the Dragon Emperor would reach an unprecedented peak.¡± Mocha said calmly.


    Hearing this, even the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t refrain from quicker breaths. Mocha had never said such a clear prediction, but his mind was still uncertain. With a forceful tone, he asked, ¡°Be clear! What do you mean an unprecedented peak?¡±


    Mocha forced a smile, ¡°The thing you wanted, the whole world.¡±


    If Mocha said this before he lost it, the Dragon Emperor would most likely doubt it, but seeing Mocha looking like he nearly crumbled, the Dragon Emperor actually believed this prediction. He couldn¡¯t refrain the happiness in his heart, and he began to laugh into the sky, with the word ¡°finally¡± repeated between laughs.


    Hearing such a clear answer, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t care about Mocha any more. While laughing, he turned to leave without any desire to stay. Knowing the result, he couldn¡¯t wait to finish the journey to get to the end, nor did he want to waste any more time on such an useless Prince.


    The Dragon Emperor left, and only a lonesome figure remained atop of the tower. Mocha laughed, almost mockingly, and said, ¡°But the way won¡¯t be something you like.¡±


    Mocha stood still for a while, and then began to walk down the stairs. When he walked near the door, he stopped, and looked at the pictures on the wall; it was a doll with an X on it. Mocha reached out his hand to touch the picture, and his face was filled with loss and helplessness. If Mizerui were here, he would know this expression was the same one he had on when he was deciding whether he was going to speak out about the fortune of his brother killing his father.


    No one knew what Mocha was thinking about. As he looked, a drop of tear fell off his face.


    * * *


    ¡°Brother! Where are you? Brother¡ª Ah!¡±


    Hurrying like the wind, Lanski barged into the Astronomy Tower. She climbed the first set of stairs she saw, but she didn¡¯t expect her eldest brother, Mocha, would be standing only a few steps away from the bottom. When she noticed, it was already too late for her to stop. Jasmine, who was running in behind her, didn¡¯t know what was happening, and ran straight into Lanski. It caused Lanski to collide with her brother like a cannon ball. Because Mocha didn¡¯t think this would happen either, he didn¡¯t have enough time to react. All three of them formed one ¡°body¡± and rolled down the few steps of stairs.


    ¡°Ah! It hurts.¡± Jasmine was the first to rub her shoulder that hit the ground. She got up halfway, and looked towards Lanski with blame.


    Lanski also fell heavily onto the ground, scratching her arm in the process. As soon as she got up, she saw Jasmine¡¯s blaming eyes. She said timidly, ¡°I didn¡¯t think someone was on the stairs.¡±


    ¡°Someone?¡± Jasmine suddenly realized that, below her butt¡­ it was rather soft; it didn¡¯t seem like the floor?


    When she lowered her head, her eyes collided with a pair of purple irises. Reflectively, Jasmine jumped up and yelled loudly, ¡°Sorry, Dragon Emperor, Your Highness! I didn¡¯t intentionally sit on you like a cushion!¡±


    ¡°Father?¡±


    Lanski also lowered her head to look. Coincidentally, the person below was struggling to get up. Their faces were no more than a dozen centimeters apart, but she couldn¡¯t really see his face entirely. She did, however, see the purple irises clearly. She then also jumped up, and yelled in shock, ¡°Sorry! Father, I didn¡¯t know you were here.¡±


    Mocha didn¡¯t know how to react. Not everyone with purple eyes was the Dragon Emperor, okay? His hair color was obviously far different: one was black and another was silver. These girls were thoroughly confused to mix the two.


    ¡°Look closer, I¡¯m not father.¡± Mocha stood up, and said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jasmine, who had instinctively bowed her head in fake respect, immediate raised her head. She saw a face and eyes much like the Dragon Emperor, but his hair was black, unlike the Dragon Emperor¡¯s shiny silver hair.


    Jasmine widened her eyes and stared. She then realized the person was the eldest brother, Mocha, whom she had seen only a handful of times. Since they had already drifted apart, and she had caused him to fall down the stairs after seeing, she didn¡¯t know what to do or what to say.


    ¡°The Eldest Prince looks quite like the Dragon Emperor, no wonder you are father and son.¡± Jasmine sighed. If Mocha had a head of silver hair, they would¡¯ve looked like twins.


    Mocha smiled. He couldn¡¯t help but remember the time when he had stood with Caffey, many of them thought he was the Dragon Emperor, and Caffey was his son. It wasn¡¯t something he could do; Caffey¡¯s expressions were always naive, which was quite unfitting for the ruler of an Empire.


    Every time it happened, Caffey would scratch his face, and say with a smile that he was the Dragon Emperor. Then, the person commenting would always reply with, ¡°Aiya! The Eldest Prince look too much like the Dragon Emperor, and we can¡¯t tell the difference¡­¡±


    It was full of crap. Just the difference in hair could would¡¯ve allowed people to distinguish them. Mocha couldn¡¯t help but laugh; his father had always acted like a child, and at the time, he actually complained about this quite often. Now,¡­ no matter he wanted to see Caffey¡¯s confused expressions, he would never get the chance.


    ¡°Brother?¡±, ¡°Your Highness?¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine glanced at each other. They were both confused as to why the Prince was laughing and then sighing.


    Hearing the two girls calling out to him, Mocha finally put away his nostalgia. He withdrew his facial expression, and asked solemnly, ¡°What brought you two to the Astronomy Tower?¡±


    Seeing Mocha¡¯s solemn look, Lanski also straightened her look, and said seriously, ¡°Brother, I just saw Mizerui being held captive by the Paladin and Dark Knight.¡±


    Though he had already known Mizerui had fallen into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands, Mocha still sighed again regardless. He turned and walked up the steps, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    The two girls looked at one another in shock. They had originally thought Mocha would be surprised by this news. With their skepticisms, they had no choice but to follow Mocha up the stairs.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jasmine suddenly turned. Looking at the graffiti on the wall, she asked with confusion, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Lanski? Why is there an X on it?¡±


    Hearing this, Mocha, who was walking in the front, paused. Lanski stopped and turned to look. There was indeed a doll with an X over it, but the doll¡¯s shape was simple, so how could Jasmine tell it was her? Lanski asked Jasmine skeptically, ¡°Is that me? I can¡¯t really tell.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely you. Look,¡± Jasmine pointed at the bowtie belt on the doll, ¡°This was the belt I gave to you as a gift on your twelfth birthday. At the time, you really liked it, and you wore it everyday. Look, there is a small star on either side of the bowtie. It was the belt I gave you, and I¡¯m sure this is the one.¡±


    Lanski stopped and pondered a bit, remembering that this was indeed correct and there was a belt like this. It means, this doll did indeed represent her, but why would there be a drawing of her on the walls of the Astronomy Tower?


    ¡°Huh? Is this Liola¡¯s Broken Silver?¡± Jasmine ran up a few more steps. With her mind always on Liola, she immediately noticed another picture.


    Jasmine brushed her hand over the walls, and a large amount of dust collected on her fingers. She said after a pause, ¡°These pictures don¡¯t look like they¡¯re new¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop looking!¡±


    Mocha suddenly grabbed ahold of Lanski head, which made her jump. She then looked blankly at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at those things any more¡­¡± Mocha said with a bit of a tremble, ¡°You are here because of Liola, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Lanski looked at Mocha with hesitation. After all, he was the person who predicted Liola would kill their father. She wasn¡¯t certain if Mocha would help Liola at all.


    Mocha was silent for a while. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with sadness. He lightly touched his sister¡¯s soft hair, and asked tentatively, ¡°If I ask you to not mind this anymore, would you be willing to?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Lanski¡¯s eyes widened, and answered immediately.


    ¡°Prince Mocha, what do you mean by that?¡± Jasmine immediately asked. She felt something was wrong. The crossed out doll gave her a very ominous feeling.


    Mocha looked down again, then turned. He said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m asking you two to forget about this. This whole thing always had nothing to do with you two.¡±


    Lanski immediately refuted loudly, ¡°Liola is our brother! How can you say it has nothing to do with us? Brother, can you really not care about your own brother at all?¡±


    ¡°Of course I care about him!¡± Mocha suddenly turned and replied angrily, ¡°But I¡¯m more worried about you, my sister! I will not exchange your life for Liola¡¯s!¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine both widened their eyes, not sure of what Mocha mean. After a long while, Lanski grabbed Mocha¡¯s hand. A pair of blue eyes stared directly at her brother, and she pleaded, ¡°Brother, please tell me. How can we wake Liola, and how can we save him?¡±


    As if he didn¡¯t expect her to act like this, and the blue eyes made him panic a slightly. Mocha wanted to try to break his hand free, however, Lanski grabbed it firmly and wouldn¡¯t let go. Mocha had to turn his head to avoid Lanski¡¯s eyes, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You do know.¡± Lanski pressed on.


    Jasmine suddenly interjected, ¡°Is it because Lanski may get into trouble if she continues to be involved?¡±


    Mocha¡¯s body froze as soon as Jasmine finished. She turned and looked at this girl. He remembered Jasmine as Lanski¡¯s best friend, and perhaps she could help him change the mind of his stubborn sister. He thought about it, then nodded his head and said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Would she¡­ die?¡± Jasmine asked with hesitation.


    Mocha was silent for a while, then answered again, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jasmine was now nervous. As much as she was worried about Liola, but if Lanski would die because of it¡­.


    ¡°What about Liola?¡± Lanski didn¡¯t seem to care about herself at all. She asked hurriedly, ¡°W-would my involvement help him at all?¡±


    Mocha froze, and said in disbelief, ¡°You will die, do you not understand that? You will die!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ then I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± Lanski smiled, ¡°No wonder you said you wouldn¡¯t exchange my life for Liola¡¯s.¡±


    The person knowing she would die wasn¡¯t worried, but the people around her were. This was indeed a typical example of eunuchs being more worried than the Emperor. Both Mocha and Jasmine both became nervous, and began to try to talk to Lanski out of it. No one would want to see anything bad befallen onto such a beautiful girl with a bright future.


    Lanski turned and looked at Jasmine, then asked, ¡°If you knew, you could save Liola, but you might die because of it, would you give it up?¡±


    Jasmine paused, and then she was silent. She knew, and Lanski also knew. No, she wouldn¡¯t have given up¡­ Just like how Lanski wouldn¡¯t give it up.


    ¡°Tell me, brother, even if you don¡¯t tell me, I will still go fumbling around, and perhaps it would be even worse?¡± Lanski glared with the blue eyes Cappuccino would¡¯ve named the ¡°most terrifying bio-weapon¡±, and continuously sent out pleading vibes towards her brother.


    Mocha was silent. This was yet another situation where he didn¡¯t know how to choose. This time¡­ No, not just this time, ever since Mocha gained the power of prediction, he had constantly been pulled into a constant dilemma: should he say it or not?


    ¡°Brother! Please, I promise I would pay close attention to my safety.¡± Lanski continued to plead.


    Mocha finally sighed, and left without turning his head.


    ¡°Go find Lancelot. Only he possess the capability to wake Liola.¡±


    Lanski hurriedly yelled, ¡°But the Paladin obeys father!¡±


    ¡°If Lancelot were to ¡®accidentally¡¯ press the Dragon Cross Necklace against his own forehead, then things might be a little different.¡±

 Volume 11, 4: Righteous Recovery

    Volume 11, Chapter 4: Righteous Recovery


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Lanski!¡± Jasmine lunged forward, and grabbed her good friend. The latter did stop, too, and stared with her big blue eyes back at Jasmine, already knew what the other was going to say.


    Nevertheless, Jasmine was still going to say it, ¡°Lanski, how about this, I¡¯ll go steal the Dragon Cross Necklace, while you find a way to put it on the Paladin¡¯s forehead. Just don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Jasmine.¡± Lanski said softly.


    Jasmine felt goosebumps on her skin. Lanski, in her gentle posture, was the hardest for Jasmine to handle, but this was a matter of her friend¡¯s life! How could she possibly standby and watch when Lanski¡¯s life was in danger, act as if she didn¡¯t know, and ask her to go save Liola?


    Lanski smiled, then grabbed the other girl¡¯s hand. She obviously knew Jasmine was worried about her. If the situation was reversed, and Jasmine became the person whose life was in danger, Lanski felt her reactions would¡¯ve been far more emotional. Perhaps she would¡¯ve knocked out Jasmine, then drag her into a prison cell. As such, Lanski knew, it was her duty to first convince her good friend.


    ¡°Jasmine, we both saw what Liola had become. If you have to look at Liola like that from this point on, would you not be willing?¡± Lanski asked softly.


    Jasmine was quiet. If she had been willing to do that, she wouldn¡¯t have grabbed Lanski and ran to the Astronomy Tower to see Mocha the moment she saw Mizerui being captured.


    ¡°You¡¯re not willing to, and neither am I.¡± Lanski continued firmly, ¡°If I have to watch the face of the person I love, but not see a strand of the expression I once knew, I¡¯d rather risk my life to return Liola to how he was before. And I believe, if you were the one in danger today, you would be even more determined, nor would you ever turn back, so you have no reason to stop me.¡±


    Hearing this, Jasmine¡¯s shoulders dropped. It was correct, it was precisely the reason why she didn¡¯t have any reason to stop Lanski. Knowing full well no words could stop her, Jasmine had no choice but let her good friend continue. Nevertheless, she did strangely insisted on one thing.


    ¡°Go find Cappuccino for help.¡± Jasmine said firmly.


    Lanski was actually quite surprised, ¡°I thought you always disliked my third brother?¡±


    Jasmine looked awkward for a moment, and explained, ¡°That was before, but now I realized Cappuccino doesn¡¯t seem as stupid, and instead, he seemed to know quite a few things. If we can get him to help, we should be able to avoid many dangers.¡±


    ¡°You are right.¡± Lanski nodded, ¡°Judging from what happened before, third brother really didn¡¯t seem as stupid as he looked¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. His brain is stupider than his looks.¡± Little Fireball poked its head out and said coldly.


    ¡°Can we not talk about idiot this, idiot that? Do I really look that stupid?¡± Cappuccino crouched in a corner while doodling on the ground.


    ¡°No, your looks are fine. At least the blood of the Dragon Emperor is helping you a bit.¡± Little Fireball held Cappuccino¡¯s face seriously and said, ¡°Unfortunately, lights of stupidity seep through your eyes, exposing the truth about your brain.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as light of stupidity¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh really? If it weren¡¯t for Mocha¡¯s warnings, you would¡¯ve dragged the Dragon Emperor to see beautiful girls, and then get KO¡¯d 100 times when he gets annoyed.¡± Little Fireball glared at Cappuccino.


    Cappuccino complained, ¡°How would I have known father suddenly changed? He used to only look at me and laugh, and he would never get angry¡­¡±


    ¡°Third brother!¡±


    Lanski widened her eyes, staring at the two who jumped out of nowhere. She couldn¡¯t believe they could just sit here and joke.


    ¡°Sister.¡± Cappuccino held a bitter face, and asked sadly, ¡°Do my eyes look really stupid?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Lanski hesitated. After a careful look, she did think they looked a bit stupid. But as his sister, she couldn¡¯t very well say her brother was stupid, right? She said tactfully, ¡°They don¡¯t look that stupid.¡±


    A light of hope emerged in Cappuccino¡¯s eyes, but then his own Fiery Dragon rained down on his parade, ¡°Not that stupid, still means fairly stupid.¡±


    Cappuccino fell to the ground, quietly crying.


    ¡°If you¡¯re still not willing to help save your own brother, then you would really be the stupidest person in history!¡± Jasmine crouched next to Cappuccino and said seriously.


    Cappuccino¡¯s body went rigid. He raised his head, and said bitterly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t want to save Liola, did you really think Little Fireball and I are here only to joke with you?¡±


    Jasmine asked back in shock, ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Nevermind. Little Fireball, let¡¯s go, since nobody thinks anything of us¡­¡± Cappuccino said in a depressed manner, and turned around to walk, with clouds glooming over him.


    ¡°What do you mean no one thinks anything of us! The author has always been thankful we were able to provide comic relief in tense situations¡­¡± Little Fireball said as it followed.


    ¡°Wait! Third brother, we need your help!¡± Lanski yelled anxiously.


    Though he had a depressed face and wanted to leave, but Cappuccino¡¯s was walking at the speed of ten ¡°meters¡± per hour. At same time, his ears were sharper even than the legendary Elf. As soon as the first syllable of Lanski¡¯s ¡°wait¡± was said, Cappuccino¡¯s right foot stopped in mid-air.


    And before she finished the word ¡°help¡±, Cappuccino had already zoomed back to his sister¡¯s side, with a face that said, ¡®I¡¯m a good brother, and I¡¯m willing to do anything for my baby sister.¡¯


    ¡°Sister! Just tell me, no matter what you ask me to do, I¡¯m willing to¡­¡±


    ¡°Go capture Lancelot?¡± Lanski¡¯s eyes glared with innocence.


    ¡®Did I hear this right? She¡¯s asking Cappuccino to go capture Lancelot? Or let Lancelot capture Cappuccino? It sounds like it should be the latter¡­¡¯ Little Fireball observed coldly.


    Cappuccino¡¯s smile froze, and asked to confirm, ¡°Who did you ask me to capture? Blood Wolf? No problem, I¡¯ll just put some drugs in his wine¡­¡±


    ¡°The Paladin.¡± Lanski said seriously.


    ¡°Huh? I think you made a mistake? You meant the Dark Knight, right?¡± Cappuccino still wouldn¡¯t let this go.


    ¡°Third brother!¡± Lanski yelled, slightly angry.


    Cappuccino¡¯s face turned bitter, and his voice trembling, ¡°S-sister! Lancelot, do you know what the word ¡°Lancelot¡± represents? He¡¯s a legendary Knight, the idol of all Knights! Other than our own father, he¡¯s probably the guy we don¡¯t want to mess with the most! D-do you want to see me spend the rest of my life in a wheel chair?¡±


    ¡°However, if we don¡¯t capture him, how would we press the Dragon Cross Necklace on his forehead?¡± Lanski was worried.


    Hearing this, Cappuccino didn¡¯t know whether he should laugh or cry, ¡°Sister! If you want to put the necklace against his forehead, we don¡¯t really have to tie him up, right? As stubborn as Lancelot may be, he is reasonable. It¡¯s more feasible to convince him. To capture him¡­ I think I have to train a few hundred more years before I can help you.¡±


    ¡®Might as well wait until Lancelot dies and capture his corpse. Capture him in person? Don¡¯t even think about it.¡¯ Little Fireball thought coldly.


    Cappuccino coughed loudly, then showed a determined look, ¡°That will be our plan! Let¡¯s go to brother¡¯s room and steal the necklace first.¡±


    It looked like he actually enjoyed doing something covert; Little Fireball slowly shook its head.


    * * *


    ¡°Lancelot, how about a drink?¡±


    Having sent his colleague Mizerui, who also served the royalty, into jail and giving him free prison food, Blood Wolf still acted like his usual carefree self. He laughed as he asked Lancelot to have a drink.


    Lancelot shook his head. He couldn¡¯t be as chic as Blood Wolf. Seeing Liola¡­ no, the now Silver Moon, the successor, and his strange actions, plus Daylight¡¯s words, all these made Lancelot sense something was wrong, but he had no idea what exactly the problem was.


    ¡°Blood Wolf, don¡¯t you think Silver Moon is completely different than before?¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s blue eyes stared at Blood Wolf. He had always known Blood Wolf knew about Silver Moon better than him, just that he had rarely asked.


    Blood Wolf raised his eyebrow, ¡°So what? No matter how he is, when he becomes the Dragon Emperor, we would all have to follow his orders. Unless you tell me, you would stop obeying the Dragon Emperor just because of his strange personalities?¡±


    Lancelot looked deeply at Blood Wolf, and said slowly, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit more than just a strange personality? Blood Wolf, you¡¯re hiding something from me.¡±


    Blood Wolf frowned, and joked, ¡°Of course, there are many things I¡¯ve hid from you. For example, a while ago, I got with a super hot girl, but I didn¡¯t tell you. Also, Cappuccino and I had a bet whether you¡¯re a briefs or a boxers kind of guy, and I never told you, but I lost the bet.¡±


    Despite Blood Wolf¡¯s ridiculous reply, Lancelot remained quiet, and his blue eyes still fixed on Blood Wolf. However, the latter was considerably more shameless, so all he did was looked back innocently.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you tell me?¡± Lancelot said with a bit of frustration. He was sure Blood Wolf knew of many things, but was simply unwilling to tell him.


    Hearing this, Blood Wolf laughed bitterly in his head. ¡®Lancelot, bro! Could I really just tell you that, in the past hundreds of years, you¡¯ve been fooled by the Dragon Emperor? If I did, I¡¯d either be slaughtered by the Dragon Emperor, or my old friend, you.¡¯


    Tsk! Blood Wolf deeply believed living shamelessly than dying honorably.


    Lancelot saw Blood Wolf kept his innocent look, and he knew there was nothing he could do to get Blood Wolf to spill the truth. Nevertheless, he was now even more certain, there was something he didn¡¯t know.


    Daylight, that young Knight, Lancelot could practically smell the righteousness coming off the young boy. So why would such a righteous Knight be on his opposing side? Righteousness had always been the opposite of evil, could it mean that he himself represented evil?


    No! This was something he would never allow to happen. He had to find out the truth. If Blood Wolf wouldn¡¯t tell him the truth, he might as well go look for Silver Moon.


    After deciding on it, Lancelot immediately turned to leave. Blood Wolf immediately grabbed him, and Lancelot surprisely turned while inquiring with his eyes. Blood Wolf asked helplessly, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°To go speak to Silver Moon.¡± Lancelot answered simply.


    ¡°Why would you go talk to him? He¡¯s still in Aklan continent, and we¡¯ve just returned from there. How about a drink with your old friend first?¡± Blood Wolf widened his eyes. Wouldn¡¯t speaking to Silver Moon be the same thing as talking to the Dragon Emperor? What a joke! Plus, even a blind person could tell, Silver Moon was in a craze¡­ In any case, he must stop him first.


    Lancelot ignored Blood Wolf. He summoned the unicorn and was about to go. He knew full well that his friend¡¯s mouth was quite powerful, so if he didn¡¯t want to be affected, the best way was to completely ignore him.


    Seeing Lancelot ignoring him, Blood Wolf was now anxious! The Dragon Emperor now obviously had a useful and obedient Knight as a son and, truthfully, he probably didn¡¯t care much about the Paladin now. Blood Wolf didn¡¯t wish to see his old friend turned into a ¡°person in the legends¡±, and then disappear from this world.


    Though the power of the Paladin wasn¡¯t to be underestimated, but the Dragon Emperor would never give him an honorable fight!


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    Lancelot paused, and he turned to look at Blood Wolf, with doubts on his face. Even Blood Wolf thought it was strange, he hadn¡¯t even said anything.


    ¡°Sir Paladin, please, wait a moment.¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine ran over while trying to catch their breaths. They saw the Paladin about to leave from afar, and they were also very anxious. Who knew when this Paladin would return if he were to leave?


    Lancelot¡¯s mind was full of questions now. He looked as the two girls ran to him. Truthfully, he was quite surprised; he had never had much interaction with the Princess, so why would she suddenly come to look for him? Though Lancelot was skeptical, he still got off the unicorn to wait for the Princess¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°Hold this for a moment.¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s eyes were fixed on Princess Lanski. When he heard this, his reached out his hands instinctively, but felt a burning pain on his hand. He immediately withdrew his head, and decided he was under attack. His white Aura exploded from his left hand as he attacked with it.


    However, a black Aura blocked him. Blood Wolf yelled anxiously, ¡°Wait! It¡¯s Cappuccino.¡±


    Lancelot paused. He looked over, and sure enough, it was Cappuccino with a pale face. It was obvious that, because the attack almost connected on him, he was deep in shock.


    ¡°Third Prince, why would you attack me?¡± Lancelot¡¯s lips were tight, and his face showed unhappiness. Even as a royalty, he shouldn¡¯t have attacked a Knight at his will.


    Cappuccino was now hiding behind Blood Wolf. With only half of his body showing, he quibbled, ¡°I didn¡¯t attack you, I just asked you to hold a necklace. See! The necklace is in Blood Wolf¡¯s hand, and he¡¯s just fine!¡±


    Lancelot looked towards Blood Wolf, whom scratched his face. He opened his palm, and a necklace was indeed lying on top of it, and it was the Dragon Cross Necklace Lancelot had been familiar with. Blood Wolf looked completely fine; there was no signs of him being burnt.


    ¡®Only I would get burnt by it?¡¯ Lancelot¡¯s doubts grew. Long ago, when he was retrieving the necklace, he knew it would burn him. But at the time, he thought it must be others putting magic on the necklace that caused it, but now¡­ why? The Dragon Cross had long been back with the royalties, and neither Blood Wolf nor the Prince were burnt by it.


    An elegant, white hand lightly grabbed the Dragon Cross Necklace from Blood Wolf¡¯s palm. Lancelot raised his eyes, and realized it was the Princess who was running towards him.


    ¡°Sir Paladin, can you please put this necklace against your forehead?¡± Lanski pleaded directly.


    ¡°Why?¡± Lancelot¡¯s doubts grew even more, but Lanski pleaded him in front of so many people, he couldn¡¯t believe the Princess¡¯s intentions were anything malicious.


    ¡°A-are you guys crazy?¡±


    Blood Wolf was in shock that his tears almost fell out of his eyes. It was understandable to him that Lanski would do something this stupid, after all, she had only recently found out something wrong with her own father. But Cappuccino¡­ why would he do this as well? He should had long known that the entire palace fell within the Dragon Emperor¡¯s fingertips.


    Cappuccino squinted, and said quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, eldest brother asked me to help Lanski with this.¡±


    Mocha? Knowing the eldest Prince sent them, Blood Wolf became quiet. He knew of the Eldest Prince¡¯s power, and if he was the one who sent them, they must be able to hide it from the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Blood Wolf, what¡¯s going on?¡± Lancelot saw Blood Wolf being silent, and he was even more puzzled.


    Hearing Lancelot¡¯s inquisition, Blood Wolf scratched his head, and yelled, ¡°Who cares about all that! After all, Lancelot, living like this isn¡¯t really bad, you don¡¯t really have to know everything, do you?¡±


    ¡°Blood Wolf!¡± Cappuccino didn¡¯t expect for Blood Wolf not to help them, and he yelled anxiously. He had originally hoped Blood Wolf would be able to help them convince the Paladin, but why had the reversed happened?


    Hearing Blood Wolf¡¯s words, Lancelot instead reached out his hand, and grabbed the necklace dangling from the Princess¡¯s hand without any hesitation. In a moment¡¯s notice, a smell of burnt human flesh came out of Lancelot¡¯s tight fists, to the point of nauseating. Everyone widened their eyes, staring at the legendary Paladin.


    Lancelot slowly relaxed his fist, and looked at it. His palm was now charred, and looking to the side, there was blood. The Knight¡¯s face was skeptical, but was not warped because of the pain. He slowly raised his head, and said,


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind if I know absolutely nothing, other than righteousness, and that¡¯s the only thing I insist on knowing.¡±


    Having said that, he put the entire Dragon Cross Necklace onto his forehead without any hesitation. Every looked as the Paladin¡¯s clear forehead slowly turning red. After a smell of burning flesh, his skin slowly turned black.


    Lancelot did nothing but bit his lip. Other than the sweat running down his face, he didn¡¯t make a single sound. Suddenly, the Dragon Cross Necklace emitted a blinding light. Without closing their eyes in time, everyone were temporarily blinded by the light. Before Blood Wolf covered his eyes, he heard Lancelot¡¯s grunt.


    ¡°Lancelot? Lancelot?¡± He immediately yelled anxiously, but he didn¡¯t receive any sort of response after several calls. Worried, he forced his eyes open, and he could vaguely see Lancelot on one knee, with his hands covering his face.


    Could he be hurt? With a blurred vision, Blood Wolf forced himself to walk up to Lancelot, and then put his hand on the Paladin¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Lancelot? Are you okay?¡±


    Lancelot, however, could not hear Blood Wolf¡¯s call, because the Dragon Cross Necklace had not only rid him of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis, but also made him ¡°see¡± everything clearly. A series of images barged into Lancelot¡¯s minds, which tested the endurance of both his soul and mind.


    Blood Wolf shook his head, trying to shake off the daze. His sight had returned to normal now. He looked at Lancelot, whom still had his face buried in his hands. Nevertheless, from what Blood Wolf can see between Lancelot¡¯s fingers, he was unharmed. Blood Wolf now felt slightly relaxed, but then he suddenly heard the man ask,


    ¡°Blood Wolf¡­ am I really stupid?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ just a tiny bit.¡± Blood Wolf scratched his face. Now, he understood Lancelot might have already known the truth. After knowing he had been fooled for several hundreds of years, this impact was probably going to be quite severe.


    Lancelot slowly lowered his hands, and his face was covered with a bitter smile, with tears running down his cheeks, ¡°Blood Wolf, Knights may not lie.¡±


    Blood Wolf¡¯s mouth went into an O shape. He would have never imagined that Lancelot would shed tears over this. How could this¡­ if anyone were to tell him Lancelot would cry for five minutes, he would¡¯ve bet every single cent he had against that person. The Paladin, Lancelot, was one to bleed before he would shed a tear, but now¡­ Damn! Luckily there was no bet, or he would¡¯ve been penniless by now.


    ¡°Do you really have to be this exaggerated?¡± Blood Wolf asked with a stammer.


    Lancelot slowly stood up, while holding his face tightly, he said word for word, ¡°Exaggerated? I actually served Caffey¡¯s enemy* for hundreds of years. This is no longer something exaggerated can describe. Although I, Lancelot, was oblivious of it, but I would never use negligence as an excuse to escape my punishment. As soon as I help Silver Moon¡­ no, Liola recover his sanity, I will ask him for my punishment.¡±


    [T/N: Lancelot is referring to the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, which took away Caffey¡¯s personality.]


    Everyone froze as they couldn¡¯t understand what Lancelot was talking about. Blood Wolf murmured to himself, ¡°What¡¯s the situation now? Could the Dragon Cross Necklace be so hot that it cooked Lancelot¡¯s brain? Why is he talking even more ridiculous things than me now?¡±


    Lancelot noticed everyone¡¯s shocked looks. He knew something was off, and asked, ¡°You guys don¡¯t know?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads. It was now Lancelot¡¯s turn to be confused. Through the Dragon Cross Necklace, he knew about all the truths, including the secrets of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, but he thought everyone else knew. Judging from the situation now, he was the only one who knew about it.


    Seeing everyone was confused, Lancelot began to explain the truths the Dragon Cross Necklace told him¡­


    * * *


    ¡°I see, no wonder! No wonder father would turn into how he is now! Damn, I a-actually let him cause Susanna¡¯s death!¡± Cappuccino practically held his fists and yelled, with anger on his face.


    ¡°T-third brother?¡±


    Lanski had never seen Cappuccino act like this. To Lanski, her father had always been like this. Though she had heard her third brother talk about how their father used be, but she had never thought much of it. After all, their father was now nothing like the clueless idiot her brother had talked about.


    ¡°Lucky¡­¡± Jasmine¡¯s face was pale, ¡°If Liola also ate the heart, t-then¡­¡±


    ¡°Never! I, Lancelot, swear on my honor, I will never let the successor fall victim to it.¡± Lancelot¡¯s blue eyes shone, showing his determination.


    Blood Wolf had a strange expression. He asked hesitantly, ¡°Lancelot, although His Highness was possessed by the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, it still is the ¡®Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart¡¯. In other words, it¡¯s still the first Dragon Emperor, and the person who founded Knights. All in all¡­ he still seems to be our boss?¡±


    Everyone made various different expression after hearing. Cappuccino looked like he had an impulse to beat Blood Wolf up, but Little Fireball held him back. Lanski and Jasmine seemed a bit loss. As for the person Blood Wolf spoke to, Lancelot turned around, and his blue eyes stared directly at Blood Wolf. Surprisingly, he began to smile and said, ¡°Stop pretending, Blood Wolf.¡±


    Blood Wolf raised his eyebrows. Lancelot continued, ¡°If you really cared about the title of Dragon Emperor, you wouldn¡¯t have opposed the Dragon Emperor so often. Now that I think about it, the time when you started to purposely oppose the Dragon Emperor was exactly when Caffey¡­¡± Lancelot paused, with sadness on his face.


    Blood Wolf tilted his head uneasily, and he still tried to act tough, ¡°I was just doing whatever I wanted; I didn¡¯t think about all that.¡±


    Cappuccino, who was holding his fist up moments ago, paused and put down his fist, but then immediately raised it again, and punched Blood Wolf¡¯s shoulder as hard as he could. He yelled, ¡°You damn wolf, I really want to tear your big mouth up!¡±


    [T/N: Pun-ish in Chinese, it really carries very little actual meaning. Cappuccino called Blood Wolf a wolf and then a big mouth (author used duck mouth here), so his response had something to do with him being both a wolf and a duck, or some weird mix of the two.]


    ¡°Do it then! I dare you to!¡± Blood Wolf snapped back, but he didn¡¯t know, his face was completely red from blushing.


    ¡°Anyhow, the job of awakening Liola will definitely be yours, Blood Wolf.¡± Cappuccino yelled loudly.


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± Blood Wolf answered like a hooligan with a disrespectful tone.

 Volume 11, 5: Framed Again

    Volume 11, Chapter 5: Framed Again


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    After the failure to rescue Liola, Kaiser thought the odds were against Mizerui, so he stayed as far away as possible, especially when blood continued to flow out of Daylight¡¯s wounds. Kaiser had to try something he had never tried before: continuous teleportation to go back to the Commerce Alliance. However, by taking Daylight and Flames with him, he exerted his magic force too much. When they were about halfway through, he could no longer hold on, and Kaiser blacked out and fell.


    ¡°Wooa¡­¡±


    When Kaiser woke up with a pale face, he looked incredibly weak. After being blank for a moment, he suddenly remembered Daylight was still bleeding! ¡®Crap, I hope he didn¡¯t¡­¡¯


    He suddenly jumped up, but couldn¡¯t see Daylight anywhere. He found himself in a room he hadn¡¯t been in before. Kaiser paused briefly; since he didn¡¯t see anyone, it meant Daylight could still run, which meant he wasn¡¯t dead. Having concluded this, Kaiser lied down again, because he didn¡¯t worry as long as no one died.


    ¡®Growl¡­¡¯ Hmmph! Kaiser covered his stomach. Though he didn¡¯t want to open his eyes, his stomach couldn¡¯t handle it anymore. He moaned in pain, ¡°So hungry! Who can get me some food!¡±


    After moaning for a long while and no one responding, with his stomach being empty, Kaiser had to slowly crawl off the the bed. When he was slowly moving to the door and reached out his hand towards the door¡­


    Bang!


    ¡°Hmm, I wonder if Kaiser likes steamed buns more or rice balls?¡± Daylight was looking at the foods in his hands with frustration.


    ¡°Steamed buns¡­ ah! You stepped on my feet!¡¯


    Daylight jumped back. After looking, Kaiser bend over like a shrimp, with a painful look on his face like someone just forced something bitter down his throat.


    ¡°Kaiser, your sleeping habits are quite bad. How did you end up here while sleeping?¡± Daylight was confused. He looked at the bed, and it was far away from the door. How could Kaiser have been lying here.


    Hearing this, Kaiser immediately jumped up. With a grotesque face, he yelled loudly, ¡°How dare you! It was because you suddenly opened the door and it beat me up, so I fell to the ground!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± Daylight suddenly realized.


    ¡°I¡¯m so hungry! Give me my steamed buns!¡± Kaiser snatched the hot steamed buns out of Daylight¡¯s hands. He then sat down and began to stuff his face.


    Daylight smiled, and sat down with Kaiser, while eating the rice balls left in his hands. After swallowing a few buns, Kaiser¡¯s stomach finally stopped growling. He wiped his mouth, and asked, ¡°Hey! How are your wounds?¡±


    Daylight nodded, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Liola didn¡¯t hit anything vital.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t?¡± Kaiser touched his chin and thought, could this mean Liola was still somewhat conscious of what he was doing?


    ¡°I think it was because of Baolilong.¡± Daylight chewed his rice balls slowly while analyzed, ¡°Flames told me, it yelled to Baolilong during that time, and Baolilong seemed to have heard. It then purposely flew to the side, so Liola would miss.¡±


    Kaiser thought briefly, then said, ¡°No, that¡¯s not just it. Liola was someone who could stand firmly on a Dragon doing 360 degree turns. Just a slight tilt in the flight probably wouldn¡¯t have affected him. I still think he was actually being merciful.¡±


    Daylight nodded as well.


    ¡°Speaking of which, where did that Flames go?¡± Kaiser looked around, and he was surprised he was unable to find the little Flames who would never leave its master. It was really strange.


    ¡°I asked it to stay in the Commerce Alliance.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaiser paused, and asked, ¡°Then why aren¡¯t we in the Commerce Alliance? And where the hell is this?¡±


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s question, Daylight smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to return to the Commerce Alliance for the time being. We¡¯re the top wanted criminal across the world, and our crime was assassinating the Dragon Empire successor. Rumors say he was seriously injured, and even healing Maxuns couldn¡¯t heal him right away.¡±


    ¡°Bulls¡ªt!¡± Kaiser widened his eyes, and yelled, ¡°Liola is a freaking cockroach. He wouldn¡¯t care a bit about the wounds we inflicted. Even if I shot him a few more times, he would still be one to jump around.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Daylight smiled bitterly. Having strong companions is a good thing, but under the current circumstances, Daylight had really hoped Liola wasn¡¯t as strong.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kaiser suddenly jumped up, and yelled loudly, ¡°Who cares if Liola is a cockroach! That¡¯s not the main point. Did we seriously turn into wanted criminals?¡±


    Daylight nodded.


    ¡°My God! I¡¯m going to faint.¡± Kaiser held his head exaggerated, and wailed for a long time before he asked with a bitter face, ¡°What exactly happened? Tell me quick.¡±


    Daylight nodded, and began to retell the things happened after Kaiser fainted.


    ¡°After you passed out, I had Flames carry us back to the Commerce Alliance. As soon as Flames reached the Commerce Alliance, Purity stopped us. She said to me nervously, the Dragon Emperor had just announced a request for our arrest, and we had to leave quickly.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice, so I had Flames carry us back to Aklan Continent for now¡­ but as soon as we got on land, we almost got spotted by a bunch of patrolling Knights. In the end, I had to ask Flames to change form into its human form, and we ended up walking. The communication Maxun Purity gave me didn¡¯t work either. Since I was very worried, I asked Flames to go by itself to look for them in the Commerce Alliance.¡±


    ¡°Later on, through Flames, I found out, the three Commanders had already been suspecting that Purity and Meinan had been harboring us. Purity already broke her communication Maxun, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to discover our whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°Now Flames is in its human form, and hiding with Purity, so we could still keep contact. That¡¯s how things are.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser was so angry that he almost had an aneurysm. ¡®Damn Dragon Emperor! Do you have an addiction for framing people?! We haven¡¯t even reached the Commerce Alliance before the arrest orders for us to reach it, that¡¯s just crazy!¡¯


    ¡°Whatever! At least we could both return to the underground base.¡± Kaiser grunted, and asked again, ¡°How is the war?¡±


    Daylight thought about how Meinan put it as he tried to repeat it, ¡°Silver Moon had retaken the Aklan capital, but due to the injuries he sustained from Assassins, he lacked the strength to pursue the escaping Black Dragon King, which resulted in him retreating his forces back to Freesia. This also meant the crime of the two Assassins was absolutely unforgivable¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Kaiser was now having a headache. They had now became public enemies #1.


    Daylight glanced at Kaiser, and added, ¡°Meinan asked us to return to the base first, and he said he will think of a way to clear our names.¡±


    Hearing this, Kaiser frowned. After thinking for a while, he said with determination on his face, ¡°No! The two of us aren¡¯t important. You tell Meinan, what¡¯s most important now was make the Dragon Emperor¡¯s wild ambitions clear to the Commerce Alliance.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°The Dragon Continent is firmly the Dragon Emperor¡¯s, and now Aklan may be, on the surface, divided between Miluo and Silver Moon, but we all know, both of them are subordinates of the Dragon Emperor. Therefore, Aklan had practically fallen into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands.¡±


    ¡°The Commerce Alliance has already fallen into a tricky position. If they continue their passive stance, they will surely be unprepared for the Dragon Emperor when he attacks.¡±


    Flames in its human form slowly repeated the words from Daylight. The more it said the more Meinan and Purity¡¯s faces sank.


    Flames paused, making sure Daylight didn¡¯t say anything, then said, ¡°Master finished.¡±


    Meinan lightly rubbed his temples. He had already thought about this before. Problem with that, was making the Commerce Alliance believe them was like trying to make pigs fly, especially when Kaiser and Daylight were now wanted criminals because of the assassination. Truth was, they were in quite a bad place.


    Purity was at least fine, because she was from the Commerce Alliance, but Meinan wasn¡¯t as fortunate. Had it not been for their respect for Qiusi, the Commerce Alliance might have already tied him up and send him to the Dragon Emperor, to demonstrate they had nothing to do with the Assassins.


    Meinan stood up, and paced around the room with frustration. He became more and more vexed the more he thought. In the end, he actually grabbed the golden hair he had always treasured and yelled loudly, ¡°Those two damn idiots! I can¡¯t believe they went to assassinate the successor! And now they put us in such a predicament!¡±


    ¡°Meinan, there¡¯s no way Kaiser and Daylight would go harm Liola-dage. They must¡¯ve been framed.¡± Purity tried hurriedly to clarify on their behalf.


    Meinan looked even more furious, ¡°Of course they were framed! These two idiots. How could they have not brought us along if they were going to rescue Liola?!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser and Daylight went to rescue Liola-dage, but didn¡¯t bring us along?¡± Purity blankly repeated, and finally understood what the words meant. She screamed, ¡°How could they do that?! Purity wants to rescue Liola-dage too!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! They left us behind! I¡¯m never letting them off this~¡± Meinan¡¯s golden hair was now completely messed up, and his face looked warped like a reincarnated Asura*¡­


    [T/N: Asura is a kind of Demi-God in Buddhism.]


    ¡°Despicable! Purity will not forgive them, AHH¡ª¡± Purity shrieked again and again. The glass cup on the desk began to tremble a bit, with cracks vaguely visible¡­


    ¡®Master, please never come to the Commerce Alliance¡­¡¯ Covering its ears, Flames crouched under the table and communicated.


    ¡®Hmm? I know Kaiser and I are now wanted, so we can¡¯t return, or we will definitely be tied up and sent to the Dragon Emperor¡­¡¯ Daylight responded via telepathy.


    Flames felt a bit helpless, and it didn¡¯t know how to tell its master. ¡®Master, there are many things in the world more terrifying than the Dragon Emperor. For example, your companions.¡¯


    Suddenly, a faint sound could be heard, and Flames was alarmed, ¡°Someone is here!¡±


    However, the door had already been opened. Flames was a bit frustrated, because it was busy talking to its master and had forgotten to observe his surrounding. If the Commerce Alliance see Meinan with his messy hair and the shrieking Purity, they would definitely not believe anything these two say¡­


    ¡°Hello, three Commanders.¡± Meinan showed a dignified smile, but if one were to examine closely, this smile was mixed with a faint sense of despair and worry.


    Flames stared blankly, ¡®S-such orderly gold hair¡­¡¯


    ¡°Woo, woo¡­ that¡¯s impossible. It might be possible for Kaiser to go try killing someone (Kaiser: What do you mean by that?!), but Daylight, how could he do something like that? I don¡¯t believe it¡­¡± Purity lay on the desk, and tears fell out of her eyes like rain, like a teenager crying for her boyfriend.


    Flames continued to stare blankly at the glass on the desk with a crack going through it.


    The three Commanders were originally planning on interrogating them, but after seeing Meinan¡¯s courtesy and Purity¡¯s crying face, the Red Commander went up and ran her fingers through her daughters hair and said, ¡°Dear Purity, don¡¯t cry, mommy doesn¡¯t believe Daylight would do something like assassinate either. Mommy has lived many years and only seen one such admirable Knight. How could a such chivalric Knight go to assassinate someone?¡±


    ¡°Mommy, t-then why would you help the Dragon Emperor to try to arrest him?¡± Purity pouted. She began to blame her mother as she wept.


    Hearing her daughter¡¯s blame, the Red Commander glanced at the Yellow and Green Commander, and they both flinched back a bit, especially the smaller Green Commander. It was he who issued the arrest warrant. When he couldn¡¯t take the glaring, he began to explain, ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice! Three thousand Knights all said in unison that those two attacked the successor, even if this was fake, we had to act as if it were real.¡±


    ¡°Is this a joke?¡± Meinan¡¯s face sank, and yelled, ¡°Did it only take three thousand Knights to make you lose your ability to judge right from wrong? Then we might as well hand the rest of the world to the Dragon Emperor, because he has no shortage of Knights.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t put it like that.¡± The Yellow Commander frowned, ¡°The Dragon Emperor had just conquered Aklan capital from the Black Dragon King, and he has his momentum going. Even if he were to call a deer a horse, we might have to just accommodate it.¡±


    Meinan was quiet for a while, and when the atmosphere was frozen, he said lightly, ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± All three Commanders asked skeptically.


    ¡°The Dragon Continent and the Knights have always belonged to the Dragon Emperor, and now¡­ he has control over half of Aklan Continent.¡± Meinan paused, and he looked at the politics-focused Green Commander as his face sank. Though Meinan¡¯s face was full of worries, he was laughing in his heart.


    ¡°Though it was half of Aklan Continent, but rumors say, when the successor was attacking the capital, he was nearly unimpeded¡­ if it weren¡¯t for the assassination that caused him to stop chasing, perhaps the entire Aklan Continent would be under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control by now.¡± Meinan¡¯s long fingers touched his chin calmly, and said as if he was murmuring to himself, ¡°And that leaves the Commerce Alliance¡­¡±


    The three Commanders faces turned immediately; clearly they all understood what the words meant. The Yellow Commander even looked a bit worried.


    ¡®No way you guys won¡¯t fall for this, hehehe¡­¡¯ Meinan put on a pleading face. With his knee bent, he knelt before everyone. Seeing this, Purity yelled out in surprise, ¡°Meinan! What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Three Commanders, despite Meinan¡¯s incompetence, Aklan is still, after all, my father Qiusi¡¯s life¡¯s work. We can never, ever allow it to become the Dragon Emperor¡¯s possession. Please, take Aklan Continent back from the Dragon Emperor.¡± Meinan spoke emotionally, with the last few syllables choking. He looked like he refrained himself from letting his tears fall.


    All three Commanders looked hesitant after hearing. The Yellow Commander sighed, ¡°Though I don¡¯t disagree with you, but Aklan doesn¡¯t even have a person who could take the responsibility of leading. If we take over, the Dragon Empire would never agree. Sigh! If only Qiusi was still here, we would definitely help retake Aklan capital without a word.¡±


    Purity seemed unconvinced. She stood up and said loudly, ¡°Meinan isn¡¯t much worse! He¡¯s the Prime Minister Qiusi¡¯s son, so of course he has the right to retake Aklan!¡±


    The Yellow Commander¡¯s eyes flashed with hesitation, but he still shook his head and sighed, ¡°You¡¯re too young, nor do you have any experiences with ruling. You might not be able to convince the people you rule over, and it¡¯s a shame.¡±


    ¡°Right, but at least we can try suggesting it to the Dragon Emperor, so at least we can see the Dragon Emperor¡¯s attitude.¡± The Yellow Commander clapped, then turned around and left like a gust of wind.


    The Red Commander looked at the two other Commanders leaving, then turned to touch her daughter¡¯s head and asked, ¡°Purity, did you have a fight with your brother Feir?¡±


    Purity¡¯s shoulders shook a bit, and said with grievance, ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡±


    The Red Commander smiled and lightly smacked her daughter¡¯s head, ¡°Yeah right, your brother Feir has been depressed these few days. I heard you didn¡¯t even eat the snacks he bought you?¡±


    With a guilty conscience, Purity lowered her head. A few days ago, Feir happily brought the roasted chestnuts his sister loved to eat so much, but she greeted him with ¡°no eating if you don¡¯t tell the truth¡±. In the end, Feir didn¡¯t say anything. He left the chestnuts on the table and walked out sadly.


    Then, those chestnuts were eaten by Kaiser! Purity got angry at the thought of it, that damned glutton Kaiser.


    ¡°Seriously, you¡¯re quite grown, you shouldn¡¯t be temperamental with your brother.¡± The Red Commander looked at her with an indulgent smile.


    Purity lowered her head even more. She thought about how much her brother had always cared about her, and she probably shouldn¡¯t make her brother angry.


    ¡°Fine, Purity will go and apologize to brother.¡± Purity pouted, and said a bit unwillingly.


    ¡°Hmm, wait for him to come back before you go apologize.¡± The Red Commander smiled, and rubbed her daughter¡¯s head with satisfaction. Remembering she still had some businesses to take care of, she turned around to leave.


    Purity asked curiously, ¡°Where did brother go?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s in Aklan Continent.¡± The Red Commander answered directly without turning around, ¡°Your brother went to look for his Knight friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Purity widened her eyes. She thought, perhaps her brother would run into Liola-dage? When he comes back, she planned on asking him about Liola-dage. She and Meinan exchanged a look, and saw the same plan in each other¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Also, little Qiusi, not bad!¡±


    Meinan paused. When he looked in the direction of the Red Commander, she had already left. ¡®Little Qiusi? Is she talking about me?¡¯


    Meinan scratched his face, unsure if he heard incorrectly. No matter what, he had finally made the Commerce Alliance raise their guards against the Dragon Emperor. Now, they had to wait and see Kaiser and Daylight¡¯s work in training those Knights and Magicians in the secret base, and wait¡­ for war!


    Meinan suddenly realized, the war was already this close. Before he thought, as long as Qiusi woke up, he must be able to prevent the war. However, after the Dragon Emperor had practically controlled two thirds of the world, even if Qiusi woke up, he probably couldn¡¯t stop it now.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Purity tugged Meinan slightly, and asked with confusion.


    Meinan paused, right, now wasn¡¯t the time to stand still; there were still much for him to do: he had to communicate with Gladiolus and Barbalis, so they could provide assistance to Kaiser and Daylight, and help them escape the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes. Plus, he had to go gather information about Liola¡¯s situation. No matter what, if Liola could wake up, then things would be much better.


    ¡°Purity, please, when Feir comes back, ask him about Liola.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Purity nodded earnestly.


    * * *


    ¡°Your Highness, how are your wounds?¡±


    Flower was extraordinarily concerned about Silver Moon¡¯s wounds. Her reason was identically to Yiyu¡¯s: not noticing that the successor was in danger was already a crime, what¡¯s worse was that, they were the successor¡¯s Direct Knight. With such a serious offense, even if Silver Moon wanted to chop them apart, probably no Knight would even step in and say a word in their favor.


    Despite the complete victory, among the three thousand Knights, no one could keep their heads high. Their negligence caused the successor to be in danger, and they were all yelled at by the Knight¡¯s idol, the Paladin Lancelot. This was enough to make all the Knights feel shameful.


    Yizhou, however, was the only exception. Originally, the other Knights didn¡¯t even think Yizhou was worthy of being the successor¡¯s Direct Knight, but at that time, he was the only Knight present who noticed the successor in danger, and the only one who fought with the Assassins. Even though he didn¡¯t win, but at least it was an glorious defeat..


    Nevertheless, the only person who didn¡¯t think it was glorious was Yizhou himself. More than a year ago, he had been evenly matched with Daylight¡¯s power. He had thought he made plenty of progress, but he would¡¯ve never thought, Daylight made even more. This inevitably dented his spirit a bit. Ever since that day, he began to train himself even harder than before.


    But he didn¡¯t know, his actions caused other Knights to feel even more shameful. Not only did they accept Yizhou¡¯s position as a Direct Knight, they followed in his footsteps and trained themselves. From then on, the sound of Knights training could be heard in every corner of Aklan, and the sound of them preparing for battle.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Silver Moon answered lightly. In fact, when he stepped into the healing Maxun and come out after a few minutes, his wounds had all been healed. The Maxun¡¯s effects outer wounds were obviously amazing, and no one had better abilities to heal their inner injuries than Silver Moon. As long as he had a healing Maxun, it wouldn¡¯t be outrageous to say Silver Moon was the person whose recovery capabilities were the greatest in the world.


    ¡°Your Highness, there is a crowd gathering outside of Aklan¡¯s gates, requesting to come back to the city.¡± The Knight on the side hurriedly walked up and reported.


    ¡°No.¡± Silver Moon answered simply.


    The reporting Knight paused, obviously not expecting the successor to refuse those people entry. He asked with a frown, ¡°But these are the citizens who had originally lived here, refusing to let them into the city seems a bit inhumane¡­¡±


    Freezing lights shot out of Silver Moon¡¯s eyes, and the cold atmosphere filled the room. He shot out the words harshly, ¡°I said, no!¡±


    The Knight had already froze, seeing the smiling successor a moment ago had suddenly changed. As soon as he heard these few simple words, he immediately stood at attention, and answered, ¡°Yes, sir! I will go send your words now.¡±


    ¡°Halt!¡±


    That Knight¡¯s body froze. He awaited for the successor with fear.


    Silver Moon seemed to have calmed down, and said lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t ever make me repeat myself.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The Knight yelled, then turned around to leave as if he couldn¡¯t wait.


    Flower and Yiyu saw all of this, then looked at each other and gulped. Neither of them dared to say anything. Silver Moon didn¡¯t seem to pay attention to them, and he looked like he was in a trance, but truth was, he was receiving the Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders via Idojin.


    ¡®Control Aklan Capital firmly, and do not let anyone in. Otherwise, if and when Qiusi wakes up, these people would help him from the inside.¡¯


    ¡®I will make Miluo send Lesser-Dragons to harass you. When that happens, you must go fight them a few times yourself. I want all the Knights to see your true power, so they could both be in awe and fear.¡¯


    ¡®If you think anything or anyone might be on Qiusi¡¯s side, we would rather kill one hundred innocents, than to let one of them loose!¡¯


    Hearing this, faint silver light reflected from Silver Moon¡¯s eyes. Flower and Yiyu could only stare blankly, with their bodies trembling.


    ¡®Kill innocents before letting a traitor through!¡¯


    ¡°Flower, Yiyu,¡± Silver Moon said lightly.


    The two acted like frightened birds, and answered loudly and quickly, ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    Silver Moon elegantly yet slowly turned his head, ¡°Go! Look for any powerful person that does not belong to the Dragon Empire. If this person has anything to do with Qiusi, kill at will!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

 Volume 11, 6: Rescue

    Volume 11, Chapter 6: Rescue


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°While Silver Moon is holding the Aklan capital, his investigation revealed that his assassins were connected to the Black Dragon King, which meant the Black Dragon King¡¯s influence had reached past simple lesser-Dragons into the humans. To avoid any potential danger, Silver Moon rejected any request for the citizens to re-enter the city. He had also sent out many Knights in search of the Assassins. Anyone found to be in connection with the Black Dragon King will be killed on sight. Suddenly, even Aklan Continent¡¯s winds were filled with weeping. The vicinity of the Aklan capital was almost a complete ghost town, if it were not for the Dragon Empire Knights¡­¡±


    ¡°Liola¡­¡±


    Lanski looked at the newspaper in her hand, and her hand kept trembling. The only thing she could think of was, when Liola recovers, how much pain and regret he would be in, even if none of this was his fault¡­


    ¡°Damn the Dragon Emperor!¡± After seeing the news, Jasmine said emotionally, ¡°If this continues, even if Liola were to recover, he would definitely be hated by everyone! H-he would have nowhere to turn to, other than being a Prince in the Dragon Continent¡­¡±


    Lanski took a deep breath. She could only think of Liola¡¯s regret and pain, but she did not think about how people, who didn¡¯t know the truth, would treat Liola, and how bad Liola¡¯s situation would end up.


    ¡°We have to hurry up and rescue him!¡± Jasmine looked up, and said anxiously.


    ¡°No!¡± Lanski panicked a bit. She didn¡¯t remember until now, they were actually having such a public discussion. God! Her father had always had his control over the palace, and she immediately made a ¡°shh¡± sound.


    ¡°You two are rather slow, realizing this now when it¡¯s too late.¡±


    Lanski and Jasmine paused, then turned around to see the person who spoke was the one nobody would imagine seeing in the palace: Eldest Prince Mocha.


    With his long robe reaching the ground, Mocha walked over slowly, and said nostalgically, ¡°It¡¯s been a really long time since I¡¯ve walked here.¡±


    ¡°Eldest brother! Why are you here?¡± Lanski asked in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you, tomorrow noon, a situation would suddenly arise with Miluo, and the Dragon Emperor would be forced to go resolve it himself. During that time, his communication with the outside world would be completely severed for three hours. These three hours will determine anything.¡± Mocha said calmly, but he didn¡¯t say anything about the end result.


    The two girls took a deep breath, and said in unison, ¡°I¡¯ll go tell everyone immediately.¡±


    ¡°Sister, wait.¡± Mocha suddenly spoke to stop Lanski.


    The two girls who had always done everything together stopped, and turned around to look at Mocha. He smiled and said, ¡°Let Jasmine go and tell others, I want to talk to you, sister.¡±


    Jasmine paused, but she immediately understood why Mocha wanted to speak to Lanski alone. His goal¡­ was far too obvious. It must had something to do with what Mocha said before about Lanski¡¯s life being in danger. Jasmine thought Mocha must be trying to convince Lanski to do otherwise, and even Jasmine herself had really hoped Lanski wouldn¡¯t risk her life. As such, she nodded, then left by herself, to tell everyone else about this.


    There were only Mocha and Lanski left, and the latter smiled then said, ¡°If sovereign brother is trying to convince me not to go, then can you tell me first: if I don¡¯t go, would it be successful?¡±


    Mocha obviously didn¡¯t expect Lanski would ask this. After pausing, he sighed deeply, then said, ¡°Lanski, I want to ask you, even if Liola recovers, how do you think he would react when he found out that you died because of him?¡±


    Lanski¡¯s body froze. She said, ¡°He would feel self-guilt¡­ but at least then, he could still feel guilt, right? Instead of being like now, completely emotionless.¡±


    ¡°Emotionless is, sometimes, a kind of bliss.¡± Mocha said with a vague sadness, ¡°I saw¡­ his tears. Sister, you don¡¯t understand, to him, your existence is far more than just yourself; it also includes Anise, Bairui¡¯s incarnation. Your death would be the biggest blow to him.¡±


    ¡°But he still stands up, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Lanski shook her head. She thought Liola could definitely get on his feet again.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Mocha looked in the distance, as if he was looking at some picture, and his tone was rather vague, ¡°And then, he will again drive a sword through father¡¯s chest, the real Dragon Emperor¡­ Caffe. With that image, the silly smile, I¡¯m certain of it, it was indeed Caffe and not the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°And on brother¡¯s face, was an insurmountable pain and tears.¡± Mocha slowly closed his eyes, and said painfully, ¡°Every time I think about the look on his face, I¡¯ve wondered if not having any emotion to him would be a kind of bliss¡­¡±


    Lanski became quiet. After a long while, she finally said,


    ¡°Sorry, brother, if I really can¡¯t come back, please tell Liola for me, that I was too weak, and I¡¯m not willing to see him without emotions like this. Therefore, I¡¯m going to transfer my pain to him. Tell him not to blame himself too much, because I chose everything myself.¡±


    ¡°You chose everything yourself?¡± Mocha looked at his sister gently, ¡°Alright, I understand, and I won¡¯t stop you anymore, but just be careful. I really do hope my prediction would end up unfulfilled.¡±


    ¡°Understood, brother.¡± Lanski raised her face, her smile bright like the sun, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your sister isn¡¯t that fragile. Brother, you must¡¯ve made a mistake this time!¡±


    Mocha nodded, ¡°Yes, I must¡¯ve made a mistake. Then, I look forward to seeing you again, my dear sister.¡±


    ¡°Brother!¡±


    Lanski suddenly ran up and hugged her brother. This surprised Mocha and he couldn¡¯t move at all. This was the first time she had been close to him. In the past, she had always felt apprehensive towards the brother who spent all his time in the Astronomy Tower, to the point where she might even feel a bit of disgust. But now, she finally understood her brother¡¯s pain and difficulties, nor did she find Mocha repulsive anymore; she even felt a bit guilty about her attitude towards him before.


    ¡°Sister¡­¡± Mocha slowly rubbed Lanski¡¯s head. A beautiful girl with such cream hair shouldn¡¯t be the person to fall¡­


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m going to go. I¡¯m afraid if I don¡¯t go now, Jasmine and others may abandon me and leave by themselves.¡±


    Lanski stuck her tongue out playfully. After leaving her brother¡¯s arms, she waved at Mocha, then sprinted away, fearing she really would be left behind.


    Mocha stood quietly still for a long time. When he finally left, he left one simple question behind in the air,


    ¡°Sister and brother, who should be the one to be sacrificed?¡±


    * * *


    ¡°I want to see His Highness, the successor.¡±


    Yizhou frowned; he thought it to be strange. For someone to ask to see the successor, they should be looking for Flower and Yiyu instead. Everyone knew, he had always focused on training, and rarely did he actually step into the Aklan meeting room, where the successor was.


    As soon as he turned, Yizhou immediately put his right fist on his left chest, and performed a Knight salute. Though he was only a Silver Knight, but as a royalty¡¯s Direct Knight, he had the specially permission to not salute to Knights higher than his rank, because Direct Knights would often carry out commands for the royalty, and their presence represented the will of the royal family, so saluting to other Knights seemed unfitting.


    However, the people in front of him would definitely be an exception. Even the Prince and Princess would often pay each other respect through a Knight¡¯s salute.


    They were the Paladin Lancelot and the Dark Knight Blood Wolf.


    Blood Wolf smiled like a ruffian and said leisurely, ¡°You¡¯re Silver Moon¡¯s Direct Knight, right?¡±


    Yizhou nodded.


    ¡°Let me tell you, we¡¯re carrying out the Dragon Emperor¡¯s secret command, and the less people know about it, the better.¡± Blood Wolf raised his eyebrows, and warned with narrow eyes, ¡°In other words, no one other than you may know anything about our arrival! Including the other two Direct Knights, understood?¡±


    Yizhou frowned, and instinctively looked towards the Paladin.


    Seeing this, Blood Wolf immediately yelled, ¡°Hey! What are you looking at Lancelot for? Just trust me, okay?¡±


    Yizhou hesitated a bit, then nodded.


    ¡°Damn! You really did nod, such a hilarious Knight.¡± Blood Wolf put on a sad face. Could he really be that untrustworthy? Even though, he really was lying just now¡­


    Lancelot shook his head. This Blood Wolf, he knew they were pressed for time, but he still was messing with this Knight, sigh!


    ¡°Do as Blood Wolf says.¡± Lancelot said to Yizhou.


    ¡°Did you hear? Just do as I say!¡± Blood Wolf acted like a fox pretending to be a tiger, ¡°You go tell Silver Moon, His Highness the Dragon Emperor has a secret plan against the Black Dragon King, so he ordered us to come find Silver Moon and go to Freesia together. However, this plan must be completely kept in secret. You go tell Silver Moon, we¡¯ll be waiting for him dead north of the capital.¡±


    Yizhou thought about it briefly. Despite the strangeness of the command, but the appearance of both the Paladin and the Dark Knight extinguished his doubts. He thought perhaps the Dragon Emperor wanted the two legendary Knights to go and assassinate the Black Dragon King together.


    ¡°Hurry, time is of the essence.¡± Lancelot frowned a bit, and said.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Yizhou performed a Knight¡¯s salute, then turned around to leave quickly.


    When Yizhou was out of his sight, Lancelot asked, puzzled, ¡°This lie seemed a bit crude. Would the successor really fall for it?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Blood Wolf answered lazily. ¡°Silver Moon is emotionless, not brainless. Even though he may not be able to contact the Dragon Emperor right now, it¡¯s impossible for him not to be skeptical of this.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t really say whether his strength really matched ours or not. However, his speed and alertness are incomparable in this world. If he is alarmed, then there¡¯s no way we could catch him.¡±


    ¡°To subdue him, we have to use the only thing he¡¯s not familiar with: magic, and subdue him instantly. Otherwise, even if he can¡¯t win in a fight, he could definitely escape.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Lancelot listened for a long while, but he seemed to have missed the point; what did this lie have to do with magic?


    ¡°So I placed a teleport magic circle on that hilarious Knight just now, and I¡¯ve set the activation phrase to be word ¡®Paladin¡¯. As soon as Yizhou speak the word ¡®Paladin¡¯, everything living thing in a ten-meter radius will be teleported to the other magic circle in my hand. Isn¡¯t it interesting?¡±


    Lancelot was briefly silent, ¡°This is dozens of kilometers away from where the Third Prince and the Princess had hid themselves.¡±


    ¡°Of course I know, I¡¯m not terrible with directions.¡± Blood Wolf raised his eyebrow.


    ¡°However, this is only at most one kilometer away from the Aklan meeting room.¡± Lancelot was trying to suppress his anger.


    ¡°I know, we can even see the roof to the meeting room from here.¡± Blood Wolf answered seriously.


    Lancelot¡¯s patience seemed to be reaching some sort of limit; his tones sounded like he was about to spit fire, ¡°Then do you really think we can possibly rush back to the Princess and the Prince before Yizhou speak the word ¡®Paladin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Blood Wolf showed a serious expression, ¡°That depends on what kind of transportation we use, ¡®Lancelot-stinky-and-stubborn-like-a-rock¡¯!¡±


    Lancelot paused, unsure why Blood Wolf would suddenly say something like that¡­ however, a bright light exploded and swallowed both of them. After the light dissipated, Lancelot noticed the surroundings had completely changed. He looked around and found Cappuccino and Lanski staring at them with wide open eyes, clearly showing their surprise at the sudden appearance.


    ¡°Tsk, so interesting.¡± Blood Wolf smiled like a hooligan. As for Lancelot confusion, he was happy to explain, ¡°I forgot to tell you, Cappuccino lost two magic circles to me. Before we left, I gave him the other end to one of them, and ¡®stubborn as rock¡¯ was the activation phrase.¡±


    Lancelot shook his head. Blood Wolf was indeed the joking kind, acting this relaxed in a situation like this.


    ¡°All right, I saw that Yizhou guy¡¯s walking speed, and he should have made it to Liola about now, so it¡¯s time that we get set up.¡± Blood Wolf frowned, and murmured, ¡°Too bad we don¡¯t know where the Dragon Emperor is holding Mizerui. His gravity magic is practically Liola nemesis. If he could restrain Liola speed, we¡¯d be able to catch him like a cat catching a mouse.¡±


    Lancelot didn¡¯t waste time talking to Blood Wolf, and he unsheathed his sword, with a serious look on his face. Blood Wolf scratched his face, and took out his black pike, spun it a few times in the air, then grasped it tightly in his hand.


    ¡°All right! Cappuccino, you go up in the air. If Liola tries to run, ask Little Fireball to spit a few fireballs to slow him down.¡±


    ¡°As for the two girls, honestly, you two aren¡¯t quite at the fighting level to intervene, so stand far away.¡± Blood Wolf saw the anger surfacing the girls¡¯ faces, so he immediately added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! There will be things for you two to do. After we catch Liola and when Lancelot tries to break the hypnosis, we¡¯ll need you two for an emotional attack.¡±


    The two girls eased a bit, but they still felt unhappy; if only they had been a bit stronger¡­


    * * *


    Yizhou walked quickly towards the Aklan meeting room. Though he was indeed not skeptical before, but in the short distance he walked, a few doubts were raised in his mind. Why did they look for him? The Paladin and the Dark Knight could¡¯ve very well went up to His Highness as if there was no one there, and nobody would dare to question them.


    If they¡¯re trying to hide from Milou¡¯s spies, then why couldn¡¯t he tell the other two Direct Knights? After all, they were the successors Soul Devotees.


    Many doubts circled themselves in Yizhou mind, but he would¡¯ve never guessed, the two Knights were only trying to trick the successor out. After all, the two Knights¡¯ prestige were well known, and it was unbelievable for them to do anything like betrayal.


    Yizhou decided to tell the matter directly to His Highness, and he could decide for himself.


    He walked into the meeting hall. After the assassination attempt, the meeting hall was always patrolled by dozens of Knights. When they saw it was the successors Direct Knight, no one said anything, and he was free to move through, until he arrived at the room where the successor stayed.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    As soon as Yizhou came to a stop at the door, Silver Moon¡¯s voice could be heard from inside. He wasn¡¯t surprised the successor had already noticed him, so he pushed open the door and went in.


    ¡°Report.¡±


    Silver Moon had his back towards Yizhou. Without turning around, he asked lightly.


    Yizhou nodded and said, ¡°Your Highness, the Paladin and the Dark¡­¡±


    No matter how alert Silver Moon was, magic had always been his blind spot. Also, no matter how many doubts Yizhou had, he would¡¯ve never expected it would happen before he even finished the first sentence. Blood Wolf was indeed good at lying. He put the emphasis on meeting outside of the city. Any ordinary person would think that even if something was wrong, it would happen outside of the city; how could he have known that the true lie was hidden on himself?


    Silver Moon had pulled out his weapon the moment the light appeared. When he sensed two powerful presence, they had already began their attacks. However, he never expected that it was a coordinated attack from the two legendary Knights, so he was at a disadvantage from the start.


    Yizhou paused, but with a dozen of moves had been made in that brief moment. It only took three seconds for the light to dissipate, but a dozen crisp sounds of weapons colliding could be heard.


    It wasn¡¯t until now that Yizhou finally realized, the successor was in danger!


    His reaction time was already fairly fast. He took out his sword, preparing to defend the successor; but when he turned around, he froze once more. Although it was unforgivable for him to freeze when his direct royalty was under attack, perhaps no Knight could blame Yizhou for it, because the people attacking the successor was actually the Paladin and the Dark Knight.


    Two legendary Knights fighting together was a force no one could stop. Besides, practically everyone would agree, the person they would attack would be undoubtedly an evil person for them to both be involved.


    But, this was the successor! The future Dragon Emperor, the person all Knights must obey. Yizhou was now thoroughly confused.


    No matter how confused he was, Yizhou still kept his eyes on the battle. In the short time that passed, Yizhou was thoroughly entranced in the battle. The successor was so fast that, no matter how much Yizhou tried to concentrate, he could only see a black shadow flying around, as well as the occasional flash of Broken Silver¡¯s light.


    The two legendary Knights seemed to be having a headache to such speed. The white and black Auras both locked down a side, and this made the red Aura bounce around like a leaf on a turbulent sea. If Silver Moon didn¡¯t have such amazing speed, he would probably have lost long ago.


    Nevertheless, this fight wasn¡¯t based on ¡°what ifs¡±; speed was the Assassin¡¯s biggest advantage. Plus his ability to disappear, an Assassin could often kill an opponent two times his power.


    Unfortunately, this Assassin was the one being ambushed. Being at a disadvantage from the start, Silver Moon had to use his speed just to hold his ground.


    However, the two legendary Knights lived up to their names. The Paladin used his flawless sword techniques. Even though it may not be as dexterous, but it was as solid as a tall stone wall.


    The Dark Knight Blood Wolf was completely different; his moves seemed unfathomably random. He would often dodge, then attack randomly, but he made it look like it was the natural thing to do. He looked like a thin wall, but when you touch it, your hair would stand up as if you had just touched a wall of electricity.


    The two legendary Knights¡¯ cooperation formed such a seamless barrier; the tall walls were fully electrified, and it was impossible to break through.


    Silver Moon was almost like he was using his speed to run on the wall. Although he may not receive too much damage in the short-term, electricity would occasionally strike his toes, and if he were to slow down a bit, his body would tremble from the electricity. Even if he wanted to break out of the walls, they were far too high for him to climb.


    As such, despite knowing he would lose if this continued, Silver Moon had no other choice, so he was using his speed to sustain himself as much as possible.


    Yizhou was practically watching this battle with greed. Because of his inferior strength, he had been watching a long while before he saw the terrible predicament the successor was in. Nevertheless, Yizhou knew, this was not a battle he could join. Even though he might not want to admit it, his involvement in the fight would be over in a fraction of a second.


    What else could he do other than watching his direct royalty being surrounded? No Knight could handle an insult like that.


    After thinking about it, Yizhou put his hand firmly on the handle of his sword, planning on joining the fray¡­


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Yizhou paused, and looked towards the source of the sound. He then realized the person who spoke was the successor¡¯s Sacred White Dragon. Its deep red eyes stared directly at him, while saying with a deep voice, ¡°Look over there, do you see Princess Lanski?¡±


    Yizhou looked in the direction the Dragon pointed, and suddenly realized the Princess was also present. Could this be a battle for the throne?


    ¡°In a bit, I will feign a retreat. You go and take the Princess hostage, and threaten the two Knights to stop their attacks with the Princess¡¯s life.¡±


    What? Yizhou completely froze; take the Princess hostage?

 Volume 11, 7: The One Who Should Be Sacrificed

    Volume 11, Chapter 7: The One Who Should Be Sacrificed


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Yizhou had never been the one to follow the chivalric code closely, but he did receive years of Knight¡¯s morality training. Holding someone hostage was not something a Knight should do, let alone when the target was a female, especially when she was a Princess.


    Even the most un-chivalric Knight would hesitate on receiving a mission like this, and Yizhou was no exception. Baolilong didn¡¯t seem to give him any time to think; it bit the corner of Yizhou¡¯s clothes, and roared, ¡°This is master¡¯s orders, you must obey!¡±


    Yizhou frowned. He raised his head to look in the direction of Silver Moon¡¯s fight. Though he couldn¡¯t see Silver Moon clearly, but he realized the area surrounded by the white and dark Auras was getting smaller and smaller. Perhaps in a moment, Silver Moon would really become a bird in a nest, getting captured after being exhausted.


    Seeing this, Yizhou nodded and agreed with the Dragon. After Baolilong see Yizhou nod, it received an order from Silver Moon, then it transformed into a large Dragon, and began to fly in the direction of Aklan capital.


    In that instant, other than the three people currently in combat, Cappuccino, Lanski, and Jasmine¡¯s attentions were all caught by Baolilong. Lanski and Jasmine began to panic and called out to Cappuccino, whom immediately tried to go intercept Baolilong with Little Fireball.


    When everyone¡¯s attention was focused to the air, an attack surrounded with a silver Aura sent Jasmine flying to a few meters away. Of course, she was not the real target; Yizhou spun around, and put her sword on Lanski before she react. Lanski didn¡¯t not realize the attacker was Yizhou until now, and she completely froze.


    Know Mocha¡¯s prediction, Jasmine was already yelling panickedly, ¡°Let go of Lanski!¡±


    There was no way for Yizhou to do that. He held the Princess hostage, and yelled loudly into the battle, ¡°Stop attacking the successor, or otherwise I will¡­ I will attack the Princess.¡±


    Yizhou¡¯s words sounded awkward. ¡°Kill¡± was something he could never say, so he replaced it with ¡°attack¡±. Any person with common sense would know, Yizhou probably didn¡¯t have the guts to really do it.


    However, his actions did indeed draw Lancelot and Blood Wolf¡¯s attention. They both frowned, and Blood Wolf said, ¡°Ignore him, he wouldn¡¯t dare.¡±


    Lancelot frowned, and he still looked in the direction of Lanski out of worry. Sure enough, he saw Yizhou awkwardly holding Lanski hostage. He knew in his heart that Blood Wolf¡¯s judgment was correct, so he planned on ignoring Yizhou¡­


    ¡°Lancelot!¡± Blood Wolf roared.


    Lancelot¡¯s eyes were only off Silver Moon for an instant, but little did he know, this was the exactly the kind of opportunity Silver Moon had been waiting for. He raised his speed to its limit, and it was so fast that neither legendary Knight¡¯s Aura could stop him. With a flash, Silver Moon managed to escape out of their siege.


    Crap! Lancelot and Blood Wolf both knew the situation was dire. If Silver Moon mounted the King of the Sky ¡ª the Sacred White Dragon, then the only thing left for them to do was chase after him from behind.


    When he was about to call forth his mount to intercept Baolilong, Blood Wolf instead yelled strangely, ¡°No! His target is the Princess!¡±


    Lancelot¡¯s heart felt a shock. When he turned his head, the black shadow had already arrived at where Lanski and Yizhou were.


    Yizhou felt nothing but a gust. He then found himself pushed onto the floor. He raised his head to look, and realized the successor Silver Moon had already replaced him, with Broken Silver pressed against the Princess¡¯s thin neck.


    Everyone took a deep breath. Though the person who was holding her Princess was her own brother, but no one would doubt for a second that the Silver Moon now would cut the Princess¡¯s neck. The silver eyes sparkling with coldness had already told everyone present to never doubt this person¡¯s cruelty.


    ¡°Back up, all of you.¡±


    Silver Moon said coldly. While he did, he applied pressure onto Broken Silver, and a thin red line immediately appeared on her white skin.


    ¡°Stop! Liola, don¡¯t do this.¡±


    Jasmine had already been deeply frightened. She might have been originally half skeptical about the prophecy, but she was certain of it now. She was very afraid that in the next second, Broken Silver would break the neck of her best friend.


    ¡°Back up!¡± Silver Moon suddenly yelled loudly.


    Jasmine immediately stood up, and ran towards where Lancelot and Blood Wolf stood. She looked at them with pleading eyes, and the latter had no choice but sigh and slowly backed away.


    ¡®Baolilong come back!¡¯


    Cappuccino also didn¡¯t dare to chase Baolilong anymore. The giant Baolilong slowly landed besides Silver Moon, who went and stood on Baolilong¡¯s back with the hostage still in his hand.


    ¡°Wait! Let Lanski go.¡± Jasmine yelled anxiously.


    Silver Moon¡¯s silver eyes coldly glanced towards her, but he made no response to Jasmine. Instead, he looked towards Yizhou, and commanded, ¡°Summon your dragon, and follow me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Yizhou obeyed.


    Baolilong slowly began to lift off. Silver Moon was now sure, no one could possibly catch up to Baolilong. His cold lips went up against Lanski¡¯s ears, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sister, I will bring you back to father, and he will be the judge on what to do with you.¡±


    Lanski was shocked. She was now in panic; this was different than what Mocha said! Didn¡¯t Mocha mean, she could help? That she could wake up Liola, right? Why had she become a burden instead? If Silver Moon escaped, no one present could stay in the Dragon Empire any longer, and there would be no more chances to wake Liola up.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Lanski¡¯s face became pale. She could never allow this to happen.


    Silver Moon frowned. Ignoring Lanski, he commanded Baolilong, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Back to Aklan.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Lanski suddenly realized what it meant. She completely ignored the fact that an razor was held on her neck, and she turned to hold Silver Moon and wouldn¡¯t let go. If it weren¡¯t for Silver Moon¡¯s alertness and his ability to move the weapon quickly away, Lanski¡¯s neck might have already been cut by now.


    ¡°Let go!¡± Silver Moon frowned; he thought this action might affect him, because it would be disadvantageous to him now if the Paladin and Dark Knight used this opportunity to attack him.


    Nevertheless, Silver Moon was worrying too much. Everyone was standing far away, and with Lanski hugging Silver Moon, their distance was even closer. With his speed, no one would dare to see which would be faster, Silver Moon¡¯s blade or their running speed.


    ¡°Never!¡± Lanski held tightly to Silver Moon, and yelled, ¡°Liola! Liola, please, wake up, don¡¯t be like this anymore.¡±


    Silver Moon¡¯s silver eyes darkened.


    ¡°Do you still remember Kaiser! Haven¡¯t you two always been friends?¡± Lanski said hurriedly.


    ¡°Kaiser?¡± Silver Moon¡¯s face was gloomy, ¡°You are on Qiusi¡¯s side?¡±


    Lanski shook her head desperately, ¡°No, Liola, I just want you to wake up, I¡¯m not on any sides.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Liola!¡± Silver Moon¡¯s eyes flashed, and yelled with frustration, ¡°I am Silver Moon!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Lanski bitterly shook her head, ¡°You can be Liola, or you can be Silver Mask, but I will never call you Silver Moon.¡±


    Hearing this, Silver Moon¡¯s irises suddenly contracted. His hand that was holding Broken Silver trembled, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you call me Silver Moon? You always used to called me Silver Moon.¡±


    Lanski froze. When did she ever call him Silver Moon? Always used to?


    ¡°Have you given up on me? Anise?¡±


    Lanski suddenly raised her head. From what Lancelot told her, she knew about the previous Sacred White Dragon, Bairui, transforming into Anise, a girl who looked identical to her, and a girl who taught Silver Moon how to have feelings; but wasn¡¯t Anise dead? Why would Silver Moon call her Anise¡­


    By now, Silver Moon had already reached out his hands to touch Lanski¡¯s hair. Lanski could feel, his hands were shaking, as if they were trying to hold something back.


    ¡°Please call me again, Anise.¡± Silver Moon said practically pleadingly.


    Lanski didn¡¯t know how to react. She finally understood now, Silver Moon thought she was Anise, but she really wasn¡¯t. Also, Lanski had also decided, she would never call him Silver Moon, fearing that if she did so, Liola would never come back.


    Lanski¡¯s silence seemed to have infuriated Silver Moon. He suddenly shouted violently, ¡°Call me Silver Moon!¡±


    Though Silver Moon¡¯s eyes and personality drove fear into Lanski, but a Princess¡¯s pride made her hold her stance. She answered firmly, ¡°No, you¡¯re Liola, not Silver Moon.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Silver Moon slapped Lanski onto the ground. After doing so, he kept trying to catch his breath, as if the slap caused him every last ounce of his strength.


    Blood dripped from the corner of Lanski¡¯s mouth, and she felt a burning pain on his cheek, but her expression was now even more determined. She raised her head, and said word by word, ¡°The person I knew before, was Liola, the person I know now, is still Liola, and the person I will know from now, will always be Liola!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    With his head lowered, Silver Moon seemed to have calmed down. When he raised his head again, his eyes were as calm as lake water without the slightest of ripples, so calm that not a single bit of emotion could be seen. He said lightly, ¡°You said Kaiser, and father told me to kill anyone in connection with them. Therefore, sister, farewell.¡±


    Lanski froze, and a strand of silver light was already stabbing towards her. The only thing she thought was, ¡®Did I fail? I didn¡¯t wake Liola, but I¡¯m about to die, then will there be anyone who could wake him?¡¯


    Though the people far away could tell something had happened, they didn¡¯t dare come closer. It wasn¡¯t until when Silver Moon slapped Lanski into the ground did everyone react and ran up, but it was already too late. They saw Silver Moon raised Broken Silver high in the air, then intertwined with a red aura, and striked towards Lanski.


    ¡°Liola, I-I really want to see you again with your mask, waiting for me underneath the moonlight¡­¡±


    At the brink of her death, the thing Lanski remembered was the failed first date: the silver moonlight landing on his tall and thin body; with his eyes closed, he seemed so relaxed and free, aloof and arrogant, almost like¡­ a silver solitary moon. Lanski suddenly realized, Silver Moon?


    Even though she had some doubts, but Lanski didn¡¯t have time to think anymore. The silver light had already arrived. In an instant, darkness befell in front of Lanski¡¯s eyes¡­


    Blood spilled everywhere! Everyone screamed in shock! The scene seemed to have froze: Silver Moon stopped, and everyone stopped running; they all froze as they looked at this destined tragedy¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it a lot, brother, can a person really be emotionless? If you really were emotionless, then how did Anise move a person without emotion?¡±


    ¡°Why would you be so stubborn about the name ¡®Silver Moon¡¯? Silver Moon is emotionless and cold; everyone hates Silver Moon, and even cast him aside. They only hoped Liola to come back quickly, and hoped Silver Moon would forever disappear; however, we seemed to forget, Silver Moon indeed exists. Silver Moon is Liola¡¯s true, original form, and it¡¯s the personality you¡¯ve used before to escape from pain¡­¡±


    ¡°Nevertheless, when Liola had companions, even when in pain, there was no need for Silver Moon anymore. Silver Moon¡­ therefore became an orphan, an existence that was hated. Even your companions don¡¯t like Silver Moon.¡±


    ¡°The only person who had ever accepted ¡®Silver Moon¡¯, was the one and only Anise.¡±


    Silver Moon¡¯s body had completely froze. These words stroke the pain and hunger hidden deepest within Silver Moon¡¯s heart, and then unearthed all of them. He no longer knew what he was feeling; was it happiness, unwillingness, or perhaps anger? It was as if all emotions had been mixed together, and he felt his chest was about to explode.


    ¡°My brother, Silver Moon, can you call me ¡®brother¡¯? I¡¯ve never heard you call me that, even until now.¡±


    Silver Moon raised his head, and asked with a trembling voice, ¡°What did you call me?¡±


    ¡°Silver Moon, my brother.¡± Mocha smiled lightly.


    With the words ¡°Silver Moon¡± and ¡°brother¡±, Silver Moon seemed to have completely broken down. All the intertwined emotions seemed to have became tears and ran down his cheeks. Looking at the blood running down Mocha¡¯s body, Silver Moon¡¯s face turned pale. He fell to his knees, with tears streaming down, he wept, ¡°B-brother¡­ sorry, sorry!¡±


    Mocha didn¡¯t answer. After a stagger, his bloodied body fell down¡­


    ¡°Mocha!¡±, ¡°Brother!¡±


    Everyone ran up, but Mocha seemed to have mustered his strength, and maintained a kneeling position. He waved his hand towards them, gesturing them not to come up.


    ¡°Brother, I am the one who should be sorry.¡± Mocha¡¯s words were mixed with bitterness, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for my predictions, you wouldn¡¯t have landed in strange lands; if it weren¡¯t for my negligence, you wouldn¡¯t have been controlled by the Dragon Emperor; if it weren¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Silver Moon suddenly raised his head, and shook it desperately, ¡°Brother, don¡¯t apologize, don¡¯t!¡±


    Mocha smiled lightly, and spread his arms. He encircled his brother with them, and whispered to his ear, ¡°You are Silver Moon, you are also Liola. You don¡¯t need to withhold your emotionless side, and you definitely should never cast away any of yourself.¡±


    A hug¡­ other than Anise, no one had ever touched Silver Moon. Most people would hurriedly avoid him after seeing Silver Moon¡¯s eyes, or their faces would be filled with disgust. Now, there was finally another person who would treat Silver Moon with warmth and hug. He couldn¡¯t help but hug Mocha back with his trembling arms; he hugged tightly, unwilling to ever let go.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±


    Silver Moon ¡ª or perhaps Liola, now that there was no longer a distinction between the two ¡ª slowly let go, hoping to see his brother¡¯s smile again. But as soon as he had done so, Mocha¡¯s body slowly fell down¡­


    Silver Moon froze. When he woke from this daze, he couldn¡¯t catch Mocha in time. Mocha slowly fell to the ground, with his black hair spread on the ground, and his purple eyes half closed. His breathing was labored and hurried, and the pool of blood underneath him slowly spread.


    Liola didn¡¯t know what to do. He hurriedly climbed up. He transferred his Ki into Mocha¡¯s body, while not caring whether or not it would actually help; he also pleaded while doing so, ¡°No! Please don¡¯t die like Anise!¡±


    Receiving the support of Liola¡¯s Ki, Mocha¡¯s breath became slightly smoother, but he knew, this was the brief moment of clarity before his death. Before he would undoubtedly fall, Mocha still had a few things to say. He smiled as he look towards Liola, whom was no longer his cold former self, but he did not have Liola¡¯s blank expression either; his face was filled with panic and fear, like a child who had just stepped out of his home for the first time.


    ¡°Liola¡­ or Silver Moon¡­ now I don¡¯t even know what to call you anymore.¡± Mocha slowly reached out his hand towards Liola, whom immediately grabbed it and held tightly in his hand.


    ¡°Liola, brother, call me Liola.¡± Liola said timidly, like a child who had just learnt of his own name.


    ¡°Promise me something, okay?¡±


    Liola nodded immediately. The person who would obey the most at this moment would be none other than Mocha. Even if Mocha were to ask him to kill someone, he might not be able to say no.


    ¡°From now on, live for yourself.¡± Mocha¡¯s purple eyes stared directly at Liola, and said slowly, ¡°Only you can decide the path you walk, brother, you have to live for your own happiness, and don¡¯t let anything stand in your way.¡±


    Living for himself? Liola froze, and nodded instinctively.


    ¡°You!¡± Mocha smiled bitterly, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just tell you, you have to live for yourself? Why would you promise me so easily?¡±


    Liola frowned. So should he promise or not? He was clueless as to what he should do.


    Seeing his brother frustrated, Mocha couldn¡¯t help but laugh a bit. However, he suddenly felt empty in his chest, to the point where he couldn¡¯t feel his heart. He knew, by now, his time was almost up¡­


    ¡°Liola, just do what you want to do,¡± Mocha murmured, at a voice so quiet that almost nobody could hear him, ¡°I truly hope that¡­ you wouldn¡¯t be in pain again, and I truly hope that you wouldn¡¯t kill Caffey¡­ not just for Caffey¡¯s sake, but also for your own¡­¡±


    Mocha slowly closed his purple eyes. No matter how much Ki Liola kept sending, the practically non-existent breaths ceased to exist¡­


    Younger brother and younger sister, the person who should¡¯ve sacrificed¡­ was the elder brother¡­


    ¡°Eldest brother!¡± Lanski climbed up hurriedly. After staring Mocha for a long while, her trembling hand reached up towards Mocha¡¯s nose. Before her finger moved away, her tears had already rolled down her face. Her tears were obvious enough to everyone else that Mocha was no longer breathing.


    ¡°No¡ª¡ª¡± Liola gave out a roar like a wounded beast.


    Lanski wept quietly. Other people slowly walked up; Lancelot and Blood Wolf¡¯s faces were dark, but Cappuccino¡¯s face was pale as snow, for he was the one who spent the most time with his eldest brother. His death impacted Cappuccino the most, to the point where he didn¡¯t even know how to react.


    Without saying anything to one another, Lancelot and Blood Wolf both lifted their right fist and held it on their left chest, performing a Knight¡¯s salute with the utmost respect towards the eldest Prince.


    After the blow had finally sank into him, Liola was completely absentminded, to the point where things blurred in front of his eyes. He had, once again, killed someone who was important to him. He slowly raised his hands, and the palms were covered with Mocha¡¯s warm blood. He couldn¡¯t help but remember his brother¡¯s warm smile.


    The things he want to do¡­ Then, what did he want to do now? Liola¡¯s eyes slowly focused around the people around him. He saw Mocha quietly lying on the floor, quiet as if he were asleep, this was his eldest brother; he saw Lanski putting her head against Mocha¡¯s chest and crying, this was his twin sister; and he saw Cappuccino burying his face in his palms, trying desperately to refrain from crying, this was his elder brother.


    Everything, was caused by him.


    ¡°Liola?¡±


    Jasmine was the first one to pay attention to Liola. After seeing his face horrifically pale, she called out to him with worry. Liola looked towards her, eyes filled with self-blame and helplessly. Jasmine¡¯s heart pounded; her senses told her that Liola was about to do something she didn¡¯t want to see. As that thought entered her mind, Liola did a backflip, and jumped onto Baolilong¡¯s back.


    ¡°No!¡±


    Jasmine took a deep breath, and panickedly ran towards Liola. With the Sacred White Dragon¡¯s speed, there was no way for her to catch up. In the blink of an eye, the Dragon had already lifted off and bolted away.


    ¡°Liola!¡±


    Though she knew it was useless, but Jasmine still had to yell as loud as she could towards what was now a small dot in the air.


    * * *


    ¡®Master, where to?¡¯


    Baolilong asked with confusion. Though it obeyed its master and immediately left, but Liola didn¡¯t give it a specific destination, or even a direction.


    Liola paused, and answered irrelevantly, ¡°Don¡¯t call me master anymore; you can call me like how you used to.¡±


    ¡°Can I really? I can call you papa?¡± Baolilong was shocked, and its tone was clearly happy.


    Liola nodded.


    ¡°Papa! Baolilong can call papa now. Baolilong hates saying master, so strange, papa is better.¡±


    Having received Liola¡¯s approval, Baolilong seemed to have noticed Liola¡¯s difference again, and it immediately began to become chatty again, with ¡°papa¡± here and there. Its originally stable flying under Silver Moon¡¯s control had become unstable again: tilting left, then right; after seeing Liola didn¡¯t seem to have any unhappy reaction, Baolilong returned to its former self with its 8 shaped flying again, and its ¡°roller coaster Dragon¡± mode had activated again¡­


    ¡°Papa, papa, where are we going?¡± After flying happily for a long while, Baolilong finally remembered to ask Liola where they were going.


    Hearing this question, Liola said blankly, ¡°I-I don¡¯t know; I just didn¡¯t want to continue to stay there. Eldest brother said I could do what I wanted to do¡­ I just wanted to leave.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go find Kaiser! Baolilong misses Purity, and also Flames.¡± Baolilong said naturally. When it mentioned Purity, for some reason, its mouth began to water.


    Kaiser, Purity, Daylight, and Meinan¡­ Liola hesitated, just for a brief moment. He immediately nodded. The reason was simple: he missed them, and now, he could do what he wanted.


    ¡®Then let¡¯s go find Kaiser and others.¡¯

 Volume 11, 8: Being Lost, a Precursor to Being a Wanderer

    Volume 11, Chapter 8: Being Lost, a Precursor to Being a Wanderer


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Papa, which direction is Kaiser?¡± Baolilong flew a while, but suddenly stopped perplexedly; it didn¡¯t seem to know where Kaiser was..


    Liola paused, and asked with a lowered head, ¡°I thought you knew.¡±


    ¡°Baolilong doesn¡¯t know!¡±


    Baolilong turned its head and looked innocently at him with its pink eyeballs at the size of Liola¡¯s head, while Liola also stared blankly back at it. He was never the one to be the pathfinder. After thinking for a while, Liola looked up at the boundary-less land and clear skies, and noticed the winds had changed directions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with the wind.¡± Liola decided easily.


    Baolilong yelled ¡°okay¡± loudly, and happily began to play a game of gliding in the wind. There were countless number of wind changes in their journey, and Baolilong naively thought: no matter how many times the wind would change, because papa said to go with the wind, that would be exactly what it would do.


    A Dragon who knew nothing about the concept of path, plus a person who never had to find a path, both allowing the wind to determine the direction they would take¡­


    The two also didn¡¯t seem to care much. If they got thirsty they would find a river for water; if they got hungry they would land and cruise around the bushes and trees; Liola could always find some form of food. Besides, they didn¡¯t even need to start a fire; he could just release his aura, and the meat would be cooked.


    Also, these meat were usually taken from gigantic animals, such as a three-story tall Lesser-Dragon. In the end, Baolilong ate even more satisfactorily than before, and therefore it didn¡¯t miss Purity as much.


    They continued as such for days, to the point where they lost track for how long, and lived carefreely and leisurely, until one day, when Liola suddenly saw a strange city. He thought for a moment¡­ in fact, more like was put in a daze for a while. After Baolilong suggested getting some desserts, they decided to enter.


    Because he didn¡¯t have clothes for Baolilong to wear, Liola asked Baolilong to resume the form of a small Dragon to enter the city. As they walked through the streets, the small city looked very crowded. Everyone seemed to be carrying luggages of varying sizes, as if they were carrying all of their wealth on them at all times. Some of the bags were even so full of gold and silver that one could see them from the outside. Nevertheless, no one¡¯s eyes showed any signs of avarice, instead¡­


    Liola frowned; it seemed like all their eyes were towards him? He looked to the side, other than Baolilong chewing a piece of meat, there was nothing else there. Could Baolilong stand out too much? Liola thought about it a bit, and felt relieved; after all, a Sacred White Dragon was a rare sight to be had.


    The more Liola walked, the stranger he thought it was. Everyone he saw in Aklan capital used to be glamorous, but this city was the complete opposite: their clothes were torn and dirty, and the sides of the streets were littered with pale and thin people. The whole city looked like a giant refugee camp.


    ¡°Yo! Yo! There¡¯s a Knight here. Look at him, such beautiful clothes, he looks like a Prince or something.¡±


    A refugee who looked somewhat alive said loudly; his tone was obviously mocking, but no one knew his words hit spot on: Liola was indeed a Prince.


    Liola looked confusedly at that person, not sure what he meant. He thought, could this person had already recognized he was the Dragon Empire¡¯s Prince, Silver Moon?


    ¡°Mama, I¡¯m really hungry, I want meat!¡± A child on the side suddenly began to cry loudly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, there¡¯s still a piece of cracker here. Here, hurry and eat it.¡±


    The mother who held the child¡¯s hand reached into her bag and painstakingly took out something so broken that it looked nothing like a cracker, then handed it to the child. The child took the cracker, but his eyes were fixated on the meat in Baolilong¡¯s mouth. Had it not been his mother holding him back, the child might have already ran up to fight the Dragon for the food.


    Seeing this, Liola seemed to have realized something, and he walked towards the child. The mother immediately threw the child panickedly into her arms, and looked at Liola¡¯s approach with fear on her face. Some of the refugees dashed off, but some of them inched closer with a gloomy look; out of the crowd who drew near, the person who spoke mockingly before was the one leading them.


    In an instant, there were a dozen or so people blocking Liola¡¯s path to the mother. Liola thought it was strange; he said with a frown, ¡°Please let me through.¡±


    The person leading seemed to be surprised, most likely with the word ¡°please¡±. He thought briefly, then asked carefully, ¡°How come your clothes don¡¯t have lining? What rank of a Knight are you?¡±


    Liola lowered his head and looked at the black Knight¡¯s uniform he was wearing; the uniform did not have the lining other uniforms usually would have, but instead it had a Dragon pattern indicating his royalty in the Dragon Empire. If the person looking at the uniform was from the Dragon Empire, just by looking at the Dragon pattern, they would have known this person had the Royal Family¡¯s blood running through his veins, and they could determine which of the royalty this person was.


    The current Dragon Empire had a Purple Dragon as his pattern, while the Eldest Prince used Black Dragon. The Second Prince was dead, but used to use a Gold Dragon when he was alive. Third Prince used red, to represent his Fire Dragon. The only Princess, Lanski, loved blue. The one on Liola, was Silver Dragon; not only did it reflect his unique eye color, it represented his title as Silver Moon.


    However, the Dragon Empire¡¯s royalties rarely appeared in front of the general public. Even the Dragon Empire¡¯s peasants wouldn¡¯t recognize the looks of the royalties, they would have only heard about the Dragon pattern colors, but the Aklan peasants would know of no such thing.


    Liola frowned, unsure of what he should answer. The Knights who have their own unique auras have always been recognized as Knights who have surpassed ranks, and they were often famous, such as the Paladin and Dark Knight. They would only call out their titles, and no one would ever ask them about ranks.


    ¡°I¡­ am Silver rank.¡± Liola didn¡¯t know why, but for some reason he stated the rank far below his true power. Perhaps it was because Silver Mask had been a silver Knight for a while.


    Silver Knight¡­ everyone present spitted. They clearly knew a Silver Knight¡¯s power was more than enough to handle a dozen of these people. The dozen or so people standing in front of the mother and child looked hesitant.


    ¡°You are a Knight, you wouldn¡¯t hurt a peasant, would you?¡± The person in lead clearly knew what code of conduct a Knight should follow, and he took off his hat towards Liola.


    Liola shook his head. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t harm any ordinary person without a reason.


    The person in lead was hesitant for a moment, then slowly backed away. The others following him saw and slowly backed off as well. There were nothing else blocking between Liola and the mother and son. Seeing this, Liola began to walk again towards the mother and child.


    The mother clearly was panicking, and she apologized hurriedly, ¡°S-sorry, sir Knight, my child didn¡¯t mean to stare at your Dragon.¡±


    Liola had already reached the mother. He was confused about what the mother said, but he continued to do what he wanted to do: he took out something wrapped in lotus leaves from his pockets, and slowly put it in front of the child.


    By now, the crowd didn¡¯t know what this Knight wanted to do, and they looked timidly at the lotus leaves wrapped bag. The child scaredly went further into his mother¡¯s hug; the mother also seemed timid and unsure on how to react.


    ¡°For you.¡± Liola pushed the wrapped bag forward a bit more.


    The mom was at a loss, but the child seemed to have noticed something. He hurriedly struggled out of his mother¡¯s arms, and grabbed the bag out of Liola¡¯s hands. After quickly tearing off the leaves, he began to bite into the thing inside. The mother saw, and panickedly grabbed it from the child¡¯s hands, fearing that her child would have mistakenly eaten something fatal. As soon as she had done so, however, she realized it was a juicy piece of meat with the same size as three adult fists.


    ¡°Mama! I want to eat.¡± The child was hungry. He grabbed the meat from his mother¡¯s hands, and began biting into it again.


    The mother and the crowd looked surprised. Seeing the child happily eating, everyone seemed to have relaxed, and they thought the Knight had, after all, no malicious intent. At the same time, however, their mouths watered as they looked, but they had to suppress their own hunger. On one hand, they didn¡¯t want to snatch food from a child, on another, the Silver Knight was still present. If they snatched food he had given to a child, it would be no doubt a slap to his face, and no one would do something that stupid.


    After the child eating for a while, he raised his eyes to see his mother looking hungry. He felt a bit guilty, then handed the meat to his mother and said, ¡°Mama, this meat is delicious, I¡¯ve never had anything so delicious. Have a taste.¡±


    The mother gulped, then said, ¡°You eat first, give it to mama if you can¡¯t finish.¡±


    ¡°Mama, I already can¡¯t eat anymore.¡± The child said so, but he still couldn¡¯t refrain from the hungry look on his face.


    Liola saw this, and he felt an indescribable feeling in his chest. It was just like the warm hug he had gotten from the blood-covered Mocha ¡ª a warmth with a sense of sadness.


    Yet another lotus leaves wrapped bag appeared in front of the mother and child. When the two raised their heads to look, the young Knight offering the bag was smiling slightly. It was a smile so clear that it felt like the soft moonlight guiding the travelers home, and everyone couldn¡¯t help but smiled as well.


    The mother reached out her hand to receive the bag. She opened the bag, and sure enough it was another piece of meat. With lights reflecting off tears on her face, she began to slowly eat the meat. She didn¡¯t know if she had been so hungry or what, but the meat tasted especially delicious, juicy, and tender. Before she knew it, she began to eat faster and faster, until she had forgotten everything else except eating. It wasn¡¯t until she heard the gulping sounds surrounding her, did she finally stop biting.


    Seeing everyone around, she remembered the dozen or so people in front of her just now. After a slight of hesitation, she looked towards Liola, and asked carefully, ¡°E-excuse me, can we divide the meat among others? They¡¯ve also been hungry for a long time.¡±


    Liola looked around at the crowd, finally understanding that the expressions on their faces represented hunger. He thought for a moment, and said, ¡°Not necessary.¡±


    The mother paused, not necessary? She was just about to ask what he meant, but the young Knight gestured to the little white Dragon next to him, then the Dragon flew into the air and suddenly transformed into a large Dragon. Everyone stared at awe at this scene, and the mother was no exception. When she got out of the daze, the Knight and Dragon were now only a small dot in the sky.


    She didn¡¯t know what she should do. She wanted to give some of the meat to others, but she was afraid of the Knight being mad. She thought, would the Knight come back?


    The person in lead also saw the mother¡¯s indecisiveness. After gulping, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s the meat the Knight gave you, we wouldn¡¯t snatch it.¡±


    Hearing this, the mother felt even more guilt. She pushed the guilt, and suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s divide this between everyone, us two couldn¡¯t possibly eat such a large piece of meat.¡±


    Everyone heard, and no matter how much they wanted to act like a hero, their stomachs disobediently began to growl. The crowd looked at one another awkwardly. The mother smiled, and handed out the meat, then said, ¡°Come, let¡¯s all eat.¡±


    The crowd finally decided not to resist. The leading person took out his knife, and divided the large piece of meat into smaller pieces. Only the dozen or so who tried to protect her got a piece, and they only each got a piece of meat about the size of a finger. If they were to divide this to everyone on the streets, they might not even get a sliver of meat.


    Everyone seemed to have treasured this little piece of meat, but the leading person still acted with alacrity; he threw the entire piece of meat into his mouth, but he kept chewing it, and didn¡¯t want to swallow it. He said as he chewed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe there are still some good people among the Knights.¡±


    Another person heard, and sighed while shaking his head, ¡°The Knights now are far different than before. Once upon a time, a Knight was always willing to help, and us folks would always ask him if he¡¯s married. If not, then any of us with a sister would grab her, or if not then cousins, hoping they would join the family¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! If my sister wants to marry a Knight, I will break her leg.¡± Someone shouted this from the crowd. As soon as this was said, everyone else seemed to agree.


    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t say that, the Knight just now seemed to be good.¡± The mother hurried to the Knight¡¯s defense, only because this Knight gave her and her child two pieces of meat.


    ¡°Yes, at least a few hundred times better than the Knights who drove us out of our homes.¡±


    When they mentioned their homes, everyone was quiet. This city was not too far from the Aklan capital, and that was why it was populated by many people who used to live in or around the Aklan capital. When the people living here heard about the news of the Dragon Empire taking the capital, they were so thankful that they were going to knee before the Dragon Emperor to thank him. However, when they returned to the gates of the capital, they were not allowed in, and even the people of the surrounding cities were forcefully driven out of their homes.


    Though the reason they claimed was spies of the Black Dragon King among them, but many people questioned back:


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the Knight¡¯s duties to protect us? Instead they drove us out because of spies, what the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°They drove us out and left us here without an ounce of care. If the Black Dragon King sends a few flying Dragons to massacre us, what are we going to do?¡±


    The bigger problem for them now was a source of food. By now, the commerce and agriculture of Aklan Continent had practically came to a complete stop. Because the Black Dragon King had taken the north, so there were countless refugees going into the cities to the south. The amount of food in the storage in the south had been emptied by the refugees, and food was now so scarce that it was difficult to buy with money, which was the reason why there were people dying in the streets from hunger while still holding gold and silver.


    ¡°Sigh, when will these days ever end? I really miss Prime Minister Qiusi¡­¡±


    Everyone began lamenting about the good times they had while Qiusi was still the Prime Minister.


    ¡°Mama, the Dragon is back.¡±


    The child naively and happily pointed into the sky. Everyone raised their heads and sure enough, they saw an eye-catching White Dragon. Now, everyone was in a hurry to stuff the piece of meat into their mouths, fearing that the Knight might get angry when if he found out they ate the meat he gave to the mother.


    The mother herself was afraid as well, but she was worried the Knight would mistake others for snatching her food. She mustered her courage, planning on clarifying it for others. When the Dragon flew near, however, all she could do was drop her jaws.


    The White Dragon was biting on a Lesser-Dragon. The Lesser-Dragon was not moving, and it clearly looked like it was dead. The White Dragon slowly landed, giving enough time for the people underneath to scatter. As soon as it got near the ground, the White Dragon threw the Lesser-Dragon to the side, and instantly transformed back to a small Dragon.


    The Knight with the black uniform, on the other hand, elegantly jumped off the Dragon as it transformed, and landed squarely right next to the Lesser-Dragon. His unique silver eyes then looked towards where the mother and other stood.


    ¡°Ah, ah!¡± As soon as the silver eyes fixated on her, the mother acted like she had been electrified. She quickly explained, ¡°I, uh, it was me who divided the meat to others, they didn¡¯t forcefully take it, please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡±


    The Knight frowned at the mother¡¯s explanation, and this made everyone else nervous again, but then the Knight nodded, which calmed everyone¡¯s nerves¡­


    The Knight took out a silver stick from his long boots, and with a click, he unsheathed a thin blade. Everyone stared blankly at the Knight, unsure of what he was going to do. The Knight began to float, yup, indeed, float. Every raise of hand he did looked like a virtuoso dancer on the stage. A faint red mist began to surround him, almost like a light red veil covering him. It also continuously sparkle, which made it look all that much more pretty.


    Everyone were entranced by such a sight. It was a long while before they were awakened by a delicious smell. They then realized, as the silver lights flashed from the Knight, pieces of meat the size of a person¡¯s head had been chopped off from the Lesser-Dragon¡¯s body. The pieces of meat slowly started to build up to a small hill. When the meat hill was about half the height of a person, a red light would shine from the Knight, and cover the meat hill for a few seconds. When the red light disappeared, the meat mountain emitted an alluring smell. Even idiots would know from the smell that the meat was cooked and delicious.


    But no one dared to move. If anyone weren¡¯t familiar with Silver rank before, they have completely understood now. The Knight possessed unseen speeds, and their aura could instantly cook meat¡­ If he were to use it on a person, that person would probably become a cooked meat hill as well.


    The little Dragon suddenly climbed up the meat hill, and began to bite into the meat with its mouth, but then it seemed to think it was a bit inconvenient. After a flash of a white light, the little white Dragon disappeared, and in its place was a naked and pretty adolescent person, but it was eating indecently.


    Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped; the Dragon turned into human?


    ¡°Baolilong!¡±


    Lioa yelled unhappily. It¡¯s not that he didn¡¯t want Baolilong to eat, but Baolilong ate while sitting on top of the meat mountain, and it was far too rude.


    Baolilong knew what it did wrong. After saying ¡°oh¡±, it obediently jumped off the meat mountain, and sat next to it while continuing to chew pieces of meat.


    Liola didn¡¯t realize until now, all the other people were staring at him. While keeping a few meters of distance away, as if they were scared to get any closer. Liola gestured at the meat mountain, and said simply, ¡°For you all.¡±


    Everyone froze, as if they couldn¡¯t believe something like this could happen in this world.


    Liola originally planned to continue slicing and cooking meat after saying so, but seeing no one moved, and their eyes looked even more fixated at him than before, he thought they didn¡¯t understand what he meant, so he elaborated, ¡°These are for you to eat. Lesser-Dragon meat is edible, it¡¯s not poisonous.¡±


    At first there were silence, but in an instant, an excited yell broke the silence. Everyone acted as if they were in a craze, and all charged up to grab meat. The situation quickly descent into chaos. The leading person saw the situation getting worse, and yelled immediately, ¡°What are you doing?! What are you doing?! Don¡¯t make ourselves a joke in front of the Knight. Order! Give some meat to the old, weak, pregnant, and children first.¡±


    After his yell, everyone seemed to have calmed down. A few muscular lads looked at the meat on their hands, and guiltily handed them to the older people next to them who didn¡¯t have enough strength to get meat. Everyone began to form a line, and if they saw a weaker person behind them, they would all start to send the person up in line.


    Liola saw all of this, and felt another strange sensation in his heart ¡ª it was a warm feeling, and he found himself really liking such a feeling. He turned and began to slice and cook meat again, until the Lesser-Dragon slowly turned into nothing but bones. When all the meat were taken off the bones, Liola thought to himself, was this enough meat to make everyone full?


    Liola stopped, and turned to look at them. He realized there were still quite a few meat mountains left, but the speed at which they ate was slowing down. Many of them had already stopped eating, and patted their full bellies with satisfaction.


    The leading person saw Liola had stopped cooking and stood still, then he walked towards the Knight while picking his teeth with his finger nails, and asked strangely, ¡°Knight! Why are you helping us?¡±


    Liola looked at him with a tilted head. He thought for a moment, and said, ¡°Because I want to, and because this makes me feel happy.¡±


    The ¡°want¡± and ¡°happy¡±, were exactly what Mocha requested.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many people like you nowadays.¡± The leading person shook his head and smiled bitterly, then continued, ¡°Knight, you have no idea how many people you saved with your happiness. Tell us, what¡¯s your name? Even if we can¡¯t ever repay your debt, we will always remember the name of our savior.¡±


    ¡®My happiness saved people?¡¯ Liola was very shocked. He always thought of himself as a burden to others, even to the point of killing others.


    ¡°Are you not willing to tell us?¡± The leading person scratched his face, ¡°If you don¡¯t tell us your name, can you at least give us a nickname to call you?¡±


    ¡®Nickname?¡¯ Liola was still thinking about why his happiness could save people, and as soon as he heard ¡°nickname¡±, he answered reflexively, ¡°Silver Mask.¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped. To them, this name was not strange at all. They still remembered, more than a year ago, the Paladin¡¯s apprentice, Silver Mask, had been quite active on the Aklan Continent. Of course, to these peasants, it was just a topic for them to gossip about, they only heard rumors about how strong Silver Mask was and how righteous he was.


    However, like the Paladin, Silver Mask was like a person in heaven to them, and it was fairly unrelated to their everyday life. No matter how righteous or strong he was, it was still just a legend. After they finished gossiping, the people returned to their lives. Silver Mask had nothing to them with them in the end.


    But now, Silver Mask actually appeared in front of them and delivered meat to them in times of need. To these peasants, these delicious meat was far more practical than defeating the devil.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your mask? Didn¡¯t you always wear a silver mask?¡± The leading person asked confoundedly.


    Liola thought with a tilted head, then answered, ¡°I forgot where I put it.¡±


    The leading person slipped, almost to the point of falling on his back from such a simple answer. With a bitter face, he smiled loudly and put his thumb up for Liola, ¡°Your answer is extreme enough! I like you, Sir Silver Mask, call me Bour.¡±


    Liola went silent for a moment, then said, ¡°Bour, strange name.¡± This was always something people had said to Liola, and he¡¯d never thought he would be the one saying it one day.


    ¡°Haha, yeah, it is a bit strange. Blame it on my parents, it¡¯s not like I wanted to be called that.¡±


    Bour found this Knight quite interesting, and he didn¡¯t have the arrogance other Knights had. Having always been easy going, he began to relax a bit. Had it not been Silver Mask¡¯s pretty and clean clothes stopping him, Bour might have already put his oily hands, thanks the Dragon meat, onto Silver Mask¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Silver Mask, you¡¯re quite famous, so why did you end up in this little city?¡± Bour inquired curiously, while the surrounding people also began to eavesdrop on the conversation.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone, but I¡¯m lost.¡± Liola frowned. He had absolutely no clue where he was. Also, he didn¡¯t know where he should go to look for Kaiser.


    Bour asked reflexively, ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, Daylight, Purity, and Meinan.¡± Liola answered straightforwardly.


    ¡°Kaiser and Daylight? Isn¡¯t that¡­¡± Bour and the people around him looked awkwardly at one another, then asked skeptically, ¡°Aren¡¯t those the two people who are now on the wanted list for attempting to assassinate the Dragon Empire¡¯s successor? Are you trying to capture them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re wanted criminals?¡± Liola paused. Because the arrest was ordered by the Dragon Emperor, he didn¡¯t even know they had now became wanted criminals.


    ¡°Yes, didn¡¯t you know?¡± Bour seemed surprised; this was the most recent earthshaking news.


    Liola shook his head, and said, ¡°We¡¯re friends.¡±


    As soon as the words were spoken, everyone froze. Being friends with wanted criminals, wouldn¡¯t that make him an accomplice?


    ¡°I have to go find them.¡± Liola locked his eyebrows. Originally, he thought Kaiser and others should be fine, and that¡¯s why he had been a bit lax in his search. But now he knew they became wanted criminals, he began to panic a bit.


    Bour paused, ¡°Where would you find them?¡±


    This was exactly what Liola was wondering, too. He shook his head, ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±


    Bour frowned, and suggested, ¡°How about this, stay here for now, and we¡¯ll ask around for you. You won¡¯t be able to find them while running around like a headless chicken.¡±


    Liola thought for a moment; indeed, he probably could never find Kaiser like this. More importantly, he really liked here, and he did indeed want to stay here for a bit longer. Just with the ¡°want¡± was enough of a reason for Liola to stay.


    Wanting to stay here, wanting to see Kaiser and others, and wanting to use his happiness to save people; for the first time, Liola realized, the reason to do something was as simple as wanting to.


    ¡®Eldest brother, thank you for teaching me how to ¡®want¡¯.¡¯

 Volume 12, 1: Soul’s Binding

    Volume 12, Chapter 1: Soul¡¯s Binding


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Warriors are simply meat shields.¡±


    ¡°Only idiots without the talents of magic would become Warriors, such low lives!¡±


    ¡°Warriors can only swing their swords stupidly. They are practically unevolved Barbarians. Magic, on the other hand, is the true art.¡±


    NO! That¡¯s not how it is! Lucifer desperately swung his sword, trying to prove Warrior wasn¡¯t just a lowly profession, or a profession only people without Magic talents would enter. Warriors can and should be a more important profession.


    This was an era for Magic; it was so common that it could be seen everywhere. Though not everyone knew the kind of large-scale Magic that would bring destruction to the world, but almost everyone could cast the simplest of spells. Waterball and Fireball spells had became the basic necessity of life.


    Those who did not know Magic were treated no differently than a disabled person.


    Swords could never block the terrifying power of Magic. A simple fireball could melt a sword, and an ice bolt wasn¡¯t something a thin blade could block. All in all, swords were practically paper in front of Magic. Unless the sword-wielder ambushed the Magician like an Assassin, otherwise they could never harm the Magicians.


    However, Lucifer often fantasized, how great would it be if there were a power everyone could achieve through training? Never would there be tragedies of people trying but not being able to cast a spell. Anyone, as long as they were willing to put in the efforts, could see the fruits of their labor.


    Once again, Lucifer was beaten to the ground by a child with a simple waterball spell. He lay on the ground, unable to cast even the simplest of protective shields, and he had to desperately use his hands to cover his vital areas.


    ¡°I have to, I must find my own power!¡±


    Lucifer thought of every way possible to increase strength: swinging his sword until he passed out, carrying heavy things to climb the steepest of hills, etc. After training with his swords, slowly but surely, his body became more and more fit, until the neighboring children could no longer bully him. But he wasn¡¯t satisfied with it; he knew if he spent the amount of efforts he had into Magic, he would probably have been at least an intermediate Magician by now, but truth was, he might not be able to win against a novice Magician at this point.


    The reason was, even the strongest body couldn¡¯t resist a hit from a low level Magic. He had to use his speed to dodge Magic spells raining out of the sky, then catch an opportunity to defeat the Magician.


    Everyone told him he had already gotten very strong, and he was the best among the Warriors, so there was no need to compare himself to Magicians.


    ¡°Could this be the limit for Warriors? Is that all I can do? No! There must be some power, with enough training, that could resist Magics. It must exist within our bodies, unlike having to use outside force like Magic.¡±


    Perhaps a blessing from the Gods, or perhaps it was the result of Lucifer¡¯s relentlessness, he did indeed finally find a power, that existed within his body, and it became more and more powerful with practice. Lucifer decided to name the power ¡°Aura¡±.


    At first, the Magicians looked down upon Lucifer¡¯s Aura. So what if this Aura thing could block low level magic? There were still intermediate, advanced, and even higher levels of Magic; they thought the child¡¯s play thing called Aura couldn¡¯t possibly block Magic.


    As such, people still paid little attention to Lucifer¡¯s Aura, but he didn¡¯t care; he was only happy about finding a way to gain power proportional to the efforts put in. He didn¡¯t keep this method to himself either: he taught Aura to anyone who wanted to learn.


    However, one time, Lucifer found out, to his surprise, a person who learnt Aura from him was using it to bully others. In an instant, the thought of him being bullied by Magic when he was a child flashed across his mind. He bitterly taught that person a lesson, and he also realized, this kind of power can¡¯t fall into the wrong hands.


    ¡°If people who learn Magic are called Magicians, then there should be a name for people who study Aura. However, this name can¡¯t be a simple name; it should be something more noble, and it should represent honor, discipline, and righteousness, it¡­ no, I should say we, we will be called, Knights!¡±


    More and more people wanted to join Lucifer¡¯s ranks of Knights, but he didn¡¯t get greedy; he picked the people who had good character and were willing to follow the Knight¡¯s conducts, then taught them the way to train their Auras. He hoped they would bring honor to the name of Knights, and make more people respect Knights.


    Though it was still the era of Magic, but Lucifer deeply believed, this would all one day change, and Knights would be active on this stage of life.


    Magicians became more and more scared; the possibility of Aura seemed endless, and the founder, Lucifer, had became unfathomably powerful. He was already at the point of going toe-to-toe with advanced Magicians. This kind of power was strong enough to threaten Magic.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let this power continue to exist; if this power continue to expand, it will affect the survival of Magic. We must extinguish it, get rid of Aura, and kill everyone with Aura!¡±


    Lucifer and the people who learnt Aura from him found themselves condemned by the entire world. They were arrested, posted as wanted people, assassinated, framed, and all kinds of ridiculous crimes were pinned against them; there was even a saying that Aura was an evil type of Magic.


    ¡®We follow good conduct, why?¡¯


    ¡®We use Aura to maintain justice, why?¡¯


    ¡®We didn¡¯t do anything wrong, why?¡¯


    As each of his comrade Knight die, they would always hold Lucifer¡¯s hand before their death: ¡®Don¡¯t give up; this world will eventually recognize Knights¡¯ rightful existence.¡¯


    Finally, only Lucifer remained, and he had been tossed into a corner in the world. He had lost all hopes he had in the world. He knew there was no where he could go; other than being extinguished, the only other choice he had was to fight back!


    He traveled to the ends of the world and found a legendary species ¡ª Dragons.


    He came to an agreement with the Sacred White Dragon, the king of the Dragons; the Dragons would do everything in their powers to assist Lucifer in establishing his own nation. Likewise, the land acquired by the Knights would also be owned by Dragons. Dragons and Knights became the best companions, and thus began their long journey for conquest.


    Lucifer¡¯s code of Knights attracted more and more people dissatisfied with the arrogance of Magicians. Lucifer¡¯s power grew from having to hide around to gloriously dance on the world¡¯s stage, and began to take over the lands.


    Lucifer¡¯s empire had finally established. To thank the Dragons, he changed his last name to Zhuogen, and called himself the Dragon Emperor, with his empire being called the Dragon Empire!


    [T/N: Zhuogen is Chinese phonetic translation of Dragon]


    The world was going to have a regime change; no longer would it be the Magician¡¯s world, and instead it would become an era for Knights¡­


    However, the dream was broken, by the terrifying that could¡¯ve shattered the world¡­ Lucifer again experienced the nightmare of his companions dying one by one. The world began to change, and the atmospheric change was horrific. Sometimes when he lied down at night, he would find himself atop a mountain in the morning instead of a plains, and he couldn¡¯t even find the corpse of his companions.


    ¡®You despicable Magicians¡­¡¯ Lucifer lost his loyal friends who swore their souls to him one by one. His hatred was as powerful as the Magic that shattered the world.


    ¡°Dragon Emperor, on our behalves, and in the name of Knights, please conquer this world.¡±


    Countless shouts and endless anticipations. Pairs and pairs of hands fell out of his grasp and stopped moving after saying so to him¡­


    ¡°I promise! No matter what it takes, I will let Knights take over the entire world!¡±


    * * *


    Dragon Emperor suddenly opened his eyes. He climbed up from his bed. In that instant, he couldn¡¯t actually figure out who he was; was he Lucifer, Caffey, or someone else?


    And then, his pounding heart reminded him: he was none of before; he was only the Dragon Emperor¡¯s heart, determined to take over the world. What exactly happened? Why would he be sleeping here, and dreamt about Lucifer¡­ his heart quickly pounded a few times.


    The Dragon Emperor frowned, and gently touched his chest and said, ¡°Is that you, Caffey? You let me remember Lucifer¡¯s past? Do you really think this would change my mind? Unfortunately, you¡¯re wrong; you¡¯ve only reaffirmed my decision to take over the world!¡±


    He stood up, finally remembering why he was here: he noticed the Black Dragon King¡¯s hypnosis had gotten weak, so he came to investigate. He didn¡¯t expect Miluo to pretend the hypnosis was still active; when he was investigating, Miluo suddenly attacked him.


    However, he wasn¡¯t going to be taken down so easily. Though he was taken by surprise, but he still counterattacked, and he was sure Miluo¡¯s wounds would be worse than his.


    The Dragon Emperor looked around; surely enough, Miluo was still passed out on the ground in his human form.


    He slowly walked in front of Miluo, and put his hand on his forehead, planning to reinforce the hypnosis. When the light of hypnosis slowly shone, Miluo opened his eyes, and he looked like he was his own self, but the Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t worried: he had already immobilized Miluo.


    Sure enough, Miluo didn¡¯t move at all; he even asked lazily, ¡°Dragon Emperor¡­ or should I say, the heart of the Dragon Emperor, how many years have you lived?¡±


    ¡°Time isn¡¯t important.¡± The Dragon Emperor answered lightly.


    ¡°Nonsense. Time is very important. Time will take many important things away.¡± Miluo grunted coldly, and then said in a lamented tone, ¡°For example, the sharp pain of losing Bairui back then, has been mostly taken away by time. For another example, my friendship with Caffey back then has now been washed away by time.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor still didn¡¯t react. These words held no meanings to him.


    ¡°Plus, you¡¯ve lived for that long.¡± Miluo said as if he was pitying, ¡°Your everything has been taken away by time; you don¡¯t even have much humanity left in you.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor froze, and the light in his hand suddenly became very bright, while Miluo¡¯s eyes had now suddenly dulled. Though he was still alive, but his eyes looked no different than those of a dead man.


    ¡°You think time took away my humanity? Wrong!¡± The Dragon Emperor roared. ¡°It was me who abandoned my own humanity!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor lowered his head, and murmured, ¡°If you knew how the heart of the Dragon Emperor survives, you must not think I still have any humanity left!¡±


    He suddenly raised his head, and roared wildly into the sky with every ounce of strength he had, ¡°It was a thousand lives! A thousand people who were willing to drain themselves of blood to activate the forbidden Magic; a thousand people who were willing to take out their hearts as sacrifice; a thousand loyal Knights who swore their souls to me!¡±


    ¡°Your Highness?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor suddenly stopped. After a while, he asked calmly as if nothing had happened, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Idojin?¡±


    ¡°The successor escaped the control of hypnosis, and escaped.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s body shook, anger flowing out of his eyes again.


    ¡°Prince Mocha is dead. Prince Cappuccino, Princess Lanski, and the two legendary Knights are all missing. According to Yizhou¡¯s report, the Prince and Princess, along with the two Knights, lured the successor out, then attacked him. In the chaos, the successor killed Prince Mocha, then ran away. Others then left, now nowhere to be found¡­¡±


    A purple Aura suddenly exploded from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s body, destroying everything in the immediate vicinity. As the dust settled, a roar could be heard:


    ¡°I want to conquer the world. I can¡¯t let them down¡­ I must not fail!¡±

 Volume 12, 2: Barbecue Worker Liola

    Volume 12, Chapter 2: Barbecue Worker Liola


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Liola stared blankly as he held hands with a child, while the child¡¯s mother was incredibly busy trying to make a comfortable place for Silver Mask and his Dragon to rest and sleep.


    On the side, Baolilong stood in its human form, and wrapped its body with a rag Liola gave him for a little bit of cover. It was already reaching Liola¡¯s chest in height, but its personality was still like a child. Seeing papa holding hands with another child, it was a bit unhappy, and it was shown on its face with its lips pouted. Baolilong also tried to keep running into papa¡¯s arms, as though it was saying ¡°Hmph! Papa loves me more.¡±


    ¡°Done.¡± The mother finally finished, and let out a deep sigh while wiping away the sweat on her forehead. She then said with a smile, ¡°Sir Silver Mask, what do you think of this place? Though it might not be very luxurious, but I can promise you this place is very comfortable.¡±


    Liola nodded carelessly. He didn¡¯t actually really cared much about where he slept; after all, Baolilong and he slept in the wildness, so whether they had a bedroom or a bed, it was of no concern.


    Nevertheless, he still courteously looked around. The room was quite large, and the decoration was simple. There were two beds, and by the looks of it, they were for him and his human-form Baolilong. There was also a large basket to the side, with thick and soft clothes in side. It seemed the mother was worried Baolilong may turn back into Dragon while sleeping, so she caringly added this place for a small Dragon to sleep.


    To Liola, this room was made up by someone far more picky than him. He nodded and said, ¡°Great.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m glad.¡± The mother clearly seemed happy with her large smile.


    Seeing others smiling because of him, Liola also unconsciously began to smile slightly.


    ¡°Sir Knight, you should smile more.¡± The mother said sincerely, ¡°Smile can make a person seem amiable, and others would like you more, especially when your smile feels like a spring breeze!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Liola was a bit confused; didn¡¯t Kaiser tell him to not smile? He said his smile was a smile of death¡­ right?


    Seeing the Knight confused, the mother smiled, and reached out her hand to tidy up Liola¡¯s messed up collar while saying, ¡°Sir Knight, please forgive me for being direct, but you really don¡¯t look old, more like a big child, so I feel some pity for you.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t know how react, so he froze as the mother straightened his collars.


    ¡°I always feel like you¡¯re a young man who had just stepped out of your home. Though you¡¯re happy you can be on your own, but you don¡¯t seem to know where you should go.¡± The mother smiled lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t laugh at me, sir Knight, this was just my experience when I was still a young girl. While the small things I did were incomparable to the great things you do, but I do indeed feel, you really seem like me back then.¡±


    Liola remained silent for a while, then asked, ¡°Then what do you think I should do?¡±


    Mother burst out a laughter, and gestured at Liola and said, ¡°It¡¯s not about what I think, but it¡¯s about what you think. You should think about where you should take your next step.¡±


    ¡°Papa, Baolilong is hungry!¡±


    Baolilong yelled only half truthfully. On one hand, it really was about ¡°half¡± hungry; after all, it had been eating for far too much lately, and even Baolilong seemed to have a bit of indigestion, to the point where it changed from constantly being angry to eating only three meals a day. Of course, the sum of the three meals was about the size of a half Lesser-Dragon, and this made even Liola worry about Baolilong¡¯s now chubby belly.


    Of course, on the other hand, it had to do with its jealousy. Just by judging Baolilong¡¯s pouted little mouth and its stare at the little boy¡¯s hand, one could tell Baolilong was unhappy its papa was holding hands with another child.


    The mother could immediately tell that Baolilong was jealous, and she couldn¡¯t hold back a laugh. Liola, on the other hand, had little experience as a parent; he thought Baolilong was really hungry. Seeing the sky darkening, he decided it was time he should go find some food.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find some food.¡± Liola said to the mother.


    ¡°And Baolilong!¡± Baolilong protested loudly.


    Liola glanced at Baolilong, and continued, ¡°Baolilong and I will go find some food.¡±


    Baolilong then nodded wildly with satisfaction.


    The mother hesitated, then asked carefully, ¡°Sir Knight, could you please bring a bit of food for the other people here. Everyone has been hungry for a long time, therefore¡­¡±


    Liola nodded. He had already planned on dividing the meat to the people. No matter how much of a glutton Baolilong was, it couldn¡¯t eat more than half a sub-Dragon in a day. As for Liola, he would be full with about a fist-sized meat. Instead of letting the other half of the meat rot, it was much better to divide it to the other people.


    However, this was just Liola¡¯s estimate. Liola knew, even if Baolilong ate all the meat, he could go hunt another Lesser-Dragon for the people.


    He liked doing this, and also liked the way the people smiled after doing so; it made him very happy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Baolilong.¡±


    Liola stepped away without looking back, and Bour was on his way in from outside. Bour greeted him warmly, and Liola nodded in return, then walked out the door.


    ¡°Bour, did you ask around for sir Knight? Did you find the person he¡¯s looking for?¡± The mother asked with concern.


    Bour was smiling before, but as soon as he heard this question, his expression turned to awkwardness. He scratched his head, and didn¡¯t know how to answer.


    The mother noticed something wrong, and immediately asked solemnly, ¡°Bour, what is the meaning of this? Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t go ask around for the Knight?¡±


    Being accused now, Bour immediately explained, ¡°Aiya, I did really did inquire around for Silver Mask, but how could I made much of a difference in the matter? Those people are wanted criminals! Even the Dragon Empire and Commerce Alliance couldn¡¯t catch them, how is a small businessman like me going to do anything!¡±


    Hearing this, the mother seemed a bit relaxed, and she said with a sense of blame, ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have promised him before. Now you can¡¯t even get any information, what are we going to tell Silver Mask?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bour seemed to have difficulty answer; he said stutteringly, ¡°In any case, just make him stay first¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± The mother asked back, noticing things might not be as simple as she thought.


    ¡°You know¡­ if Silver Mask left, then the people in the city like us would get hungry again, so of course we have to make him stay first.¡± Bour¡¯s voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke, as if even he himself thought it was shameful.


    ¡°W-wh¡­ how could we do that?¡± The mother began to panic. She now realized the people on her side were actually tricking the young Knight.


    Bour showed a depressed look, ¡°We don¡¯t have any other choice. Everyone is so hungry, and we have to even lie to our own savior to survive. You don¡¯t want your child to end up dying in the streets from hunger, do you?¡±


    The mother heard, and her face changed drastically. She looked at her child on her side in dismay. She didn¡¯t know what to do; if there were other ways, she would never be willing to lie to that Knight, but if an ordinary person saw a Lesser-Dragon, they would¡¯ve ran as fast as could, nevermind killing it and cooking its meat as food.


    ¡°Just¡­ a little bit more. I¡¯ll ask everyone to eat a bit less, and we could cure the meat and eat them slowly.¡± Bour said pleadingly, ¡°Then, even if Silver Mask leaves, we will not go hungry.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± The mother fell down into a chair depressingly. She had no choice but agree with what Bour had done, but that didn¡¯t reduce her sense of guilt towards the Knight.


    ¡°Lesser-Dragons! Lesser-Dragons are attacking!¡±


    A rumble came from the outside. The mother was shocked, and Bour waved his hand, ¡°You stay here, I¡¯ll go out and take a look.¡±


    The mother nodded panickedly. She grabbed her child, and held him tightly in her arms, then looked as Bour ran out the doors. Bour didn¡¯t need to ask anything; the crowd scrambling for cover, the flying Dragons in the air, and the banging noises from the walls all told him the Lesser-Dragons had indeed arrived.


    ¡°What the hell? What are the Knights doing in the capital in the north? How could they have let so many Lesser-Dragons come to the south?¡± Bour¡¯s jaws dropped. Ever since he had ran away from the north and taken refuge in the south, he had never seen such a large group of Lesser-Dragons.


    Last time, there were still the Aklan government holding the Dragons back, so the civilians could retreat, but this time, they had nothing! Only thing remaining was a wall that was about to crumble at any time. If the Lesser-Dragons really charged in through the walls¡­ it would be a devastating disaster for them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t run! You guys can¡¯t outrun the Dragons!¡± Bour yelled loudly, ¡°Quick! Go back to your basements, and use everything you can to block the basement doors!¡±


    Though one man¡¯s yell was far from enough in such a noisy environment, but at least some people did hear and hurried back into their basements.


    Suddenly, after a bang, the walls finally fell. Everyone¡¯s eyes widened in horror as they saw hundreds of Lesser-Dragons outside of the walls howling into the sky. Though the fearsome Black Dragon was not among them, but to the civilians, the Lesser-Dragons were no different than the Black Dragon ¡ª they were all equally deadly to them.


    ¡°Silver Mask¡­¡± Bour was now like a deer in headlights as he uttered these words. He knew this was the only one remote possibility that could save them. Nevertheless, one Silver Mask perhaps still couldn¡¯t defeat hundreds of Dragons¡­ maybe it would be better if he didn¡¯t come back? At least there would be one less casualty.


    ¡®Savior¡­ perhaps the only way people like us could repay you, is to pray that you don¡¯t come back in time,¡¯ Bour really did pray over and over, ¡®Please, don¡¯t come back in time, please¡­¡¯


    Unfortunately, unlike other people, Liola was the terrifying Assassin who could notice his enemies from kilometers away. A formation consisting of hundreds of Lesser-Dragons couldn¡¯t possibly not catch Liola¡¯s attention.


    In the sky, among gray Lesser-Dragons, a Dragon with glittering white scales appeared. It¡¯s snow-white wings glided through the sky, and appeared instantly in the city. After withdrawing its wings, Baolilong elegantly stood atop of the highest building in the city. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, including the people being chased by Lesser-Dragons, in spite of the dangers behind them.


    A Lesser-Dragon opened its mouth, planning to swallow the dazed people in front of it¡­ When suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed, and the Lesser-Dragon turned into a charred object, and slowly tipped over. Unfortunately, the place where it was falling had a few dazed civilian standing there.


    ¡°Hurry and move! You idiots!¡±


    Bour yelled in panic, but those people stared at him with the same daze, instead. When they realized they were covered in a shadow, it was already too late¡­


    Bang!


    A few civilians who lowered their heads and thought they were dead for sure, but after a loud noise, they realized the anticipated pain did not come. They slowly raised their heads, and the first thing entered their eyes was the sight of a layer of red, and the charred corpse of the Lesser-Dragon was stopped by this layer of blood red. Though ordinarily this blood-red color would have instilled fear, now it actually brought them a sense of warmth.


    Other than the blood red light, there was a black figure standing in front of the civilians. With the Silver Dragon embroidered Black Knight uniform, the thin black figure was able to stop the giant Dragon, and saved the civilian¡¯s lives.


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡± Someone yelled loudly.


    Liola turned his head slightly, and nodded, then said, ¡°Go to where Bour is, I will protect you.¡±


    The few of them nodded. Their eyes were wet, and after wiping them, they ran towards where Bour was, while yelling, ¡°Come here quickly! Silver Mask told us to get to where Bour is, he will protect all of us. Don¡¯t be afraid! Come here quick!¡±


    After the yelling from the crowd, everyone ran towards Bour, which made him quite nervous¡­ he quickly ran towards the plaza in front of the clocktower. He thought it was the best choice because the White Dragon was defending there, and it was the only place that could hold so many people.


    Liola saw people heading to the plaza, so he communicated with Baolilong via telepathy, ¡°Baolilong, you stay there, don¡¯t let the Dragons harm anyone. Also, you handle the flying Dragons, but be careful that the ones you strike don¡¯t land on people.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Baolilong responded, but then couldn¡¯t refrain from asking, ¡°Papa, can Baolilong roast a Dragon to eat?¡±


    Liola frowned. He had originally wanted to tell Baolilong to fight seriously, but then he thought, they were originally going to hunt a Lesser-Dragon for food; now that the city was overrun with Lesser-Dragons, it would be a shame not to roast them. After thinking, he answered towards Baolilong, ¡°You can roast them all, but protecting everyone is your priority.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Baolilong understood!¡± After answer, it casually threw a lightning ball and roasted a Lesser-Dragon. In compliance with what papa said, Baolilong purposely increased the momentum of the lightning ball; while it roasted the meat, it also send the meat flying into the distance, so it could await for Baolilong later.


    Baolilong was now like a Dragon-shaped tesla coil, constantly spitting out intense bolts of lightning. Its accuracy was also beyond believe. Baolilong seemed to be having fun, and its head was filled with nothing but thoughts of being able to eat. If it were Liola¡¯s words, Baolilong would have probably forgotten to protect the civilians.


    ¡®Ah! This one is too charred. It¡¯s fine! Next¡­ hmm? It¡¯s still moving, not cooked enough. Another one, just right, sooo much meat to eat~~¡¯


    Liola quickly took out Broken Silver, and charged towards the place where the wall was breached, planning to cut them off there. If too many Dragons charge in, even Baolilong wouldn¡¯t have time to stop them. Liola himself wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of everyone in a chaotic situation like that either, so he decided to stand where the walls fell, and operated as an attacking wall.


    Liola¡¯s thoughts were quite simple. He stood at the breach, facing hundreds of Lesser-Dragons.


    ¡°MY GOD! I hope he¡¯s not planning on just standing there?!¡±


    The civilians exclaimed. Panic appeared on many people¡¯s faces, some couldn¡¯t even look, as if they feared their savior would sacrifice himself for them like this.


    What they didn¡¯t know was, this man was one who had single-handedly killed thousands of Lesser-Dragons to vent his anger. If he didn¡¯t have to worry about the safety of the civilians behind him, Liola could have chosen to kill a few to eat as a meal, then leisurely escape. Or he could turn this place into the largest Lesser-Dragon cemetery; none of this was a problem to him.


    A silver light quickly flashed around. Though Liola was fast, electric even, but facing hundreds of Lesser-Dragons alone, it was a bit difficult to not let any through. He moved around quickly, and the silver light in his hand also swung around faster and faster. It was only possible to see lines of silver light rather than the weapon itself.


    The crowd was in shock. This kind of speed¡­ no matter how much they rubbed their eyes or stare, they couldn¡¯t¡¯ see it clearly. The only thing they saw were silver lines acting like a net, spanning over the entire area where the wall fell. As soon as a Lesser-Dragon touched the silver net, its skin and flesh would¡¯ve busted open as if it just charged into the sharp edge of a giant sword.


    The crowd couldn¡¯t refrain from the feeling of terror. Even if the person in front of them were protecting them, this was far too¡­ scary, sanguinary, or some other adjective the people couldn¡¯t think of. Nevertheless, they were having trouble holding their breaths at the sight of all this.


    ¡°It¡¯s so pretty!¡± The boy the mother was holding naively yelled while pointing at Liola, ¡°Older brother looks like a Silver Dragon! Amazing, go brother go!¡±


    Hearing the little boy¡¯s shouts, the civilians finally remembered this person was protecting them. Bour, especially, felt ashamed at the thought of being scared of Silver Mask; he finally remember, Silver Mask was protecting them. How could he possibly be afraid of him? It shouldn¡¯t ever happen!


    To make up for his shameful thoughts, Bour immediately yelled loudly, ¡°Go Silver Mask! Go Silver Mask¡­¡±


    Since there was someone who took the lead, the crowd had no reason not to follow. In an instant, everyone began shouting on top of their lungs, and everyone were cheering for Silver Mask like a madman.


    Liola did indeed hear. Although he wasn¡¯t one to like noise, the clamor behind him gave him an indescribable warm feeling in his heart. Even he didn¡¯t realize it himself, as if he didn¡¯t want to disappoint the crowd, his speed was actually getting faster and faster.


    In the few minutes that followed, Liola lost track of how many Lesser-Dragons he had killed. Though they¡¯re not sentient, Lesser-Dragons still had the animalistic instinct of recognizing a strong threat. When they finally realized the tiny being in front of them was a beast who could kill them easily, the speed and amount of Lesser-Dragons charging up had slowly decreased.


    Liola felt a pressure relieving, and he thought the Lesser-Dragons were probably letting up, then it would be great. Though Lesser-Dragons weren¡¯t sentient beings, but he still didn¡¯t like the feeling of driving a knife into a blood, nor the feeling of being covered in their blood, because this made him remember the people he had hurt before: Qiusi and Mocha.


    ¡°Eldest brother, you don¡¯t like it when I kill¡­ but, I am killing to protect everyone, and I¡¯m very happy. So, you won¡¯t get mad, right?¡± Liola thought quietly in his mind. He knew in his heart, Mocha wouldn¡¯t be mad, and would instead smile and pat his shoulder.


    Now, the pressure on Liola had decreased to the point where he had time to turn around to see the situation with Baolilong. Because the flying creatures had long been wiped out of the sky, and the Lesser-Dragons that charged in while the walls were unguarded had now been turned into meat hills, the city was now secured. Baolilong also ran off and dragged a Dragon and starting biting the meat off. Perhaps it was afraid its large body would accidentally hurt the people, it decided to turn into human form, and began to eating happily.


    As it was eating, a small figure suddenly appeared next to it. Baolilong narrowed its eyes, and turned around to see ¡ª it was the boy who dared to hold hands with Liola before. Baolilong gave out a low growl from the throat, trying to drive this boy away.


    ¡°Older brother, I want to eat meat too!¡± The boy didn¡¯t seem scared at all, and smiled as he asked for some meat from Baolilong.


    Hearing this response, Baolilong paused, and yelled with a pouted mouth, ¡°I¡¯m not your older brother, Baolilong doesn¡¯t have a younger brother!¡±


    ¡°Baolilong?¡± The boy seemed confused.


    ¡°My name is Baolilong, my papa gave me that name!¡± Baolilong said proudly, then used its hands to point at Liola, who was still fighting valiantly, and then loudly announced, ¡°That¡¯s my papa!¡±


    The little boy was even more confused, ¡°You¡¯re older brother¡¯s little child? But, everyone says you¡¯re brother¡¯s Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Baolilong is papa¡¯s Dragon.¡± Baolilong said naturally, as if there was nothing strange about it.


    The little boy answered with an ¡°oh¡±, perhaps he had now been thoroughly confused, but he didn¡¯t really care. He gulped, then asked, ¡°Older brother, can I have a piece of meat? I¡¯m so hungry.¡±


    Baolilong was a bit hesitant. It pouted and looked at the meat in its hand, then looked at the person calling it older brother. Baolilong wanted to ask papa, but papa looked like he was busy and didn¡¯t have time to answer, so it had to decide whether it should give some meat to the boy.


    Seeing the anticipation in the boy¡¯s eyes, Baolilong decided to tear off a piece of meat, then threw it at the boy, ¡°Here!¡± Then it turned around and continued to eat its food.


    ¡°And my mama, can you give me a piece for my mama?¡± The boy held the meat, and asked somewhat timidly.


    Being interrupted again and again while eating, Baolilong seemed a bit angry. It turned around and yelled, ¡°You¡¯re really annoying!¡±


    The boy was surprised, and tears circled in his eyes. His little shoulder also fell down. He held the only piece of meat he had, and slowly walked towards his mother.


    ¡°Wait, Baolilong has a question.¡± Baolilong pouted, ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a papa? Are you trying to take Baolilong¡¯s papa?¡±


    The boy heard, turned around, and yelled, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to take your papa! I have a papa, but mama said he went to somewhere far, far away.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then would he run into my mama?¡± Baolilong said naively, ¡°My mama also went to somewhere far, far away.¡±


    ¡°Really!?¡± The boy yelled with surprise, ¡°Perhaps my papa really would run into your mama.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either if they¡¯ve met¡­¡± Baolilong tore off another piece of meat, and handed it to the boy, ¡°Here! As long as you don¡¯t try to take my papa.¡±


    The boy grabbed the meat, and happily smiled, ¡°Thanks!¡±


    Baolilong nodded, and began to eat again.


    Truth was, Liola saw everything that happened. He wasn¡¯t actually very busy, but he wanted to see if Baolilong would give the boy meat. Seeing Baolilong did indeed do so in the end, Liola smiled. Although even he, himself, had no idea why he would be this happy simply because his Dragon would give food to the boy.


    By now, there were only a couple of Dragons around the breach. Liola thought, perhaps this crisis was about to be over¡­


    However, at this time, the sound of walls being hit came from other places. Liola immediately understood, the Dragons planned on creating another breach because this one was being blocked by him.


    ¡°Baolilong! Go handle those Lesser-Dragons hitting the city walls, don¡¯t let them break the walls!¡± Liola yelled immediately.


    Baolilong threw down the meat, transformed into a large Dragon, and flew towards the place where the clashing sounds were coming from.


    And then, there was another sound of clashing, one, two¡­ until finally there were countless number of places in the wall that were being destroyed.


    Baolilong didn¡¯t know which direction it should fly, and it asked panickedly, ¡°Pa-papa, what do I do?¡±


    Even Liola didn¡¯t know what to do. No matter how strong he was, he was simply one person, and he couldn¡¯t protect so many civilians here. However, looking at the trusting eyes from the civilians and Baolilong, Liola knew he could never say something like ¡°I have no plans¡± at a time like now.


    He quickly left the breach, and ran towards the plaza, while communicating with Baolilong with telepathy, ¡°You fly into the air and use lightning to strike the Dragons. I will use Aura to stop them from harming the civilians.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Baolilong immediately flew into the sky, and used his lightning attacks to attack the Dragons outside the city walls.


    Liola returned to the plaza. He looked at the few thousand of people in the plaza, and he was worried whether his Aura could shield such a large area. Though he had now gained a deeper understanding of his Aura, but he had been using it more for offense and seldom for defense; now that he had to use it to create a giant shield to protect thousands of people, Liola felt uncertain.


    ¡°Please come closer.¡±


    Liola said solemnly to the crowd. He didn¡¯t forget to add Ki to his voice so everyone could clearly hear his words.


    Bour immediately began to yell, ¡°Hurry! You lazy asses, come closer! Forget about helping, just don¡¯t burden him any more than you have to!¡±


    Liola blinked a few times, and thought Bour¡¯s actions were quite interesting: he would occasionally kick the men in the butt when they moved slowly, and the people getting kicked didn¡¯t seem angry, instead they moved faster than before. Eventually, the crowd squeezed together like a can of sardines, and formed a tight circle. The area was almost two thirds less than what it was before.


    Liola closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Now it was his turn to hold up a shield. There were no longer any flying Dragons in the sky that could threaten Baolilong, so Baolilong could simply roast the Dragons on the ground with electricity.


    When he closed his eyes, there were already walls beginning to crumble. The whole thing seemed to be happening in slow motion. There were four or five places in the wall falling within seconds of one another. The giant Lesser-Dragons charged in like water through a broken dam, and as soon as they saw the people congregating on the plaza, they all converged towards that location. The civilians saw they were surrounded and were obviously terrified, so they all fixed their gazes towards Silver Mask.


    Liola still held his eyes close, and his hands were casually behind him. His attitude seemed carefree, and this made everyone relax a bit, thinking the situation wasn¡¯t as dire as they thought. If it were very serious, Silver Mask shouldn¡¯t be as relaxed as he was now.


    The civilians unconsciously became more calm. The Lesser-Dragons had already reached them, but even the people on the outer ring didn¡¯t seem to panic at all, only because the man stood carefree in the center of them all.


    The moment the Lesser-Dragons stepped into the plaza, Liola opened his eyes, and the blood-red Aura shot out radially, shooting past the Lesser-Dragons that had gotten close. As soon as the Aura passed them, the Lesser-Dragons all turned into ashes. Liola saw the effects of his experiment turned out great, he finished the dozen or so Lesser-Dragons around the civilians, then contracted his Aura to a shield shape to protect all the civilians.


    The rest were given to Baolilong to handle, while Liola thought he could probably sustain the shield for a long while. Even if he couldn¡¯t hold it until Baolilong could kill all the Lesser-Dragons, as long as there weren¡¯t many left, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the safety of the civilians due to the number of enemies.


    ¡®Papa¡­¡¯


    ¡®What is it?¡¯ Liola asked quietly.


    ¡®There are a lot more Lesser-Dragons coming, so many, even more than what¡¯s here.¡¯


    ¡®What!¡¯ Liola was in shock.

 Volume 12, 3: Appearance of the Older Brother

    Volume 12, Chapter 3: Appearance of the Older Brother


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡®Baolilong, do you have any method to drive them away?¡¯


    Liola had no choice but to ask. He had originally planned on dealing with all the Lesser-Dragons, so they wouldn¡¯t pose a problem once he was gone. However, judging from the current situation, it might be a problem to deal with all of them at once. Therefore, it might be better for Baolilong to demonstrate its might as the Sacred White Dragon and try to drive away these Lesser-Dragons.


    ¡®No, papa, Baolilong did tell them before not to fight me, but they still attacked. They¡¯re so strange.¡¯ Baolilong complained while pouting.


    Liola¡¯s heart sank. It looked like the only way out of this was to fight. He had to tell Baolilong to not worry about how cooked they were, but to quickly get rid of the Lesser-Dragons because he couldn¡¯t hold on for too long.


    Baolilong noticed the urgency in Liola¡¯s mind via telepathy. It didn¡¯t dare to play anymore. It immediately circled around, shooting lightning balls continuously out of its mouth.


    Other than the places protected by the Red Aura, everywhere else looked like the end of the world: bolts of lightning flying every which way. Not only did the bolts destroy Lesser-Dragons, they had often landed on structures. Many of the houses had now been leveled.


    ¡°Mama, our house¡­¡±


    The boy had been hiding in his mother¡¯s arms, but as soon as he saw where they had lived being hit by lightning, he let out a cry, but his mother held him even tighter in her arms, trying to make him look away from the terrifying scenes outside.


    Liola didn¡¯t notice until now, they were actually destroying the homes of these civilians¡­ but he had no other choice. If he didn¡¯t let Baolilong use large-scale attacks, and kill them one by one instead, then his Aura might not even hold up long enough to kill a fifth of all the Lesser-Dragons. So even if he was heartbroken for destroying their homes, he knew he couldn¡¯t let Baolilong stop.


    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t stop.¡± Liola apologized unhappily.


    The civilians froze. They had never thought Silver Mask would apologize to them. Though it was hard for them to see their homes destroyed, but at least they could keep their lives. How could they want anything else in the situation? As for Silver Mask¡¯s apology, they didn¡¯t seem to accept it, but instead they were touched he would actually say something like that.


    However, Bour seemed to be furious; he said angrily, ¡°What are you talking about! Do you really think we would blame you? We aren¡¯t ungrateful people. If you hadn¡¯t helped, we would¡¯ve either died from hunger, or be eaten as food by the Lesser-Dragons. By then, even if the houses are standing still, who the hell are going to be living in them?¡±


    As Bour spoke, everyone nodded their heads desperately, because they noticed Silver Mask¡¯s furrowed eyebrows and tightened lips, as though he was feeling guilty, and not just simply expressing his apology. This scared everyone, and they began to agree with Bour; some of them even stood up and yelled, ¡°We will never blame Sir Silver Mask!¡±, ¡°Right, if it weren¡¯t Sir Silver Mask giving us meat yesterday, we might not even have the strength to stand up and run away today, not to mention Sir Silver Mask is actually helping us stop the Lesser-Dragons!¡±


    Liola smiled slightly. Not being the most articulate person, he didn¡¯t know what to reply, so he habitually nodded, then concentrated on maintaining the shield. His duty was now to protect these people, to payback the warmth he felt in his heart as a result of their actions.


    A dozen Lesser-Dragons rammed into the shield from all directions. With Liola¡¯s support, the shield still tightly protected the civilians. And then, those who dared to hit the shield were pulverized by Baolilong, who was eager to defend its papa and master, with its super-large-lightning ball.


    This happened repeatedly; Liola was concentrating on maintaining the Aura shield on the inside, and Baolilong desperately using lightning to take care of Lesser-Dragons. The problem seemed to be contained, and the situation stable, as long as nothing unexpected happened¡­


    Unfortunately, the unexpected was already well underway. When Baolilong saw the Lesser-Dragons reaching this little city, they had already rushed in like the tide. Even if the city walls weren¡¯t destroyed by then, they were able to brute force them down with their strength and numbers.


    ¡®Why? Why would the Lesser-Dragons enter such a meaningless little city without the slightest of hesitation?¡¯ Liola felt uneasy in his heart; could it be because of him? Were these sent by the Dragon Emperor? If that was the case, then didn¡¯t he just become the reason why the civilians were in danger? After thinking about this, his face darkened.


    The people misunderstood his expression; they thought Silver Mask¡¯s change of expression was because there were too many Lesser-Dragons and he could no longer maintain the shield.


    ¡°Silver Mask¡­¡± Bour suggested kindly, ¡°If you really can¡¯t hold on, then fly away with the women and children. At least you can save some of us, we will already be thankful, truly!¡±


    Truthfully, this had crossed Liola¡¯s mind before. He could take the people he cared about, such as the mother, the child, and Bour, etcetera. As for everyone else¡­ he turned around to look, and everyone was looking at him anxiously; some people have already accepted their fate, and warmly trying to persuade their wives and children, whom remained firm about staying and not leaving.


    Perhaps some people thought about their fates, and couldn¡¯t help but cry, but they still suppressed their voice, so it wouldn¡¯t affect others. Some children didn¡¯t seem to care, and cried instead, not wanting to leave their mothers.


    ¡°Go, Silver Mask, you¡¯ve done everything you can for us.¡± Bour kept suggesting; he didn¡¯t want to see a kind Knight like him to lose his life here.


    ¡®No! I can¡¯t abandon these people.¡¯ Liola made up his mind. These people had made him feel warm inside again and again, and it reminded him of his brother Mocha¡¯s smile. Just for that reason alone, he wouldn¡¯t abandon these.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave. If I can¡¯t hold on, I will ask Baolilong take some people with it.¡± Liola said calmly. After that, he didn¡¯t waste any more of his focus on anything other than holding the shield, so Baolilong could take care of the enemies.


    ¡°Silver Mask!¡± Bour yelled in shock, but Liola completely ignored him. Bour wouldn¡¯t dare to go shake Silver Mask, because he didn¡¯t know if it would affect this red shield of his.


    In that instant, he was completely helpless; other people also shouted Silver Mask¡¯s name, trying to say things like ¡°don¡¯t be stubborn¡± and ¡°value your own life¡±, but Liola didn¡¯t have any reaction at all. He was now completely focused on maintaining the shield.


    Despite Baolilong¡¯s eagerness to protect its papa and master, with its continuous lightning balls, but there were simply far too many Lesser-Dragons. For every one Lesser-Dragon falling from the lightning, two charged up to take its place. For every row of Lesser-Dragons falling, another row of them came up. For Baolilong, who hadn¡¯t completely matured, it was very taxing to its body. Slowly, the lightning coming out of Baolilong¡¯s mouth became slower and weaker.


    Liola knew Baolilong was already tired, and it was simply trying to keep going without telling him, but he knew Baolilong couldn¡¯t hold out for much longer just by looking at it.


    Liola was very worried how long Baolilong could keep going, especially when the number of Lesser-Dragons he could see had not decreased at all. He knew, it might be impossible to depend on Baolilong to clear all of the Lesser-Dragons.


    However, there was no other way in the present situation. He was now completely helpless¡­ Liola had rarely felt pain of this helplessness, because whenever it happened before, there was always someone who could help him resolve it¡­ someone?


    ¡®Kaiser! If they¡¯re close by, they could come to rescue them.¡¯ Liola immediately told Baolilong via telepathy to look for Kaiser and others.


    ¡®Do you really want to look for them, papa?¡¯ Baolilong seemed to hesitate.


    ¡®What are you saying? Of course I do, we had already been looking for Kaiser before¡­¡¯ Liola asked Baolilong back strangely.


    ¡®But before, papa didn¡¯t really want to look for Kaiser, but instead you were just saying, but you didn¡¯t think about finding them, so Baolilong didn¡¯t ask Flames.¡¯ Baolilong pouted, confused as to why papa words were different than his thoughts.


    Liola was shocked. He didn¡¯t really want to find Kaiser? Was that really how it was?


    The shock he received affected his Aura; his previously stable Aura had now become a bit precarious. With the ramming of the Lesser-Dragons, the Aura began to shake, causing the people inside to scream out loud. This sound seemed to have made Liola recover his thoughts. He took another few deep breaths, to try to temporarily suppress the shock from what Baolilong said.


    ¡®It¡¯s fine. Ask Flames, how far away are they?¡¯ Liola calmed down his thoughts, and the Aura resumed its previously secure form.


    ¡®Okay, papa.¡¯


    ¡°Silver Mask, listen to me, don¡¯t throw your life away here. Quickly carry some people and leave here.¡±


    Bour attempted to persuade desperately. The shaking of the Aura before made him believe Silver Mask couldn¡¯t hold on anymore. It¡¯s hard to blame him, because a person stopping thousands of Lesser-Dragons was completely unprecedented. It wasn¡¯t just Bour; all the other civilians began to persuade Silver Mask to leave.


    Liola frowned, and used Ki to make his voice echo in everyone¡¯s ears, ¡°Quiet!¡±


    His voice did indeed quiet down everyone. His deep voice and his stable footing suddenly made everyone feel more secure, and they all suddenly felt like there might be a way out of this. Even Bour stopped talking, but he felt the person in front of him seemed to be unpersuadable yet he couldn¡¯t stop to trust him.


    ¡®Papa, Flames said it¡¯s at the Commerce Alliance, and Kaiser and others are the secret base. They¡¯re both very far away.¡¯


    Hearing Baolilong, Liola¡¯s heart sank. It seemed that hope was gone, so what could he do next?


    For now, other than forcefully holding on, Liola didn¡¯t have any other choice. Minutes passed by, and the lightning out of Baolilong¡¯s mouth was far and few in between. It didn¡¯t complain, and it began to attack with its claws instead. Diving out of the sky, Baolilong clawed out a bloodied path; every Lesser-Dragon in the path had their skins ripped apart, but it seldom killed them. It often took Baolilong two to three tries, unless it happen to land on a vital spot, before it could take the Lesser-Dragons¡¯ lives.


    The Lesser-Dragons¡¯ numbers should be decreasing, but when the Lesser-Dragons formed an endless sea, no one could tell if their numbers were decreasing. Especially now that Baolilong¡¯s threat of lightning was gone, the Lesser-Dragons¡¯ attacks intensified, and the pressure on Liola to maintain the Aura had increased. He knew, if this continued, he couldn¡¯t hold for long.


    However, he can¡¯t just give up! He had no choice but to let the Aura drain more and more of his strength. With his estimates, he could only hold up at most another half hour before he would die from exhaustion.


    Time waits for no one. As time passed by, Baolilong began to panic. It can sense the anxiety in Liola, and his ever-decreasing stamina. It desperately dived again and again, tearing deep, red wounds into the Lesser-Dragons¡¯ flash, but even more Lesser-Dragons charged at the shield. Even the bloodied wounds on their heads weren¡¯t enough to stop them.


    Gradually, the wall of Aura became thinner, and Liola was at the limit of his stamina. Now, he had planned for the worst; he told Baolilong, as soon as he falls, it must take every civilian it could to fly away.


    ¡®What about papa?¡¯ Baolilong yelled loudly, as if it felt Liola didn¡¯t seem to want to leave.


    Sure enough, Liola remained silent and didn¡¯t respond to Baolilong. He had already planned, when he exhausted all his Ki, he would use his life force to hold it up. So when he could no longer hold the shield, would be the time when his life ended, so whether they take him away¡­ it would make no difference.


    Since Baolilong was anxious, it didn¡¯t know what to do. The only choice it had was to attack the Lesser-Dragons; it thought that if it could kill off all the Lesser-Dragons, then it would be great. Baolilong¡¯s thoughts were quite simple.


    Liola¡¯s Ki was now mostly gone, and the Aura wall was now paper thin. It was time to use his life force.


    ¡°Silver Mask, are you okay? You don¡¯t look so well.¡± Bour asked worriedly. From what he saw, Silver Mask was already pale before, but now he was white as paper, and even his lips are gray.


    Liola didn¡¯t hear Bour¡¯s question.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with sir Silver Mask. Bour, quick, think of something!¡± The mother yelled anxiously.


    Bour rubbed his hands together, and frowned, ¡°B-but what could I do, he¡¯s not willing to leave. He¡¯s stubborn! Too stubborn!¡± Though the words sounded like he was blaming Liola, but tears rolled out of Bour¡¯s eyes. After he wiped them off, he stared, without blinking, at Silver Mask, trying to forever remember the figure of the one who saved them.


    ¡°Woo¡­¡± The mother covered her face, and quietly wept. No matter how much she didn¡¯t want to see Silver Mask sacrifice himself, there was little she could do.


    Ki¡­ was now gone. Liola pulled himself together, and put in his life force.


    ¡®Papa, stop!¡¯ Baolilong now finally realized what Liola was about to do. It roared anxiously, and circled endlessly above Liola.


    ¡°What¡¯s older brother doing?¡± The boy peeked his head out of his mother¡¯s arms, and curiously pointed the white Dragon circling above the shield.


    Bour and the mother raised their heads, and saw the white Dragon circling, with the low roar coming from its mouth sounding like weeping. Everyone now understood, the White Dragon was worried for its master. This clearly showed, Silver Mask definitely couldn¡¯t hold out much longer.


    ¡°Please just leave us!¡± The mother continued to weep.


    Bour finally could no longer stand by. He pounced towards the only person standing, Silver Mask, hoping to catch his attention. He didn¡¯t expect that this action would¡¯ve made the man who held down thousands of Lesser-Dragons fall. Bour immediately climbed up, and held up Silver Mask. He didn¡¯t realize until now, Silver Mask had already passed out.


    Because Silver Mask fainted, the shield had now immediately disappeared. There was now nothing stopping the Lesser-Dragons from the civilians. The civilians had now froze; facing the giant, drooling, and stinking mouth of the Lesser-Dragons, many seemed to already be prepared to be eaten as food. Suddenly, a giant lightning ball exploded above the civilians, and the electricity expanded in all directions. Even if it didn¡¯t electrocute the Lesser-Dragons, it did paralyze their bodies for a long while.


    Bour carried up Silver Mask, and yelled loudly into the sky, ¡°White Dragon, hurry and come get your master!¡±


    Baolilong¡¯s attention, however, was drawn towards something not far away. It was now ecstatic, because it had already seen the arrival of help. It roared loudly towards the skin, to attract the attention of the help.


    Bour saw Baolilong¡¯s actions, and he was confused. After looking towards the direction Baolilong faced, he realized a flock of small black dots in the sky. What could that be¡­ could those be flying Dragons? Or something else? Bour narrowed his eyes, trying to see them clearly¡­


    ¡°Knights!¡± Bour yelled loudly, and he couldn¡¯t hold back the elation. That¡¯s right, he saw a whole team of Knights flying towards them.


    Before long, the Knights arrived. At least seventy percent of them had Dragons as a mount, and they were all at least Blue Ranked. They were all wearing a Dragon-shaped insignia, signifying they were Knights from the Dragon Empire.


    As soon as the Knights reached the small city, they began to attack the Lesser-Dragons. The Fire Dragons spit out fire enough to melt steel, the Ice Dragons pinned the Lesser-Dragons to the ground with ice bolts, the Wind Dragons called forth tornados that made the Lesser-Dragons collide into one another, and the Earth Dragons summoned walls from the earth, making the charging Lesser-Dragons smash head-first into the walls and breaking their bones.


    A Knight with a deep coffee colored Dragon circled above the civilians, and yelled, ¡°Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?¡±


    Remembering Silver Mask on his arms, Bour immediately yelled, ¡°Yes! Yes! There¡¯s a passed out Knight here.¡±


    ¡°A Knight?¡±


    The Knight on top of the Dragon was clearly surprised. After telling his Dragon to support the others, and he jumped off from the Dragon. Now, the crowd finally could clearly see this Knight was wearing silver-lined white Knight¡¯s uniform. Everyone knew, the Knights with white uniform excel in healing Magic.


    All the civilians voluntarily backed up to make a path for this Knight. The Knight was stupefied. Ever since the Dragon Empire exiled the Aklan civilians, he had never received such treatment. Whenever he went, even if he was there to save them, the civilians had never treated him well.


    The mother rushed up, and grabbed this Knight¡¯s hands, then pleaded, ¡°Please, hurry and heal Silver Mask.¡±


    ¡°Silver Mask?¡± The Knight was now in shock. He obviously knew about Silver Mask, the apprentice of the legendary Paladin. However, he even knew the more shocking true identity of this person.


    ¡®Could it really be him?¡¯ The Knight¡¯s face sank, and walked up to Bour. He lightly brushed away Silver Mask¡¯s black hair, and saw his elegant and handsome face.


    He took a deep breath, and courteously performed a Knight¡¯s salute, ¡°Successor, Your Highness.¡±


    Everyone who heard froze, especially Bour; he was still carrying the ¡®successor¡¯ in his hands.


    ¡°Please, put the successor on the ground, so I can examine him.¡± The Knight seemed to have noticed his actions shocking everyone around. He tried to smile warmly towards Bour.


    Bour obediently laid Silver Mask down, his head was still completely blank.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ he passed out because his Aura had been exhausted.¡± The Knight examined and diagnosed the successor¡¯s condition. He was helpless to such a matter; the only thing they could do was to let the successor rest, so he could regain his strength.


    ¡°Feir! Can you heal them yourself? Do you need any help?¡± Another man wearing a White Knight¡¯s uniform yelled in the air.


    ¡°He¡¯s not hurt, just exhausted all his Aura.¡± Feir replied loudly.


    ¡°Understood, then hurry and come fight.¡±


    Feir blinked. If he went to fight, and left the fainted successor without anyone to look after, he probably would get blamed into the ground. However, if he yelled to explain ¡°the successor is here¡±, perhaps a bunch of Knights would trip from the shock, and then the sky might start ¡°raining Knights¡±. After thinking about that, Feir sighed, and smiled bitterly, ¡°Nah, I better stay here and look after him.¡±


    The other Knight shrugged, then rejoined the fight.


    Feir lowered his head, and looked at the black-haired man with closed eyes. Silver Mask, Liola, and successor¡­ all of this man¡¯s identities were equally shocking.


    ¡°He¡¯s the successor? That¡¯s impossible!¡± Bour yelled loudly, ¡°How can Silver Mask be that bastard of a successor who drove us out of our homes?!¡±


    The mother was clearly clueless. How could the kind Silver Mask be the successor who gave the orders so the civilians couldn¡¯t go home, the one who abandoned all the civilians, and even sent Knights to interrogate the civilians in order to find spies and therefore was commonly cursed among the civilians?


    Bour¡¯s roars and yells were also heard by others. Everyone¡¯s reactions were near identical: first it was shock, then they were filled with rage, to the point where they almost forgot who was protecting them just moments ago. They began to curse the evil actions of the successor again.


    ¡°Please calm down.¡± Feir noticed something wrong, and immediately began to speak, ¡°Please let me explain.¡±


    Bour roared, ¡°Fine¡±, and suppressed the discussions of the civilians. With a darkened face, he didn¡¯t seem to care the person in front of him was a silver Knight, he said without any courtesy, ¡°Speak.¡±


    Seeing everyone calming down, Feir fixed his thoughts, then began to explain, ¡°Truthfully, I only knew some of facts. I had already known him for a long time; Liola¡­ or ¡®Silver Mask¡¯ as you¡¯ve called him, was not the successor back then. As far as I knew, at the time, even he himself didn¡¯t know he was a Prince.¡±


    Bour frowned, because he now suddenly knew Silver Mask had another name.


    ¡°Then, he disappeared for quite some time¡­ when he appeared again, the Dragon Empire had declared him as the successor.¡± Feir smiled bitterly, remembering back then, even he was deep in shock.


    ¡°Even if so, what does that have to do with what the bastard successor had done?¡± Bour roared.


    ¡°Please, just listen to me,¡± Feir showed a serious face, ¡°I promise you on my Knight¡¯s honor, I would absolutely never believe the Liola I knew would do those things, the things you called the evil acts from the bastard successor. There must be some reason we don¡¯t know.¡±


    Bour and everyone were quiet, and they didn¡¯t know how to react. After all, they were all recipients of Silver Mask¡¯s kindness. They don¡¯t want to treat Silver Mask as the bad guy, but what the successor had done now made them feel angry and scared. If the successor really was a bad person, why would he have helped them for the past few days?


    ¡°Let me tell you why, Feir.¡± A calm yet sorrow-threaded voice could be heard, and the silver-eyed man continued. He wanted to clarify what had happened with everyone. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to defend himself, but he simply wanted to them the truth. The burden of carrying the truth himself alone was far too painful for him.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Feir suddenly interrupted, ¡°Can you wait until the Knights finish their battles and they can also hear the story?¡±


    Liola glanced at Feir, then nodded.


    When the Lesser-Dragons were all either killed by the Knights or ran, Feir gathered all the Knights, then simply told them their successor was there¡­ Sure enough, a dozen or so Knights jumped off their Dragons. Then, the Knights and the civilians, gathered around Liola in a circle, and quietly awaited for him to talk.


    Liola looked at Baolilong, and reached out his hand to touch its head, then lightly began to tell his story, ¡°At first, I thought I was an alien from another world; it wasn¡¯t until later that I found out this was actually my world¡­¡±

 Volume 12, 4: The King’s Desire

    Volume 12, Chapter 4: The King¡¯s Desire


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°¡­ Brother Mocha¡¯s death woke me, and I was able to escape.¡± Liola explained everything in detail without holding anything back, regardless of whether it was civilians or Dragon Empire Knights around him.


    After the storytelling had ended, everyone remained quiet. The only sound that could be heard in the plaza was the breathing noises of the Dragons¡ª it was dead silence otherwise. But they can¡¯t really be blamed; something as bizarre as this wasn¡¯t something the civilians could imagine. Even the Knights seemed shocked during the story, especially when Liola spoke of the truth about the heart of the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°This is some rather unordinary secrets.¡± Feir smiled bitterly. He had only hoped Liola would explain his earlier actions, so the civilians and Knights wouldn¡¯t misunderstand him, but now that he dragged out such shocking truths¡­ could this be good or bad?


    ¡°So that¡¯s how things were. So basically, you were being controlled by the Dragon Emperor, and that¡¯s why you did such things. Then we can¡¯t really blame you, we should blame the Dragon Emperor¡­ Wait, the heart of the Dragon Emperor is the one to be blamed.¡± Bour said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s such a strange heart in the world; it¡¯s really strange.¡±


    ¡°However, those evil acts were really done by me, and I have nothing to say about them.¡± Liola tilted his head, trying to look away from the hatred in people¡¯s eyes.


    Unexpectedly, Liola¡¯s head connected with a fist. Bour snapped, ¡°What the hell are you saying? If I got food poisoning, am I supposed to blame the waiter for bringing the food rather than the chef who cooked it? Nonsense.¡±


    Liola touched his head in surprise, and his stupefied look made everyone laugh. But Baolilong didn¡¯t laugh; it pounced, pushed Bour onto the ground, and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t hit my papa!¡±


    ¡°Aiya, I didn¡¯t hit your papa. I was joking with him, joking! Aiya! Stop.¡± Bour awkwardly tried to dodge Baolilong¡¯s nails. Though it was in its human shape and its nails weren¡¯t sharp as those of a Dragon, Bour still received red scratch marks all over him. He looked like someone who got dragged out by his wife after she found him with his mistress.


    ¡°Baolilong, stop acting like that.¡± Liola was surprised; he hurriedly tried to grab ahold of Baolilong to stop it from putting any more wounds on Bour. However, because he was exhausted, as soon as he grabbed Baolilong, he began to fall sidewards. Bour noticed, and hurried up to grab Liola. But because of the momentum, all three of them fell down together.


    Everyone froze. At that moment, no one thought about helping them up. Bour tried to catch his breath and said, ¡°Ah¡­ I can¡¯t believe I¡¯d have the honor in this life to fall with a prince.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha¡±, someone in the crowd started to laugh. The sound of laughter rippled through the crowd like a rubble thrown into a lake, and finally everyone was laughing: Holy Knight, Dark Knight, women with aprons, hotel owners carrying all of his money, and all kinds of people, all laughed with one another.


    After laughing for a long while, people finally refrained their laughs. Feir smiled as he held up the successor, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard to protect these civilians, let me help you get to a place for some rest.¡±


    Feir said to others, ¡°Everyone else help these civilians sort out a place to live. Don¡¯t forget to get some food for them to eat!¡±


    ¡°No problem, Feir, you go help the successor to get some rest.¡± The Knights smiled and replied loudly.


    Feir helped Liola into a house that was still mostly intact, helped him sit down next to a table, and said, ¡°Sit for a bit, I¡¯ll go help make a bed.¡±


    Liola stopped Feir; when the latter turned around to look curiously, he explained, ¡°You can stop using those honorifics to address me. You know¡­ I¡¯m not a successor, or actually, I should say I¡¯m not even a prince; not like Lanski or Cappuccino, you should know¡­¡± Liola couldn¡¯t find the right words to explain it to Feir.


    ¡°Really?¡± Feir smiled warmly, ¡°But in my eyes, what you did to protect those civilians makes you look like a true royalty.¡±


    It was now Liola¡¯s turn to look at Feir curiously.


    Seeing this, Feir gave up on making a bed, because the successor looked like he didn¡¯t want to sleep. Feir walked to the table, and asked with a smile, ¡°May I sit down, please?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Purity¡¯s brother, you don¡¯t have to be so¡­ respectful.¡± Liola frowned slightly.


    Feir smiled, and didn¡¯t explain any further. If he was truly being respectful, he wouldn¡¯t be asking such a question, and instead of sitting down, he should be standing next to the successor. However, he knew being respectful towards Liola would make him feel strange, so he stopped talking in a respectful tone, and said directly, ¡°Speaking of Purity, why didn¡¯t you go back to find Kaiser? But since he and Daylight are wanted, I don¡¯t know where they¡¯re hiding. However, I believe my sister knows.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m lost¡­¡± Liola said truthfully.


    ¡°Lost?¡± Feir seemed confused, ¡°If you were lost, you could¡¯ve gotten Baolilong to ask Flames. Although Flames was in the Commerce Alliance and we¡¯re quite far from it, the Sacred White Dragon should have strong enough power to communicate with it.¡±


    Liola was silent for a bit, and then he explained, ¡°Baolilong said, it was because I didn¡¯t want to go back, so it didn¡¯t contact Flames.¡±


    Feir looked at him for a while, nodded and said, ¡°I see, that I can understand.¡±


    It was Liola¡¯s turn to pause. Understood? Even though he himself couldn¡¯t understand, Feir was able to understand?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is quite normal. After hearing those complicated secrets of yours, even I began to feel afraid, so it¡¯s understandable for you to be afraid.¡± Feir said calmly, ¡°However, you can¡¯t run forever. After you rest, you should return and carry out your duties.¡±


    ¡°What duties?¡± Liola paused.


    ¡°The duties of a successor, of course.¡± Feir stared straight at him, without giving him any chance to run away.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ the successor. The Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t possibly keep me as a successor.¡± Liola denied in reflex.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I think.¡± Feir was deep in thought for a moment, ¡°Think about it, Prince Mocha and Prince Latte are both dead. There are only three candidates left for the throne: Prince Cappuccino, Princess Lanski, and you. As you¡¯ve explained, they both know the truth. Since all three of you know the truth now, you guys are now on equal footing in that regard. I mean, if the Dragon Emperor was still the one choosing.¡±


    ¡°And as such, of course he would pick the strongest among you.¡± Feir raised his head, ¡°Since you are the strongest, and you already are the successor, instead of changing the successor and make his people feel unrest, he might as well try to catch you instead.¡±


    Hearing Feir¡¯s accurate analysis, Liola¡¯s body shrank and his face darkened. When Feir saw him, and smiled apologetically, ¡°Sorry for making you feel uneasy, but everything I said is true.¡±


    ¡°Besides, even if the Dragon Emperor dissolve you from being the successor, if the only remaining royalty, Cappuccino and Lanski, supports you as the next Dragon Emperor, everyone will still recognize you as the successor. In fact, even if your siblings don¡¯t support you, there were quite a few Princes in history who had successfully usurped the throne despite being hated by their father. Those who had been accepted by the Sacred White Dragon, despite all other factors, had almost always become the next Dragon Emperor, be it usurping or succeeding.¡±


    Feir looked at Baolilong, who was lying next to Liola¡¯s legs, and said, ¡°Therefore, having the acceptance of the Sacred White Dragon is basically half way to becoming the Dragon Emperor; this is something everyone knows.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be the Dragon Emperor.¡± Liola stood up emotionally, but being as exhausted as he was, he fell back down almost at the same instant. He said bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to be a Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Judging from what I saw, you seem to know it quite well.¡± Feir said casually as he picked up a can on the table with tea leaves inside. He smelled it to make sure it was still good, then poured the tea leaves into a pot, poured in water, and plugged it in to heat up.


    Liola frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±


    ¡°What do you think the duty of an Emperor is?¡± Feir smiled, and patiently began to guide the future Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Liola shook his head; he really didn¡¯t know how to be one.


    ¡°A supposed Emperor means to give everything in his power to make his people happy.¡±


    Liola looked at Feir skeptically. This was far different from what he had experienced.


    ¡°This is what my mother taught me.¡± Feir smiled and said, ¡°She is a great Commander, and also a great mother. Ever since I was young, she kept telling me what the leader of the people must do.¡±


    Liola paused. It wasn¡¯t until now that he remembered, Feir was the son of a Commander, and he would likely be a leader in the future ¡ª of course, unless Purity replaced him.


    ¡°My other and the other two Commanders actually decided not to continue having three Commanders.¡± Feir explained, ¡°Their bonds of friendship run deep, so they don¡¯t have to worry about infighting. However, my generation is far different. Jetter hates me to the bone, and he couldn¡¯t possibly work with me.¡±


    ¡°He hates you?¡± It was hard for Liola to imagine someone hating Feir. To him, Feir was a very amiable person, and so was Purity.


    ¡°Mhm, he also hates Purity.¡± Feir smiled bitterly, ¡°In fact, he probably knew, there will only be one Commander. The current three Commanders told me, that person will be me.¡±


    Liola paused, and asked back, ¡°So you¡¯re also an Emperor?¡±


    ¡°You could say that.¡± Feir joked, ¡°So, we could exchange some ideas of being a King. It would be great if Meinan was also here, so we could have a small ¡®King meeting¡¯.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t funny.¡± Liola shook his head.


    Feir stopped smiling, and nodded seriously, ¡°Indeed, this isn¡¯t funny. If there is a King who was unwilling to be King, the whole world wouldn¡¯t find it funny.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t someone else be the King¡­? Both Cappuccino and Lanski would do better than me.¡± Liola felt frustrated. Why must he be the Dragon Emperor? He had never thought about being the Dragon Emperor.


    Feir shook his head and smiled, ¡°That¡¯s what you think. To me, Prince Cappuccino¡¯s personality is a wanderer. To make him stay in the palace would be like torture to him.¡±


    ¡°Princess Lanski may be brave and honest, but she isn¡¯t adaptable. Being a King can¡¯t always be completely straightforward.¡± Feir smiled as if there were deeper meanings.


    ¡°Your smile looks a lot like Qiusi, very cunning.¡± Liola looked at Feir strangely.


    Feir¡¯s smile froze, and continued forcefully, ¡°Looks like your observational abilities are better than the Princess. This is bad news to both me and Meinan. It looks like it would be hard for us to take advantage of the Dragon Emperor in the future.¡±


    Liola shook his head, ¡°Meinan wouldn¡¯t take advantage of me, and neither would you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust me too much.¡± Feir smiled meaningfully again.


    ¡°I trust Purity.¡± Liola maintained his stance.


    Feir¡¯s smile froze again. He began to think, perhaps he would be better off supporting Princess Lanski for the throne?


    ¡°As you can see, you are indeed the best candidate to the throne, right?¡± Feir smiled as he scratched his face.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola drew a blank, ¡°That¡¯s not the same. I-I don¡¯t know how to handle all the politics.¡±


    ¡°You have Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand Knights, so I can¡¯t manage a Kingdom of Knights.¡± Liola tried to refute again.


    ¡°And you have Daylight.¡± Feir shrugged again, and said, ¡°Even the friends you¡¯ve made are just right. In the Aklan Troublemaking Squad, Kaiser can help you with politics, Daylight can help you manage Knights. As for diplomacy, Meinan is the future Prime Minister of Aklan, and Purity can¡­ keep me in check, although I really don¡¯t want to say it that way. Also, you are friends with the strongest people in this world, such as Mizerui, Barbalis, Lancelot, Blood Wolf, Gladiolus, etcetera. This is all very important.¡±


    Liola revealed a strange expression, and asked hesitantly, ¡°If everything can be handled by other people, then¡­ what exactly do I have to do?¡±


    ¡°You are the center of the net that connects everyone. This is the duties of a King.¡± Feir stood up and said seriously, ¡°Liola, did you know? You have the big advantage that even I, as someone who had been preparing to become King for the last decade, don¡¯t have.¡±


    Feir suddenly sat back down, and smiled bitterly, ¡°I can imagine, when you become the Dragon Emperor, you will have unprecedented power. What¡¯s funny is, the reason why you¡¯ll have all this power, is because you possess the personality of not wanting those power. This results in everyone standing by your side, and not worried about you plotting against them.¡±


    Hearing Feir¡¯s explanation, Liola was silent. This was all something he had never thought about, but¡­


    Feir probably also knew, something like this couldn¡¯t be hurried. He remembered when he first found out about him being King, he was also terrified and felt clueless. Thinking about that, he couldn¡¯t refrain revealing a smile of understanding to the future King in front of him, who was still younger than him.


    He said warmly, ¡°Don¡¯t rush it. Think about it slowly. You¡¯ve exhausted your Aura today, so you should be tired, right? Sleep for a while first. When you¡¯re too tired, you might be a bit narrow minded.¡±


    Liola nodded, letting Feir help him to lie down on a bed.


    ¡°Rest well.¡± Feir smiled, then left the room.


    Liola stared blankly at the ceiling. The reasons for him to become the Dragon Emperor went through his mind, but none of them made him happy, nor did anyone made him ¡°want¡± to be the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡®A few hundred reasons aren¡¯t enough. I just need one reason, one that makes me want to become the next Dragon Emperor.¡¯


    * * *


    Perhaps as a result of exhausting his Ki, Liola had seldom slept this well, almost to the point of forgetting to put up his guard. It wasn¡¯t until he woke up that he heard and felt Baolilong still lying against him, sound asleep. This young adult had to use all of its energy to spit out lightning balls to attack its papa¡¯s enemies, and now it was probably exhausted as well.


    Liola got up, but unexpectedly woke Baolilong. It rubbed its eyes, and then climbed on top of papa¡¯s body, as if it were still a child, and trying to push itself into papa¡¯s arms. It complained with a sleepy voice, ¡°Papa, Baolilong is very, very hungry, meat~¡±


    Liola smiled, and picked up the not-so-small Dragon, then walked out. As soon as he left the room and walked to the place where he talked to Feir last night, he saw a pail full of water and a towel. Liola felt thankful for Feir¡¯s thoughtfulness. Being as tired as he was, he did indeed need some water to wash.


    After briefly washing himself and Baolilong, Liola thought about the civilians¡¯ situations. Plus, the Dragon that was now fully awake was moaning loudly from being hungry. He then took it out of the room, hoping to barbecue some meat for civilians and Baolilong before the Lesser-Dragons would decay.


    After opening the door, the bright sunlight temporarily blinded Liola. He used his hand to block away the light and awaited for his eyes to adjust, but the Baolilong, whom he was holding on his right hand, had already charged forward unable to wait while yelling ¡°meat¡±.


    ¡°Big brother, this piece of meat is for you. It¡¯s the biggest one.¡±


    When Liola¡¯s eyes finally focused, the first thing he saw was a piece of meat in the boy¡¯s arms, and he was happily giving it to Baolilong. Baolilong happily grabbed it, and began to chew it after a large bite. But when it turned around, it saw the boy gulping as he looked at it eating the meat. Baolilong was generous unlike before, and it tore off a piece of meat the size of a fist, then put it in front of the boy, ¡°You gave Baolilong meat, so Baolilong also give you meat.¡±


    The boy showed a happy smile. After taking the meat, he sat down next to Baolilong, and started eating with it.


    Seeing the situation, Liola unconsciously began to smile. Then he noticed what was happening in the entire city: the Knights were all working together; some were cutting the giant Lesser-Dragons into pieces of meat, some were responsible for using their Aura to cook the meat. Perhaps it was the first time they used such a method to cook, since their inexperience were revealed with the frequent smell of burning. Bour was guiding them on the side, telling them how Silver Mask did it, and how great the meat was when he cooked them.


    The Knights didn¡¯t seem frustrated; praising the successor they were loyal to, seemed to make them more happy than actually praising them.


    That was not all; the city walls that looked like ruins yesterday because of the Lesser-Dragons now looked orderly. Though the destroyed houses had still not been repaired, all the rubbles from yesterday had been completely cleaned away.


    The main contributor to that, was of course the civilians as well as the Knights, whose faces and clothes had now been covered with dust, even though the Knights had originally wore clean clothes. Some of the Knights even accidentally set themselves on fire while cooking the meat, and they were jumping around, trying to extinguish the fire from their pants, and this scene made the all civilians around them laugh.


    Liola felt the cheerfulness of the scene. In the bright sunlight, the Knights and civilians were all laughing with one another. Even if their homes were in shambles, the gloominess didn¡¯t seem to infect their smiles at all.


    ¡®Ah¡­ if everyone could smile like this forever, how great it would be.¡¯ Liola smiled unconsciously, and he felt warmth in his heart, to the point where it was hotter than the sunlight.


    ¡°Aiya, Silver Mask.¡± Bour finally noticed Liola¡¯s arrival. After shouting loudly, Liola looked towards him, with a bright smile on his face. This made Bour freeze.


    Everyone had now noticed Liola. Before the civilians even had time to greet him, the Knights had already stood up straight, and respectfully performed a Knight¡¯s salute towards him, then awaited for the successor¡¯s response.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, you guys continue.¡± Liola tilted his head, then added, ¡°Just smile like you guys were.¡±


    The Knights blinked, obviously not sure of what the successor meant; did the successor want them to smile?


    Liola didn¡¯t understand it either; why did everyone stop laughing? This made him feel a bit disappointed. He then pointed at himself, then started to smile brightly, ¡°Like this, smile happily.¡±


    This bright smile made everyone stare in awe. To them, it was like the clouds of a dark night had suddenly dispersed, and the moon had covered the world with moonlight; it was an indescribable feeling of awe.


    The crowd still didn¡¯t smile, and froze instead. Liola couldn¡¯t help but touch his own face; did he smile strangely? As for their stares, he looked back at them perplexedly, and his silly look made everyone burst into smile again.


    Now, Liola was even more clueless; why did everyone start to smile again?


    ¡°Liola, you are a natural talent at being King.¡±


    Liola turned to find Feir holding some food and standing next to him with a smile.


    Perhaps because he could see Liola¡¯s doubts in his eyes, Feir raised his brows, then gestured at the crowd¡¯s happy laughter and explained, ¡°Look, every move you make affects these civilians. You dissolved everyone¡¯s suspicions and doubts without even knowing it. You know, yesterday, there were still civilians and Knights who didn¡¯t believe what you said, but just now, those people were the ones who laughed the loudest.¡±


    Liola wasn¡¯t sure what Feir meant, but one thing he was sure of, ¡°I like to see everyone smile.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, in the days that follow, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to smile anymore.¡± Feir said somewhat pitifully.


    ¡°Why?¡± Liola asked back almost immediately.


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor had already summoned the Knights to go back. We were originally sent to find you.¡± Feir glanced at Liola, then added, ¡°We didn¡¯t report the fact that we found you.¡±


    ¡°The Knights were still arguing yesterday, whether to serve you, or the Dragon Emperor.¡± Feir smiled, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not possible for me to serve you, as I¡¯ve never served the Dragon Empire¡¯s royalties.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t believe what I said? The Dragon Emperor isn¡¯t a good man.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Feir showed a strange smile, ¡°They do believe you, but you underestimate how loyal Knights are to the Dragon Emperor. It was a simple desire to take over the world, and perhaps many Knights would interpret the Dragon Emperor as being ambitious and it would be a good thing, just that his methods would bring a chill to people. Nevertheless, even the terrifying existence of the heart of the Dragon Emperor might not be able to make most of the Knights betray their King.¡±


    ¡°These Knights are a bit special.¡± Feir took a deep breath, ¡°I¡¯m talking about the fifty or so Knights here, and there are two more groups, totalling to about two hundred people. We are a¡­ not exactly an organization, but Knights who share a common factor: we¡¯re skeptical about the Dragon Emperor, and you have resolved that confusion for us yesterday.¡±


    Liola looked with Feir with surprise, but Feir continued as though he didn¡¯t see Liola¡¯s expression, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you, Liola. When Purity told me what happened, I¡¯ve always thought you had something to do with the Dragon Emperor¡¯s secrets, and I¡¯m not the only one looking for you ¡ª those two hundred Knights are just like me. They hoped to find you and find out what the problems were, and decide whether the person they were loyal to was indeed worth their trust.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve already help them make up their minds.¡± Feir smiled lightly, ¡°Since the problem is with the heart of the Dragon Emperor and not the royal blood itself, as long as they support you, a Prince who had not been corrupted by the heart, they can be true to their hearts while still not betraying the Royal Family.¡±


    ¡°Liola, would you be willing to work towards being a King?¡± Feir turned his head, gazing into Liola¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Liola was speechless. At the same time he realized, everyone were now listening close to them: the Knights and the civilians, they had all encircled them, and their eyes were focused on none other than Liola.


    Liola suddenly realize: the idea of being the Dragon Emperor was not as repulsive to him as it was yesterday. Why? What changed his own thoughts?


    ¡°It would be great if you were the Dragon Emperor.¡± Bour said earnestly.


    Liola asked with confusion, ¡°Why? I don¡¯t know if I could be a good Dragon Emperor; perhaps I might end up being even worse.¡±


    Bour scratched his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to say this, but I just think you would be a good Dragon Emperor. You like us, right? That¡¯s great then.¡±


    ¡°You also like to smile, and you like people smiling even more. I believe a person who like to see others smiling would never be a bad King.¡± The mother walked up, and smiled kindly.


    ¡°Because, you would do everything in your power to make everyone smile, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    Liola trembled strongly. Making everyone smile? He couldn¡¯t help but began to think. All he could do now was do everything he could to make the thousands of civilians in this city smile, but if he were a King, would he be able to make more people smile? So it wasn¡¯t just civilians, Knights, and everyone else, could be entrenched in smiles like just now. Could this scene of smiles expand to the entire¡­ entire world?!


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola raised his head, and the world suddenly look bright to him, because now he had a goal, one that made him feel happy just thinking about it.


    Liola¡¯s eyes glanced across everyone, he opened his mouth slightly, but this simple action made everyone hold their breaths and waited, ¡°I want to make everyone happy, so that everyone would smile as they have today. If being King can achieve this goal, then I will do everything I can to be King, and make the world be filled with smiles everyday.¡±


    ¡°Make the world be filled with smile everyday.¡± Feir showed a bright smile, ¡°Crap, even I want to be serve you.¡±


    The Knights and the civilians all smiled. Wanting to be King for such a reason was probably unprecedented.


    ¡°Please accept our loyalty.¡±


    All the Knights half knelt, formed a fist with their right hand, and pounded their left chest.

 Volume 12, 5: Ambush on the Secret Base

    Volume 12, Chapter 5: Ambush on the Secret Base


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Daylight held the pike in his hand, and there were bags on the sides of his body, each filled with heavy weights. The other Knights looked similar to Daylight: various large bags hang on their bodies while brandishing their own weapons. Some were also running in circles around the base, and some had their backs to mountains and sparring with one another.


    Though it didn¡¯t look there were many things on Daylight¡¯s body, the Knights around him wouldn¡¯t dare to underestimate him. In the days they¡¯ve spent with him, they had already known Daylight was the one who would lead by example. Though the sacks weren¡¯t huge, the bags were filled with gold, which was much heavier than the iron in others¡¯ sacks.


    Though Daylight¡¯s mission was to supervise and guide the Knights, he didn¡¯t forget his own training. When the Knights see him following the other Knights who were running around, some of them also followed. Then he would often spend an hour or two doing basic moves. Had it not been the fact that the Knights has seen Daylight sit still quietly to read, they might have thought of him as a hyperactive person who couldn¡¯t stop moving.


    But because of this, everyone admired him greatly. No one would complain about the training regimen he had assigned for them because Daylight would do the same thing a few times over the work he assigned, thus nobody felt like they had the right to complain.


    Look! Daylight had just finished circling the base with others, and while everyone was trying to catch their breaths, he was looking around, trying to decide which training he should join¡­ But as he did so, he saw a baby-faced boy with weed-like green hair closing in from afar with a darkened face; hundred meters, fifty meters, ten meters¡­ his speed was so fast that it looked like he was teleporting.


    Finally, Kaiser¡¯s face appeared close to Daylight¡¯s eyes. His blue eyes seemed to be spitting out fire. Daylight blinked, and as Kaiser had wished, asked pleadingly, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Kaiser narrows his eyes, and roared deeply, ¡°Liola ran away.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Really?¡± Daylight was ecstatic; in other words, he had finally woken up?


    But then he thought, wait, if Liola had escaped from the Dragon Emperor, this would be something good, so why would Kaiser look so angry? He frowned, then asked perplexedly, ¡°Then why are you mad, Kaiser? Aren¡¯t you happy he ran away?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m mad!¡± Kaiser roared like he was going crazy, and he poked Daylight¡¯s chest with his finger, ¡°Lemme ask you, lemme ask you!¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, go ahead and ask.¡± Daylight took a few steps as a result of the poke, and answered as he smiled bitterly.


    ¡°According to our scouts, it has been quite a few days since Liola escaped. Baolilong is also definitely with him. BUT! Did you hear anything about them from Flames?¡± Kaiser gritted his teeth. He swore to the heavens, the first thing he was going to do when he sees Liola was to tear his face into pieces.


    ¡°Well, no.¡± Daylight shockingly realized Liola had not made any contact with them, then immediately asked worriedly, ¡°Could something have happened to him?¡±


    Hearing Daylight¡¯s question, Kaiser seemed to have deflated. He snapped back, ¡°How would I know? That guy always run into troubles.¡±


    ¡°What if the Dragon Emperor had already recaptured him, what do we do then? What if he turned back into Silver Moon, or what if¡­¡± Daylight crossed his arms, and began to pace back and forth.


    ¡°What if you keep continuing and I die from being annoyed by you!¡± Kaiser impatiently grabbed Daylight¡¯s shoulder, so his pacing wouldn¡¯t annoy him even more, ¡°The reason why I¡¯m here is to tell you to contact Flames, so we can find out where that guy actually went.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, we still have Flames.¡± Daylight didn¡¯t remember until now; he then hurried to contact Flames.


    ¡®Baolilong¡¯s Highness? It didn¡¯t contact me, master.¡¯


    ¡®Try to find a way to contact Baolilong.¡¯ Daylight immediately replied.


    ¡®Okay.¡¯


    After a while, Flames¡¯ message reached Daylight, ¡®I can¡¯t, it¡¯s too far. I can¡¯t contact Baolilong¡¯s Highness with my abilities, unless Baolilong¡¯s Highness contacts me first. Its Highness¡¯s abilities are higher than mine, so it should be able to reach me¡­ huh? Wait, it sounds like Its Highness¡¯s voice¡­¡¯


    Daylight burst out in shock, ¡°Baolilong contacted Flames.¡±


    ¡°What? What did it say?¡± Kaiser asked anxiously.


    ¡°Liola asked where we are; he¡¯s in danger, and wanted to ask us for help¡­¡± Daylight frowned, delivering Flames¡¯ message.


    ¡°That guy!¡± Kaiser gritted his teeth. He was so angry that he almost had an aneurysm. He tried to suppress his rage, and yelled, ¡°Ask him where he is! I¡¯ll go over there with teleport!¡±


    ¡°They seem to be in a small city to the south.¡± Daylight frowned.


    ¡°A small city to the south?¡± Kaiser said sarcastically, ¡°That¡¯s one clear answer!¡±


    Daylight shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t help it, they don¡¯t seem to know where they are.¡±


    Kaiser smacked his head with his palm, and moaned, ¡°Don¡¯t know where they are? Surely something that guy would do.¡±


    ¡°Ask that guy, what kind of issues? Perhaps I could think of something.¡±


    Now it was Kaiser¡¯s turn to pace back and forth. He thought for a while, and he couldn¡¯t think of any other way, so he could only say that.


    ¡°Disconnected, their connection had ended.¡± Daylight¡¯s face suddenly went pale, and he looked at Kaiser with the ¡°what are we going to do now¡± look.


    Kaiser tightened his lips, and he held his fists tight. How did it turn out like this? That guy obviously has insane abilities, so why would he always run into things he wouldn¡¯t resolve with his power?


    ¡°Daylight, take a team of Knights with flying mounts, especially mounts with the ability to shrink.¡± Kaiser couldn¡¯t bother to make any jokes now, and ordered seriously, ¡°I can probably take twenty people, and the mounts¡­ I¡¯ll try my best. After we move to the south, we¡¯ll fan out and search.¡±


    Daylight nodded. Having spent the days with the Knights, he knew of their strengths. After thinking briefly, he had decided the candidates, and he began to yell for people to look for these people.


    Kaiser closed his eyes. Though his power had been steadily increasing, but teleporting twenty people and their mounts was still something he could barely handle. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t want to take any less, because it would mean the progress of their search would be even slower. He understood clearly, someone like Liola would never ask for help if it weren¡¯t an emergency, so his situation must be very dire now, and there was no time to waste. Therefore, Kaiser had to gather every bit of power to take these people to the south.


    He sank into his thoughts. He began to search for a place for them to land, but he was unable to expand his perception past the base, as if an invisible wall had been blocking it, and the wall was surrounding the base!


    ¡°We¡¯ve been made!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly.


    Everyone looked at Kaiser blankly. Kaiser began to run and yelled at Daylight panickedly, ¡°Prepare for battle! We¡¯ve been made! Daylight, be ready to fight!¡±


    Daylight suddenly stopped. He didn¡¯t doubt a word Kaiser had said. He immediately shouted on the top of his lungs to the Knights everywhere, ¡°All Knights, listen! Go to your station immediately and prepare!¡±


    Kaiser began to use his flying spell, and rushed quickly to the command room. As soon as he arrived, he yelled angrily at the Knight on duty, ¡°We¡¯ve been made! How many people are surrounding us.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Knight on duty was clearly surprised. He answered panickedly, ¡°None, there¡¯s not a single person on the monitors.¡±


    Kaiser pushed away the Knight. There was a side of wall in the command room covered by monitors, practically covering every corner around the base¡­


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes glanced over, locking onto a small black dot in the air. He took a few deep breaths, then ordered, ¡°This spot here, zoom in to the max.¡±


    The Knights immediately began controlling the instruments, zooming in as much as they could to the spot Kaiser spoke of. They suddenly realized, the barely noticeable black dot was not a bird, but a person ¡ª a man wearing a strange, long, black-and-white robe.


    ¡°Mizerui?¡± Kaiser was shocked. Mizerui would, of course, know about this secret base. After all, he was one of the powers Qiusi had spoken about.


    ¡®Mizerui was captured by the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor knew clearly of his power, so he should¡¯ve done everything to prevent him from getting away.¡¯


    ¡®And why would Mizerui put the secret base on lockdown, making teleport impossible?¡¯


    Kaiser¡¯s face sank more and more as he thought!


    ¡®Is Mizerui¡­ under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control?¡¯


    Kaiser felt his heart sink. However, he had been prepared. He knew there was another powerful Magician in Dragon Emperor¡¯s control in addition to Mizerui. How many Knights could these two Magicians teleport?


    ¡°Make an announcement; tell every Magician and Knight to go to their station.¡±


    Kaiser murmured. The Knights around him thought he was making a big deal out of this. It was just one person, and what could this person do an entire base? Couldn¡¯t they just send out a squad of Knights to capture him?


    ¡°Make an announcement now! Tell everyone to go to their station. The person outside is one of the top wanted criminals ¡ª Mizerui. Do not think for a second it was an accident he became a top wanted criminal.¡±


    The Knights were shocked, and they immediately began the announcement. The base began to be in motion.


    ¡°Is the Dragon Emperor planning a final duel here?¡±


    Kaiser frowned. Would this be related to Liola¡¯s escape? And the danger Liola had run into. He found himself locking his eyebrows; he can¡¯t believe both would happen at the same time. Liola was in danger, but now neither he nor Daylight could leave.


    ¡®That guy has quite the rotten luck, but every time he got out of it alive. He¡¯ll be all right this time, too, right?¡¯ Kaiser murmured to himself.


    Kaiser looked at Mizerui on the screen. He was too far away for Kaiser to see the expression on his face. Without realizing, he began to remember the time when he first saw Mizerui: on the bus, he was still dreaming of catching this wanted criminal, so he would not have to worry about food or clothes anymore¡­ who knew, his fate would run so close to this wanted criminal with a smile as if everything was a world of games.


    ¡°You idiot! If Gle were here, he would scream your head off.¡±


    Kaiser took a deep breath, putting his personal feelings aside, and commanded everything with calm and collectedness. He believed that, the only thing he could do for Mizerui now, was to defend the secret base.


    * * *


    ¡°Meinan!¡±


    Purity and Flames rushed into the room, with darkened faces. Meinan, on the other hand, pulled his pale face out of the files on his desk, and asked weakly, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°The secret base is under attack.¡± Purity said with difficulty.


    Meinan paused, then murmured, ¡°They¡¯ve been made? That¡¯s not a big surprise. Mizerui had been captured, and the Dragon Emperor is an expert in hypnosis and control. So, finding out about the secret base was only going to be a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°Meinan, how could you be so calm! Daylight and Kaiser are still in there!¡± Purity answered angrily.


    Meinan smiled lightly, ¡°Purity, don¡¯t be mad, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t care about them, but since I handed the secret base over to them, I trust they can definitely defend it.¡±


    After hearing that, Purity was a bit calmer, but worry still hung on her face, ¡°B-but what if that Dragon Emperor is up to something devious, and Kaiser and others couldn¡¯t hold it? Meinan, I¡¯m really worried. They¡¯re alone in Aklan Continent and surrounded by enemies. How could I not worry?!¡±


    Meinan was, truthfully, somewhat worried about his companions himself, but he couldn¡¯t express that fear, nor could he possibly leave where he was to help them¡­ He suppressed the feeling of uneasiness in his heart, and said, ¡°Purity, listen to me; we must not leave right now. If the Dragon Emperor makes a move, it would definitely raise suspicions in the Commerce Alliance. When that happens, we have to use that sparkle to ignite the fire. The only true way to help Kaiser is getting the Commerce Alliance to be on our side.¡±


    ¡°Purity knows.¡± Purity lowered her head sadly, ¡°But, I still want to say¡­ we really, really want to rush over and help them, but we can¡¯t really do that. If I don¡¯t say that, those two might think we¡¯re just leave them to die.¡±


    Meinan couldn¡¯t help but nodded. While trying to withhold his tears, he said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Purity, so cheer them on for both of us. Let them know that, even if we aren¡¯t there, we will still be with them in spirit!¡±


    ¡°Flames, you heard him, quickly and tell them!¡± Purity immediately said to Flames.


    Flames obediently passed the messages along. After a while, Flames spoke out the reply, ¡°Master said, he knows, and he will do everything in his power to protect this secret base, so don¡¯t worry. Also, Kaiser said, you¡¯re too annoying. He¡¯s really busy now, so don¡¯t bother him with such useless message.¡±


    ¡°This guy Kaiser is such an a-hole.¡± Purity pouted, even though the tears flashing in her eyes clearly indicated her concern for him.


    ¡®Useless message?¡¯ Meinan revealed a comforting smile, ¡®I suppose it really was an useless message. Something companions would already know about one another, was it really needed to be said?¡¯


    * * *


    Though he said he trusted his companions, Meinan¡¯s heart was still filled with worries. In the past two days, he had been asking Flames about the situation at the base every few hours. Luckily, the people at the secret base were indeed worthy people selected by Qiusi. It sounded like they had secured the base, stopping the Dragon Emperor¡¯s people dead outside of the base, and didn¡¯t give them a single bit of advantage.


    The communication Maxun rang, and Meinan naturally answered, ¡°This is Meinan.¡±


    ¡°Meinan, please come to my room with Purity.¡± The voice of the Red Commander was on the other side of the line.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right there.¡± Meinan thought it was strange. Why would the Red Commander look for him? Or Purity for that matter.


    Meinan went to Purity¡¯s room and beckoned, ¡°Your mother is looking for us.¡±


    Confused, the two walked towards the Red Commander¡¯s room. While on the way, they both had their own guesses as to why they were summoned, but they decided to simply hear what she had to say.


    As soon as the door was opened, they realized Red Commander was not the only person inside: in fact, all three Commanders were present, and there were even other people.


    Meinan and Purity¡¯s jaws both dropped, to the point they almost detached. They would have never guessed in a million years that these people would appear together inside the Commerce Alliance.


    The people present included Princess Lanski, Prince Cappuccino, and Jasmine.


    There were also the two infamous Knights, Lancelot and Blood Wolf.


    ¡°W-why would you be¡­¡± Meinan practically could not speak.


    Lanski, instead, interrupted Meinan. She asked worriedly, ¡°Has Liola contacted you?¡±


    ¡°Liola?¡± Meinan paused, then shook his head.


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Lanski lowered her head again. She seemed to have predicted this. When Liola left, he looked like someone who wanted to escape from everything, so why would he voluntarily contact anyone?


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave Liola¡¯s matters aside.¡± Lancelot said directly, ¡°We¡¯re here to expose the wild ambitions of the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened. As a Knight who sworn loyalty to the Dragon Empire¡¯s royalty, Lancelot actually used the word ¡°expose¡±; how could anyone not be surprised?


    Then, Lancelot spoke what he knew of the truth, including the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, the fact that the Dragon Emperor was no longer Caffey, and the Heart¡¯s desire to take over the world. During this, everyone had lost count how many times their eyes widened, or the times they had to use their hands to hold their hearts in place.


    After Lancelot finished telling them the truths, everyone paused for a long while before they could even start to discuss about the issues at hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s focus on one thing.¡± The Green Commander shook his head and said, ¡°Regardless of whether the Dragon Emperor today is Caffey or that Heart of the Dragon Emperor. As long as he is wearing that skin, he is the Dragon Emperor, and the entire Dragon Empire belongs to him. Therefore, I just have a simple question, the Dragon Emperor wants to take over the world, is that true?¡±


    Lancelot put his right fist onto his left chest, ¡°I swear on my Knight¡¯s Honor, the Heart of the Dragon Emperor wants nothing other more than taking over the world.¡±


    The Green Commander nodded, ¡°Then at least now we can start to discuss how to stop this. According to what you said, Miluo is also working for the Dragon Emperor, then Aklan Continent is basically in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands, and the only thing left is us, the Commerce Alliance¡­¡±


    ¡°Please do not put it like this. Aklan Republic is not completely gone!¡± Meinan protested loudly.


    The Green Commander paused. Before he had time to ask, Meinan had already began to explain, ¡°We, Aklan Republic, are not as weak as we look. There were two reasons why we had to repeatedly retreat when facing Miluo¡¯s advances. On one hand, my father wanted to preserve our true strength, and on the other hand, he was hoping the pressure of war would result in the Commerce Alliance agreement to the alliance between our two countries. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t able to hold everything still to your agreement before he was attacked.¡±


    ¡°Preserve your true strength?¡± The Green Commander stood up, and said with shock, ¡°Do you really still have some power left?¡±


    Meinan said with a deep voice, ¡°Of course, the two companions of mine who are on the wanted list are now maintaining the Aklan secret base.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s great. We could work from both the outside and inside, to force the Dragon Emperor to return Aklan. When Aklan can return to its former glory, and with the power of Commerce Alliance, then the Dragon Emperor will never conquer the world.¡± The Green Commander obviously thought this could be resolved easily.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s not enough.¡± Lancelot, on the other hand, protested, ¡°We must destroy the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, so he can never harm anyone again. Only by doing so can we actually take revenge for what he had done to Caffey.¡±


    The Green Commander shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s something we cannot intervene. The Heart of the Dragon Emperor is an internal conflict in the Dragon Empire¡¯s Royal Family, and something we should never intervene.¡±


    ¡°How do you plan on facing the Heart? As long as he¡¯s still the Dragon Emperor, he still has the entire Dragon Empire backing him. You couldn¡¯t possibly win a fight against him, and you might find yourselves being called wanted fugitives who committed treason.¡± Meinan suddenly joined the conversation.


    Lancelot and Blood Wolf glanced at one another. Blood Wolf then smirked, ¡°That¡¯s simple. As long as we¡¯re loyal to a Prince or Princess, and support them to usurp the throne, then it wouldn¡¯t be treason.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Meinan¡¯s eyes flashed, ¡°Then who do you plan on supporting for the throne?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Blood Wolf scratched his face, and noticed Meinan staring at him. He smiled bitterly, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I know you¡¯re Liola¡¯s good friend, but now that he¡¯s gone without a trace, even if we want to support him, we can¡¯t find him.¡±


    ¡°Liola!¡± Meinan sighed. If it were possible, he¡¯d really want to see Liola on the throne. Nevertheless, he knew Liola, being the person he was, probably had no interest in being the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t Liola, are you not willing to help, Meinan?¡± Jasmine opened her mouth for the first time.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Meinan frowned, ¡°That¡¯s not the case. Even if it¡¯s Liola, I would have to set down some terms before I would help.¡±


    ¡°Then what about others? Would you not even discuss such terms?¡± Jasmine asked loudly, certainly because she was thinking of her best friend Lanski.


    Meinan frowned, and answered directly, ¡°It¡¯s not that we can¡¯t even discuss the terms, but I don¡¯t trust anyone other than Liola. I¡¯m sorry to say it like this, but Prince Mocha, Prince Cappuccino, and I, are practically complete strangers. Even princess Lanski¡­ we¡¯ve only had brief contacts.¡±


    ¡°Brother Mocha is dead¡­¡± Lanski said with a lowered voice.


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone paused.


    ¡°Liola stabbed him to death!¡± Lanski stood up, and yelled loudly, ¡°You tell me, would Liola come back? When he left, he acted as if he wanted to run away from this world. Is there even a possibility for him to come back?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    A small voice could be heard.


    Everyone looked around for the source of this voice, and they finally saw a figure next to Purity. It was a young person with red hair and gold eyes. This young person was now staring at everyone, while they didn¡¯t know where this young person had came from.


    ¡°You¡­ are Knight Daylight¡¯s Dragon, right?¡± Lancelot quickly recognized this Dragon. Its master had left quite an impression with him.


    ¡°What? This is a Dragon?¡± The three Commanders were shocked.


    ¡°What did you mean by what you said?¡± Lanski quickly crouched, and grabbed ahold of Flames¡¯ shoulders.


    Flames twisted around uneasily, then answered, ¡°Its Highness Baolilong had just asked me about where Kaiser and others were. The Highness and its master seemed to be intent on looking for them. Especially when I told them that Kaiser and others were at war, they seemed to panic, and immediately began to go look for Kaiser.¡±


    ¡°He went to look for Kaiser? Does he finally have the courage now?¡± Ever since parting with Liola, Lanski¡¯s face showed some happiness for the first time.


    Flames tilted its head and said as it thought, ¡°Its Highness Baolilong did mention something about its papa planning on being some sort of King, and it sounded like they were happy, so I guess so.¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Even Cappuccino began to jump. He asked emotionally, ¡°Did brother really decide to be the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    ¡°Its Highness Baolilong did say as such¡­¡± Flames was trying to remember something.


    Flames suddenly remembered, and with a clap, it said, ¡°Right, it said its papa wanted to do so because¡­¡±


    ¡°Because he want the world to be filled with smiles, so he wanted to be the Dragon Emperor.¡±

 Volume 12, 6: Companion’s Reunion

    Volume 12, Chapter 6: Companion¡¯s Reunion


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°How many waves of attack was that? Damn Dragon Emperor, attacking us by throwing numbers against us just because he has so many Knights.¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly, realizing he was very hoarse. He shook his head and gulped down yet another cup of coffee. His eyes had never left the monitor screen. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s tactics in the past few days had been quite direct, obviously trying to tire them out.


    The three thousand Knights were divided into three shifts, taking turns to attack, which means there were a thousand Knights attacking the base at all times! They needed basically no strategy; the Knights were all at least Blue ranked, and as Dragon Knights, they were all attacking out of the sky. The base had been withholding such immense attack.


    Daylight looked at Kaiser worriedly; the latter had not stepped out of the command room for the past few days. If this continued, he would die from exhaustion. Daylight advised, ¡°Kaiser, why don¡¯t you go rest for a bit, I¡¯ll take care of it in the mean time.¡±


    ¡°No. You don¡¯t know anything about Magic, and the powerful Magician next to the Dragon Emperor has not appeared. If they have any sort of sinister plan, you couldn¡¯t identify it.¡± Kaiser shook his head. If that weren¡¯t the case, he wouldn¡¯t have refused to leave.


    Daylight looked at the screen and saw a sea of Knights attacking, and asked, ¡°Kaiser, can¡¯t we go outside to engage them? Don¡¯t we have more numbers than three thousand?¡±


    Kaiser shook his head. He said while holding his chin, ¡°That¡¯s just on the surface. We don¡¯t have many Knights; only 500. The Magicians also lacked combat experience, and the 900 Sorcerers with special abilities don¡¯t specialize in attack magic. The Dragon Emperor on the other hand, has three thousand Knights molded by battle, with two hundred being Gold Knights. No one even knows how many years those people trained in the Dragon Empire.¡±


    ¡°If there were enough Knights to protect the Magicians while they come out of the base, then they could just activate one large-scale magic, then it would be great. We just need to cast it once, and we can bomb those Knights all the way back to the Dragon Empire! The magic circles my grandpa researched aren¡¯t just for show!¡±


    ¡°Aiya! Too bad I can¡¯t possibly put the Knights and Magicians outside.¡± Kaiser began to pull his hair wildly, ¡°The moment they go out, they might end up being screwed by those Ice or Earth Dragons, burnt by the Fire Dragons, and then blown to the edges of the world by the Wind Dragons!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kaiser. We have our own advantages.¡± Daylight advised warmly, ¡°We have the base Qiusi carefully prepared. There are all sorts of resources stockpiled here, and we have so many Magicians that they can¡¯t possibly break the shields.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is true. That guy Qiusi acted like he knew this was coming all along. He had already moved the resources from the city¡­ By the looks of it, most of them were moved here. Even the capital of Aklan was practically an empty city.¡± Kaiser said as he held his chin.


    ¡°In fact, this war doesn¡¯t even seem to be fought by us, but by the Dragon Emperor and Qiusi instead.¡± Kaiser stared at the screen, ¡°The Dragon Emperor favors attack, Qiusi favors defense, and even that didn¡¯t change here.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, and looked at the little black dot on the monitor that had been constantly flying above the base, ¡°What worries me more is Mizerui. He is now certainly under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, and ever since the start of this fight, he had been locking down this base for the past few days. I don¡¯t think he rested at all either.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, and murmured, ¡°No matter how strong a Magician is, he can¡¯t possibly do this! He will eventually exhaust all his power. Does the Dragon Emperor intend to kill Mizerui via exhaustion?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor isn¡¯t trying to kill Mizerui like that, right?¡± Daylight¡¯s face suddenly turned slightly pale. Mizerui had helped them several times before, and he didn¡¯t want to see him dying like this.


    ¡°I hope¡­ not?¡±


    Kaiser was a bit hesitant. Logically, Mizerui was a very powerful Magician, and the Dragon Emperor had no reason to kill him like this. Instead, he could use Mizerui to the fullest potential. Nevertheless, the whole attack on the base was actually kind of strange. Kaiser wondered how the Dragon Emperor was able to explain to these Knights? Could he have said this base was the spies¡¯ base?


    A thought suddenly crossed Kaiser¡¯s mind, and even he himself thought it was ridiculous. Nevertheless, he asked, ¡°Could the Dragon Emperor have gone crazy?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Daylight didn¡¯t seem to understand.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, I was just talking nonsense.¡± Kaiser shrugged. ¡®It can¡¯t be, right? That¡¯s the Dragon Emperor¡­ no, that¡¯s actually the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, a monster that survived for thousands of years. How could it have gone crazy?¡¯


    However, as if the heavens was trying to tell Kaiser his guess was correct, the situation suddenly changed: the earth began to quake, the dust began to fly, and they saw something resembling a small mountain moving towards them quickly.


    ¡°Cameras, move closer! Hurry and capture that thing!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly, and the controlling Knights quickly moved the camera towards the unidentified object.


    It was a wave of Lesser-Dragons, large enough to cover the entire ground. The small hill among them was the Dragon with the largest body mass ¡ª Black Dragon King, Miluo! The direction they were charging in was clearly towards the base.


    Kaiser and Daylight were both confused. What¡¯s the situation now?


    ¡°What exactly is this?¡±


    Kaiser let his weight dropped onto the chair, and chaos filled his mind. ¡®Were the Lesser-Dragons here to attack them or the Dragon Emperor? God! Nevermind that, they can¡¯t possibly here to attack the Dragon Emperor! Unless the Dragon Emperor wanted Miluo to act as if he was here to save the base? That is quite possible.¡¯


    ¡°K-Kaiser¡­¡± Daylight yelled with a stutter.


    ¡°What?¡± Kaiser raised his head impatiently, annoyed that Daylight didn¡¯t see he was trying to figure out what the Dragon Emperor was up to.


    ¡°The black ball in Miluo¡¯s mouth¡­ it¡¯s huge!¡± Even Daylight didn¡¯t know what he was saying anymore. However, he felt suffocated seeing the black ball, to the point where he could barely speak.


    ¡°What?¡± Kaiser looked towards the monitor. The mountain-like Miluo had already stopped, and a ball shaped object was materializing in his mouth. It was darker than a moonless night, and more imposing to their hearts than any nightmare. It was as if anyone who had seen it had witness destruction itself.


    ¡°Magicians!¡± Kaiser grabbed ahold of the broadcaster, ¡°All Magicians, attention! Use all your powers to maintain the shield, this is an emergency! I repeat! Aiya, I hate talking like this. All you damn Magicians put your powers into the shield. There is one big ass spell heading our way! Use all your power to maintain the shield if you want to live!¡±


    The people in the base immediately began to move. The Magicians all fumbled around as they ran towards the power transfer device to the shield.


    The black ball became bigger and bigger, and it felt as though the surrounding air had been sucked into it, making it difficult for people to breathe. Kaiser knew very well it wasn¡¯t actually the case. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath before he said, ¡°Just maintain the shield for now, and wait for my mark, then raise the strength of the shield to the max!¡±


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡± With a pale face, Daylight¡¯s forehead was now covered in cold sweat. He didn¡¯t even try to hide his fear, ¡°Are all large-scale Magic this terrifying?¡±


    Kaiser shook his head, ¡°No, this magic¡­ this magic¡­ might be the last move Miluo can make.¡±


    ¡°Last move?¡± Daylight asked with confusion.


    Kaiser smiled helplessly, ¡°Also known as ¡®perish together¡¯ move, do you understand now? A magic like this is unfathomably powerful. So after casting, even if the enemy dies, the caster would die from exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean Miluo will die?¡± Daylight was shocked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you worry about whether we would die first?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face looked complicated. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t care about Miluo, but it was more important to him to preserve the base. Out of the Magicians present, the ones who specialize in protective shield was far and few inbetween. If Qiusi had been here today, Kaiser might not be so worried. But now, they had to rely on the energy transfer apparatus to maintain the shield, and they would have to use an unimaginable amount of Magic to stop this spell¡­ Could the apparatus hold up?


    ¡°Daylight, maybe you better¡­ go tell the Knights to prepare for an upfront battle.¡± Kaiser said bitterly. Though saying this diminished his prestige, but living was more important to him than saving face.


    Daylight nodded. Truth was, all the Knights had been preparing at their stations, so there was nothing for Daylight to tell them. Nevertheless, he still walked out of the command room, planning on fighting with these Knights.


    Kaiser looked towards Miluo again, and saw that the black ball in its mouth doubled in size. He couldn¡¯t help but feel sadness for the Black Dragon King. His last move wasn¡¯t actually used towards his enemy, but instead being used by his enemy towards his allies. Luckily his child, Baolilong, wasn¡¯t here. Otherwise, using this last move on his child would be nothing but tragic.


    ¡°What the hell is the Dragon Emperor doing by sending Miluo to attack us? Isn¡¯t he afraid the Knights might find out his true intent? Unless¡­ this is his way of having a showdown?¡± Kaiser gulped. Being enemies with a Dragon Emperor who had lost it wasn¡¯t exactly something he found interesting.


    After thinking for a while¡­ Kaiser decided not to think about it anymore, and it was more important for him to stare at the ball coming from Miluo. Suddenly, the black ball stagnated. He knew the destructive Magic was about to activated, and whether they could fend of this attack would depend on¡­ a mere energy transfer apparatus. It was quite a worrisome situation!


    Kaiser took a deep breath. The black ball started moving!


    ¡°Now! Transfer all your Magic!¡±


    The Magicians wouldn¡¯t dare to hold back. They sent their Magic power towards the shield. Despite no one holding back, the transfer device had trouble handling such energy, and red lights began to blink everywhere. The strength of the shield, luckily, increased to its maximum in an instant. By now, the black ball suddenly bursted. The sphere suddenly turned into a black line drawn across the sky, and shot directly towards to the shield.


    In an instant, contact was made.


    The powerful collision made the entire base shake. Everyone inside had a heavy look on their faces. The Knights had to put their faith in the Magicians, but there was little more the Magicians could do: no matter how much Magic power they had, the shield¡¯s transfer device was already at its limit. If they were to send any more power through it, it might end up exploding.


    The black ray slowly pushed forward, and web-like cracks began to be seen from the shield. Judging from the situation, it was a matter of time the black ray would emerge victorious, assuming nothing else happened.


    Seeing the cracks enlarging, Kaiser¡¯s face sunk further and further. When he heard a cracking sound from the monitor, he yelled into the broadcaster, ¡°Send all your Magic in, who the hell cares! Send it all!¡±


    With such a direct command, the Magicians immediately began to transfer more Magic without any hesitation. The meter measuring the strength of the shield did indeed explode. The Magicians were initially surprised, but resumed to transferring after hearing Kaiser¡¯s yells of ¡°Send it, use all your power, quick~~¡± echoing within the base¡­


    The Magicians held back their tears, and continued to transfer magic into the Maxun despite the sounds of explosions and presence of fires around them. The Knights, on the other hand, were trying to hold back themselves from trying to escape, seeing how the base looked like it would implode at any given moment, and held their positions. Of course, some of them murmured prayers to their deities.


    ¡®It¡¯s almost over, just a bit more.¡¯ Kaiser¡¯s face was pale, and he grabbed the mic to the broadcaster system tightly, with his eyes firmly fixed on the screens, it started to filled with the cracking shield and shrinking ray. The two seemed to be in a match of endurance; whichever one to disappear first, would be the loser.


    ¡®We won¡¯t lose!¡¯ Kaiser held his fist tightly.


    The protective shield made even more cracking noise. ¡®Hold on, just a bit more.¡¯


    Suddenly, an entire piece of the protective shield cracked, and disappeared completely. The black ray in that region poured straight through, landing directly on the outer hull of the base. The sounds of painful moans could be heard from the base. Though the ceiling of the base had not been completely breached, but there were countless cracks. The cracks extended and widened throughout the entire base, and the expansion of the cracks were accompanied by screams of fear.


    The Knights organized their thoughts, trying hard not to show any signs of fear.


    Kaiser put his hands together, still staring at the shield and the black ray¡­ ¡®Just a bit more! A bit more would do. The ray is almost gone!¡¯


    In that moment, after a loud noise, the protective shield was now completely gone. However, the black ray had not completely dissipated. Without the protective shield stopping it, this black destructive ray shot into the base¡­


    ¡°Crap!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly, ¡°Find cover!¡±


    It was as though the world was ending. Loud collapsing noises came from everywhere in the base. The rocks and metals that were once a part of the building were now falling. The Knights had to dodge every which way. Some of them couldn¡¯t even dodge it, so they had to use their Auras to stop them.


    Despite being a dozen or so seconds long, the pain of enduring through such explosions seemed like an eternity to the people inside. After the explosions stopped, everyone came out staring at one another from the places where they had been hiding.


    In the command room, Kaiser peeked out his head from underneath the table. After observing his surroundings and seeing there were no more objects flying around, he finally climbed out. After looking around, quite a few of the monitors had broken, but there were still a dozen or so of them that continued functioning. He murmured, almost unbelievably, ¡°We¡­ survived! The base is¡­ still not completely destroyed!¡±


    Everyone froze as they listened to Kaiser¡¯s broadcast. When they realized they were still alive, they began cheering, to the point of hugging one another!


    ¡°What are you so happy about?! Our shield is gone! And there are still three thousand Knights outside watching all this.¡± Kaiser snapped, then proceed to rub salt in everyone¡¯s wounds.


    Daylight pushed open the door of the command room. Kaiser looked at Daylight with confusion, unsure of what he wanted to do. Daylight pointed at himself, then at the broadcaster, with a warm and determined smile on his face. Naturally, Kaiser took a step back to let Daylight use the broadcaster.


    ¡°Honorable Knights,¡± Daylight spoke with the firm tone he always had.


    ¡°We have been staying in the shield for a while now, letting others protect us, but this isn¡¯t what Knights should do.¡±


    ¡°The duties of a Knight is not to hide behind others. The true Knights are the barricade to our enemies. Using our bodies to stop them, and our weapons to maintain justice. We are¡ª¡± Daylight closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and this anticipation went into the heart of every Knight.


    His eyes suddenly opened, and his golden eyes were full of spirits. Daylight said with a deep voice, ¡°KNIGHTS!¡±


    ¡°Knight¡±, this word echoed encouragement into the heart of every Knight.


    Kaiser cracked a smile. He had never heard Daylight talk like this. He also knew, Daylight would never say things pleasant only to the ear. All he did was say his true beliefs. Therefore, it seemed far more convincing.


    Kaiser grabbed ahold of the broadcaster, then said unreservedly, ¡°All right, all Magicians, now we have Knights before us, it would be unreasonable for us to be lazy! Go find your Knight team mate and hold your stations. Better be smart about it, a hard fight is about to begin!¡±


    Daylight looked at Kaiser, then asked, ¡°Kaiser, which side will you be fighting on?¡±


    Kaiser shrugged, ¡°Right here. Since the Dragon Emperor asked Miluo to send us such a huge gift, we can¡¯t possibly not return an equally big one!¡±


    Daylight looked at Kaiser, waiting for his explanation.


    ¡°I plan on using a large scale Magic to deal with the Lesser-Dragons. They stand closely together, and the Black Dragon King probably also doesn¡¯t have the power to command them now and avoid danger. A few spells should be enough to take out 70-80 percent of them.¡± Kaiser showed a sinister smile.


    Daylight nodded, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll protect you. Now that we don¡¯t have a protective shield, I¡¯m worried someone might charge in here.¡±


    Kaiser grunted, and didn¡¯t say anything to thank him. He knew he didn¡¯t need to thank him. As a companion and Knight, Daylight would undoubtedly keep him out of harm¡¯s way.


    The three thousand Dragon Emperor¡¯s Knight charged. On the side of Aklan, they were grouped into teams of two Magicians and one Knight, spread out across the base for defense. After being taught by Daylight¡¯s lectures, every Knight straightened their backs, using their Aura and body to protect the physically weak Magicians behind them.


    Neither the horrific scene of three thousand Knights charging up nor the fact that they were outnumbered six to one seem to phase these Knights to hold off the first wave of attack. Compared to the confusion the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Knights were facing, unsure of why they were fighting, the Aklan Knights were fully determined. They were Knights trained by Gladiolus, who never hid anything from them, including the danger of their mission. Those who were unwilling to come were allowed to be put under an amnesia spell and then leave.


    Compared to the attacking Knights who were simply obeying the Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders without reason, the Aklan Knights knew full well they were protecting Aklan, their country.


    Two different attitudes resulted in the two atmospheres being completely different. Even the Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights admired the burning flames in their enemies¡¯ eyes.


    The Knights were responsible for holding off the attack, and the Magicians would obviously not sit still. When the Knights stop the attack, the Magicians had their spells prepared. Standing on either side of the Knight, the two Magicians would cooperate with one another with their spells: one of them would cast ice bolts with high piercing property, forcing the Knights to use their swords to cut the countless ice bolts, while the other Magician would use a lightning spell, filling the air and the ice bolts with electricity so that when the Knights block or knock them away, they would be shocked to the point of almost dropping their swords.


    Suddenly, there was a loud explosion coming from behind them. The Knights who had the chance to turn their heads did, but the scene froze them. The images going into their eyes looked like those who has seen at the end of the world. A fissure was on the ground, and out of it came countless flames. The Lesser-Dragons had no power to defend themselves. They either fell into the fissure, or caught by the fire and ended up being in a fireball. They roared in pain and bashed their heads against every which way, and the number of Lesser-Dragons caught on fire were countless. In that instant, the whole place looked like it was hell.


    ¡°Doomsday Flames, one of my crazy grandfather¡¯s inventions.¡±


    Kaiser gave out an evil laugh from within the secret base.


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor¡¯s Knights are next, and I have just the move for them.¡± Cruelty flashed across Kaiser¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Kaiser?!¡±


    Seeing what happened with the Lesser-Dragons, Daylight already felt condolences for the Lesser-Dragons. Now that he heard Kaiser planned to use this move on the Knights, he was extremely shocked.


    ¡°Stop nagging! Shut your mouth if you don¡¯t want to lose.¡± Kaiser roared, interrupting Daylight¡¯s attempt to stop him. He had spent quite a while to make up his mind to use this move, and this was the only move that could leave them victorious, so he had to use it no matter what, even if it means his hands would be stained with blood¡­ He didn¡¯t care. War was always going to result in blood!


    Daylight paused, but he still felt it wasn¡¯t right. But, as Kaiser had said, if he could use large-scale Magic like he did before, they would decrease the number of enemies drastically. However¡­ they were Knights, too, but simply under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s orders to attack their enemies. Would they really deserve to die because of it?


    Kaiser closed his eyes. Such a large-scale Magic was very taxing, and if it fails, he might not have enough power to cast it again. In fact, the previous Doomsday Flames had already cost him significant mana, and it would affect the power of the spell he was about to cast.


    If that were the case, why would he cast a Doomsday Flames, just to take out of the relatively harmless Lesser-Dragons?


    Kaiser shook his head, trying to shake away any thoughts of weakness, and concentrated his thoughts on Magic. He began to murmur Magic incantations, but in his mind, countless images of Magic tearing apart a human body flew across; blood, tissues¡­ ¡®Damn! Calm down, if you don¡¯t concentrate on casting the Magic, then the people getting destroyed won¡¯t be the enemies, but instead our own.¡¯


    ¡°Kaiser¡­¡±


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s obvious restlessness, Daylight frowned and didn¡¯t know what he should do. As a companion, he didn¡¯t wish to see Kaiser¡¯s bloodlust side. He believed Kaiser did not want to kill any more than he did, but they had no choice.


    Daylight looked towards the screen, at the images of everyone killing one another, and he could vaguely tell neither side wanted to kill one another; especially the Dragon Empire Knights, who didn¡¯t even know why they were fighting, so they did not really want to kill.


    ¡®Why? Everyone obviously did not want to kill one another, so why force themselves to kill?¡¯


    ¡®Is there any way to avoid such meanless war?¡¯


    Daylight stared at the screen, trying to find any possibility to avoid killing. Suddenly, a group of small black dots appeared in the sky on the monitor, and they were gradually becoming bigger ¡ª obviously something flying towards them. Daylight thought it was strange, and concentrated on watching them¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­?¡±


    Daylight¡¯s jaws dropped. In the lead of those dots, he saw someone he never thought he would see!


    ¡®Is that him? Is that him?¡¯ Daylight practically had his face against the monitor. Suddenly, the screen changed, and a pair of zoomed-in silver eyes startled Daylight, which made him jump back a few steps before he actually focused his eyes on this person.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I saw you were looking at this screen, so I zoomed in.¡± The Knights controlling the monitor quickly explained. He didn¡¯t think Daylight would be so surprised.


    ¡°No¡­ No! It¡¯s fine, I mean, thank you for zooming in!¡±


    Daylight was so excited he could not even speak the proper words. It was him, he was here!


    Right, he still had to stop Kaiser. Daylight panicked, and he quickly slapped his hand towards the back of Kaiser¡¯s head.


    Bam!


    ¡°Do you want to die¡­¡±


    Kaiser was glued face-first onto the floor, and a dull voice could be heard from the floor.


    ¡°No! Kaiser, look! Look!¡± Daylight was so happy that he did not care what Kaiser said. He grabbed onto Kaiser¡¯s collar, and pulled him up like a little kitten.


    Kaiser was now hanging in the air with his feet off the floor. Veins were popped on his forehead. If Daylight had not provided an explanation for his actions, Kaiser might have very well throw the incomplete spell towards Daylight¡¯s head!


    However, there was no need for Daylight to explain, because the explanation already appeared on the screen.


    ¡°Liola!¡± Kaiser blurted.

 Volume 12, 7: The Gamble

    Volume 12, Chapter 7: The Gamble


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Stop! All of you!¡±


    Liola stood on top of Baolilong¡¯s back, and projected his voice with his Ki. He bit his lip. A place like this without any signs of smiles was not something he wanted to see.


    However, everyone was in the heat of battle, so they would never acknowledge a random person¡¯s roar. The battle field was still in chaos, and no one stopped.


    Seeing this, Liola frowned, and said once again with a deep voice, ¡°I am the Dragon Empire¡¯s successor, Silver Moon. All Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights heed my orders, stop at once.¡±


    ¡®His Highness, the successor?¡¯


    Now, the Dragon Empire Knights couldn¡¯t ignore this order. The Knights who weren¡¯t as occupied turned around to look, and the first thing they saw was the snow-white Sacred White Dragon. The only person alive in this world with a Sacred White Dragon mount was none other than the successor.


    The Dragon Empire Knights all yelled in shock, ¡°It¡¯s the Sacred White Dragon.¡± Some Knights even recognized the successor from his looks, and screamed, ¡°It really is the successor!¡±


    The Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights quickly obeyed the order to stop, and the Aklan Knights were more than happy to let them leave. Neither side had the lust for battle, and it was stopped quickly.


    ¡°Continue fighting, no one is allowed to stop!¡±


    A different voice could be heard. Everyone was shocked, and looked towards the source of this voice. They were amazed to find the Dragon Emperor himself, dressed in his purple robe! The Dragon Emperor looked furious, and his eyes when he looked at Liola was practically filled with animosity.


    The Knights looked towards the successor, then back at the Dragon Emperor. They gave completely opposing orders, and the Knights had no idea what to do. Should they fight, or not?


    ¡°I am the Dragon Emperor, now all Knights, obey my orders, attack that base!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor yelled angrily, and the sound of it made the Knights panic. They hurried to pick up their weapons, planning on obeying order and attack¡­


    ¡°No!¡± Liola yelled loudly.


    The Knights picked up the weapons, but they couldn¡¯t decide whether they should continue to attack. All they could do was stand helplessly as they watched their bosses giving opposite orders.


    The Dragon Emperor knew if this continued, the fight would be over. He was silent for a while, and then asked with a rigid tone, ¡°Child, do you really plan on going against your father.¡±


    Liola raised his head, and looked at the Dragon Emperor with determined eyes, ¡°Yes! I will never allow this meaningless war to continue.¡±


    ¡°Meaningless?¡± The Dragon Emperor was suddenly infuriated, ¡°You dare to say this war is meaningless? This war is for the honor of our Dragon Empire! As a Royalty of the Empire, how dare you call it meaningless! You do not have the slightest honor in your heart! You are not worthy to be a successor, and I hereby revoke your title as the successor!¡±


    Liola was silent. He turned his head to look at Feir next to him, whom then nodded towards him with a pair of determined and supportive eyes.


    ¡°I will not accept your revocation.¡± Liola replied calmly.


    Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s expression changed drastically, but quickly calmed down. His elegant face was now expressionless, ¡°Then, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola¡¯s brows tightened, ¡°¡­ want to be the Dragon Emperor!¡±


    (At this moment, within the base, Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped to his chest!)


    Usurpation! The Dragon Emperor Knights finally understood what the situation was, and they began to relax¡­ Usurpation was so common in the Dragon Empire that the Knights didn¡¯t feel as worried.


    ¡°I see.¡± The Dragon Empire smiled lightly, ¡°But what do you plan on using to take away my throne? My dear child, every power you have is given by me, and I can take it all back in one sentence. Do you really plan on taking on the entire Empire by yourself?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case. Everyone behind me all swore loyalty to Silver Moon.¡± Feir smiled as he reminded the Dragon Emperor not to mistake these Knights as people who accidentally stood on the wrong side.


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s purple eyes glanced at the Knights behind Liola, and replied without care, ¡°Just a couple hundred Knights.¡±


    ¡°And me.¡± Feir added calmly.


    ¡°You?¡± The Dragon Emperor narrowed his eyes, and revealed a disdainful smile, ¡°You¡¯re just one Silver Knight.¡±


    ¡°I am not loyal to Silver Moon like a Knight would be.¡± Feir clarified, ¡°I am the son of the Commerce Alliance Red Commander, and I am also the future leader of the Commerce Alliance. With that identity, I am supporting Silver Moon as the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°And us!¡± Kaiser¡¯s voice could suddenly be heard. He turned the broadcaster to its limit and yelled with his loud voice. It did indeed caught everyone¡¯s attention¡­ as well as causing their ears to ring.


    ¡°We, representing Aklan¡¯s prime minister¡­ ¡®s son Meinan, we definitely support Li¡­ Silver Moon as the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    The situation suddenly changed. The support for Liola suddenly expanded: there was Commerce Alliance, Aklan Republic, and even the Dragon Empire itself had two hundred Knights defecting to him.


    ¡°Great! Then you take your power, and charge into the palace. Create the blood path of your kingdom!¡± The Dragon Emperor saw everything was now a fact. Without any other choice, he roared angrily.


    ¡°No!¡± Liola suddenly yelled loudly, ¡°I don¡¯t want war.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want war?¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled cruelly, ¡°Child, you are already in a war.¡±


    ¡°There must be some way to avoid killing.¡± Liola answered calmly, and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t wish to lose your Dragon Empire Knights over this usurpation, do you?¡±


    The Heart of Dragon Emperor thought quickly. Indeed, to fulfill his plan of conquering the world, losing his Knights was the last thing he wanted to see. In the future, he still had to rely on these Knights to win him the world. Besides, Liola¡¯s body was still the best candidate for him, and he did not want to see any mishaps in the fight.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a gamble.¡± Liola said calmly.


    The Dragon Emperor asked with confusion, ¡°A bet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a bet, a gamble, and the wager is the throne to the Dragon Emperor.¡± Liola explained lightly.


    The Dragon Emperor burst into laughter. This was far too ridiculous; he had never imagine someone would suggest such a bet. He asked curiously, ¡°What is the bet for?¡±


    ¡°As long as we don¡¯t have a war, it¡¯s up to you.¡± Liola answered without hesitation.


    (Crack! Kaiser¡¯s jaw dropped from his chest to his hips.)


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Seeing Liola nod, the Dragon Emperor smiled, ¡°If you win, I¡¯ll give you the throne to the Dragon Emperor, but if I win, what¡¯s in it for me?¡±


    Liola remained silent for a while, and answered, ¡°I¡¯ll eat the Heart of the Dragon Emperor.¡± He said it calmly, as though the Heart was just another heart of a roasted pig.


    (Bang! Kaiser¡¯s jaw was now on the ground.)


    ¡°Good, good. I¡¯ll bet with you!¡± The Dragon Emperor¡¯s desire to play seemed to have piqued. He was interested in such a bet, and besides, he had the power to decide the game¡¯s rules. To him, this was greatly advantageous.


    ¡°This bet would be too boring if it¡¯s just you and me.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled, ¡°Why don¡¯t you bring your four other companions? Mizerui told me, you guys are known as the Aklan Troublemaking Squad?¡± ¡®Just let me catch you all in one swoop. When your companions cease to exist, it would be easy for the Heart to take your body.¡¯


    Liola nodded.


    ¡°Since you are acting so free and easy, I have nothing else to say. All Knights, withdraw your weapons, and go back to defend the Aklan capital!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor gave out the order, and the Knights secretly glanced at the successor. Seeing he did not say anything contrary, they calmly sheathed their weapons and quickly flew away from the secret base. Everyone had already began guessing; would the Dragon Empire go into another dynasty, or would the successor fail miserably?


    ¡°As for the game¡¯s rules, let me have some time to think about it. After all, this is a true gamble that will determine the fate of a country. Haha¡­ hahahaha!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor acted as though victory was security in his grasp, and began to laugh. A Magic door also opened at this time. He laughed as he stepped into Idojin¡¯s door. At the same time, Mizerui, who was observing all this from above, also disappeared. The Black Dragon King Miluo, who had used his last move, also completely disappeared.


    Liola had been standing still quietly, until the Magic door slowly dissipated.


    ¡°How could you think of something so ridiculous?¡± Feir felt weak in his limbs, ¡°And you are letting the Dragon Emperor make all the rules. You¡¯re practically giving him victory on a silver platter¡­¡±


    At this time, Kaiser also charged out of the base angrily. Before he even arrived, his loud voice arrived first.


    ¡°You idiot!¡± Kaiser flew next to Baolilong, while dragging Daylight, who didn¡¯t know how to fly and temporarily had no mount.


    ¡°Kaiser.¡± Liola smiled lightly, ¡°Long time no see.¡±


    ¡°Long time no see, my ass! You¡¯re the one who didn¡¯t want to see me, not me!¡± Kaiser snappily roared, ¡°Look, making such~~ huge trouble the moment we meet, I actually thought you were still Silver Moon! But the moment I saw how idiotic the bet you made with the Dragon Emperor, I knew you were none other than Liola!¡±


    Hearing what Kaiser said, Liola answered with hesitation, ¡°I am Silver Moon, and I¡¯m also Liola.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Kaiser asked with confusion.


    Liola froze, unsure of how to explain his current situation.


    ¡°Hello, brother Feir.¡± Hanging in the air, Daylight smiled and greeted Feir.


    Feir nodded, but couldn¡¯t help but smile, ¡°Daylight, you and Kaiser going by yourselves made Purity and Meinan furious. You might want to be careful the next time you see them. The last I spoke to her, Purity sounded like she wanted to skin you limb to limb.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Daylight smiled bitterly, ¡°Then I better go apologize.¡±


    Feir had an idea, ¡°Buy Purity the Aklan specialty, roasted chestnuts. I promise she will be half as angry. It¡¯s one of her favorite foods. Last time she got mad at me, I bought her some, but Kaiser ended up eating them. She was so angry that she secretly dumped salt into Kaiser¡¯s food, but Kaiser still swallowed it all¡­¡±


    ¡°Right, I was wondering why the food seemed quite seasoned back then, but after a while, they were bland as hell again.¡± Kaiser couldn¡¯t stop himself from talking.


    ¡®Did you grow up eating salt as if it were rice¡­¡¯ Feir thought to himself. He saw Purity dumping a ¡°handful¡± of salt into the food.


    ¡°Speaking of Aklan¡¯s specialty, roasted chestnut,¡± Kaiser pouted, then said, ¡°There are quite a bit of those things in this secret base¡­ How about we prepare some tea, have a few pieces of roasted chestnut, and share what we¡¯ve been doing?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes converged onto Liola. Being stared by everyone, he had no choice but agree, ¡°Mm.¡±


    * * *


    Though the metal pieces and cement were once a part of the building, they were now trash littered throughout the ground. Nevertheless, after organizing such ruins, everyone sat down leisurely to enjoy their afternoon tea. It might have been a bit grand to have a few thousand people having afternoon tea together, but something small like that can be ignored for now.


    After sipping the fragrant tea, Kaiser grabbed a handful of roasted chestnut, then happily enjoyed his afternoon tea time¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s Baolilong¡¯s!¡± Baolilong jumped, pounced onto Kaiser, trying to get ¡°its¡± roasted chestnuts back.


    Kaiser hurriedly stuffed all the food into his mouth, but he was still able to say, ¡°It¡¯s not like your name is written on it.¡±


    Unfortunately, he had forgotten Baolilong was no longer the little child who barely reached his waist, but it was now a young adult reaching up to his chin. Baolilong angrily grabbed ahold of both Kaiser cheeks, and pulled to the sides.


    ¡°Ow, OWW! Stinky Liola, tell your child to let go!¡± Kaiser tried desperately to pull his face back, but Baolilong¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t like that of a child anymore. He felt like the skin on his face was about to be pulled off, but he still couldn¡¯t get his face back.


    ¡°Baolilong, don¡¯t tear Kaiser¡¯s face off.¡± Liola glanced casually at the battle between the human and the Dragon, and said. He then returned his focus onto the secret base. It had sustained attacks from three thousand Knights for days, including the destructive last move from the Black Dragon King, but it was still standing. This was almost incredible, and he could see how much effort Qiusi had actually put into this place.


    ¡°Qiusi.¡± Liola suddenly remembered Qiusi was injured by him, and was still unconscious.


    Hearing Liola speak out this name, Kaiser grabbed another handful of snacks and stuffed it into Baolilong¡¯s mouth, finally breaking free of this little guy¡¯s ¡°face-pulling Kung Fu¡±. He explained to Liola, ¡°He¡¯s in the Commerce Alliance. I think you should probably heal him before your gamble.¡±


    Liola answered with, ¡°Mm.¡±


    Kaiser frowned, and said without holding back, ¡°You, there¡¯s something strange with you, but at the same time it¡¯s not so strange. It¡¯s kind of like Baolilong¡¯s¡­ change when it grew up. But how old are you exactly? How could you have ¡®grown up¡¯ in such a short time? Hey! Tell me what happened, otherwise I might die from being too curious!¡±


    Liola pressed his lips tightly together, and waited a long while to say, ¡°Brother Mocha was killed by me.¡±


    Kaiser was originally drinking tea peacefully as he waited for Liola¡¯s explanation, but the moment he heard it, all the tea in his mouth was ¡°gifted¡± to Daylight, who was sitting on the opposite side. Daylight also froze, and it wasn¡¯t until the tea had dripped from his hair onto the table, did he start to try and comfort him in a worried manner, ¡°Liola, don¡¯t be sad, you didn¡¯t do it on purpose. Don¡¯t blame yourself because of it.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t even said anything!¡± Kaiser snapped and interrupted him, then both of them laid their eyes on Liola.


    ¡°That day, Lancelot and Blood Wolf pulled me out with Magic. They wanted to rescue me, but back then I¡­¡± Liola took a deep breath before he could continue, ¡°¡­ was controlled by the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°I fought with them. In the end, I captured Lanski to be the hostage, threatening them to let me go.¡± Liola stopped, as though he didn¡¯t know how to continue.


    ¡°And then?¡± Kaiser asked with confusion, ¡°You didn¡¯t talk about Mocha? Didn¡¯t he die that day?¡±


    Liola looked at Kaiser with depressed eyes, ¡°He did die that day. Lanski, she¡­ no, I should say, I wanted to kill her, but brother Mocha suddenly appeared, and blocked the knife with his body.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kaiser yelled, ¡°You skipped quite a bit. Why would you want to kill Lanski?¡±


    Liola was quiet for a long time. Kaiser and Daylight continued to glance at one another, not sure what to do, until Liola finally spoke without context, ¡°She didn¡¯t want to call me Silver Moon, so I got mad.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaiser and Daylight both responded reflexively.


    ¡°Why would you be mad if she didn¡¯t want to call you Silver Moon?¡± Kaiser frowned.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Liola seemed a bit timid. He wasn¡¯t sure if he dared to tell them he wasn¡¯t simply ¡°Liola¡±, and instead he was partially ¡°Silver Moon¡±.


    ¡°What!¡± Kaiser glanced at him, ¡°What are you afraid of? Do you think we haven¡¯t made enough trouble already? Let me tell you, there is nothing now that I, Kaiser, can¡¯t accept! Even if you tell me you and the world would self-destruct tomorrow, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised!¡±


    Liola couldn¡¯t help but burst into laughter, and the nervousness he felt was now completely gone.


    ¡°Damn! Damn! You¡¯re laughing! You actually laughed! I¡¯m a goner. You¡¯re definitely going to self-destruct tomorrow, and then kill me along with that explosion.¡± Kaiser began to bawl, grabbed more snacks, and started eating like a madman (Baolilong roared angrily, ¡°That¡¯s Baolilong¡¯s!¡±). Even as he ate, he spoke with crumbs falling out of his mouth, ¡°Eat quickly, at least we won¡¯t die as hungry men.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to self-destruct.¡± Liola smiled as he shook his head.


    ¡°Then tell me, what exactly could be so serious that you would be afraid to tell us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not just Liola; I¡¯m also Silver Moon.¡± Liola spoke quickly, then realized he actually was able to say it.


    Kaiser and Daylight both paused, unsure of what Liola meant. All they knew was the person in front of them was indeed slightly different from the Liola before.


    ¡°Before, Silver Moon¡­ was someone Liola created to escape pain.¡± Liola finished saying, then quickly glanced at the two to see if they understood.


    Daylight still had a confused expression on his face, but Kaiser was now so deep in thought that his whole face wrinkled, ¡°I see, is it because Gle¡¯s training was too harsh, and Liola couldn¡¯t handle it, so you created a second personality: a cold, emotionless Silver Moon, in order to survive the crazy training Gle gave you¡­ If that¡¯s the case, we have to actually thank Silver Moon. Otherwise, perhaps Liola couldn¡¯t even sustain those training and already kicked the bucket.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. I understand how Silver Moon was born now. I might have misunderstood him; I used to think his emotionless was actually wrong.¡± Daylight shook his head forcefully.


    Liola stared at his two companions in shock. Why did they seem¡­ not very surprised?


    ¡°All right, don¡¯t look at me with those surprised eyes. I¡¯m more surprised than you are.¡± Kaiser waved his hand, and said, perplexed, ¡°Before, even if penguins started to rain out of the sky, you wouldn¡¯t even blink; but now, you are indeed different. It¡¯s strange, though, why would a stone-faced Liola combined with an ice cube Silver Moon, result in a guy who knows how to smile and be surprised?¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that, maybe you should change your name,¡± Kaiser crossed his arms and thought, ¡°Which do you think is better, Silverola, or Liomoon?¡±


    Liola smiled bitterly and answered, ¡°They both sound bad, just call me Liola.¡±


    Kaiser looked at Liola from the corner of his eyes, ¡°Yo! You actually can tell if a name sounds bad. That¡¯s some improvement. You really are all ¡®grown up¡¯.¡±


    Liola smiled lightly. It looked like he did underestimate his companions ability to accept him.


    ¡°Right, so why do you want to be the Dragon Emperor? Weren¡¯t you really repulsive to that idea before?¡± Kaiser suddenly remembered. It was this matter that made his jaws drop to his chest.


    Liola described everything happened during his stay in the small city to the south.


    After hearing it, Daylight was so emotional that he yelled uncontrollably, ¡°That¡¯s great. To fill the world with smiles, this wish is just too great. Liola, I swear I will help you become the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    Kaiser snappily rolled his eyes at Daylight, ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. Don¡¯t forget Liola promised the Dragon Emperor a damn bet! And we don¡¯t even know what the bet is all about.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of the gamble¡­¡± Kaiser turned around and narrowed his eyes towards Liola, ¡°You used to at least show a bit of self blame on your face, and then say you¡¯re sorry, followed by telling us you would go resolve everything by yourself¡­ Why is it that when Dragon Emperor told you to take us with you, you agreed rather easily?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­¡± Liola showed a warm smile, ¡°No matter what I do, you all will go with me.¡±


    After Daylight burst into laughter, he nodded. Kaiser, on the other hand, scratched his face helplessly, ¡°Whatever, at least it¡¯s better than you running away by yourself, and then we would have to waste the effort to find you and catch up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late, sleep early.¡± Kaiser stood up, putting his hands behind his head, planning on going back to his room to sleep, ¡°There will be a lot of things we need to do starting from tomorrow; we need to go wake Qiusi, go tell Purity and Meinan about the bet¡­ Right, where did Barbalis and Gladiolus go? They said they needed to take care of some business, but now they¡¯re nowhere to be found. Sigh, I have to find a way to ascertain whether they¡¯re still alive before the gamble. I don¡¯t want to see my sister becoming a widow before she¡¯s even married¡­¡±


    ¡°Kaiser, Daylight,¡± Liola called out to them both. After waiting for them to turn around, he said with a smile, ¡°Thank you, both of you.¡±


    Daylight smiled and nodded, but Kaiser didn¡¯t turn around; instead he murmured, ¡°This is far more pleasing to the ear than ¡®sorry¡¯¡­¡±

 Volume 12, 8: Eve of the Gamble

    Volume 12, Chapter 8: Eve of the Gamble


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    In order to settle in the two hundred Knights who swore their loyalty to him, prepare for the bet at the same time, Liola was very busy along with Kaiser and Daylight. Other than resolving conflicts between the Knights from both sides, he also did as Kaiser asked: to spread the news of the bet as much as possible.


    ¡°Make it known to the whole world, and the Dragon Emperor wouldn¡¯t dare to suggest something unfair.¡±


    Kaiser was confident, and he was then busy with¡­ pawning tasks off to others.


    ¡°Hey! Feir, the future leader, the propaganda in the Commerce Alliance is yours.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Those of you loyal to Liola¡­ as in that Silver Moon successor, go and tell your brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even your neighbors who sells noodles about this bet¡­ What? How did I know about your neighbor selling noodles? Duh, I¡¯m speaking to two hundred Knights; one of you is bound to live near one, right?¡±


    ¡°Daylight-brand communication Maxun, please come to Kaiser, I need to contact Meinan!¡±


    [T/N: Kaiser is treating Daylight like a phone to talk to Flames.]


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Daylight rushed over with enough sandbags to pile up to a sizeable small mountain.


    ¡°Tell Meinan to bring Qiusi over.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told him.¡± Daylight was shocked, ¡°They will probably arrive today.¡±


    Kaiser was shocked, ¡°What? Then I better be emotionally prepared!¡±


    ¡°Why would you need to be emotionally prepared?¡± Daylight asked, confused.


    ¡°Oh, right, I meant was to tell Liola to be emotionally prepared.¡± Kaiser then dashed off.


    * * *


    Kaiser walked leisurely as he looked for Liola. Probably because he didn¡¯t spend much effort, it took him all morning to find Liola on top of a small hill not far from the base.


    ¡°So you¡¯re slacking off here, you bum.¡± Kaiser patted Liola¡¯s back heavily.


    Liola turned his head to look at Kaiser with a helpless expression on his face. Kaiser frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Why do you look so down?¡±


    Liola glanced at Kaiser, then handed over a piece of paper from his hand.


    ¡°Gamble invitation letter?¡± Kaiser began to murmur. He opened the invitation, and began to read the details inside:


    My child, sorry for making you wait. As your father, I¡¯ve already decided the rules of the gamble. It will be divided into three stages: the battles of Magics, Knights, and Dragons. If you and your companions pass all three stages, the throne to the Dragon Emperor is yours.


    Signed,


    Father.


    ¡°The battle of Dragons, is it between Miluo and Baolilong?¡±


    Kaiser frowned. How could this fight be fought? They¡¯re not even on the same level. Even though Sacred White Dragons reigned supreme among Dragons, Miluo is a strong and matured Dragon, while Baolilong is just an non-matured young Dragon. They were bound to lose.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to make Baolilong fight with Miluo. They are father and son.¡± Liola¡¯s tone of voice was clearly sad.


    ¡®Did this guy forget he and the Dragon Emperor are also father and son?¡¯ Kaiser scratched the face, but he suddenly realized, could it be because he has to fight with his father, and therefore he didn¡¯t want to see the same happening to Baolilong?


    Kaiser casually sat down on the grass on the hill. With his hands behind his head, he lay down and asked lazily, ¡°If your father is still living in that body, would you want to rescue him?¡±


    Liola frowned and answered, ¡°I would, for Mocha¡¯s sake.¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, ¡®Yes would¡¯ve sufficed, why keep blabbing about it?¡¯


    ¡°If you want to rescue your father, then why can¡¯t Baolilong go save its father?¡±


    Liola paused, then answered, ¡°Mm, it should go rescue Miluo.¡±


    ¡°Well, this was easily resolved.¡± Kaiser stretched, and sat up.


    ¡°Kaiser, can you promise me, if your lives are threatened, you would take everyone else and escape?¡±


    Kaiser turned, stared at Liola He then said slowly, word for word, ¡°I will take ¡®everyone¡¯ and run. Did you hear me? EVERYONE!¡±


    Liola smiled slightly, ¡°I heard.¡±


    Kaiser grunted ¡°Ah¡±, and pointed at the few small dots far away, ¡°I almost forgot! I¡¯m here to tell you that Meinan and others are about arrive here, and you should be prepared¡­¡±


    Hearing this, Liola smiled bitterly. Kaiser sure gave him a long time to prepare for it; all ten seconds.


    Liola¡¯s estimate was quite accurate. After ten seconds, Purity¡¯s Mecha, the unicorn, Blackie, and Little Fireball all landed from the air. The moment Flames landed, Meinan could no longer wait: he grabbed his father, and ran straight towards Liola.


    Being the physically weak Magician that he was, Meinan was already having trouble catching his breath after holding his father on the entire trip. He said intermittently, ¡°Li, Liola¡­ hurry and save Qiusi.¡±


    Liola didn¡¯t speak a word. He immediately put his hand on Qiusi¡¯s chest, and withdrew all the destructive Ki inside Qiusi¡¯s body. He then released the seal Daylight used to put Qiusi into a pseudo death state. When he pulled his hand away, Qiusi¡¯s eyes twitched slightly, then¡­ he turned and continued to sleep.


    ¡°Is¡­ is that it?¡± Meinan panicked, ¡°Why is my father still not awake? Did it fail?¡±


    Before Liola had a chance to respond, Qiusi began to talk in his sleep, ¡°Hmm! Such a good baby, let papa sleep a bit more.¡±


    ¡°Sleep, your ass!¡± Meinan punched his father¡¯s forehead heavily to give him a wake up call.


    * * *


    ¡°So, Liola, you¡¯re finally awake; this is a cause for celebration.¡± Qiusi earnestly congratulated Liola, but the huge bandage on his forehead made his earnest face rather unconvincing.


    ¡°Thank you for forgiving me, Prime Minister Qiusi.¡± Liola sincerely thanked him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t put it like that. You didn¡¯t mean to harm me back then, and this finally broke the ice between me and Meinan. So it was quite a fortune among misfortunes! Hahaha.¡± Remembering the time Meinan called him father worriedly, Qiusi was so happy that he couldn¡¯t close his mouth from laughing even if he wanted to.


    ¡°However, I didn¡¯t think you youngsters could do it so well.¡±


    Kaiser and Daylight both said awkwardly, ¡°Not that well. The base is basically half destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Qiusi smiled lightly, ¡°Being able to preserve the base while facing Mizerui, Miluo, and three thousand Knights is already quite ¡®well¡¯.¡±


    ¡°But, Liola, since I¡¯m awake, can¡¯t you consider canceling the bet?¡± Qiusi stared at Liola, ¡°Since you have the support of Commerce Alliance, Aklan Republic, and the Prince and Princess, plus the Paladin and the Dark Knight¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t support him!¡± Cappuccino interrupted Qiusi coldly.


    Everyone looked towards Cappuccino, and they could hardly believe Cappuccino would speak out against it. In fact, it wasn¡¯t until now that everyone realized, despite Cappuccino¡¯s earlier laughing manner, he had not smiled in quite a while. Blood Wolf, on the other hand, did not seem surprised; instead, all he did was raise his eyebrows.


    ¡°Third brother,¡± Lanski asked hesitantly, ¡°Why would you oppose Liola becoming the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    Cappuccino¡¯s face was cold, but his tone was colder, ¡°Nobody here cared about Mocha, other than me! But even if I¡¯m alone, I will oppose him to the end alone. I-I will never support a person who killed Mocha, then carelessly walk around smiling!¡±


    Lanski was shocked. She didn¡¯t think it was because of Mocha. She tried to explain, ¡°Third brother, at the time, Liola didn¡¯t have a choice¡­¡±


    Cappuccino interrupted with a loud shout, ¡°Shut up! Shut up! Even you, my sister, did you really care about eldest brother? Do you know, these years, how much effort eldest brother had to put in to secretly protect us? I didn¡¯t even get to tell him thanks before he¡­ he¡­ died like this¡­¡± Cappuccino¡¯s voice choked towards the end.


    He turned, without looking at anyone, and without any tears falling from his eyes. He straightened his back, trying to maintain his last bit of dignity.


    ¡°That¡¯s because brother Mocha wants me to live happily!¡±


    Liola shouted, and Cappuccino stood still.


    ¡°I am deeply in grief, but brother Mocha wouldn¡¯t even give me the chance to be sad. He wants me to be happy, he wants me to smile¡­¡± Liola lowered his head, ¡°But, every time I think about brother Mocha, I want to cry¡­ but he demands that I smile! That¡¯s why I try not to think about him. Even if I do, I think about the warmth he gave me when he hugged. A hug I will never get to experience again because of his death¡­¡±


    Two streams of tears rolled down from Liola¡¯s silver eyes. He said firmly, ¡°Even if you don¡¯t believe me, I will still say it; you¡¯re wrong! You are not the only one present who cared about brother Mocha! I really cared about him, even if I hadn¡¯t spent much time with him.¡±


    Cappuccino stood still without turning around.


    ¡°Idiot!¡± He yelled loudly.


    Liola paused, then raised his head in confusion. Who knew that the moment he did so, a huge fist landed on his forehead, making him lower his head again. He was stupefied as he touched the bump on his forehead, not sure what had happened.


    ¡°You really think when Mocha told you to be happy meant you can¡¯t even be sad? Mocha only¡­ only hopes you would live like a person, and truly live, instead of being a walking corpse. But, as the eldest brother, he was always afraid you might blame yourself for a long time after killing him, so he told you to be happy¡­ who knew you would misunderstand it?¡± Cappuccino sounded a bit helpless. ¡°However¡­ I don¡¯t have the right to blame you.¡±


    With his head lowered, Liola suddenly found the ground he was staring at had been stepped on. He instinctively raised his head, only to find Cappuccino smiling at him. Cappuccino put his hands onto Liola¡¯s head, and rubbed it at will, making Liola¡¯s usually ordered hair turn into a bird¡¯s nest.


    ¡°Sorry! Brother, I am just this stupid, I couldn¡¯t tell you were holding back your sadness. Hmm, if you¡­¡± Cappuccino¡¯s face suddenly turned uneasy, and he said awkwardly, ¡°If you don¡¯t care that I¡¯m not as smart as Mocha, or blaming you for not feeling bad, you can treat me like your brother. I mean, a brother like Mocha was to you¡­¡±


    Liola couldn¡¯t help but laugh, ¡°You already are my brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Cappuccino scratched his head, ¡°I guess you are right¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Cappuccino suddenly grabbed a few necklaces out of his collar, and one of them was the Dragon Cross Necklace. He handed the necklace over, ¡°Here, your necklace. I think you might find it useful.¡±


    Liola received the necklace, then put it around his neck, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Cappuccino nodded, and said, ¡°Right, I also have several identical necklace, let me give you one. Oh and, sister, you take one too.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Both Liola and Lanski thought it was strange; why would Cappuccino give them necklaces all of a sudden?


    Cappuccino took off two necklaces from his neck. They were both shaped the same: an oval locket with delicate Dragons carved on both. One of them was a Black Dragon, and the other was a Blue Dragon.


    He twisted both the Black and Blue Dragons, and the locket opened after a click. A picture was inside both lockets; it was one of three men and one woman. The four of them smiled so brightly, and their similar looks made it obvious they were a family.


    ¡°Your second brother, Latte, was quite stupid back then. And he didn¡¯t like Susanna, so he didn¡¯t want to take a picture with them.¡± Cappuccino sounded helpless.


    ¡°The blue one, was Susanna¡¯s.¡± Cappuccino smiled, and gave the blue necklace in his left hand to Lanski.


    Lanski took the locket as though it was the rarest treasure, and she couldn¡¯t wait to wear it. She touched the locket in front of her chest, and smiled as she spoke to herself, ¡°This is mother¡¯s locket¡­¡±


    Cappuccino looked warmly at his sister, then turned to his brother, handing him the other necklace.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Liola looked at the Black Dragon carving, then looked at Cappuccino with doubt.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This one is Mocha¡¯s.¡± Cappuccino ascertained Liola¡¯s guess.


    ¡°Brother.¡± Liola took the necklace, and stared at Mocha in the picture. He was smiling the same way he did ¡°that day¡±. Liola wore the necklace, and he felt as though he was carrying Mocha with him, along with his warmth and his protection.


    ¡°I wonder, is having three necklaces a bit too much?¡± Cappuccino carefully examined his brother¡¯s thin neck.


    ¡°Three?¡±


    ¡°Yup. You two still don¡¯t have a picture.¡± Cappuccino looked towards his sister, and asked like he was interrogating, ¡°When Liola comes back, we¡¯ll go take a picture together, and put it in a new locket?¡±


    Lanski paused. She understood what he meant, and nodded her head, ¡°Right, when Liola comes back, let¡¯s go take a picture!¡±


    ¡°Remember to come back early.¡± Cappuccino¡¯s tone sounded like an older brother telling his younger brother not to stay out playing too late.


    Liola nodded heavily, ¡°I will definitely come back early.¡±


    ¡°W¡­ wait.¡± Qiusi wiped away the sweat on his forehead, ¡°I seem to remember telling you to cancel this gamble.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work.¡± Siblings of the Dragon family answered unison, glanced at one another, and smiled.


    Liola and Lanski both looked at the eldest among them: Cappuccino. He began to explain, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the Commerce Alliance and Aklan Republic support Liola or not. To the Dragon Empire¡¯s Knights, all that is pointless. To win the throne of the Dragon Empire, one must obtain the recognition from the Knights. A challenge as honorable as brother¡¯s proposal, and even letting the opponent make the rules, is very fitting for winning the hearts of the Knights over. Even if he were to lose, the Knights may still help him usurp the throne. However, if he were to cancel it now, then his actions would be tabooed, and he will never become the King.¡±


    ¡°I see, so even if he loses he might get the support of the Knights. If that¡¯s the case¡­¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t lose!¡± Kaiser interrupted Qiusi, took a deep breath, and said, ¡°Liola promised, if he loses he would swallow the Heart of the Dragon Emperor¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Cappuccino was now suddenly emotional. He grabbed his brother immediately by the shoulder, ¡°How could you promise something like that? Didn¡¯t you learn anything from what happened to Caffey?¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t promise him that, he would not have accepted this gamble.¡± Liola shook his head.


    ¡°Then, there¡¯s no reason to gamble, right?¡± Cappuccino yelled angrily, ¡°We already support you to ascending to the throne. Caffey is already fairly old; if you were just to wait a bit more¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly, because Caffey is already old!¡± Liola said decidedly, ¡°If I won and ascend to the throne, then the Heart will have no use for Caffey any more. Perhaps he would let Caffey go and let him recover his consciousness.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you made this gamble because of father?¡± Cappuccino was clearly very shocked, ¡°Why? You haven¡¯t even seen Caffey.¡±


    ¡°I have.¡± Liola said lightly.


    Cappuccino frowned; how was that possible? Ever since Susanna¡¯s death, Caffey had never made an appearance. After a brief moment of thought, he explained to his brother, ¡°What you saw was not the true Caffey, just an imitation from the Heart of the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± Liola pointed at Cappuccino.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Cappuccino also pointed himself in confusion.


    ¡°And from brother Mocha.¡±


    Cappuccino was now even more confused.


    Kaiser finally couldn¡¯t stay out of it, so started to explain, ¡°Idiot. What he means is, you are both Caffey¡¯s children, and it has already told him how Caffey really was.¡±


    Liola said, ¡°Brother Mocha loved father dearly; therefore, I, too, want to see our true father.¡± ¡®It must be¡­ a person warm like brother Mocha and a person with Cappuccino¡¯s smile.¡¯


    ¡°I see¡­ then it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    Cappuccino couldn¡¯t help but raise his head again, but this time, with tears in his eyes. He cursed at himself his earlier idiocy. How could he have thought Liola did not care about Mocha¡¯s death? He obviously cared about it more than Cappuccino himself to set up such a gamble. To make the father Mocha loved reappear again.


    ¡°Purity, Meinan, are you willing to¡­ if you aren¡¯t willing to go with me, it¡¯s fine.¡± Liola said sincerely. Especially Meinan, who had just reunited with his father. He must want to spend more time with him.


    ¡°Oh! Speaking of which¡­¡± Purity glanced at Meinan, who looked back at her, then said, ¡°It seems like we have some scores to settle?¡±


    ¡°I remember there were two certain people who abandoned us and secretly went to rescue Liola-dage.¡± Purity blinked with her innocent eyes, but her tone was enough to send a shiver up Daylight and Kaiser¡¯s spines.


    ¡°Uh, really?¡± Kaiser looked even more innocent than her.


    Daylight, however, was smiling bitterly, not planning on defending himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re still pretending!¡± Purity and Meinan shouted in unison, then began giving them quite a beating. They yelled as they beat them, ¡°Take this! Take that! Let¡¯s see who dares to abandon us now!¡±


    A drop of cold sweat ran down Liola¡¯s forehead!


    Suddenly, someone pulled his hand. After turning around, he saw Jasmine¡¯s eyes staring at him. Liola smiled at her, ¡°Long time no see.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed, a lot.¡± Jasmine said sincerely, ¡°The old you would¡¯ve never said something like this, nor would you have smiled.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t like the way I am now?¡± For some reason, Liola started to feel worried.


    ¡°I do. You seem more like your child¡¯s father.¡± Jasmine smiled playfully, but immediately looked at Baolilong worriedly, ¡°How is this child¡¯s personality now?¡±


    ¡°Still like a little child.¡± Liola waved his hand at Baolilong, and called, ¡°Baolilong, come here, Jasmine wants to see you.¡±


    Baolilong was still ¡°catching up¡± with Flames and Little Fireball, but the moment it heard papa calling for it, it immediately ran over. Then, forgetting it was no longer a little child, it began climbing up Liola¡¯s leg like it used to and it held onto Liola without letting go.


    ¡°Jasmine.¡± Liola gestured towards Jasmine, who was a bit worried that Baolilong might have forgotten her.


    Baolilong yelled loudly, ¡°Jasmine.¡±


    It then pounced towards Jasmine, almost sending Jasmine flying towards the ground. Luckily, Liola caught her in time, so she didn¡¯t end up on the floor. Nevertheless, even if she fell, Jasmine probably wouldn¡¯t have minded. She was now entrenched in the happiness of Baolilong remembering her, and Baolilong¡¯s personality was as cute as before.


    ¡°Jasmine, Baolilong wants meat!¡± Baolilong yelled desperately.


    Jasmine smiled happy and said okay, but Liola was frowning. He shouted at Baolilong, telling it not to ask for meat the moment it sees someone. On the side, Purity and Meinan were working together to ¡°fix up¡± Daylight and Kaiser. Daylight was basically letting them beat him without actually feeling anything. Kaiser, on the other hand, was moaning loudly in pain.


    A black wolf was sneakily pacing between Flames and Lancelot¡¯s unicorn, as though it couldn¡¯t make up its mind.


    Blood Wolf said in frustration, ¡°I¡¯ve already told that stupid wolf hundreds of times that your unicorn is male. Why can¡¯t he ever remember? Such an idiot!¡±


    Lancelot glanced at Blackie, but did not comment.


    ¡°At least he knows my Little Fireball is male.¡± Cappuccino interrupted, trying to comfort Blood Wolf.


    ¡°If he can¡¯t even tell that apart, I¡¯m going to make a jacket out of his skin¡­¡±


    * * *


    The agreed date for the gamble arrived quickly¡­


    Liola wore a Black Knight uniform lined with Silver Dragons, and his weapon was still tucked away in his boots as usual. For the first time, Kaiser actually wore a formal Magician¡¯s robe, but his giant gun was still hanging on his hip. Meinan still looked the same; other than the weaved long robe and his mirror with a bowtie, it did not seem like he brought anything else. Flames was lying on the ground next to Daylight¡¯s feet, while he was holding his long pike in his hand. Since there was no competition in regards of Mechas, Purity was furious. But without any other choice, she had to take her broken staff with her.


    ¡°Such a team!¡± Qiusi straightened his back, and said with a strange tone, ¡°This makes me¡­ really worried!¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister, you¡¯re quite right.¡± Feir¡¯s face was pale. He thought, ¡®This was the team that was going to decide a country¡¯s fate?¡¯


    ¡°Hmm! Perhaps they will create a miracle?¡± Blood Wolf glanced at the ¡°miraculously strange team¡±.


    ¡°Hey! Stop trying to kill our confidence!¡± Kaiser snapped. He was actually trying to straighten his back to pretend to look imposing, but with no one to cheer him, his back deflated, and he returned to his lazy looks.


    Everyone talked loudly as they waited. Before long, a Magic door appeared in the air, and everyone knew it was time. The success or failure of this whole plan depended on these ¡°miracle workers¡±.


    ¡°Please bring back my brother, Liola, in one piece.¡± Lanski took a step forward and pleaded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will definitely bring ¡®Liola¡¯ back.¡± Daylight promised her, and she nodded.


    ¡°Brother, remember to come back early!¡± Cappuccino ran his fingers through Liola¡¯s black hair.


    Qiusi also warmly looked at his only son, but everything he wanted to say, he had already said it the night before. Qiusi did not want to say much, but he still could not refrain from reminding him, ¡°Be careful with everything.¡±


    Meinan smiled, then nodded.


    ¡°Purity, come back safely.¡± Feir worriedly looked at his spoiled baby sister. He never thought this day would happen: the day that his baby sister would have to shoulder such responsibility. Though he knew not what role she would perform in this endeavor, but he believed no matter what it would be, Purity would try her best.


    ¡°Understood, brother.¡± Purity smiled.


    Truth was, everyone had countless number of things to say, but time waited for no one. All they could do was to conjure all their feelings into their eyes, hoping they would understand.


    Liola was the first to step into the Magic door with Baolilong in its small Dragon form following next to his feet. Perhaps it because the Aklan Troublemaking Squad was now all here, Liola seemed completely fearless. Kaiser, on the other hand, was murmuring something about whether he¡¯ll have lunch to eat today while stepping in. Meinan was busy fixing his looks. After all, he was going to go see the King of a country, so he had to look his best.


    Purity, however, was still pouting, clearly still mad about the lack of Mecha competition in the duel. Daylight, finally, was patiently waiting for all his companions to go in before finally stepping in along with his Dragon.


    The moment he went in, Liola saw the two Knights who swore their souls to him. These two were acting clearly awkwardly. They had sworn Soul Devotion to him, but they still obeyed the Dragon Emperor. This was not something something Knights should do, but these two people weren¡¯t going to abandon the almighty Dragon Emperor. From what they could tell, it was nearly impossible for Liola¡¯s side to win this gamble.


    The Dragon Emperor had already specially arranged these two people as the receptionists, as a way to damage Liola¡¯s morale. Unfortunately, although Liola had made some ¡°progress¡± in terms of feelings, he was still relatively immune to such an attack, especially since he felt more distant from these two than Yizhou.


    Speaking of which, he did not see Yizhou. Liola looked around curiously. Normally speaking, Yiyu and Yizhou were almost always seen together.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Yizhou?¡± Liola asked curiously.


    Yiyu, who knew the every details, responded quickly by practically popping his eyes out of his sockets and stared at Liola. His tone was vile, ¡°It was all because of you! I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve given to my brother, and he wasn¡¯t willing to betray you no matter what! As a result, the Dragon Emperor, His Highness, had sent him into the dungeon prison.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola was quite surprised. He did not imagine Yizhou would be this loyal to him. He was clearly the only person who was unwilling to swear his soul to Liola¡­ but ironically, he was the only one who did not betray him. On the other hand, the two who easily sworn also easily betrayed him, it was quite an irony.


    ¡°Successor, Your Highness, you have to forgive Flower. Flower had no other choice.¡± Flower was still trying to please both sides. Although she obeyed the Dragon Emperor, but she had no intention of offending the Prince who might be succeeding the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Wow, this place is quite a beauty.¡± Kaiser began talking loudly the moment he came in, ¡°Is this the palace? Whoa, how much is that painting on the wall worth?¡±


    ¡°At least five million.¡± Meinan threw a look from behind his mirror, immediately appraising the value of the painting.


    ¡°Damn! Five million?¡± Kaiser stared blankly at the painting he pointed at randomly.


    ¡°Hurry up, Kaiser, everyone left.¡± Purity prodded the Kaiser frozen under the painting, and yelled loudly, ¡°This painting isn¡¯t yours no matter how hard you stare at it. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Daylight followed behind the two, and his eyes frequently glanced at the various weapons hanging on the wall; some of the weapons looked like they had been through many battles.


    After walking through a long corridor, the crowd came to a place with a circular arena in the center. The surrounding seats had already been filled with many people. Of course, they were all Knights. On the largest balcony, there was only one person sitting there: the Dragon Emperor. He glanced down at them, and said, ¡°In accordance with Prime Minister Qiusi and the Commerce Alliance¡¯s requests, this gamble will be witnessed by countless Knights, and the entire process will be broadcasted to the rest of the world.¡±


    ¡®I can¡¯t believe Qiusi and Feir did so much for us¡­¡¯ The Aklan Troublemaking Squad was quite moved. Because of this, they would not have to worry about the Dragon Emperor playing any dirty tricks.


    The Dragon Emperor glanced at Yiyu, whom yelled unwillingly, ¡°First match, battle of the Knights! It¡¯s a 2 versus 2 battle without using your mounts. To win, both your opponents must surrender or die.¡±


    Liola and Daylight exchanged a look. Without question, this battle was going to be fought by these two. Without any hesitation, the two jumped onto the arena, waiting for their opponents to appear.


    ¡°The successor¡¯s side sends the successor and Sir Daylight.¡±


    The Knights began to cheer. Though they knew not the strength of Daylight, the power of the successor was something they had been acquainted with.


    ¡°The Dragon Emperor¡¯s side¡­¡± Yiyu¡¯s eyes were fixed at the entrance on the other side. The Dragon Emperor did not tell him who will be participating, so Yiyu had to act accordingly.


    Who knew, the face he saw walking in was no stranger¡­


    ¡°Yizhou!¡± Yiyu yelled loudly.


    ¡°Gladiolus!¡± Kaiser also yelled in disbelief. How could this be possible? Could Gladiolus have betrayed Aklan?


    Indeed, the two walking through the entrance on the other side was Gladiolus, who had been missing for a while, and Yizhou, who had been sent into the dungeon prison by the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start quickly.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled.


    Yiyu turned his head and yelled loudly, ¡°Stop joking around! If my brother would be willing to go against the successor for you, he wouldn¡¯t have ended up in jail. What the hell did you do to my brother?¡±


    ¡°What did I do to him?¡± The Dragon Emperor tilted his head, and asked Yizhou, ¡°Tell him yourself, what did I do to you?¡±


    Yizhou answered courteously, ¡°Nothing, of course. Being able to work for Your Highness is Yizhou¡¯s honor.¡±


    This was not the way Yizhou would reply, Liola immediately determined. Yizhou was being controlled by the Dragon Emperor! Gladiolus had probably fallen to the same fate.


    ¡°Liola? What¡¯s wrong with them?¡± Daylight turned slightly, and asked quietly.


    Liola answered simply, ¡°They¡¯re under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control.¡±


    ¡°How could this be? We must protest. They can¡¯t send people who don¡¯t want to fight!¡± Daylight said emotionally.


    Liola frowned slightly, ¡°But we have no evidence, and Yizhou and Gladiolus will both be on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start quickly. I can¡¯t wait to fight with the successor.¡±


    Gladiolus yelled loudly, and jumped onto the arena with Yizhou. Yizhou even yelled at his brother, ¡°Let the battle start!¡±


    Yiyu widened his eyes, unsure of what he should do.


    The Dragon Emperor grew impatient, and yelled, ¡°Begin!¡±


    The moment he finished, Gladiolus and Yizhou began to attack. The two of them each went up against one: Gladiolus went up to Liola, and Yizhou chose Daylight. In that instant, Liola pulled out his Broken Silver, and Daylight already had his pike in his hand. The two immediately began to attack back. The arena was filled with the crisp colliding sounds of weapons.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong.¡±


    Kaiser suddenly felt something was strange. He had seen Yizhou¡¯s power, and it was no match for Daylight. Gladiolus was probably not a match for Liola. Could the Dragon Emperor be unaware of that? Impossible. Judging from what the Dragon Emperor had done in the past, it was impossible for him to send out these two randomly to fight without knowing their strengths.


    He clearly knew the battle prowess of his side was less than his opponents, why would he send them freely? Kaiser thought about it hard. Could it be the Dragon Emperor was giving up the battle of Knights, and put the emphasis on the other two fights?


    ¡®Wait¡­ he remembered something; the condition to win the match was¡­¡¯


    ¡°Meinan, what was the condition to win this fight?¡±


    Meinan was still looking at the match excitedly, but being interrupted by Kaiser, he answered casually, ¡°Until one side surrenders or¡­ death!¡± Even Meinan realized something was wrong.


    What if Yizhou and Gladiolus would not surrender? It was simple for them not to surrender; if the Dragon Emperor gave them the order, they would die in combat before they would surrender!


    ¡°This is the Dragon Emperor¡¯s evil plan!¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s face went pale. At a glance, the match was completely fair, but he knew it well: Liola and Daylight would never kill their opponents. If their opponents would not surrender, they would have to keep fighting¡­ until Gladiouls and Yizhou die from blood loss. Liola and Daylight may even have to surrender just to save their lives!


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Kaiser and Meinan looked at one another awkwardly, but neither could think of a way out.


    Liola and Daylight were both dealing with their opponents, and in the short time they were fighting, they weren¡¯t able to seriously injure their opponents. They were focused on the battle and, unlike Kaiser, had not understood the Dragon Emperor¡¯s true motive. The only thing they were trying to do now, was defeat their opponents with their power.


    After the battle went on for a while, the difference in strength between the two sides was obvious. Gladiolus sustained more and more wounds to his body, whereas Liola had only a minor scratch on his arm. The difference in strength was far too much.


    As for the other side, because Daylight knew his opponent was not fighting out of his own will, he was not willing to harm his opponent. He ended up defending most of the time. Though Yizhou did not sustain many wounds, he could not even touch Daylight. Daylight was like a fortress, and Yizhou was basically shooting at a fortress without a shotgun ¡ª completely useless.


    Liola used only a moment to decide. His strength was far greater than that of his opponent, but the victory condition was either surrender or death. Killing their opponent was not an option, so they had to make them surrender. However, Gladiolus and Yizhou did not show the slightest sign of wanting to surrender.


    ¡®What if they wouldn¡¯t surrender?¡¯


    The question suddenly came up in Liola¡¯s mind; then they would have to kill their opponents to secure the victory¡­ but he would never kill Gladiolus and Yizhou!


    Therefore¡­ they could not win! Liola finally realized the reality of it. He panickedly looked towards Kaiser, whom returned a helpless smile, indicating he, too, had realized this sinister plan, and he was at a loss as to what they should do.


    They were in a terrible predicament. Liola frowned as he fought while trying to think of way out of this. Perhaps it was because he was a bit absent-minded, Liola¡¯s body suddenly sustained a few more wounds, but Gladiolus sustained even more wounds.


    Gladiolus still did not show any sign of surrendering. When Liola thought what he was about to do was a bit despicable, but it was the only thing he could think of. Hopefully borrowing someone¡¯s name wasn¡¯t going to them angry.


    ¡°Meiji!¡±


    Liola said with a deep voice. Surely enough, Gladiolus reacted: he paused briefly before attacking again.


    It was definitely effective. Liola had no choice but to begin nagging. As he fought, he kept on saying things like, ¡°If Meiji saw you like this, she would be devastated¡±, or ¡°If you can¡¯t escape the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control, Kaiser would never marry his sister to you.¡±


    These words were definitely effective at slowing Gladiolus down, but they were far from making him surrender. Liola had no choice but to keep talking about Meiji, hoping that with enough thoughts of Meiji, Gladiolus would automatically surrender.


    Daylight was, at first, surprised when Liola started talking while fighting. He thought Liola did not want to continue the fight, and therefore was trying to wake Gladiolus. However, after fighting for a while, he slowly realized why Liola was trying to wake Gladiolus: the number of wounds on Yizhou kept increasing, but he did not show any signs of surrendering.


    It was as though he did not know surrendering was an option.


    Daylight could not bear to continue fighting either. Seeing the wounds accumulating on Yizhou, he began to nag like Liola: saying things like ¡°Your brother would be upset¡± and ¡°Your brother Yiyu would be devastated to see you with more wounds¡­¡± For some reason, however, Yizhou did not seem to be affected at all.


    Daylight felt even more helpless. What exactly would they have to do to end this battle?


    Would they really be forced to kill Gladiolus and Yizhou?


    ¡°Ah! I slipped!¡±


    Kaiser suddenly yelled loudly, and something flashy flew across the air. With everyone staring at it, it landed on¡­ Liola¡¯s head.


    After being hit by the unknown object, Liola quickly reached to grab it, and sustained an attack from Gladiolus as a result.


    With everyone¡¯s murderous gaze at him, Kaiser frowned and yelled loudly, ¡°Aiya, my hand just slipped, that¡¯s all. It¡¯s not illegal to accidentally throw a necklace, right? And I even helped the enemy hurt my own team, so it can¡¯t be a foul, right? Everyone, what do you say?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s face was furious. He knew Kaiser definitely did not slip; the necklace must have something to do with Gladiolus. But after what Kaiser said, the audience dismissed it as nothing. If the Dragon Emperor were to speak against it now, the Knights might become suspicious. The Dragon Emperor had no choice but suppress the anger in his mind, and continue looking at the show. After all, there was still Yizhou.


    Liola leaped backward to pull away from Gladiolus, then used this chance to observe the necklace Kaiser throw. Of course, he would not think Kaiser threw this as a result of an accident. It only took him one glance to realize this was a necklace similar to the one Cappuccino had given him. It was a locket that could hold a picture. Without looking, he was certain this locket had a picture of Meiji.


    At this time, Gladiolus approached him again. Liola decided to use this opportunity to get close to Gladiolus. After a few grunts, Liola wrestled Gladiolus to the ground and held him there. He then opened the locket before Gladiolus¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Who is this?¡± Liola asked with a deep voice.


    ¡°Mei¡­ Meiji.¡± Gladiolus said it with difficulty, then he managed to explain, ¡°I, the one Meiji gave me¡­ the one the Dragon Emperor took away.¡±


    Liola heard this, and he knew Gladiolus was now at least partially restored. He said with a refrained voice, ¡°Surrender! Surrender now! Meiji is still waiting for you in Aklan. You must surrender to be able to go back to see her.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Gladiolus sank into a battle in his own mind; the emotions in his heart clashed with the cold part being controlled by the Dragon Emperor. Finally, after seeing the playfully smiling Meiji in the locket, his heart softened, and his feelings for her emerged victorious.


    ¡°I surrender.¡±


    Liola immediately put the locket into Gladiolus¡¯s hand. He knew this was the only way to keep Gladiolus awake. Then, he purposely threw Gladiolus out of the arena. Of course, he tossed him directly towards the Aklan Troublemaking Squad. He believed Kaiser would take good care of him. In any case, they can never let the Dragon Emperor control Gladiolus again.


    Now, it was time to deal with Yizhou.


    Liola really did feel helpless. He knew not what could possibly wake Yizhou. Could it be emotions? But the closest person to him was Yiyu, and he was already here, yet he did not wake up. Could it be¡­ the only way was to kill him?


    No! Determination shone through Liola¡¯s eyes. He would never kill a Knight who was loyal to him!

 Volume 13, 1: Loyalty Without Oath

    Volume 13, Chapter 1: Loyalty Without Oath


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Yizhou!¡± Yiyu was vexed and anxious. He didn¡¯t not know how he could wake his brother.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± The Dragon Emperor suddenly yelled loudly. As Yiyu looked at him timidly, The Dragon Emperor calmed down again, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, when this battle is over, I will release his hypnosis.¡±


    Yiyu skeptically glanced at the Dragon Emperor a few times. He could not believe the Dragon Emperor would openly admit he had hypnotized Yizhou. The Dragon Emperor turned his head, and his mysterious eyes stared directly at Yiyu. He said with a steady but dangerous tone, ¡°What? You don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    Yiyu felt breathless while being stared by the purple eyes. He turned his face, and answered helplessly, ¡°No¡­ I believe you, Your Majesty.¡±


    Satisfied that Yiyu shut his mouth tightly and stood there trembling, the Dragon Emperor returned his gaze to the arena. Though Gladiolus was now awake, there was still Yizhou. The Dragon Emperor understood well, it was impossible for Liola to kill Yizhou. As long as Yizhou stayed hypnotized, he would not surrender, and neither condition to win could be attained¡­ other than surrendering, what other options were there?


    Seeing the helpless Liola on the arena dodging left and right, the Dragon Emperor smiled and sat leisurely as he enjoyed the pain on Liola¡¯s face.


    * * *


    ¡°Liola, what do we do now?¡±


    Daylight stood far away. With his strength, defeating Yizhou was simple, but he really did not want to harm someone who had no choice on how to act differently because of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis. Therefore, he had to dodge around. Nevertheless, despite Daylight¡¯s strength being greater than Yizhou¡¯s, he could not possibly remain completely untouched while dodging attacks.


    Before long, a series of wounds appeared on Daylight¡¯s body. Though they were minor injuries, but they accumulated to quite a number of wounds, which resulted in blood dripping from Daylight¡¯s body. It was a horrifying sight to look at.


    After failure of trying to secure victory for a long time, Yizhou¡¯s eyes began to glow red, and he started to attack relentlessly. Daylight had a harder and harder time to dodge. In one of the attacks, he finally made a fatal mistake: he turned too quickly and sprained his ankle. With his body out of control, and when he was about to get a hit direct from Yizhou¡¯s attack¡­


    Liola was originally still thinking on ways to wake Yizhou, but when he saw Daylight in danger, he hurried to block his attack. With Broken Silver in front of his chest, a long time had passed and no metal collision sounds could be heard. Daylight peeked out his head from behind Liola, only realizing Yizhou¡¯s sword stopped right before it made contact Broken Silver. Yizhou also looked like he had frozen completely.


    Daylight asked curiously, ¡°What happened to him?¡±


    Liola shook his head. He also had no idea why Yizhou would suddenly stop.


    ¡°Su¡­ successor¡­ Your Highness¡­¡± Yizhou spoke with difficulty while stuttering. His sword slowly withdrew from Liola, and it looked like he wanted to perform a Knight¡¯s salute to the successor. However, because his right hand was holding a sword, he could not do it. However, if he were put his sword down, it would go against the order the Dragon Emperor gave him. He fell into a dilemma, and his mind struggled on what he should do.


    Liola, however, did not understand Yizhou¡¯s struggle. To him, it looked like Yizhou was absent-minded. His right hand was still moving; in one moment it looked like he was holding it for battle, in the next he looked like he wanted to put it down. This thoroughly confused Liola.


    In the time being, with his sprained ankle feeling much better, Daylight slowly stood up. He was also looking at Yizhou¡¯s strange behaviors. Although Daylight had never sworn loyalty to anyone, being taught in the School of Knight for most of his life, he immediately understood what Yizhou was doing.


    ¡®Is he trying to salute to Liola?¡¯ Daylight realized shockingly. Right, didn¡¯t Yiyu say something before about Yizhou being loyal to Liola and not willing to betray him, so he ended up being controlled by the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis?


    Perhaps, the only person who could help Yizhou escape hypnosis was not his brother, but the successor he was loyal to, instead ¡ª Liola!


    ¡°Liola, command him!¡± Daylight immediately yelled to Liola.


    ¡°What?¡± Liola turned his head, with a confused look on his face.


    Daylight explained hurriedly, ¡°Give him an order, like a Prince giving an order to his Knight¡­ Liola, careful!¡± Halfway through his sentence, Daylight noticed Yizhou had escaped his indecisiveness, and charged straight at Liola with his sword.


    Liola turned his head towards Yizhou. This time, he understood Daylight¡¯s words a little, and he yelled with the personality of Silver Moon, ¡°My Direct Knight, what do you think you¡¯re doing? Are you trying to attack me?¡±


    Yizhou¡¯s sword stopped. His face was now filled with perplexion. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s command was again in conflict with the successor¡¯s orders, and the two forces were having a tug of war in his heart. One moment the Dragon Emperor was winning, and in another moment it was the successor.


    ¡°Yizhou!¡± The Dragon Emperor stood up, and shouted into the arena.


    ¡°Yizhou!¡± Knowing this, Liola also shouted at the same time.


    Yizhou¡¯s body stiffened. His face show the pain of struggle of the conflicting sides to the point where the Knights watching began to feel sympathy. Of course, they had no idea about the hypnosis, and instead naively thought the Knight was simply having issues with not knowing whom he should be loyal to.


    ¡°You are my Direct Knight, do you remember?¡± Liola tried to wake Yizhou, ¡°The person you are loyal to is me!¡±


    Yizhou looked at Liola with skepticism. To him, the successor Silver Moon was a cold and merciless person, which made him suspicious of Liola¡¯s warm and caring attitude. To Yizhou, who was now almost fully controlled by the hypnosis, he could not ¡°think¡± about looks; he could only act on his instincts, and his instincts told him¡­


    No! The successor Silver Moon wasn¡¯t the person in front of him.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the successor!¡± For the first time, Yizhou spoke on the arena, but there was no signs of him escaping the hypnosis. Instead, he raised his weapon once again to attack.


    Liola dodged the attacks while he began to think about what Yizhou meant. Why would Yizhou say he wasn¡¯t the successor? Could the hypnosis made it impossible for Yizhou to recognize him?


    Yizhou attacked relentlessly as he murmured, ¡°Silver Moon Highness is¡­ is¡­¡±


    ¡°Is what?¡± Liola was suddenly a bit curious, or perhaps the Silver Moon in him was a bit curious. How exactly did Silver Moon exist in Yizhou, the person who was once his Direct Knight.


    Yizhou, however, could not say how the successor really was. Would he describe the successor as the cold and arrogant Silver Mask, the cold Third Prince, or the Silver Moon with the charm and elegance of a Prince? How could a person have so many different faces? As such, how was he to know whether this person, who claimed himself to be the successor, wasn¡¯t simply just one more personality of the successor?


    Doubts began to muster in Yizhou¡¯s mind. Slowly and unconsciously, his attacks began to slow down. If this person really was the successor, then he absolutely must not attack him!


    ¡°Yizhou.¡± Liola noticed his hesitation, and felt even more certain that, even under hypnosis, Yizhou did not want to be enemies with Silver Moon, his direct superior.


    Yizhou looked blankly at Liola, the one who was calling out to him.


    ¡°Are you still not willing to swear Soul¡¯s Devotion to me?¡± Liola purposely spoke about the things that happened before, hoping to incite more of Yizhou¡¯s subconsciousness.


    Yizhou paused, and slowly shook his head. By now, his attacks had completely stopped, and the blank eyes began to show skepticism.


    The Liola now was, after all, partially integrated with Silver Moon¡¯s personality. To him, putting up Silver Moon¡¯s personality again was no difficult task. His soft eyes was now getting more and more cold, and his tone felt like a chilling wind, ¡°Then, are you betraying me?¡±


    The expression on Yizhou¡¯s face suddenly changed. The unique cold presence of the successor, Silver Moon, was slowly waking up his consciousness.


    ¡°Let¡¯s forget about you being unwilling to swear to me, but attacking me with your weapon, isn¡¯t that betrayal?¡± Liola¡¯s tone became harsher, and shouted, ¡°Do you want to betray me? My Direct Knight!?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Yizhou roared shockingly.


    ¡°Then lower your weapon, and surrender.¡± Liola yelled.


    Yizhou almost wanted to follow Liola¡¯s orders, if the Dragon Emperor did not gestured to the Idojin standing by him.


    ¡°Too bad, I was originally planning on giving him freedom after this match.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor said in a low whisper. He knew the successor¡¯s perception would allow him to hear. Surely enough, Liola looked towards him skeptically with stern eyes. He wasn¡¯t sure what the Dragon Emperor was up to.


    ¡°I guess now I have to make Idojin completely destroy his consciousness. Though by doing so, this Knight with a bright future will be completely destroyed after this match. However, sacrificing one Knight to make you lose this match will be well worth it.¡± Despite saying something this cruel, the Dragon Emperor smiled slightly.


    Hearing what the Dragon Emperor said, Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed. He did not doubt for a second the Dragon Emperor would do such a thing. The person who was willing to sacrifice his own blood would never take pity on a Knight. What should he do now? Liola instinctively looked at Kaiser, the person to resolve all the problems. Unfortunately, Kaiser did not have a perception like his, so he had no idea what the Dragon Emperor said. Instead, he frowned as he looked back at Liola, unsure why he was suddenly talking to him in ¡°eyebrow language¡±.


    All of a sudden, there was something wrong with Yizhou. The weapon he had been holding onto tightly had fallen of the ground, and he held his head with both of his hands. At first, his face was warped from the pain, and he initially tried to withstand it without making a sound, but seconds later, he could not refrain from yelling. He was experiencing an unbearable amount of pain: the pain of all feelings being forcefully pulled from his mind, the very same feeling Liola had once experienced.


    ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡± Yizhou knelt on the ground, and moaned in pain endlessly.


    Yiyu was looking with a pale face on the side, and said somewhat helplessly, ¡°Yizhou¡­¡± But all he could do was look at the Dragon Emperor hesitantly, whose imposing manner made it impossible for him to do anything. Even so, he didn¡¯t know what was exactly happening. To him, Yizhou was perhaps simply struggling between the hypnosis and his direct superior¡¯s command.


    He was unaware that his brother was about to become an emotionless Maxun. He was simply giving into the imposing manner of the Dragon Emperor, but he was not going to continue to sit while his brother was in pain.


    ¡°Stop¡­¡± Liola said helplessly. He had once went through the very same pain Yizhou was going through now, and he knew the horror of those feelings, so he was feeling both terrified and furious at the situation.


    Should he do nothing as he watches Yizhou become the monster without feelings? Liola thought about his prior situation. Back then, he felt like his body had been emptied out by someone, the only thing he had was his skin on the outside, without anything solid on the inside. Even now, in the depth of night, he would sometimes question if he had really returned to being a human, whether he was really a person with feelings, instead of a Maxun wearing the skin of a person.


    Now, the Dragon Emperor was doing the same thing again, sending yet another person in the path of emotionlessness, and that person was the Knight who was loyal to him. How could he allow such a thing happen?


    ¡°Stop, Dragon Emperor.¡± Liola yelled loudly.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly, ¡°Do you really think I would stop just because you said so?¡± He paused briefly, and turned towards Idojin, ¡°Is it still not done?¡±


    Idojin shook his head slightly, and increased the transfer of energy from his body. By now, on the arena, Yizhou had gradually slowed his moans of pain, and the painful expression on his face had lessened. Emotionlessness slowly crept up his face. To Liola, the person in front of him was as if he was slowly turning into a marble statue.


    But he could not think of a way to rescue him! Did he really have to stand by while Yizhou become a feelingless monster¡­? No!


    ¡°I surrender! Do you hear me? I surrender. Stop now!¡±


    This was the only thing he could think of, was to surrender. If he were to surrender, then there was no point in turning Yizhou into an emotionless monster.


    Silence befell onto the entire stadium. The situation was far too unexpected. Why would the successor, who was bound to be victorious, suddenly surrender?


    Other than the Dragon Emperor¡¯s side, no one knew why Liola would surrender. Even Liola¡¯s own companions did not know clearly the reason because they could not hear what the Dragon Emperor said. However, they all vaguely knew it must had something to do with Yizhou.


    After Liola surrendered, he suddenly realized the participants to of match on his side was more than just himself: there was still the companions who followed him without hesitation. He turned to look at Daylight, trying to find dissatisfaction on his face.


    ¡°What?¡± Daylight, however, showed a confused face. He could not understand why Liola would stare at him after surrendering.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡­ surrendered.¡± Liola was a bit frustrated. He should have discussed it with Daylight or Kaiser. Perhaps the two would have had other better ideas. He was never one to come up with good ideas.


    Daylight, instead, gave him a trusting smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you must have your reason to surrender. If that¡¯s the case, then I guess we have to surrender.¡±


    Perhaps he saw Liola¡¯s disappointing looks, Daylight immediately comforted him, ¡°It¡¯s all right, there are still two more matches. We will definitely win, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Hearing what Daylight said, Liola could not help but look at the people who would be participating in the other two matches ¡ª Kaiser and the other, only to see him staring back with the widest eyes, while occasionally hearing the sound of teeth grinding.


    After Liola shot an apologetic look to Kaiser, Daylight suddenly pulled him. He turned his head in confusion, and Daylight gestured towards the Dragon Emperor¡¯s direction. It was not until now that Liola realized, the Dragon Emperor had already stood up, and walking towards him elegantly. Liola put on his guard, and even used his body to completely block the way between the Dragon Emperor and Daylight. Nevertheless, Daylight would not leave Liola to be the only person in front; he took a step forward, and stood firmly by Liola¡¯s side.


    Liola looked somewhat shockingly at Daylight, whom smiled deeply. This smile told Liola clearly, he would not be able to leave his companions behind and stand in the front lines by himself.


    Though Liola was a bit worried the Dragon Emperor might try something funny, but he knew Daylight¡¯s stubbornness was a big part of his personality. To change his mind¡­ would be something Kaiser would yell ¡°never ever¡±. Therefore, he had no choice but to let Daylight stand beside him. In any case, the person he was opposing was his own father. Even Liola, a trained Assassin, felt a bit uncertain, and having Daylight, a person who was stubbornly righteous, standing by him did indeed make his determination much greater.


    The Dragon Emperor finally walked up the two, then courteously waved his hand, ¡°Good work, child.¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes tightened, and he said with a deep voice, ¡°Let go of Yizhou.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor smiled slightly, then slowly moved closer to Liola, and said carelessly into his ear, ¡°Of course, the next two matches are the battle of Magic and the battle of Dragons. Yizhou has no more value, so it doesn¡¯t matter if I return him to you.¡±


    ¡°You abandoned the bigger picture because of a single Knight. Child, you really are too immature.¡± After saying so, the Dragon Emperor took a step back, then began to announce to everyone, ¡°The next match will the battle of Magic. The match will begin in half an hour.¡±


    Even without the Dragon Emperor¡¯s reminder, Liola knew how idiotic his actions were. This was the only match he could participate, and in some sense one could say this was the one they were definitely going to win. Instead, he gave up on this match, which means they must win both of the upcoming battles to secure the final victory.


    Never mind the battle of Magic, the battle of Dragon would be¡­ Even though Baolilong belong to the strongest race of Dragons, the Sacred White Dragons, it was still a child and could not possibly win over the matured Miluo.


    Liola already began to doubt: was there a point in continuing the match? When he forfeited this match, did it mean he had already given up the entire gamble?


    Daylight looked at Liola¡¯s worsening expressions, and was originally planning on cheering him up, but Kaiser and others had already walked up onto the arena. Kaiser patted Daylight¡¯s shoulder, and gestured in a direction. Daylight followed that direction curiously with his eyes, realizing Yizhou had already, with the help of his brother Yiyu, slowly started walking towards Liola.


    Seeing this, Daylight temporarily gave up on the idea of cheering Liola up, and waited quietly with companions to see how things unfold. Everyone seemed to have an optimistic attitude to what was about to happen.


    After Yizhou walked up to Liola, he said coldly, ¡°The Dragon Emperor is right, you really are immature, Your Highness, Direct Knights exist only to assist you. If they become a burden to you instead, then to a Knight, it is an insult to the Knight¡¯s honor, and it is far worse than losing one¡¯s life!¡±


    Liola suddenly froze. No matter how much he emotionally prepared himself, he did not expect the person blaming him to not be his companions, but the Knight he saved¡­


    ¡°Hey, hey, do you really have any idea what¡¯s going on? He was trying to save you! Don¡¯t tell me you really think the Dragon Emperor really wouldn¡¯t harm you?¡±


    Kaiser began to shout angrily. Having lost a match that was supposedly to be certainly victorious for them, already infuriated him, but the very person who made them lose match was now blaming Liola for being mature. It was just too much! Kaiser was almost at the point of throwing a few dozen Divine Fireballs. Luckily, Meinan noticed something wrong quickly, and grabbed ahold of Kaiser. Otherwise, Yizhou would have escaped from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hands, only to be blown into pieces by Kaiser.


    Yizhou slowly pushed his brother away, and mustered all his strength to stand up straight and perform a Knight¡¯s salute towards Liola, then he said, ¡°Please do your best to be a qualified King.¡±


    Liola looked at Yizhou with confusion. He really had no idea what Yizhou¡¯s actions meant, but without any further explanation, Yizhou¡¯s feet gave out underneath him after the salute, and began to fall to the side. Fortunately, Yiyu caught him in time. After looking deeply into the successor¡¯s eyes, and with his brother¡¯s help, Yizhou slowly walked away from the arena.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Liola was thoroughly confused. He saved Yizhou, but then Yizhou blamed him, and after doing so, he saluted and asked him to work hard to become a King. All these actions did not seem connected to Liola.


    ¡°I think I understand.¡± Daylight said with a thoughtful look.


    Liola turned to look at Daylight, with confusion on his face.


    ¡®Understand my ass, he¡¯s just a nobody¡­¡¯ Kaiser was furious and he was starting to yell, but Meinan and Purity worked together to cover his face, making his words nothing but muffled sounds.


    ¡°You saved him, but as a result lost this important match.¡± Daylight looked at Yizhou as he walked away. Because Yizhou was moving slowly, they had not gotten too far away, and Daylight believed Yizhou should be able to hear his words¡­ perhaps? Daylight took a deep breath, using all of his lungs to say, ¡°He must be both moved that you saved him, and angry he caused you the match. He probably hopes you would stop worrying about him. The purpose of a Direct Knight is to protect you, and not be your burden.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Liola was skeptical. He felt this was not something Yizhou would say, and perhaps only something in Daylight¡¯s imagination.


    Yizhou indeed heard what Daylight said. He turned his head, without any expression on his face. Daylight and Liola thought he was about to blame them Liola, and stood straight up as a result. However, Yizhou did nothing but nodded at the two, then continued on his way out of the stadium.


    ¡°What does he mean by that?¡± Daylight drew a blank.


    Though Daylight did not understand, but this time Liola understood. He smiled slightly, ¡°What he meant was, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Is that so?¡± Daylight was a bit surprised.


    Kaiser impatiently escaped Meinan and Purity, and snapped, ¡°Of course that is so. They¡¯re both in the same race, so of course they share a common language!¡±


    ¡°Same race?¡± Meinan asked curiously.


    Kaiser glared at him, ¡°Ice cube race!¡±


    ¡°Liola-dage isn¡¯t an ice-cube anymore. He¡¯s laughing now! And he often talks!¡± Purity protested loudly.


    ¡°Yeah, Liola, you¡¯re actually talking! And even laughing! This is a miracle.¡± Kaiser said sarcastically.


    ¡°Yup, Liola-dage has made so much progress.¡± Purity did not recognize Kaiser¡¯s sarcasm, and instead was happy about Liola not being as cold as before.


    Kaiser buried his face into his palm, and said helplessly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t know any better, I might actually think Purity is mocking Liola!¡±


    Meinan was also forcing a smile.


    However, ¡°sarcasm¡±, being the advanced feeling it was, was not something a novice at feelings like Liola could notice. He smiled and replied to Purity, ¡°Thank you, I will do better.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, Liola-dage, do your best.¡± Purity cheered sincerely for Liola.


    ¡°We all have to do our best.¡± Daylight also smiled as bright as the sun.


    Kaiser looked at the three being cheerful, and all showing an idiotic smile, then turned around to ask Meinan with a bitter expression on his face, ¡°Meinan, I¡¯m starting to wonder, who are the abnormal ones here, us or them?¡±


    ¡°We are all abnormal.¡± Meinan answered seriously.


    Hearing this, Kaiser immediately showed a vicious look. He stabbed Meinan¡¯s chest repeatedly as he questioned, ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t care if you call them abnormal, but how dare you drag me into it! How the hell am I abnormal? We¡¯re going to clear this up right now!¡±


    Meinan protected his chest with an innocent expression on his face, ¡°We lost the first match, and the next match begins in half an hour. It¡¯s the Magic battle where us two would have to go, yet we¡¯re still joking here¡­ I don¡¯t really think that¡¯s normal?¡±


    Silence ensued for a few seconds, then Kaiser bursted out with a cry of pain, ¡°Right, we have to fight in the next match! God! I don¡¯t know what kind of evil plans the Dragon Emperor will pull next!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight!¡±


    Kaiser immediately tried to run. Unfortunately, Meinan already predicted this, and the protective shield was already up in every direction. Before taking many steps, he rammed face-first into the transparent shield. His face flattened, and his body slowly slid down.


    ¡°Daylight.¡± Meinan pulled a rope out of nowhere. He gestured at the rope, then at Kaiser.


    Daylight nodded without any hesitation.

 Volume 13, 2: Abnormal Magic Duel

    Volume 13, Chapter 2: Abnormal Magic Duel


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Let me go, let me go! You are invading my human rights! You guys are violating trafficking laws! You guys are abducting children!¡± Being tied up into a meat dumpling, Kaiser yelled repeatedly.


    Meinan and Purity had already distanced themselves with their hands holding firmly onto their ears, to avoid having their ear drums damaged from the loud noise. Fortunately, Daylight, whose ears were as determined as his personality, was still able to carry this ¡°source of sound pollution¡± of a person towards the match.


    Seeing they were nearing the arena, and Kaiser still struggling, Liola suddenly stopped and said to Daylight, ¡°Maybe we should put him down. If Kaiser really is unwilling to participate match, I don¡¯t want to force him¡­¡±


    ¡°Who said I don¡¯t want to participate!¡± Kaiser interrupted Liola loudly.


    Liola asked curiously, ¡°But you¡­¡± then his eyes looked towards the ropes.


    ¡°This is the plan to fool the enemy! Do you have any idea?!¡± Kaiser said with a happy face.


    ¡°Fooling the enemy?¡± Liola shook his head. He didn¡¯t understand at all. He then turned his head towards his companions¡­


    Everyone shook their heads in unison!


    ¡°Hey!¡± Seeing everyone shaking their heads, Kaiser explained angrily, ¡°You idiots! Do you guys know about feigning weakness for your enemies to see?!¡±


    [T/N: This is a famous line from Art of War. It basically means to feign being weak so your enemies would underestimate you.]


    Everyone then nodded their heads in unison.


    ¡°This is my plan!¡± Kaiser showed a huge smile, ¡°Think about it, if the team happened to have a person who doesn¡¯t even want to participate in the match, wouldn¡¯t everyone think we¡¯re weak? Hehe, then we will have some opportunities to exploit!¡±


    Everyone looked as though they suddenly understood.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kaiser narrowed his eyes dangerously, ¡°You guys all shook your heads¡­ because all of you really thought I didn¡¯t want to fight?¡±


    Hearing this question, Daylight showed an apologetic expression, Liola nodded, Meinan suddenly had interest in the roach crawling by and turned his head to look at it, and Purity was practicing her Kung Fu move called ¡°Moving Backwards¡±.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t trust me at all!¡± Kaiser roared angrily.


    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry, Kaiser.¡± Daylight put Kaiser down from his shoulder, and started to try to untie him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kaiser glared at him.


    After a pause, Daylight said honestly, ¡°Helping you untie the ropes.¡±


    Kaiser widened his eyes some more. He was so angry that he almost wanted to burst the ropes open, and cut Daylight¡¯s head open to see if there was anything at all in his head. Daylight saw Kaiser¡¯s horrifying expression, and took a few steps back in fear. His face, however, was still filled with confusion, because he didn¡¯t understand why Kaiser was angry again.


    Seeing Daylight in fear, and innocent look on his face due to not knowing what he did wrong, Kaiser felt weak throughout his body. He said helplessly, ¡°If you untie me, then wouldn¡¯t the show I¡¯ve just put on completely go to waste?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Daylight suddenly understood.


    Kaiser snapped, ¡°Quickly carry me and continue walking. My limbs are falling asleep from being tied up!¡±


    Daylight hurriedly carried Kaiser again, and Kaiser¡­ continued his sound pollution. Everyone hurried to cover their ears with their hands while walking into the arena, as though they were doing the walk of shame¡­ All the Knights present acted as if something disgusting had walked in.


    Fortunately, all the members of the Aklan Troublemaking Squad were no ordinary person. They all had no shame, no idea what shame was, or thought this was what they did normally anyhow, and therefore was not considered shameful.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe even the Dragon Continent has arenas made specially for Magic duels.¡±


    Meinan carefully examined this place. The biggest difference between the arena for a Magic duel and an ordinary one was the cylindrical protective shield surrounding the arena. If it were not for this protective shield, there might not be any audience; a place where a Magic spell might head towards you at any time was not a place many would attend.


    Because Kaiser was ¡°feigning weakness¡±, Meinan was the only one to approach the Dragon Emperor for the formalities. Luckily, because Meinan was the son of a Prime Minister, he diplomatically asked the Dragon Emperor, ¡°Dragon Emperor, Your Highness, may I ask, how do you wish to proceed with this match?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor answered courteously, ¡°Since this is the battle of Magic, naturally Magic should determine the victor. I see you should have three people who could use Magic, then why don¡¯t we each send three Magicians to battle?¡±


    ¡°Since Your Highness have decided the number of people, then can we also decide some terms?¡±


    Meinan requested courteously, which made it difficult for the Dragon Emperor to turn down immediately. Though he was unwilling, but on the surface, he still answered with a tolerating attitude, ¡°Do tell.¡±


    ¡°I believe the strength of Magic is very important; however, the cooperation between companions is also something that should be tested. Therefore, why don¡¯t we have a team match, rather than one on one battles?¡± Meinan suggested, knowing it would be greatly advantageous to his side because he specialized in defense, Kaiser specialized in offense, and Purity¡­ specialized in all things unexpected. Their combined strength was far greater than the sum of their parts.


    Though he knew the Dragon Emperor would no doubt understand this as much as he did, but Meinan had to take a gamble to see if the Dragon Emperor would be willing to accept this disadvantageous term.


    The Dragon Emperor scrutinized Meinan for a while, to the point where it looked like his entire plan was completely seen through by the Dragon Emperor. He basically thought the Dragon Emperor would never agree to this term, but then, a miracle happened.


    ¡°All right, it¡¯s decided. We¡¯ll have a team match.¡± The Dragon Emperor answered calmly.


    Meinan was stunned. He did not think it would actually work. Could the Dragon Emperor really not know about Kaiser and him¡­ and, uh, Purity¡¯s combined strength was far more than the sum of their parts? Or perhaps the Dragon Emperor sent Magicians who would work well with one another? Or, did the Dragon Emperor have another sinister plan?


    Could Kaiser¡¯s plan of feigned weakness have actually worked?


    ¡°Then, let me introduce, the Magicians on my side.¡± The Dragon Emperor stood up slowly, with a smile on his face as though victory was already pre-determined.


    ¡°Mizerui.¡±


    With the Dragon Emperor¡¯s call, a figure slowly emerged in the air. His looks was familiar: golden hair and small glasses. His figure was familiar: a body covered in a strange long robe of black and white¡­ However, his expression was no longer familiar to them. Mizerui¡¯s feigned warm smile was now nowhere to be found. Instead, it was a face devoid of all humanity.


    The expression of the people on Liola¡¯s side changed slightly, but none of them were too surprised. As soon as the secret base was under attack, everyone knew Mizerui was under the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control. In the battle of Magic today, there was no reason for the Dragon Emperor not to send him into battle. After all, Mizerui was the apprentice of the famous wanted Magician, the Devil Gle.


    ¡°When we are in the fight, we¡¯ll all call out to him. Mizerui is a Magician, and controlling him with Magic is not something easy.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Purity widened her eyes, and nodded repeatedly.


    Though Meinan heard, but because the Dragon Emperor¡¯s attention was still on him, so he did not respond. In his mind, however, he fully agreed with Kaiser¡¯s suggestion. Never mind how strong Mizerui might have been or whether they could defeat him, he was, after all, Meinan¡¯s father¡¯s companion. If it were possible, Meinan did not want to resort to fighting.


    The Dragon Emperor continued the introduction, ¡°And the Magician always serving the royal family ¡ª Idojin.¡±


    The Magician wearing black robe had always been standing next to the Dragon Emperor. Hearing his name, he took a short step forward, and bowed slightly to everyone.


    This candidate was also not unexpected, but everyone on Liola¡¯s side was now guessing who the third person would be. After all, they had not heard of any other famous Magician working for the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Must be some random person they grabbed!¡± Kaiser concluded carelessly.


    The Dragon Emperor looked at Meinan with interest, which made him feel a bit alarmed, as though this third person had something to do with him. It can¡¯t be his father, right? Meinan¡¯s expression was a bit strange. He felt as if Qiusi really would jump out at any moment, and yell, SURPRISE!


    ¡®I¡¯m going to kill him if it¡¯s him!¡¯ Meinan held his fist tightly.


    While everyone continued to guess for a while on Liola¡¯s side, the Dragon Emperor finally opened his mouth and said elegantly,


    ¡°Barbalis.¡±


    What?! Everyone on Liola¡¯s side froze.


    Another figure slowly appeared next to Mizerui, Barbalis, who had been long missing, suddenly appeared. Everyone glared at him. Was he being controlled? Or¡­ was he betraying them?


    ¡°My God!¡± Kaiser moaned, ¡°This isn¡¯t a suspense fiction, why the hell is there a traitor in the end? This is too much. Barbalis, what the hell are you doing?¡±


    Barbalis¡¯ face remained expressionless, nor did he answer Kaiser¡¯s question, as if he had been under Dragon Emperor¡¯s hypnosis¡­


    ¡°Give me a break!¡± Kaiser yelled loudly, and jumped down from Daylight¡¯s hand. He quickly got out of the ropes. By now, there was no more point of feigning weakness.


    Kaiser¡¯s eyes flashed, and he said word-by-word, ¡°Barbalis, you¡¯re not under control at all.¡±


    Barbalis¡¯s face twitched, and he could no longer continue his act. He said sadly, ¡°H-how did you know?¡±


    Kaiser glanced at the other people. Never mind Liola, who had been under control, but even Meinan, Daylight, and Purity did not seem surprised. They had already known Barbalis was not under control, but they were all confused as to why he was doing what he¡¯s doing.


    ¡°Everyone already knew. Your acting skills are too terrible!¡± Kaiser added insult to injury, then explained, ¡°Hmmph! We are Liola¡¯s companions, and we have seen every kind of cold face: be it Liola¡¯s natural rock face, Silver Moon¡¯s acquired ice cube face, or successor Silver Moon¡¯s hypnotized marble face¡­ Do you really think you can fool experienced people like us with that twitching face of yours?¡±


    Kaiser shook his head with exaggeration, ¡°You¡¯re too naive, old man.¡±


    Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Barbalis¡¯ face sank, ¡°Damn! Quit shaming me. I¡¯ve been acting so much that my face is having seizures! I can¡¯t believe how hard it is to be an ice cube.¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap! Damn old geezer.¡± Kaiser yelled loudly, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Barbalis suddenly became serious, ¡°I¡¯m here because of Dragon Emperor¡¯s request to come test your powers.¡±


    ¡®All I¡¯m hearing is you giving me bullcrap¡­¡¯ Kaiser opened his eyes wide while listening to the worst lie in the history of lies. His thoughts spun quickly, trying to figure out what Barbalis was actually thinking about.


    Seeing Kaiser¡¯s face as though it was saying ¡°Nobody would ever believe you,¡± Barbalis began smiling bitterly. This little runt did know him quite well. Indeed! Even if it would cost him his life, he would not want to help the Dragon Emperor. However, instead of his life, the Dragon Emperor was threatening him with Mizerui¡¯s life.


    ¡°That old geezer¡¯s eyes¡­¡± Kaiser said to himself, ¡°He tilted 15 degrees to glance at Mizerui, this thing must have something to do with Mizerui!¡±


    ¡®Wow¡­ I better not ever peep at anything in front of Kaiser.¡¯ Everyone thought.


    ¡°Arrogant runts! In any case, I will definitely win against you today!¡± Barbalis yelled loudly. This was the only way he could think of to warn these people that he must win this match.


    ¡°We will definitely win in this match!¡± Kaiser yelled back coldly.


    Barbalis paused. As he glanced his eyes towards Mizerui, he said, ¡°Please, for the sake of my old friend ¡®Mizerui¡¯, I have to win!¡± He was trying hard to hint at Kaiser and others. He had to win or otherwise, Mizerui¡¯s life would be in danger.


    ¡°Hmmph!¡± Kaiser also glanced his eyes towards Liola, ¡°Let me tell you, we have to win as well! For our companion ¡®Liola¡¯.¡±


    Barbalis frowned. He did not know about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Heart, nor did he know Liola promised the Dragon Emperor that he would eat the Heart if they lost, but he still understood Kaiser¡¯s hint. In any case, if Kaiser lost, then Liola would either die or end up in a situation worse than dying; otherwise, they would definitely care about Mizerui¡¯s life.


    Barbalis and Kaiser stared at one another, and they both thought of the same thing at the same time, ¡®Did we¡­ reach an impasse?¡¯


    ¡°It seems like our old friends have already greeted one another.¡± Seeing both locking their eyebrows, the Dragon Emperor seemed quite satisfied. His smile widened, ¡°Please, don¡¯t let our audience wait for too long. Let the match begin.¡±


    Both sides were hesitating, but they still had to go stand on top of the arena. The moment they had done so, the cylindrical shield around the arena instantly activated. Kaiser and the two others were still hesitating. Although, Barbalis had yet to attack, the other two on his team would not wait another moment.


    Idojin knew about the dilemma on both sides, so he was going to take advantage of the time when they were hesitating to open up with fierce attacks, and defeat them in one go.


    Thus, he started with his killing moves!


    ¡°Mizerui, use Oppressive Gravity.¡±


    With Idojin¡¯s command, Mizerui reached out his right hand, and cast the Gravity Magic he excelled in. The air began to warp, and a heavy force fell towards Kaiser and the others from above¡­


    ¡°Protective Shield!¡± Fortunately, Meinan was paying attention to his opponent¡¯s every move. As soon as Idojin said something, he already began to summon his protective shield.


    Idojin had already done his research on where the strengths of his opponents lie. He knew Meinan part of the family of Magicians specializing in protective shield. To break it, they would have to do it via attrition, until he becomes drained of power, or perhaps use strong Magic to directly overwhelm him.


    If it was Qiusi who was here today, Idojin might already be in a difficult place. After all, Qiusi lived years in danger of assassination, and therefore he held a shield at all times. It was at the point as though his mana was an unending pool. Truth was, no one would have the patience to test how long Qiusi could hold up his shield¡­ Usually the one who would give up first was the attacking side.


    However, the person in the arena was Meinan, a young man in his twenties. No matter how much time he had spent researching protective shield, the lack of mana will be his fatal flaw.


    Especially when his opponents were three Magician with hundreds of years of training. His mana was like a pail compared to them, so how could it possibly hold up against a sea of fire?


    ¡®Let¡¯s end it quickly.¡¯ Idojin began chanting. He conservatively used Magic with high piercing property, since this was the best way to break a protective shield.


    ¡°Frozen Ray!¡±


    A blue ray shot straight at Kaiser and the rest of his party. Their eyes tightened. When the ray was about to make contact with the protective shield, and when the audience thought a fight between offensive Magic and defensive Magic was about to begin, the ray passed through without colliding into anything, until it hit the protective shield on the outer arena. It eventually lead to an explosion, and caused the stadium to tremble, to the point where the protective shield around the arena began to crack a little.


    Luckily, all the audience present weren¡¯t ordinary people, but were powerful Knights instead. Although they were a bit surprised by the power of the Magic, none of them panicked.


    When the dust settled, Idojin¡¯s face was filled with shock. He would have never imagined his opponents would not defend against his spell. Instead, they dissolved their shield, then dodged the Magic.


    They did not even use teleport to dodge, but used their own legs to run to the side!


    This practically violated the common sense towards Magic duels. No Magicians would, in a duel, dodge with their body instead of using Magic to stop the opposing spells!


    Did these kids have any common sense to Magic duels?


    Truth was, probably not.


    As soon as Kaiser dodged, he fired from his gun. The power of the Divine Fireball made Idojin fumble around to defend himself. The shield he put up was just in time to barely perish together with the fireball. When the dust settled from the collision, a figure charged at him.


    The person charging at him was not the attack-oriented Kaiser, but Meinan, who knew nothing of offensive Magic. Nevertheless, he was not using Magic to attack, instead he was using the shiny dagger he hand on his hand, a sharp one that had been passing down in his family.


    Idojin had no time to cast Magic. Panicked, he yelled, ¡°Mizerui.¡±


    After sensing Magic nearby, Meinan suddenly jumped to the side. He lowered his head, only to see a deep crater created by gravity Magic where he stood before.


    Having his life out of danger, Idojin quickly flew into the air, to prevent getting ¡°assassinated¡±. As soon as he reached a safe spot, he immediately began to yell angrily, ¡°How dare you use weapons?! Do you have no common sense about a Magic duel?!¡±


    Kaiser quickly aimed the gun in his hand at Idojin. As he fired his gun, he gave out a sinister laugh, ¡°Sorry! We always fight with Mechas, so we don¡¯t have even a bit of common sense in Magic duels!¡±


    ¡°Whatever, as long as we take you out!¡± Kaiser roared, while a bunch of fireballs shot out of his giant gun.


    Idojin quickly formed a protective shield, while thinking these people did not play by the rules at all. It would be better to let Mizerui handle them, while he looked for the opportunity to attack.


    The shield he had up was no Meinan¡¯s ancestral shield. It was able to stop Magic, but not a physical attack. An arrow scraped by Idojin¡¯s shoulder, almost making him lose control and fall out of the air. Shocked, he looked towards the source of the arrow, only to see Purity holding a crossbow. When she saw the arrow missed, her face was filled with frustration.


    ¡°Crossbow?¡± Idojin was now really mad. This was not even a Magic duel anymore. He roared angrily, ¡°That¡¯s against the principle of a Magic duel!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Kaiser raised his eyebrows, ¡°We didn¡¯t use Aura, so it¡¯s not a Knight¡¯s duel, nor did we use Mechas, so it¡¯s not a Mecha duel. We are using Magic. I also looked up the rule book, and Magicians can bring a ¡®personal weapon¡¯ onto a duel. We didn¡¯t violate any rules!¡±


    Idojin was speechless. He didn¡¯t think these people would find a loophole like this. Indeed, some Magicians would bring a dagger with them, but it was mostly for counterattack when their opponent would attack in melee, but not to attack with it!


    Nor would any Magician bring bow and arrow onto an arena. After all, to a Magician, the time to shoot an arrow would be enough to allow the opponent to cast several spells to blow him into pieces.


    After thinking about this, Idojin threw out a fireball. According to his intelligence reports, this girl didn¡¯t even know simple protective shield or Magic at all. This fireball would be enough to make her a charred corpse.


    Facing the menacing fireball, Purity was still desperately trying to load another bolt into her crossbow, completely unaware of the fact she was about to give off a charred smell in the next second¡­

 Volume 13, 3: Project Black Hole

    Volume 13, Chapter 3: Project Black Hole


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    The fireball was about to reach her, but Purity simply glanced at it, with her eyes saying ¡°why is the fireball so close, it¡¯s getting so hot here, I hate it,¡± without any sort for fear of the spell.


    Idojin stared blankly at the strange girl. He felt something strange about all this; he thought perhaps this girl might think he wouldn¡¯t dare to kill her?


    But what happened in the seconds after proved Purity was not suicidal, nor did she doubt Idojin¡¯s willingness to kill her, because Meinan¡¯s protective shield protected her. When the smoke arose from the fireball¡¯s explosion that covered her, a bolt pierced through the smoke, and shot straight towards Idojin.


    The moment the bolt pierced Idojin¡¯s shoulder, he yelled out, ¡°How is that possible! The smoke was everywhere, how could she have seen me¡­¡±


    The smoke cleared, unveiling Purity in the arena. When she saw the wound on Idojin, she did not seem a bit surprised, as if she already knew this would happen.


    ¡®Of course she couldn¡¯t see you!¡® Kaiser and Meinan both let out a crafty smile, but they were not stupid enough to tell their opponents how Purity was able to aim.


    Truth was, Purity simply remembered where Idojin was. Having controlled Mechas for years, Purity could lock on to a target after a single lock, and hit accurately where the target was.


    If it were not for the fact that Idojin¡¯s levitation skills had not been mastered yet, and therefore he would drift slightly while stopping in air, this bolt could very well have pierced his heart. One must wonder, if Idojin knew the thing that saved his life was his inability to master levitation¡­ what would he possibly think?


    Idojin put his hand on the wound on his shoulder, used a small fire spell to disinfect the wound, and sealed it to stop the bleeding.


    After being in disadvantageous situation several times, Idojin finally understood: despite lacking in Magic strength, these young children were full of evil ideas. Evidence proved these ideas also were quite dangerous. He would no longer underestimate them. He looked at Barbalis, and said, ¡°If you aren¡¯t willing to attack, then I will make Mizerui kill them.¡±


    Barbalis face suddenly changed. He knew Mizerui would do exactly as Idojin says. Seeing Idojin about to give the command, he immediately yelled, ¡°Stop!¡±


    Idojin stared at him coldly. Barbalis sighed, looked at Kaiser and others, threw his hands helplessly, and began his attacks. Countless vaguely visible Magical ropes were thrown at Kaiser and others. If possible, he really wished this move would be enough to defeat them for he did not want to harm these kids.


    ¡°Meinan!¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly, and in that very instant, Meinan¡¯s protective shields were raised. However, Barbalis was one step ahead. There were already a few strands of Magic ropes reaching Meinan. These ropes quickly wrapped themselves around Meinan¡¯s body. After a few clapping sounds, Meinan grunted a few times. The protective shield was indeed raised, separating the two sides, and broke the Magic ropes between Barbalis and them.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Meinan suddenly moaned a few times in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Kaiser jumped up like a startled bird. He believed Barbalis would never kill Meinan, however, Barbalis would do anything in his power to make Meinan useless in battle. After all, both sides understood, without Meinan¡¯s iron wall of a protective shield, they would be helpless.


    Meinan¡¯s importance was even more evident in the presence of Barbalis. Barbalis rarely used any spells, resulting in Kaiser and others being completely clueless at what kind of attacks Barbalis excelled in. The only clue were the words Qiusi had said: Barbalis¡¯ power was unfathomably high, especially in his ability to control Magic!


    In a situation where they did not know what the opponents may cast, having Meinan¡¯s protective shield stopping all the spells would be the safest plan! Therefore, Meinan must not be too injured to cast the shield¡­ Kaiser quickly jumped to Meinan¡¯s side. Although he did not specialize in healing Magic, but if necessary, he would still try his best!


    Meinan lowered his head with a hand over his face, while the other hand¡­ held a gold-and-silver-plated baroque mirror. He looked in the mirror while he wept, ¡°My face¡­ how dare you hit my face!¡±


    ¡®I knew it¡­¡¯ Kaiser smacked Meinan¡¯s head hard!


    The knock on his head stunned Meinan briefly, and the shield warped a bit in the mean time. It was supposed to be a great opportunity for their opponent to strike¡­ unfortunately Barbalis did not expect they would be fighting amongst themselves, and thereby missed this chance.


    ¡°These little runts, still playing while an archenemy is before them.¡± Barbalis shamelessly referred to himself as ¡°archenemy¡±.


    Meinan held his head in pain, while murmuring complaints, ¡°Hitting my head again, you know I¡¯m going to turn stupid because of it. Don¡¯t you know¡­ Barbalis is too fast (Meinan was especially quiet when he said this)¡­ and my beautiful face is damaged, I want out¡­ (whispers) and I think it wasn¡¯t his max speed, I might not be able to stop it next time¡­ Besides, it¡¯s not like I have to fight.¡±


    Kaiser screamed loudly, ¡°Please! When things are like this, who the hell cares if your face gets damaged or disfigured¡­ (whispers) think of something, we can¡¯t just watch Mizerui die¡­ Try not fighting, if you dare, I¡¯ll turn your head into a pig head¡­ (whispers) I think maybe if we toss Mizerui into a black hole?¡±


    ¡°Can you two stop fighting! We¡¯re still in a match!¡± Purity looked like she was trying to mediate between the two, but if one was to listen carefully, they would notice she would always speak when the other two were whispering, to cover their ¡°extra¡± conversation.


    Meinan roared back, ¡°Beat me, if you dare, you think my father won¡¯t turn you into a bigger pig¡¯s head than me¡­ (whispers) but, where would the black hole send Mizerui?¡±


    Kaiser showed a gangster look, and snapped, ¡°Your father? He only knows to hide in his shield. He¡¯d never come out to beat me¡­ (whispers) at least better than death. Besides, so far, the chance of falling into another world is not high.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s decided.¡± The two spoke as they looked at Purity, whom blinked, to indicate she understood.


    Purity took a deep breath, and screamed loudly enough to shake the entire stadium, ¡°Stop fighting!¡±


    Everyone was dazed from this piercing scream. Even when the echo of her voice had stopped, their heads were still filled with the words ¡°stop fighting¡±. No one noticed, the three of them already began to attack: Kaiser covered the sky with fireballs, while Meinan surrounded himself with thick shields and charged at Barbalis with his dagger.


    Barbalis had to fly up in the air, but Meinan also used Levitation to follow him and began launching melee attacks towards Barbalis. Barbalis did not want to use a strong Magic spell to attack Meinan, but the lesser Magic could not even scratch Meinan¡¯s shield. So he had no choice but to dodge around. This demonstrated his accuracy of his Magic, and Meinan could not even touch him.


    Nevertheless, hurting Barbalis was not his intent. Meinan was waiting for the opportunity, until he felt they were far enough to Idojin, then he said with a low voice, ¡°We plan on throwing Mizerui into the black hole.¡±


    Barbalis¡¯s eyes glowed. Under Dragon Emperor and Idojin¡¯s restraints, they could not take Mizerui away with teleport. However, with a black hole that could travel through vast time and space, it should not be a problem.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you control him.¡± Barbalis replied quietly.


    Hearing this, Meinan was absolutely ecstatic. With Barbalis¡¯ help, the plan was definitely viable.


    Purity stood on the ground by herself with a bow in her hands. She began chanting, and a faint glow began emitting from the arrow. At a glance, it looked like she was enchanting her arrow with Magic, but it was just a cover up. Truth was, the spell Purity was casting was the black hole Magic.


    Barbalis saw what Purity did, and he suddenly felt a sense of his children all growing up. Originally, he was still considering what he had to use to cover up the Magic fluctuation from the black hole spell, but he did not expect Purity to have already done so herself.


    He then looked at Kaiser, who was attacking carelessly at Idojin, with the sole goal of distracting him. This little runt was as cunning as he always had been.


    Barbalis thought to himself, ¡®Mizerui, oh, Mizerui, wake up soon, so you can watch how the children we caught back then to play have grown.¡¯


    ¡°Barbalis! Purity¡¯s black hole is almost done casting.¡± Meinan quietly reminded.


    Barbalis hurriedly put away his reminiscence, and said quietly, ¡°Meinan, I have to attack you, to draw everyone¡¯s attention.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Meinan paused, then declared seriously, ¡°As long as you don¡¯t hit my face.¡±


    A bright light appeared on Barbalis¡¯ hand, and it concentrated into a ball of light. He threw it towards Meinan¡¯s head. Unable to respond in time, Meinan was being pushed down towards the ground, even though his shield remained undamaged. Like a meteorite, Meinan collapsed into the ground and created a crater. Although the shield was still there, Meinan realized that, along with his shield, he was now locked onto the ground without the ability to move.


    When he turned, he saw a pair of feet suddenly appeared. Meinan looked up, and sure enough they were Mizerui¡¯s feet. Suddenly, Meinan began to struggle desperately, but it was not to break himself free. Instead, it was to make everything look more real. He also tried to obfuscate Barbalis¡¯ Magic power, to cover up the fact that it was suppressing Mizerui¡¯s power.


    As planned, Idojin did not notice anything, but Mizerui, who was under control, turned slightly to look at Meinan. If he were his usual self, he would have already known Meinan was up to something, and he would not have fallen into such a simple trap. Unfortunately, he was now a muppet who did nothing but follow orders. Unless he was given an order or under attack, he would not do anything.


    ¡°Now!¡±


    Purity shouted, and the arrow was unleashed. The black Magic on the arrow suddenly expanded, and pounced towards Mizerui like a mouth of a predator. Though he determined he was under attack and he should dodge, but the teleport spell he cast had fizzled, and when he wanted to move away using his feet, he realized he couldn¡¯t even take one step away because there was a transparent wall around, stopping him.


    The person stopping him, of course, was Barbalis.


    When the black mouth was about to devour Mizerui, a giant wall of ice appeared just in time to stop the mouth. It was a spell Idojin had cast to block the black hole.


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Kaiser roared, and a Divine Fireball soared from his giant gun to break the wall, but it was knocked out of its trajectory by a series of ice bolts. It ended up breaking the protective shield. Luckily, it headed towards the sky, otherwise there might be a skewer of Knight meat as a result.


    The giant mouth took some time to chew through the ice walls. In the mean time, Mizerui¡¯s power surged, and struggled desperately against Barbalis¡¯ constraint without caring for the consequences. Barbalis was afraid to keep pressuring because the Mizerui now would not care whether his body would be damaged in the process, nor would he care if his mind breaks down from overexerting his mana.


    In fact, the last time when Mizerui was sent to attack the secret base, dire consequences almost happened due to his overexertion.


    The giant mouth charged towards Mizerui, but in the last moment possible, Mizerui used a short range teleport to move to the black hole¡¯s side. The black hole ¡°took a big bite,¡± but other than the rocks on the arena, it gained nothing at all.


    It failed¡­ Panic filled everyone¡¯s heart, especially Barbalis. He looked towards the Dragon Emperor, wondering if his betrayal would break the promise to let go of Mizerui if he won the fight.


    The Dragon Emperor elegantly extended his index finger to gesture ¡°1¡±, and Barbalis finally felt relaxed but heavy at the same time. He understood the Dragon Emperor meant he would have one more chance, and therefore he relaxed. However, this also meant he had no other choice but win this match.


    But if Kaiser and others lost, what would happen to Liola? Barbalis couldn¡¯t help but think. Before the match, Kaiser¡¯s eyes glanced towards Liola as a hint. Liola looked like he would be fine, and that he had escaped the hypnosis, so what exactly still tied him back to the Dragon Emperor?


    Barbalis¡¯s eyes floated towards Liola, only to see Liola was staring blankly into the arena with his expression like he just saw the devil¡­


    He could not resist looking in the direction of Liola¡¯s eyes, until he saw the black hole. It was still completely dark, with nothing to be seen. Why would Liola look like he just saw a ghost?


    Barbalis was too concentrated to analyzing Liola¡¯s expressions, while the battle had already resumed next to him. Idojin already made Mizerui join the battle. Other than Meinan¡¯s protective shield, no one could possibly stop Mizerui¡¯s gravity magic. Suddenly, the three of them were forced to stand together, and Meinan desperately used his shield to protect everyone.


    Although Barbalis was seriously slacking, Idojin and Mizerui would be enough to give Kaiser and others a serious headache. Albeit they had been advancing greatly, mana took time to build up. Mizerui was already a ¡°centenarian¡± with hundreds of years under his belt, and never mind Idojin. No one knew what kind of artifact he would be to be following the Dragon Emperor for so long.


    If nothing unexpected happened, the three of them were further and further away from victory.


    ¡°Kaiser?¡± Purity panickedly looked at Kaiser, not knowing what else they could do. They had already lost the first match, if they lost this match again, Liola would have to eat the Heart¡­ and it was no different than dying.


    ¡®We can¡¯t lose!¡¯


    All three of them thought that, though they might feel helpless, they still could not afford to lose!


    ¡°Kaiser!¡±


    Kaiser paused, ¡®Who¡¯s calling me? The voice sounds really familiar¡­ but that person shouldn¡¯t have such a panicked tone?¡¯


    ¡°Kaiser!¡±


    Yet another calling, and this call seemed even more panic than before. Kaiser turned towards the person he thought of with confusion ¡ª Liola.


    Liola was using the ¡°saw-a-ghost¡± tone of voice to call out to Kaiser.


    ¡°What! What the heck is wrong with your face?¡± Kaiser paused, and asked strangely.


    Liola pointed towards black hole, and everyone¡¯s gaze landed onto it. After all, there were very few things that could make Liola act as disgraceful as this, and it would be a shame not to see it. Thus, something strange happened in the stadium: the match was going half way, but everyone was staring blankly into a black hole.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing there?¡± Kaiser said skeptically. After looking for a long while, it was still as pitch black as before¡­ Could Liola be afraid of the dark? That would be strange, considering he was always wearing black, so how could he be afraid of it?


    No one saw anything, but Liola clearly ¡°felt¡± it ¡ª the kind of oppressive terror from the only person whom Liola dared not to resist, there was only ¡°him.¡± B-but, how could it be? It was just a black hole¡­


    However, the only reason they ended up in an alien world was none other than the black hole¡­


    Could it really be him? The person whose name would make people tremble in fear, the famous (infamous?) devil whose name went down in history?


    ¡°I say, what the hell are you guys doing? Throwing ice in one moment, and rocks in the next; do you think I run a trash bin?¡±


    Barbalis, Kaiser, and Daylight all froze. The voice was far too familiar. It was one they wanted to forget but couldn¡¯t!


    ¡°Why are you not talking? Are you ignoring me? Li?¡±


    ¡°AHHHH¡ª¡±


    Kaiser yelled loudly. He finally knew who it was. There was only one person who would call Liola like this! And this person was already something past what ¡°terrifying¡± or ¡°horrifying¡± could describe.


    ¡°Why are you screaming? Do you really have to yell like this when you see your own grandpa?¡±


    The blackness of the black hole was suddenly erased, and shone like a bright light instead. In it, a person was lying lazily. The clothes this person was wearing was rather strange. It was similar to Mizerui¡¯s long robe, but seemed more luxurious. He was looking at the people outside of the black hole as though he was somewhat curious in regards to what they were doing, but he also felt a bit annoyed, as if he did not want to bother with them.


    ¡°Devil Gle!¡± The Dragon Emperor suddenly stood up, and roared angrily.

 Volume 13, 4: The Strongest Summon

    Volume 13, Chapter 4: The Strongest Summon


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°Why are you suddenly here?¡± Kaiser asked unbelievably.


    Gle raised his eyebrow, and said leisurely, ¡°Strange, I didn¡¯t open the hole. I haven¡¯t even blame you for opening a hole in my house, and you¡¯re already blaming me for it? Don¡¯t tell me that, nowadays, I can¡¯t even lie in my own house and nap?¡±


    ¡°Gle!¡± The Dragon Emperor roared after gritting his teeth.


    ¡°Aiya! Dragon Emperor, you haven¡¯t changed a bit, still being a hypocrite and feigning kindness.¡± Gle sat up, and looked at the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying?¡± The Dragon Emperor yelled, with his chest rapidly going up and down. He had no idea the Devil would suddenly appear now. Since Aklan and Commerce Alliance were obviously opposing him, if the devil were to join them, his plans might not end up well.


    ¡°What are you so angry about?¡± Gle lazily leaned back on his chair, ¡°I don¡¯t plan on going back.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor was so angry he could not hear anything Gle said, ¡°The Aklan Prime Minister was indeed harboring you.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! What the hell does it have to do with them? I, Devil Gle, need them to harbor me? Ha.¡± Gle¡¯s eyes suddenly looked spirited. Although he had lost against the Dragon Emperor back then and had nothing to say, but if the Dragon Emperor were to involve other people into this, he would not continue to submit to such humiliation.


    Seeing Gle might have been angered by him, the Dragon Emperor suddenly realized he might have done something idiotic: Gle did not seem to want to intervene in this matter, so why would he illicit his anger and force him to be involved?


    Thinking about it, the Dragon Emperor calmed his agitation. After all, he had living for thousands of years, and there were very few things to make him lose control completely. He asked calmly, ¡°Devil Gle, do you plan on intervening the succession between the successor and I?¡± The Dragon Emperor cleverly disguised this match as a problem of succession. If it were a succession issue within the royal family of the Empire, then outsiders naturally should not intervene.


    ¡°Between you and the successor?¡± Gle, however, asked with interest. At the same time, his eyes were fixed on Liola. He looked and there was no other Princes or Princesses, but how did this guy become the successor? Li being the successor? Interesting.


    ¡°Right, right! Liola can only be the Dragon Emperor if we win the match, understand now?¡±


    Kaiser suddenly started yelling loudly, to attract Gle¡¯s attention. Gle was fully aware how cunning his descendant was. He knew Kaiser would not want to attract his attention if there was nothing important. Now, the runt was actively trying to catch his attention, so it must mean Kaiser was up to something again.


    ¡°Sigh! But Mizerui is just far too strong, and we don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± Kaiser sighed exaggeratedly and said.


    ¡®Mizerui?¡¯ Gle frowned. ¡®Why would that guy ever oppose Li and his friends? Didn¡¯t he want to kill the Dragon Emperor and take his place?¡¯


    Gle¡¯s eyes were now fixed towards Mizerui, only to see him standing expressionlessly on the arena, and had no reaction after seeing Gle. There was was obviously some big problems. Gle only paused for a moment before he understood; Mizerui must be under control, otherwise he would not dare to ignore him.


    ¡®This idiot!¡¯


    Rage suddenly overcame Gle. As his eldest apprentice! How could he have fallen into the Dragon Emperor¡¯s control? This was very shameful to him!


    Gle stood up from his chair, with fire still burning in his eyes. Having always believed in violence, he reached out his right hand, and a drill-shaped spell shot towards Mizerui. But during its trajectory, gravity Magic caused it to land onto the ground. Because he was getting attacked, Mizerui counterattacked instinctively, and a dozen black balls were shot towards the black hole Gle was standing in.


    ¡°Mizerui! You wanna die?¡±


    He waved his hand to defuse the black balls, but Gle was now truly infuriated. How dare Mizerui attack him? Mizerui must be¡­ must be¡­


    TIRED. OF. LIVING!


    Gle had a Blue Dragon on his left and White Tiger on his right¡­ Or rather! A Fire Dragon coming from his left hand, and an Electric Tiger on his right. Both of these Magic Animals were comparable in size to a real Dragon, and the heat from the Fire Dragon was even felt by the Dragon Emperor, who was standing far away. The electric tiger was even more awe-inspiring; just the sight of the bolts of lightning would drive fear into the hearts of anyone who would look at it, and the arcs were as tall as a person. Though Meinan had casted a protective shield, he still kept backing up away from Gle.


    ¡°Damn! Is all this even necessary?!¡± Kaiser¡¯s jaws dropped, and yelled, ¡°Crap! Is Mizerui going to end up getting killed by Gle instead of the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Purity screamed, ¡°D-Dragon¡­ T-tiger¡­¡±


    Although Purity¡¯s cries sounded tragic, no one would say a word because by now, the Dragon and Tiger from Gle¡¯s hands already charged out of the black hole. In that instant, the entire arena was shrouded by these two spells ¡ª fires and lightnings were everywhere. Kaiser and Meinan were also yelling an octave higher than usual, ¡°AHH¡ª¡±


    When their lives were threatened, everyone had seemingly unlimited potential. Meinan¡¯s protective shield instantly reached a strength he had been unable to obtain before. The Fire Dragon and the Lightning Tiger finally exploded in the arena. In that instant, other than red and blue lights, nothing could be seen. In addition, other than hearing continuous explosions, none of the screams could be heard.


    ¡°Crap, are Kaiser, Meinan, and Purity in danger?¡± Daylight was as anxious as ants in a hot pan*. His eyes drifted frequently between the arena and Liola¡¯s face, hoping to read the situation from his face.


    [T/N: This idiom is used to describe a person¡¯s anxiety and restlessness just like how ants would behave on a hot pan.]


    Although there was nothing to be seen or heard, but Liola did not need any of that. Since he was already able to sense Gle when the black hole still had nothing there, he was obviously able to sense the presence of Kaiser and others from the not so far away arena, and that they had not changed much.


    ¡°They¡¯re fine.¡± Liola nodded as Daylight turned towards him again.


    Daylight finally felt a bit better, and returned to calmly observing the situation in the arena. Albeit the explosion and the lights had passed, the stadium remained perfectly silent because smoke now shrouded the entire arena, and no one could see what was going on.


    ¡°Papa?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s master! Bastard.¡±


    ¡°Why would you be here?¡± Mizerui asked, completely surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re digging holes in my house! One open holes, and the other dared to attack me. You little runts, bastards! Bastards! I¡¯m pissed.¡±


    As the smoke slowly cleared, the situation could finally been seen. Kaiser and others were already cowering on the ground, and Mizerui was lying on the ground pitifully. His black-and-white robe was now ripped and dirty, to the point where it looked more like a gray robe. His body also had plenty of wounds, though luckily none of them seemed too serious.


    The important thing was, he no longer looked expressionless. Instead, he was blankly looking at Gle, who was inside the black hole, with confusion. He then looked at where he was, confused why he was in such a strange place.


    ¡°Long time no see, Gle, looks like you¡¯re still as recklessly as you were before.¡±


    Barbalis slowly descended from the air. When the Fire Dragon and Lightning Tiger charged, he did the simplest thing he could think of ¡ª fly higher so he would not get hit.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Gle looked at the old geezer coldly, unable to remember how he would know such an old man.


    Veins popped out of Barbalis¡¯ forehead, ¡°I am Barbalis!¡±


    ¡°Barbalis!?¡± Gle paused, then began to examine the old man facing him, ¡°Why did you make yourself look like an old man?¡±


    ¡°I am already an old man.¡± Barbalis shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in maintaining my face to look like a young man.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph!¡± Gle raised his eyebrows, and attacked back, ¡°Only weird people would want to make themselves look like they¡¯re on the brink of death.¡±


    Barbalis laughed for a while, and said with feelings, ¡°You still act as mischievous as you were before, but no matter how silly you have been, you¡¯ve always been able to solve the problems of others. In the hundreds of years I¡¯ve known you, I still can¡¯t figure out if you¡¯re really just causing trouble or you¡¯re actually helping.¡±


    Gle replied rudely, ¡°What the hell are you saying? You look like an old man, has your brain also succumb to old age?¡±


    ¡°Never mind. The black hole is about to close again, you should go speak with the others.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would try to convince me to come back, but you didn¡¯t even try; so heartless.¡± Gle pouted, and said unhappily.


    Barbalis smiled as he shook his head; ¡®This man¡¯s awkward personality didn¡¯t change at all. He and Kaiser really do seem alike.¡¯


    By now, Mizerui was already slowly standing up, and his eyes were fixed on Gle. His body¡­ on the other hand, was slowly backing away. He finally remembered he was being controlled by the Dragon Emperor, and he even attacked Gle; it was pretty much a suicidal act.


    Gle narrowed his eyes dangerously, and said coldly, ¡°What are you doing! Are you trying to run?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Mizerui¡¯s face went bitter, and said a lie even he wouldn¡¯t believe himself, ¡°My legs are cramping, and they¡¯re backing me out by themselves.¡±


    Gle grunted and said, ¡°Better scram! If I keep seeing you, I might blow you into pieces thinner than my nails!¡±


    Mizerui smiled bitterly. With Barbalis¡¯ help, the two of them slowly flew into the sky.


    Barbalis said casually, ¡°Almost forgot, we both surrender.¡±


    Hearing this, even though the Dragon Emperor was infuriated, but under Gle¡¯s cold gaze, he could do nothing but hold his fists tightly and hold his anger back. He sat still in his throne, did not say anything, and watched as the two of them flew away.


    Seeing this, Barbalis smiled slightly, threw out the last sentence, and slowly faded away, ¡°Although you really are awkward and never want to say things clearly even after helping others, but I still have to thank you, old friend.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph!¡±


    By now, the black hole was only the size of a head, with only Gle¡¯s cold face visible. He turned to looked at Kaiser and Liola, and threatened, ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are doing! However, if you dare to lose, nevermind the fact that I¡¯m in another world. Even if I¡¯m in hell, I will climb up and get you two. Do you hear me?!¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Kaiser and Liola answered in unison.


    From the fading black hole, one could vaguely see Gle yawn, lie down on a chair with one hand behind his head, and continued his nap. While he was falling asleep, he was pondering how he could cause disturbances in the Martial Arts world. Perhaps create a type of Kung Fu, hide it, and make a treasure map to it, so he would see everyone fighting each other endlessly for it¡­


    ¡°Ha!¡±


    The black hole closed completely, leaving only Gle¡¯s laughter behind with some unknown meaning, which made everyone¡¯s hair stand. People began to wonder, if one day Gle would suddenly come back and start creating chaos again?


    Everyone present were confused what had happened, but they could see the Dragon Emperor¡¯s face being completely frozen. However, moments later, he began to laugh again, stood up, and announced loudly,


    ¡°You lost. You are only allowed to send three Magicians to the match, but instead you had a fourth, and this seriously violated the match¡¯s rules.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Kaiser immediately refuted instinctively, ¡°This is just Purity¡¯s ultimate.¡±


    ¡®My ultimate?¡¯ Purity¡¯s eyes widened. She forced herself not to show fear, and nodded with her rigid face, cooperating with Kaiser¡¯s super lies.


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± The Dragon Emperor frowned, and yelled in disdain.


    Kaiser, who had just been warned by Gle, would not abandon his victory because of the Dragon Emperor frowning. He said coldly, ¡°Do you not even have common sense, or are you going to tell me you don¡¯t even know about summon spells?¡±


    ¡°Summon spell?¡± The Dragon Emperor was actually stunned. How did this involve summoning spell?


    ¡°The so-called summoning spell means opening a door to another dimension, and call forth a creature from this world to help the Magician.¡± Kaiser explained carelessly, ¡°Didn¡¯t you see that black hole? It was another dimension. In fact, Purity was just using her unstable ¡®random summoning spell¡¯ to call a ¡®summon¡¯. But, it just so happened that we hit the jackpot, and summoned the Devil to our aid. How is that violating the rules?¡±


    ¡°That cannot possibly count!¡± The Dragon Emperor was about to explode from anger. It was practically a fallacy; the devil Gle was a summon? Who would actually believe that?


    ¡®You actually said Gle was a summon¡­ if he heard it, you will rest in pieces, ones thinner than his nails.¡¯ Daylight and Liola both thought at the same time.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go look it up?!¡± Kaiser raised his chin, and said arrogantly, ¡°No matter what kind of Magic duel, summon spells are always accepted, and no rules said we can¡¯t summon the Devil to fight for us!¡±


    ¡°We could summon the Devil because of our luck! What? Are you going to be a sore loser?¡± Kaiser purposely looked at the Dragon Emperor with contempt, and said, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be too disgraceful, Your Majesty?¡±


    The Dragon Emperor looked towards Idojin, who, after a moment of thought, shook his head back. Indeed, the black hole Purity opened was a type of summoning spell that opened the door to another dimension¡­ However, it was the most unstable, and one very few would use. This spell, under normal circumstances, was not something one would use in real combat, but no rules stated one could not do such a thing.


    Seeing Idojin shake his head, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s face darkened. He looked towards Kaiser, and said blankly, ¡°Then, let¡¯s suppose your summon defeated two of my Magicians. However, my side still has a Magician in the arena, and therefore the victory is not yours yet.¡±


    Kaiser blinked, and did not realize until now, ¡®Oh! Right, there¡¯s still Idojin, I almost thought we won already¡­¡¯


    ¡°Then¡­ let¡¯s start the fight again!¡± Before Kaiser even said the word ¡°fight,¡± a giant fireball already soared out of his giant gun¡­ To be more precise, he was taking advantage of others not being prepared. To be even more precise, he was ambushing Idojin!


    Idojin did not expect his opponent to try ambushing in front of all these Knights. With no time to cast a spell, he embarrassingly rolled to the side, barely escaping this ambushing fireball.


    Everyone gave Kaiser a disdainful look.


    ¡°Tsk, too bad.¡± Unfortunately this person had little care for self contemplation, and he even rolled his eyes towards everyone, ¡°What are you looking at?! I¡¯m not a Knight, can¡¯t I not be righteous?¡±


    Though everyone felt this person was extremely shameless, but as he said, he was no Knight, and the Knights had no right to demand him to follow their code of honor. Thus, all they could was look at him in contempt.


    Another bolt was suddenly shot towards Idojin. Luckily for him, after being ambushed so many times, he had a fireball ready to diffuse the bolt. Idojin relaxed a bit, and his eyes saw that there were only two people remaining on the opposing side; Meinan was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Idojin wanted to take a moment to think, but Kaiser already shot another fireball at him. The moment he put up a shield to block the fireball, Purity shot another bolt at him. Since his shield could not stop physical attacks, Idojin had no choice but cast another spell to handle Purity¡¯s bolt.


    While fumbling to defend himself, Idojin threw a look to where Kaiser was, noticing a figure with golden hair in a corner. He thought, perhaps after using his protective shield to stop Gle¡¯s attack, Meinan ended up being exhausted, so he had to go hide in order to not become a burden.


    This was perfect for him. Without Meinan¡¯s shield, he would be able to attack without worrying. Idojin saw an opportunity while Purity was reloading, and used a large-scale attack. Pieces of beautiful snowflakes began to descend onto the arena. Unlike its appearance, however, the snowflakes were very deadly, leaving behind a scar every place it touched on the arena ground. Some of Kaiser¡¯s fireballs collided with them, and it exploded in the air.


    Fireballs and snowflakes filled the arena, and they would explode when they occasionally collided, covering the sky with what seemed to be fireworks and snow dust. It looked like a dazzling scenery¡­ as long as you weren¡¯t in the arena. By looking at Kaiser and Purity, neither of them knew how to cast a shield, and seeing the sparks land on their clothes, igniting it, or when the snow dust touched them, they would sneeze endlessly. One would know the beautiful things were better seen from far away.


    Idojin was surrounded by three people, and he was a bit fumbled, because he did not excel in Magic duels, in addition to Kaiser having endless amount of cunning ideas, but not because he lacked in strength. For him to follow the Dragon Emperor for such a long time, his true strength was definitely there, and this spell also demonstrated his extraordinary power.


    The transparent snowflake Magic did not seem to slow down, but instead it became more and more intense. Kaiser had no choice but to cover the sky with fireballs to stop the beautiful yet fatal snowflakes, but being showered by the aftermaths of the collision did not feel great either. Purity kept dodging, without being able to shoot, and Kaiser could barely stop the attack, never mind attacking back.


    This was Idojin¡¯s golden opportunity. He used levitation up in the air, and began to chant another large scale Magic. He wanted to blow up the three people, along with this arena, into pieces.


    Idojin was in the second half of the spell; he thought, he was close to succeeding, and the legacy of the Dragon Emperor would not end here¡­


    While chanting, his eyes noticed a strange scenario: a small spark fell onto Meinan in the corner where he hid, but Meinan did not seem to react. The fire grew more and more intense, and his entire body was now practically a fireball¡­ How could that be¡­


    Fake! Idojin finally understood. That was not the real Meinan, but where would the real Meinan be?


    Idojin looked left and right, not paying attention his spell. However, he did not see Meinan around him, so where would Meinan be?


    Kaiser saw Idojin looking around him, and began to smile. He said, ¡°What? Do you really think Meinan only carry a dagger?¡±


    Meinan was higher in the air than Idojin, and he held a crossbow in his hand. After pulling the trigger, a bolt shot out, hitting Idojin squarely in his chest. Because Meinan did not want to kill him, the bolt missed the heart, but it did still pierced his lung.


    Idojin fell out of the sky. Before he hit the ground, Meinan protected him with a spherical shield. Otherwise, with a pierced lung, the impact with the ground would have taken his life instantly.


    Meinan slowly landed on the ground. Idojin turned to look at him, noticing his originally long golden hair had been cut short. Judging from the messy looks, he must had cut them off with the dagger before. He was also wearing only undershirts, with his robe nowhere to be found.


    ¡®Did they fool me with hair and a robe?¡¯ Idojin thought to himself, but how would that be possible? Did they plan on doing something like this from the start? No! Impossible, they could not have been able to guess beforehand that only one of their opponents would remain. If they had planned this, they would have prepared a wig beforehand, instead of cutting off his hair on the spot.


    Kaiser and Purity walked over, both with a victorious smile on their faces.


    ¡°This world runs on being despicable!¡± Kaiser showed a contemptible smile that would make everyone want to slap him on sight, ¡°Unfortunately, the only person more despicable than me, Kaiser, had just returned to the other world!¡±


    ¡°W-when did you guys discuss to go with such a plan?¡± Idojin really did not understand, these three people obviously had not talked, but Kaiser and Purity¡¯s actions were obviously covering for Meinan. Without having talked, how did these three cooperate?


    ¡°What discussion¡­¡± Kaiser scratched his face, and shrugged, ¡°I just saw Meinan suddenly go hide in the corner. Although I didn¡¯t know what he was up to, I thought to cover him first.¡±


    Purity also nodded wildly.


    ¡°But I really didn¡¯t expect you would be willing to cut your own hair off¡­¡± Kaiser looked at Meinan with his comically horrid haircut.


    As soon as he heard ¡°hair¡±, Meinan¡¯s entire face sank. He almost did not have the courage to take out a mirror to look.


    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s gorgeous.¡± Kaiser smiled, giving Meinan the thumbs up.


    ¡°Really?¡± Meinan was shocked, and hurried to grab his mirror to see how beautiful he was.


    Bang! Purity punched the small mirror out of Meinan¡¯s hand, breaking it in the process.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to look at it, Meinan, you really are very, very beautiful.¡± Purity smiled innocently.


    ¡°Then, why did you break my mirror?¡± Meinan widened his gaze, staring at the pieces of glasses from the second mirror he wanted to pass down to his son as an heirloom.


    ¡°Because she¡¯s afraid your narcissism would double after seeing how beautiful you are.¡± Kaiser explained with a serious face.


    Meinan brushed his hair with his hand, and smiled narcissistically, ¡°I knew it; no matter what I do, I¡¯ll still be the most beautiful thing ever! Hehehe¡­¡±


    Kaiser and Purity looked at Meinan¡¯s hair, and both gulped. Originally, his messy hair could be called a ¡°passable¡± look, but after Meinan brushed it, the bizarre look of his hair was now apparent, and they could barely look¡­


    ¡°Nevertheless, we won, right? Dragon Emperor, Your Highness?¡±


    Kaiser said as he threw a provoking look to the Dragon Emperor, whose blue face made Kaiser feel¡­ ha! The best feeling he had ever felt for causing trouble!

 Volume 13, 5: As Brothers

    Volume 13, Chapter 5: As Brothers


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Since the Knight and Magic duels took too long, it was decided that the Dragon duels would take place the day after. This decision made Kaiser and others feel slightly relaxed, since they now had at least one night to come up with ideas, although they were beginning to feel it was perhaps unnecessary after all¡­


    Everyone stared at each other, and surrounded Baolilong, who really did enjoy being in the center of everyone, eating meat while playing a staring contest with Kaiser.


    ¡°Are you sure this little runt even understand the word ¡®duel¡¯?¡± Kaiser gestured at Baolilong, who, despite being grown up, was still holding meat and ate all day. If they were having an eating contest tomorrow, they were bound to win, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t¡­ If they were to send these little glutton Dragon to battle, they would definitely not win!


    ¡°¡­¡± Liola looked at Baolilong speechlessly, but he felt no confidence in it. Although Baolilong appeared to have grown and had gotten more articulate, its personality was still like a little child. He really did not want to ask Baolilong go up to fight, especially when the opponent was likely Miluo, Baolilong¡¯s father.


    ¡°I know!¡± Baolilong swallowed the meat, and protested loudly.


    ¡°Ha!¡± Kaiser was shocked, ¡°You actually learned to say ¡°I¡±. You used to always say ¡®Baolilong wants meat¡¯ or ¡®Baolilong is hungry¡¯? When did you learn to say ¡®I¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Baolilong really did learn.¡± Baolilong said proudly, even not realizing it was back to saying ¡°Baolilong¡± again.


    Kaiser scratched his head, and said with a little ounce of hope, ¡°Do you know to fight?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Baolilong yelled loudly, igniting a bit of hope in everyone¡¯s heart. They thought, despite being a little Dragon, but it was a Sacred White Dragon, the Prince of all Dragons!


    Baolilong spoke loudly of the battle experience it had obtained from the small town, ¡°Cook it with lightning and eat it.¡±


    Hearing this, everyone fell to the ground.


    ¡°Such a straightforward answer.¡± Kaiser wiped away his tears, and interrogated, ¡°Then, do you have any ultimate to cook Miluo?¡±


    Baolilong looked with confusion, unsure of what Kaiser meant.


    ¡°Ultimate means a powerful move, and Miluo means old papa.¡± Liola knew what Baolilong did not understand, so he explained directly.


    Although it unsure of why it would have to cook its old papa, Baolilong still explained obediently, ¡°I know Dragon Magic, but papa also needs to know, otherwise Baolilong can¡¯t cast it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it! Dragon Magic! I almost forgot that thing existed.¡± Kaiser jumped up. Dragon Magic was their key to victory; legend had it, it was the greatest Magic among the Dragons. If it could cast Dragon Magic, Baolilong would be able to defeat Miluo¡­ uh, or at least he hoped?


    ¡°Quick! Baolilong, hurry and teach your papa!¡± Kaiser said anxiously.


    Baolilong looked at Kaiser blankly, then at Liola, but it did not know how to explain.


    Kaiser suddenly had a bad feeling, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you know Dragon Magic?¡±


    ¡°The truth is¡­¡±


    Daylight opened his mouth, pulling everyone¡¯s attention. He said with a forced smile, ¡°The one who should really ¡®know¡¯ Dragon Magic is Liola, not Baolilong.¡±


    Liola paused. Him? Knowing Dragon Magic?


    ¡°What are you talking about? Liola is practically an idiot when it comes Magic, so how could he possibly know?!¡± Kaiser asked back, but he then suddenly remembered Daylight was also a Knight, with the Dragon, Flames! He asked with hope, ¡°Daylight, you are a Knight too! Then, you know some Dragon Magic, right? Hurry and train Liola!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Daylight smiled helplessly. It looked like these people knew nothing of the Dragon Magic.


    ¡°You guys have seen a lot of Knights, right? And seen them in battle?¡±


    Daylight tried to remind everyone, and they naturally nodded. Obviously they had seen Knights, they were even sieged by Knights!


    ¡°Then have you seen any of these Knights use Dragon Magic?¡± Daylight asked carefully.


    Everyone shook their heads in unison.


    Daylight smiled bitterly as he dropped the last bomb, ¡°It¡¯s a Magic exclusive to the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    The faces of everyone present were as if¡­ they saw a delicious steak, and when they want to cut into it to enjoy the food, they saw the most grotesque cockroach crawling out from underneath it. In other words, the situation was a dilemma; they knew they could not eat the steak, but their noses still smelled the aroma of the food¡­


    Kaiser¡¯s mouth twitched a bit, and asked with a tiny spark of hope, ¡°Do you think, it might be possible the Dragon Emperor happen to write this Magic down, and put it in a library for others to read?¡±


    ¡°All the Dragon Emperors to date shared the same Heart, so there is no reason to write it down, is there?¡±


    ¡°I knew it. God! The only hope is now gone again!¡± Kaiser moaned loudly, even to the point where he grabbed Daylight¡¯s shoulders and started shaking it violently, ¡°Hurry! You¡¯re the only ¡®other¡¯ person with a Dragon here! Hurry and think of a way to increase Baolilong¡¯s power in a short time! If it continues with these random small electric bolts, how could it possibly win against the mountain-like Miluo?¡±


    ¡°Kaiser.¡± Daylight said with a bit of shock, ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything just now.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaiser was somewhat confused.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Heart.¡± Daylight frowned. He was certain it was not his companions¡¯ voice.


    A person slowly materialized in the air: golden long hair, and sky blue eyes. Without even changing his severely damaged black-and-white robe, Mizerui¡¯s familiar face slowly appeared in front of everyone.


    ¡°I know, you guys are trying to think of something, but this thinking process doesn¡¯t require Liola to be present, right?¡± Mizerui smiled lightly.


    ¡°What do you mean it doesn¡¯t require his presence? This match is his match, and the Dragon is his, he¡­¡±


    Kaiser suddenly shut himself up, because a dozen black balls were circling the room, and these black gravity balls were Mizerui¡¯s forte. Without even having to guess, everyone knew where these came from. Everyone began to be on guard, especially Meinan, because only his protective shield could stop these gravity balls, and he was already prepared to put up the shield at any time.


    ¡°Mizerui, are you in hypnosis again?¡± Kaiser asked carefully, fearing he might provoke this horrific wanted criminal. Although he asked, but according to his observation, Mizerui did not look like he was under hypnosis at all.


    ¡°No.¡± Mizerui answered calmly, ¡°I just need to speak with Liola.¡±


    Kaiser frowned. Mizerui was practically using this threatening method to speak with Liola? What exactly did he want.


    Unfortunately, without giving Kaiser time to even object, Liola said while nodding, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± He then stepped out of the door by himself.


    ¡°Wait, Liola¡­¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes widened. ¡®Does this guy have any sense of what dangers are?¡¯


    Liola turned around, shook his head, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will be back soon.¡±


    Mizerui withdrew the black balls in the room, and followed Liola out without saying another word. When both of them left the room, the wooden door was closed forcefully, emitting a deep bang as it closed.


    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face sank.


    ¡°It should be fine, right? Mizerui isn¡¯t a bad person.¡± Daylight was slightly confused what Kaiser was worried about.


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, and answered mockingly, ¡°Yes, the top ten wanted criminal would, of course, be a good person. Or maybe he was such a kind person and that¡¯s why he made it onto that list. Besides, he was using a dozen gravity balls, perhaps to add decorations to our boring room!¡±


    Daylight stared blankly, but could not think of anything to refute him.


    ¡°Forget it, he should be fine.¡± Kaiser looked towards the door uneasily. ¡®He should be fine¡­ right?¡¯


    * * *


    Although Liola was walking ahead, he did not know where to go. When he was living in the palace, he was in a state of hypnosis for most of the time. After a brief moment of thought, the only thing he remembered was the Kapok tree and Susanna¡¯s grave. Unconsciously, his feet began walking towards that direction.


    Mizerui followed quietly. His eyes, hiding behind his glasses, were fixed on Liola¡¯s back. As far as where they would go to speak, he did not seem to care.


    After exiting the palace, their feet were met with grass. The Kapok tree and Susanna¡¯s grave were vaguely visible from the distance, but Liola suddenly discovered shockingly; there seemed to be one more tombstone underneath the tree? The last time he was here, there was nothing like that. He suddenly stopped, and stared blankly at the tombstone. His heart already had a vague idea of the truth, but he felt like he could not get close to it.


    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it; that¡¯s Mocha¡¯s tombstone.¡± Mizerui said coldly.


    Although he already had an idea, but when he did indeed hear Mocha¡¯s name, Liola was still deeply shocked.


    Mizerui walked past Liola¡¯s frozen body, and began walking towards Mocha¡¯s tombstone. Liola watched as Mizerui walk up, paused a bit, but then followed.


    Mizerui walked up to Mocha¡¯s tomb, and stood quietly. Liola walked up and stood to his right. He looked at the tombstone, and the epitaph was as simple as Susanna¡¯s:


    Grave of Beloved Son ¡ª Mocha


    Father Caffey


    ¡®Is this where older brother Mocha lies?¡¯ Unknowingly, Liola¡¯s eyes softened as he stared at the tomb, and he even began to fantasize. If he were to open the grave, would he end up finding that Mocha¡¯s corpse was not inside? Or perhaps Mocha would walk out from behind the tree with a smile, give him a warm hug, and tell him this was all a bad dream?


    Liola obviously knew this was impossible, but he could not refrain from thinking about it, until a voice interrupted his thoughts¡­


    ¡°You killed Mocha, right?¡± Mizerui¡¯s voice was slightly shaking. Although Mizerui had his back towards Liola, making it impossible for his face to be seen, Liola did not need to see his face to know how he was feeling ¡ª it was the same, deep pain he had felt before.


    Liola was quiet for a moment, then said, ¡°It is I who killed older brother Mocha.¡± When he said this, he felt the pain of a scarred wound being cut open once again.


    Mizerui bitterly shook his face, without being able to say a word for a long while.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m a Magician, one brought up by Gle! I¡¯m not easy to hypnotize, and the Dragon Emperor had never been able to succeed. If it were for the news of Mocha¡¯s death, I wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±


    Liola paused, and then listened quietly, to Mizerui describing everything that had happened with his choking voice.


    ¡°I always thought you and I are alike. We were both brought up by Gle. Gle is a powerful Magician, but not skilled in raising a child. We then both ran into Mocha. Mocha guided me in many things: neither Magic nor fortune telling, but instead in the principles of being a person. I believe, he also guided you in the same ways¡­ So, I always thought of you like, like my own¡­ brother.¡±


    Hearing this, Liola finally understood the feelings Mizerui held towards Mocha. The warm feeling between a father and son or brothers was just like his feeling towards Mocha.


    Even though Gle might not have meant it, but his ways of teaching indeed warped the young hearts of Mizerui and Liola. Coincidentally, their twisted hearts both received the corrections they needed from Mocha.


    ¡°If you are my brother, why did you kill Mocha!¡± Mizerui finally turned around. Sure enough, his face was covered with tears, his eyes with rage.


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Liola¡¯s hands trembled. He could not think of words to refute Mizerui. Mizerui had spent much more time with Mocha than him, so their feelings must run way deeper than his, and much harder to relinquish.


    ¡°It was just hypnosis! Even if I were under hypnosis, I would never have killed Mocha.¡±


    Liola felt his body taking one step back, and his voice began to shake, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Mocha has always lived in pain because of his ability to foresee the future; he only wanted to live quietly in the tower.¡± Mizerui smiled bitterly, ¡°Such a simple, simple wish, why couldn¡¯t he have it! I used to think you would crush the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, freeing Mocha from all the pains of his predictions.¡±


    ¡°But why would you kill him instead?!¡± Mizerui roared, as if his sanity had collapsed.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Liola said nothing except repeating the same thing.


    Being criticized again and again, Liola backed up again and again. He began to panic as he did not know how to respond to Mizerui. The wound of his heart was slashed again and again like a knife, leaving him with the inability to face Mizerui, even to the point of burying his face in his hands to escape from this reality.


    Mizerui pulled Liola¡¯s hands away, grabbed his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. He roared, ¡°Look at me!¡±


    Seeing Mizerui¡¯s unreserved hatred in his eyes reminded Liola, the person whose hands were stained in his brother¡¯s blood could never be happy. The only thing Liola could do was helplessly repeat himself, ¡°Sorry, sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you really think Mocha would live again if you say sorry enough times?¡± Mizerui yelled angrily, ¡°Do you? Tell me, Liola!¡±


    After yelling with all his strength, Mizerui was catching his breath. His head was lowered, and all he saw was his hand reaching Liola¡¯s thin neck. Such a thin neck¡­ as if a light squeeze would make it snap. Would it? Unconsciously, he began to grip harder and harder. Truth was, he was not doing this consciously, but rather he was simply venting his anger, not knowing he could one day regret this.


    ¡°Mi¡­zerui¡­¡±


    Liola painfully grabbed Mizerui¡¯s hands, but the hands seemed shockingly tight, or perhaps even Liola himself did not actually want to push the hands away. If¡­ he were to die in front of Mocha¡¯s grave, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad ending, right?


    Liola even closed his eyes, slowly waiting for death and the permanent darkness accompanied by it¡­ However, when he closed his eyes, his companions¡¯ faces slowly drifted into his mind. They willingly followed him to the Dragon Continent, going into one unfair match after another. They could lose their lives at any moment, but not one of them backed down¡­


    ¡®I can¡¯t back down either!¡¯


    Liola suddenly opened his eyes, and forcefully pushed Mizerui aside. This push made Mizerui take several steps back. After all, the difference of physical strength between a Warrior and a Magician was obvious, and there was no way Mizerui could be stronger in terms of physical strength. The only reason why Liola felt Mizerui was stronger before was purely because of his state of mind, and because of Mizerui¡¯s anger and Liola¡¯s guilt, causing him not wanting to fight back, rather than Liola really not being able to break free.


    Initially, after being pushed aside, Mizerui was now even more furious, but when he raised his head to look towards Liola, he saw his face turned red because of lack of air, and was now coughing endlessly after finally getting air again. Mizerui froze.


    He finally realized what he was doing. He¡­ was actually trying to strangle Liola?


    ¡°I¡­¡± Mizerui blankly took a step towards Liola, wanting to explain what he did was not intentional.


    Liola cautiously took a step back, and explained apologetically, ¡°S-sorry¡­ I can¡¯t die just yet.¡±


    No¡­ Mizerui panickedly walked a few steps again, but he could not find the words to explain himself. He didn¡¯t want to kill him, no!


    As Mizerui closed in, Liola took steps back again, until he had his back against the trunk of the Kapok tree. He still thought Mizerui wanted to kill him, but he knew he could not die. He began to plead, ¡°At least let me finish tomorrow¡¯s match. After the match, you can kill me in any fashion you want.¡±


    Mizerui paused, and it was a long while before his found his voice again and was finally able to explain, ¡°That¡¯s not it. I don¡¯t want to kill you. I-I just lost control for a moment there¡­¡±


    Liola paused, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart. He looked suspiciously at Mizerui, thinking he may be under attack again. But strangely, all he saw was Mizerui¡¯s mouth opening and closing, as though he was talking, but no words could be heard at all¡­ No! It was not just Mizerui¡¯s words. He usually could hear every kind of noise around him; the sounds, no matter how faint, could not escape his ears.


    However, now he could not hear anything. The whole world was now suddenly completely silent to him. He panicked a little bit, wondering if he had gone deaf.


    When he looked around, Liola realized the entire world seemed strange to him. The colors of everywhere he looked seemed to be slowly fading away, leaving behind only white and black. Then, the images he saw began to warp. He had no idea what was going on, and he wondered if he was even still in the same world.


    ¡®Where is this place? What is happening?¡¯


    Mizerui talked for a while, both explaining himself and apologizing for his actions, but Liola did not have the slightest response. When he was getting a bit curious about the strange situation, Liola¡¯s body slowly slipped along the trunk of the tree, until he fell down to the ground next to the root. He lied on the ground, with his eyes closed, as if he had passed out.


    ¡°Liola?¡±


    Mizerui was deeply shocked. He thought he might have held Liola¡¯s neck for too long, and caused him to pass out now. When he wanted to go up to check on Liola, an unexpected person stepped out from behind the Kapok tree.


    ¡°Dragon Emperor!¡±


    A purple, elegant figure walked out from behind the tree slowly, with a faint smile on his handsome face. He lowered his head to look at the unconscious Liola.


    ¡°What are you doing! Don¡¯t touch him!¡± Mizerui roared loudly, as a dozen gravity spheres materialize around him, surrounding both of them. If the Dragon Emperor tried anything funny, he would attack immediately.


    The Dragon Emperor looked at Mizerui, and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he will wake up tomorrow morning, and he will be completely unscathed.¡±


    ¡°What did you do to him?¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s rage continued to rise. He already knew, the cause of Liola passing out could be none other than the Dragon Emperor, and the Dragon Emperor would never be do anything good.


    Mizerui held his fists tightly. If it were not for Mocha¡¯s warning to him to never face the Dragon Emperor, because he was an opponent he could not defeat¡­ He would have already attacked! Because, after all, the Dragon Emperor was the person who actually caused Mocha¡¯s death!


    The Dragon Emperor chuckled loudly a few times, ¡°Do you really think I would tell my enemies?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Mizerui¡¯s eyes were now bloodshot.


    ¡°However, you need not worry.¡± The Dragon Emperor showed his tolerant and warm smile, and said lightly, ¡°I won¡¯t take him away. I¡¯ll leave him right here. You can take him to wherever you like, or¡­ you can even strangle him to death if you want.¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s momentum stagnated a bit. He did indeed try to strangle Liola just now, and he could not refute the statement.


    Seeing Mizerui showing a sign of guilt, the Dragon Emperor smile grew. Ah! What a pleasure it was to see his enemies kill one another!


    In any case, he need not push any further than this. The Dragon Emperor did not want to fight with Mizerui here either, not that he would be afraid of losing. Instead, this fight would be completely meaningless, and he did not like to do anything meaningless.


    When he was about to leave, the Dragon Emperor suddenly turned his head, and said with malice, ¡°Oh, right, I really have to thank you for weakening the successor¡¯s heart to such a fragile state. Otherwise, I might not have been able to invade into his thoughts.¡±


    Mizerui¡¯s face suddenly sank. When the Dragon Emperor left with his happy pacing and laughters, Mizerui finally knelt before Liola, and softly held him up.


    ¡°Liola? Liola? Please wake up¡­¡± Mizerui called out endlessly, but Liola never opened his eyes. Mizerui looked more and more panicked, and he continued to call out without stopping¡­


    Liola¡­ Liola¡­


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you wake up?¡±


    Mizerui was now anxious and did not know what to do. He did not excel in mind Magic, and had no idea what the Dragon Emperor actually did to Liola. He thought, the point of what the Dragon Emperor did must not be simply making Liola unconscious¡­ because it was the Dragon Duel tomorrow, and unless Liola would suddenly figure out Dragon Magic, his presence in the battle would not affect the outcome of it.


    However, Dragon Magic was exclusive to the Dragon Emperor¡­ or perhaps one should say, the ultimate of the Heart of Dragon Emperor. There was no reason for the Heart to come and teach Liola Dragon Magic so he would defeat the Heart, right? Without guidance, Liola, who had very little knowledge of Magic, could not possibly gain the insights of Dragon Magic himself in the short span of a night.


    Then, what exactly did the Dragon Emperor do?


    Why would he do something to Liola, right before a match he was almost undoubtedly going to win?


    Mizerui¡¯s thoughts were now in chaos, and now, Dragon Emperor¡¯s words began to ring his mind again,


    ¡®I really have to thank you for weakening the successor¡¯s heart to such a fragile state. Otherwise, I might not have been able to invade into his thoughts.¡¯


    Mizerui tiredly buried his face between his hands. When he finally raised his head, he was facing Mocha¡¯s tombstone directly. His guilt made it near impossible to face Mocha. Mocha must had wanted Mizerui to take good care of Liola, instead of venting all his anger onto him.


    Even if the Dragon Emperor was kind enough to not have done anything, Liola was the type of person to easily blame himself on things. Now that Mizerui provoked him, he must not be able to forgive himself again¡­ No, just judging from what Liola said about letting Mizerui kill him in any fashion he wanted after the match, Mizerui knew this little runt had never forgiven himself for killing Mocha.


    ¡®Damn! Why did I continue to provoke him!¡¯


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Liola. I knew it wasn¡¯t your fault, but I really needed to vent. I¡¯m like you, we both love Mocha. He was warm like a father, and you must feel the same the way. Right, Liola?¡±


    Mizerui put his forehead up against Liola¡¯s, and said lightly, ¡°My brother, I¡¯m sorry!¡±

 Volume 13, 6: The Past

    Volume 13, Chapter 6: The Past


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°I knew it! I knew it! He walked out standing, and come back lying down. This guy must have a desire to make me worry until all my hair fall off!¡± Kaiser paced back and forth while murmuring to himself, and he would occasionally scratch his hair crazily.


    ¡°Kaiser, calm down a bit.¡± Although he was telling Kaiser to calm down, but even Meinan himself frowned.


    Baolilong was leaning against the bed, and the person lying on the bed was the one Mizerui carried back ¡ª Liola. The little kid thought about it briefly, then finally crawled up to bed, peeled open the cover, and ducked inside.


    ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to sleep!¡± Kaiser angrily took the blanket away.


    ¡°Gimme back the blanket!¡± Baolilong jumped up, trying to grab the blanket back from Kaiser¡¯s hands, but Kaiser already threw the blanket to the side. Baolilong yelled, and hurried off to get the blanket back.


    Baolilong held the blanket with its little hands, and returned to bed. When Kaiser thought it was about to go back to sleep on the bed, it laid the blanket out, and carefully covered it on top of Liola¡¯s body, while pouting and glaring at Kaiser, ¡°Kaiser idiot, without blanket, papa would get sick.¡±


    Kaiser was speechless. He could not fathom this little guy was growing up so quickly, and it would even tuck its dad in bed.


    ¡°If only you would grow a bit faster.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face sank again. What were they going to do about the fight tomorrow?


    He turned his head and saw that, after tucking Liola squarely in the blanket, Baolilong was getting into the bed to sleep again. Kaiser quickly walked up, wanting to drag Baolilong out of bed again, but he was stopped by Daylight, ¡°It still has to fight tomorrow, so let it rest.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s awake, nothing would be any different.¡± Daylight shook his head, ¡°We might as well let it rest for tomorrow¡¯s fight.¡±


    Kaiser glanced at Baolilong, paused briefly, and agreed with Daylight.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Kaiser turned around, and asked everyone else.


    ¡°Liola¡­¡± Meinan looked at the unconscious person, and said helplessly, ¡°Since we can¡¯t even wake him up right now, we might as well listen to the Dragon Emperor, and hope he would wake up unscathed tomorrow. Our most pressing question now is how Baolilong would win the match tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Flames, you¡¯re the only Dragon, do you have any good ideas?¡± Kaiser showed a desperate expression while looking at their only hope.


    Flames said directly, ¡°None whatsoever.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s face sank, but Kaiser still would not give up, ¡°Think about it some more.¡±


    Flames was silent for a while, then shook its head again, and said, ¡°Judging by Highness Baolilong¡¯s age, it is already quite strong. It¡¯s only twenty something, and its appearance is almost the same as mine. I¡¯m already fifty years old and I was even considered to be fastest growing one among the Dragons.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too difficult for Highness Baolilong to defeat Miluo.¡± Flames frowned, ¡°Miluo is already over a thousand years old, and Black Dragons are a powerful race. Among all Dragons, Black Dragons may very well be considered the best fighters.¡±


    Kaiser cursed, ¡°Damn! So he¡¯s a thousand-year-old super old geezer.¡±


    ¡°Then what do Sacred White Dragons specialize in?¡± Daylight asked earnestly, hoping for a special power to win them the fight.


    Flames thought seriously, ¡°Healing, purifying, astronomy, and fortune telling, especially fortune telling. Legend has it the White Dragons can dream of the future. But Highness Baolilong doesn¡¯t seem to know any of it, perhaps because no Dragon taught it.¡±


    ¡°Are these useful in battle?¡± Kaiser asked unbelievably, ¡°Unless it could purify Miluo?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Miluo is a live Dragon, not a wraith.¡± Flames glared at Kaiser.


    Kaiser showed despair, ¡°Then is there any other suggestion better than to push Baolilong onto the arena and watching it lose in a minute?¡±


    ¡°Could we try to wake Miluo? After all, he is Baolilong¡¯s papa. Making them fight each other is too pitiful.¡± Purity suggested carefully, fearing her suggestion would make everyone more frustrated.


    Everyone was silent for a while, then, all of their eyes flashed with light, especially Kaiser; he was close to jumping for joy. He yelled loudly, ¡°You¡¯re right, Purity!¡±


    Purity was shocked, because she did not know why Kaiser would react so emotionally. By the looks of it, he seemed to be agreeing with her idea, so it was great either way. She was holding her chest, trying to stop her heart from jumping out.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Meinan nodded, and said excitedly, ¡°We should never attack this problem from Baolilong¡¯s side. True power is true power, and it¡¯s impossible to change it greatly in a night.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why, we should come at this problem from our enemy.¡± Kaiser continued, ¡°Miluo is not fighting out of his own will. If he wakes up, he would definitely surrender, and then we will win.¡±


    Kaiser thought for a moment, then murmured, ¡°Now we have to think what could possibly affect Miluo? Gladiolus woke up from seeing sister Meiji. Going with that, if we find a picture of Bairui, then we¡­¡±


    Hearing this, everyone¡¯s eyes were shining again, almost to the point of opening bottles of champagne to celebrate their victory tomorrow.


    ¡°But,¡± Daylight suddenly asked, ¡°Where are we going to find Bairui¡¯s picture?¡±


    The crowd¡¯s celebration suddenly stopped. Right! Bairui had been technically dead for more than twenty years. Where were they to find her picture now? Were they supposed to go knock on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s door and as him if he kept a picture of his Sacred White Dragon?


    ¡°I think it¡¯s useless, because I¡¯ve tried, but I think you guys should still have it.¡±


    Everyone raised their head. Ever since bringing Liola back and simply stated what happened, Mizerui had been standing there quietly, but he was now holding an aging photo. The picture was of a man, a woman, and a child. The man was obviously Miluo, but this was the first time they had seen the woman. She was very pretty, with a warm and gentle smile, but the corner of her eye had a slight hint of playfulness.


    ¡°Why would you have this picture? And this woman is Bairui? Don¡¯t tell me the child between Miluo and Bairui is¡­¡± Kaiser looked in disbelief at Mizerui.


    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Mizerui seemed a bit embarrassed, but also nostalgic, ¡°I met Mocha when he was around a hundred. Back then, Miluo still often lived in the palace. Those two would often come to meet Mocha, and they would always take me out for a picnic.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°A boy should be more lively; don¡¯t stay in your room all day.¡±


    ¡°Damn kid, stop being the third wheel!¡±


    ¡°Miluo, Mitsy, the meat is done, come eat.¡±


    * * *


    Mizerui shook his head, trying to bury the past deeper in his mind.


    ¡°If he would attack his most precious child, the child he had with Bairui, then I don¡¯t think this picture would do anything.¡± Mizerui decided to prepared them emotionally, so when they notice the picture would not work tomorrow, they would not become completely clueless.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Not only do we have the picture, we also have Miluo¡¯s child, and even the Dragon Cross Necklace where Bairui¡¯s soul once resided. No matter what, we have to take this gamble.¡± Kaiser said firmly. He knew the necklace was now with Liola, and it had once brought Miluo out of his hibernation. Although the Dragon Emperor would obviously also be aware of this, and would most likely have ways to stop them from using it, but now they had little choice.


    Mizerui thought for a minute, then nodded. He had already heard, if they were to lose, Liola must eat the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, so they had to try everything no matter what.


    ¡°Mizerui!¡± Kaiser snapped and pointed his finger at Mizerui¡¯s nose, ¡°Tomorrow you better stay here, and protect this sleeping butthead. Problem?¡±


    Mizerui shook his head. This thing was started by him, and it was natural for him to do that.


    ¡°All right, all right! Everyone go back and sleep. We¡¯ll all have things to worry about tomorrow.¡± Kaiser got off from his chair, and yelled.


    Everyone got up to go back to their respective room; Purity was the girl, so she had a room to herself. Daylight and Meinan were sharing a room, leaving behind Kaiser and Liola in the same room, so Kaiser did not have to go anywhere. When everyone else had left the room, Kaiser walked up to the door and closed it.


    Kaiser walked back, and carelessly lay on his bed. With his hands behind his head, his eyes on the ceiling, Kaiser began to wonder if he could even sleep at all tonight.


    ¡°Hey! Mizerui, if we lose tomorrow, would you take him away?¡±


    Mizerui paused, and he was shocked Kaiser had the same thought he had. The reason why he stayed behind before was, other than fearing the Dragon Emperor would do something to Liola, he thought the chance for victory was miniscule¡­ If necessary, he would take Liola and leave the Dragon Continent. Even if they had to spend the rest of their lives hiding, it would be better than eating the Heart of the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Mhm.¡± But perhaps it would be impossible to successfully take him away. It was impossible for the Dragon Emperor to not be prepared for this, and he probably had already made it impossible for them to escape¡­ Mizerui¡¯s heart sank.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t take him away,¡± Kaiser¡¯s tone sounded very calm, without a hint of emotion, ¡°Then, let him sleep peacefully forever.¡±


    Mizerui paused. Sleeping forever? Did this mean what he thought it meant?


    ¡°He has been in pain for far too long.¡± After saying this, Kaiser did not make any other explanation. He turned around, and stopped talking.


    It was a long time before Mizerui said anything,


    ¡°Mm, I understand.¡±


    * * *


    Although it looked like he was lying calmly on the bed, but there was a whole different world in Liola¡¯s mind. Since the moment he had his back onto that Kapok tree, the entire world had begun to change; from losing color in the beginning, to the warping of images, until the entire world looked completely different.


    ¡°Trash Lucifer, idiot Lucifer, retarded Lucifer who doesn¡¯t know Magic, hahaha.¡±


    A group of children suddenly appeared before Liola, and they were making fun of him. However, the name they spoke was unfamiliar, their faces were unfamiliar, and even the surrounding forests and villages were unfamiliar.


    ¡®Lucifer? I¡¯m not Lucifer, I¡¯m Liola.¡¯


    Liola wanted to open his mouth to explain, only to realize he had absolutely no control over his body. His body was shaking, and a sense of fear and injustice rose in his mind, intertwined with anger. Why must he sustain such insults?


    ¡®No, there must be a force in this world that could compete with Magic, and I will find that power.¡¯


    Wait, Liola began to frown. These were not his thoughts, so where did these ideas and emotions came from?


    ¡®Special training! I must undergo special training! I must go through every training, no matter how much hardship I must endure.¡¯


    Liola blankly sensed the feelings that did not belong to him; the emotions were like burning passion and determination that would never falter. Though he knew not who this person was, but Liola still quietly experienced these emotions. These feelings were, for the person like him who lacked emotions, the things he lacked the most. To sense a passion like this, it was a rather unique experience for Liola.


    As for what Lucifer¡¯s special trainings entailed, it was strict enough to scare every single Dragon Emperor who had ever obtained the Heart¡¯s memory for thousands of years¡­ except this one. No matter how strict the training was, it always had the goal of becoming stronger, rather than death. In comparison, Devil Gle¡¯s method of training was more aiming for death than to become stronger.


    In fact, if he could talk, Liola really did want to guide Lucifer on harsher ways of training.


    Luckily, this was just an excerpt of memory. Otherwise, if Lucifer could really hear Liola¡¯s words, he might have followed the advice and died in training, then Knights would not have been born into this world. Or perhaps, he would be so angry at Liola¡¯s words that he would spit out three liters of blood.


    [T/N: Typical ¡°comical¡± Chinese belief: if someone gets extremely angry, they would end up spitting out blood.]


    ¡®I found it! My power, the power that comes from within my body.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s decided! I will name it, Aura!¡¯


    The person who named it Aura¡­ Liola began to sense Lucifer may be that person¡­ or perhaps one should say, ¡°that Heart¡±. Was the Heart of the Dragon Emperor trying to make him understand what happened in the past? In order to change his mind?


    Though he had guessed the intent of the Heart, Liola still did not know what he could do. He did not think these memories could affect him, so he decided to watch quietly for a while before deciding on what he would do next; perhaps he could even find a way to save Caffey within these memories.


    ¡®¡­It should represent a higher order. It represents honor, obedience to rules, and righteousness, it¡­ no, we should represent all those things, and our name will be Knights!¡¯


    Lucifer was similar to Daylight back then: he was full of passion, sense of righteousness, and he was bound by honor and the Knight¡¯s code.


    Since he was living within Lucifer¡¯s body, Liola obviously couldn¡¯t see how ¡°his own¡± face looked like. After thinking Lucifer was like Daylight, he began to imagine Daylight¡¯s face when he thought of Lucifer¡¯s appearance.


    Liola paused a moment, and quickly rid his mind of that thought. If he were to treat Lucifer like Daylight, by the time he woke up, he might feel sympathy towards the Heart¡­ No! No matter what kind of person he was at the start, the Heart of the Dragon Emperor in the present deserved no sympathy.


    ¡®We followed good conduct, why?¡¯


    ¡®We used Aura to maintain righteousness, why?¡¯


    ¡®We did nothing wrong, why?¡¯


    These words echoed again and again in Liola¡¯s ears. Unknowingly, he began to doubt: was Lucifer really wrong? All he wanted was to receive equal treatment compared to the Magicians, but he was persecuted. Was he wrong? Or were other people wrong?


    ¡®No! I can¡¯t be affected.¡¯ He thought about Kaiser, Baolilong, Daylight, Meinan, and Purity, then about Anise and Bairui¡­ When Liola thought about these people, he suddenly felt warmth in his heart, and his mood calmed down again, escaping Lucifer¡¯s influence.


    He would definitely be able to survive through these illusions without a problem!


    * * *


    Mizerui suddenly woke up. With a frown, he looked at Liola on the bed whom was still lying there peacefully and fully asleep. He paused a moment, then thought he must had been too tense, and that¡¯s why he had such a rude awakening.


    He looked up at the clock for the time; it was about time to wake them. He got up, and planned to wake the other three people who were easier to wake before coming back for Kaiser.


    He walked out the door and closed it behind him.


    When Mizerui left, Baolilong turned, putting itself back into papa¡¯s arms, but flashing light made it impossible for it to sleep. Baolilong pouted as it opened its eyes, trying to figure out where the lights that disturbed its sleep were coming from.


    Baolilong got up, and curiously looked at the light flashing on Liola¡¯s chest. It reached under Liola¡¯s shirt, and grabbed around, getting the necklace out from in front of Liola¡¯s chest. The source of the flashes was the Dragon Cross Necklace. Baolilong stared blankly at the necklace, pondering why it would suddenly begin to glow.


    Baoli¡­ Baolilong¡­


    Baolilong tilted its head, and asked, ¡°Mama?¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Kaiser¡¯s voice could suddenly be heard, and surprised Baolilong. It turned around, and sure enough, it saw Kaiser with his messy hair; he kept yawning, and his eyes were only half open.


    Before Baolilong answered, Mizerui was back in the room. Seeing the hardest two people to wake were already awake, even having seen the world, Mizerui was a bit stunned.


    Kaiser stretched his back, and finally opened his eyes completely. He saw Baolilong was holding the Dragon Cross Necklace, and he said, ¡°Baolilong, keep your papa¡¯s Dragon Cross Necklace on you. When you fight today, you will find it useful.¡±


    Baolilong nodded, took the necklace from papa¡¯s neck, and put it on its own. It had initially thought its mama would continue talking, but the Dragon Cross Necklace¡¯s lights stopped flashing. Nevertheless, Baolilong did not seem to mind much. If mama wanted to talk again, she would reach out to it.


    ¡°Okay, Baolilong, let¡¯s go! Kaiser will take you to fill your stomach up, so you will have the strength to fight!¡±


    Kaiser yelled. Hearing about food, Baolilong naturally agreed loudly. These two gluttons held each other¡¯s hands, planning on showing the royal chef what the meaning of ¡°bottomless stomach¡± was.


    ¡°Liola¡¯s safety is in your hands!¡± Kaiser closed the door as he said to Mizerui, ¡°I will take some food back for you before the match.¡±


    Mizerui nodded towards him, turned his head back, and stared at Liola once again.


    Suddenly, he sensed a bit of haze on Liola¡¯s face, but when he looked it carefully again, there was nothing to be seen; Liola still seemed to be sound asleep.


    ¡°An illusion, maybe?¡± Mizerui murmured to himself.

 Volume 13, 7: A Dragon’s Duel between Father and Son

    Volume 13, Chapter 7: A Dragon¡¯s Duel between Father and Son


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    Baolilong turned into a beautiful and elegant Dragon, and carried everyone towards the largest training ground. Although the Dragon Emperor had not announced who their opponent was, Kaiser and others had already guessed it would be Miluo. Since Miluo¡¯s body size was no different than that of a small mountain, so of course they needed a large arena.


    ¡°Baolilong, listen to me. You must not lose, understand?¡± Kaiser really could not think of a good way to make Baolilong, with its childish personality, to take this fight seriously, so he had to use a harsher tone¡­ Truth was, the situation was rather serious, so he was simply being completely honest.


    Baolilong flew as it stared at Kaiser with its pink eyes, but to be covered in confusion.


    ¡°Baolilong¡­¡± Kaiser was a bit hesitant to tell the consequences of the situation to a child, but if Baolilong gave up easily, then Liola would be in a terrible situation.


    He took a deep breath, and said, ¡°If you lose, your papa will die.¡±


    The flying suddenly became very unstable, but luckily everyone was already expecting it. Purity was already sitting on Flames, but strangely Daylight was not on Flames¡¯ back. Baolilong was carrying the two Magicians who knew Levitation: Kaiser and Meinan. However, even though they could fly, their faces were still a bit pale from the unstable flight.


    ¡°Why would papa die? Papa won¡¯t die. Kaiser is lying!¡±


    As Baolilong asked the question emotionally, its snow-white Dragon body also began to shake left and right. Kaiser tried to hold back his nausea as he thought to himself, ¡®The little runt actually knows to ask for reason; it has really grown, but now it¡¯s harder to fool, tsk!¡¯


    ¡°Baolilong, did you see how hard we tried to win yesterday?¡± Meinan suddenly opened his mouth.


    ¡°I did see.¡± Baolilong nodded with its long Dragon head.


    ¡°That¡¯s because this match is very, very important to your papa.¡± Meinan said with a very serious tone. He believed Baolilong was old enough to discuss the complications of the matter truthfully. Rather than lying to it, Meinan decided it was better to speak the truth.


    ¡°If he loses this match, he will¡­ become not himself anymore.¡±


    ¡°Baolilong doesn¡¯t understand.¡± Baolilong pouted. Papa was papa, why would it become not papa?


    ¡°Do you like the ice cold Liola?¡± Kaiser asked, ¡°The personally he had when you were both living inside the palace?¡±


    Baolilong pouted, ¡°No, that papa is vicious, and even beats Baolilong.¡±


    ¡°If you lose this match, your papa might even¡­ become worse than back then.¡± Kaiser suddenly remembered what he said to Mizerui; it was a decision he was hesitant to make, because he did not want to see ¡°Liola not being Liola¡±.


    Baolilong frowned, and its voice already sounded like weeping, ¡°No! I don¡¯t want papa to get worse.¡±


    ¡°Then, please, you must win. You can¡¯t lose!¡± Kaiser held his fist tightly. He really did not want to demand this of Baolilong; after all, it was only a child, and its opponent was far too strong. But if he did not talk like this, how was it to make the childish Baolilong face this seriously?


    ¡°Okay, Baolilong will definitely win.¡± Baolilong nodded seriously.


    Seeing this, Meinan and Kaiser both began to tell it what to do, ¡°Baolilong, take the Dragon Cross Necklace and your mother¡¯s picture, then¡­¡±


    Baolilong listened seriously while answering, ¡°Mm, mm, okay¡­¡±


    Before they spoke for long, the Knights before them began to fly downwards. Were they already there? Kaiser looked forward, but he did not see any black mountains; so where was Miluo?


    Baolilong would not think that much; instead it simply followed the lead to fly down, and slowly landed on the ground. As soon as it landed, Kaiser and Meinan got off Baolilong¡¯s back. The two of them looked left and right, even raising their heads to look at the sky. However, they were not able to see a trace of a Black Dragon even after the necks started to get sore.


    ¡°If you are looking for a Black Dragon, try looking back on the ground.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s elegant voice could be heard, and pulled the two people¡¯s attention. They looked towards the Dragon Emperor, only to notice a man dressed in black standing next to the Dragon Emperor. His hair was dark as night, and his red eyes that should have been filled with a burning flame was now nothing but cold and aloof. If one were to look closer, they could see a vague familiarity to Baolilong¡¯s looks.


    A figure suddenly collided into Kaiser¡¯s chest. The momentum made Kaiser grunt, and then he had ¡°intimate contact¡± with the ground. Seeing Kaiser suddenly fall to the ground, Meinan was surprised. When he looked, he finally realized, the human-shaped Baolilong was sitting on top of Kaiser. It looked at Kaiser and Meinan with innocent eyes, even though it knew it had done something wrong.


    ¡°You little bastard¡­ no, you¡¯re not little anymore, you big bastard.¡± Kaiser gritted his teeth as he pushed Baolilong aside. He sat up, rubbed his wounded chest, and yelled, ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re still a little child?! I almost got flattened by you.¡±


    Baolilong pouted. It was just forgetting it had grown up ¡°again¡±.


    Kaiser coughed a few times, and thought about the little guy who would be the going on the arena soon, so it was not the time to make it mad. He immediately threw a smile on his face, ¡°It¡¯s fine! It¡¯s fine! Just a light tackle; I, Kaiser, am strong a sturdy, and this little collision won¡¯t stop me, cough, cough¡­ Uh, I just choked on my own saliva, hahaha cough¡­¡±


    Baolilong looked at Kaiser with confusion; Kaiser was laughing strangely. He was laughing while coughing and his face was getting red from it. Baolilong went over to pat Kaiser¡¯s back like a good little kid, but because it accidentally patted too hard, it almost caused Kaiser to face-plant into the dirt again. Kaiser angrily grabbed Baolilong¡¯s face, and began to pull it to the left and right¡­


    ¡°Mm¡­ Mm it hurts.¡±


    Baolilong protested with tears in its eyes, and its hands would not rest either; it grabbed Kaiser¡¯s face. Kaiser yelled loudly, and began to pull even harder.


    Purity said worriedly, ¡°Kaiser, don¡¯t pull it so hard; Baolilong¡¯s face is turning red.¡±


    Kaiser rolled his eyes, and thought, ¡®Why don¡¯t you tell Baolilong to go easier? I feel like my face is about to be pulled off.¡¯


    Meinan looked helplessly at the man and child¡­ or rather, someone who was a teenager. They were already at the stadium, but still bickering like this; how childish of them!


    ¡°Dragon Emperor, Your Highness, how do you want this match to be decided?¡± Meinan had no other choice, so he left the human the Dragon play the face-pulling game, while he went and took care of business.


    The Dragon Emperor smiled and shook his head, ¡°There are no rules; they can be either in the Dragon form or the human form. If a side lands on the ground and not able to get up within ten seconds, or if the side surrenders, then that side loses.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Meinan forced a smile. This rule was far better than surrendering or death¡­ but did this mean the Dragon Emperor was completely confident he would win, so he did not need any sinister plans?


    ¡°Then let¡¯s have the two contestants have a friendly handshake.¡± The Dragon Emperor suggested.


    Meinan looked towards Miluo, whose face was still devoid of expression. He yelled at the two who were still playing, ¡°Baolilong, come greet your papa.¡±


    Baolilong looked over; with red cheeks, it pouted and complained, ¡°No, he¡¯s old papa, not papa.¡±


    Although it was still complaining, Baolilong still obediently walked towards Miluo and did what Meinan and Kaiser asked it to do: it tried to hug Miluo while yelling, ¡°Papa, I am Baolilong.¡±


    First attack, family love, the call of his own child. Kaiser and others secretly thought, ¡®Go Baolilong, go! Use your pure and cute looks to wake Miluo up!¡¯


    Unfortunately, Miluo already took a step to the side while Baolilong was trying to hug him, which made Baolilong grab nothing but air. With a bang, Baolilong fell face-first into the ground.


    ¡®God¡­¡¯ Meinan shook his head, and Kaiser buried his face into his palm, trying not to look.


    ¡°Mm¡­ it hurts.¡± Baolilong struggled to get up, and its pink eyes were filled with tears. It blinked a few times, and shook its head. After wiping away the tears, Baolilong stood up firmly.


    Baolilong took out the Dragon Cross Necklace on its shoulder, and held it up to Miluo like it was offering him some rare treasure, then it said, ¡°Papa, look! This is mama.¡±


    Miluo looked at Baolilong from the corner of his eyes, but did not speak a word.


    ¡°And, and¡­¡± Baolilong took out a wrinkled picture from its pocket, ¡°This is papa and mama¡¯s picture, but the one in the middle is not Baolilong.¡±


    Baolilong reached out its hands but then pulled it back immediately. It looked at the picture and pondered, wondering why the one in the center was not itself. It raised its head and asked curiously, ¡°Old papa, why was Baolilong not in it?¡±


    ¡®You¡¯re doing great, Baolilong!¡¯ Kaiser cheered in his mind. This was not something he or Meinan or taught it, and he did not expect Baolilong to adapt this well.


    ¡°Mama never comes out of the necklace. And this morning, after calling Baolilong, she stopped talking again.¡± Baolilong pouted, and kept complaining, ¡°Old papa is a big idiot. You never hug Baolilong, and always run off quickly.¡±


    Baolilong¡­ Kaiser, Purity, and Meinan were all staring at the pouting and tearing Baolilong. So¡­ this was not it adapting to the situation, but instead how it truly felt. It made sense, considering it was abandoned in the Dragon Empire, without the company of its father or mother, it must have been lonely.


    Miluo¡¯s eyes flashed a hint of softness, but because everyone¡¯s attention was drawn by Baolilong¡¯s words, no one noticed this change.


    ¡°Such touching love between father and child.¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly, ¡°But the match must go on. Have the father and child spent enough time talking yet?¡±


    Meinan glared at the Dragon Emperor. Having only a father, he was fully aware of how Baolilong must have felt, and that was also the reason why he could never forgive the Dragon Emperor for forcing Baolilong to fight with its father.


    Seeing Miluo still was emotionless, Baolilong mustered the last of its courage, and yelled, ¡°Old papa.¡±


    Kaiser and others were all cheering for Baolilong in their hearts. ¡®Hurry and take out your most pitiful and cute side, so Miluo would be reluctant to let you g. Then, he can escape the hypnosis¡­ and we would win without fighting, hehehe!¡® The three began fantasizing the same thing without talking to one another about it.


    ¡°Old papa¡­¡± Baolilong raised its head to look at Miluo, and complained while pouting its mouth, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you surrendered! Baolilong already did everything Kaiser and Meinan said, old papa should surrender now.¡±


    If Miluo had a bit of softness before, it was now completely gone. He flew a large distance back, and stared coldly at Baolilong. The latter saw such cold eyes, and cringed a bit, and turned around to look at Kaiser and others bewilderedly.


    Kaiser and Meinan were also clueless. Since the attack with family intimacy failed, other than a real fight, there seemed to be no other options.


    ¡°Is there anything else we could do¡­¡± Meinan began to ask Kaiser. He really did not want Baolilong to have to fight with its biological father. Baolilong was still a little child, and despite it having the appearance of a teenager, its mindset was still that of a seven year-old.


    Asking a seven year old child to battle and the opponent was its biological father; this was far¡­ far too cruel.


    ¡°Baolilong is too pitiful.¡± Purity¡¯s wept.


    Truthfully, Kaiser was a bit hesitant, but this was Liola¡¯s last chance, so should they really give up without even trying?


    ¡°Baolilong, i-if you really don¡¯t want to fight¡­¡± Kaiser yelled with hesitation.


    Baolilong said instead, ¡°I¡¯m going to fight now!¡± Its tone was as if it was about to go play.


    Unlike Miluo¡¯s agile leap, Baolilong walked onto the arena steadily. Miluo stood still quietly, its prideful stance seemed to have no weakness.


    Kaiser and Meinan turned to look at Baolilong. Baolilong seemed like it did not know what it should do: in one moment it scratched its face, in another it would look at Miluo, in yet another moment it would look at the ants crawling by on the ground, and when it reached its foot out, it stepped on the ant. All in all, it was as though Baolilong had ADHD, and could not settle down.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m really worried.¡± Purity looked at Baolilong in the arena, almost felt sorry enough for it to rush up and bring it back.


    Meinan also locked his eyebrows.


    Kaiser, on the other hand, had already buried his face in his palm, because he could not bear to watch, hoping that Baolilong would not lose in just one move¡­


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s start with the match.¡± The Dragon Emperor today seemed unusually laid back. He did not seem to be in a rush to begin the match, and even after the match began, his eyes would often look away from the arena.


    After Baolilong heard the signal to start, its little brain did not think about anything. Things like when it should attack and what the opponent¡¯s weaknesses might be were not at all in its head. As soon as it heard ¡°start¡±, Baolilong naturally began to attack.


    It opened its mouth, and a bolt of electricity shot out.


    Miluo quickly jumped, and easily avoided the attack. A black ray came out of his right hand, but the attack did not seem very powerful. It was probably used to gauge Baolilong¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°Ahhh! Baolilong, dodge!¡± Purity grabbed her cheeks and screamed, almost having to close her eyes to stop watching.


    However, Baolilong did indeed dodge the attack like a master, and also it was just in the nick of time, missing the attack by the most miniscule of distances. Kaiser vaguely felt this action looked familiar, as if he had seen it before.


    ¡°Baolilong¡¯s Highness seemed to be stronger than we imagine; it is indeed the Dragon with a master such as Liola.¡± Flames was now standing next to Kaiser in its human-form.


    ¡°Ah! Right, that looks just like Liola!¡± Kaiser suddenly realized. Didn¡¯t that Assassin love to use this scary way to dodge? So Baolilong was imitating him!


    ¡°The Dragon and its master affect each other quite a bit.¡± Flames knew these three did not have a Dragon, and therefore did not understand such matters, so it took up role of explainer, ¡°Especially the bond between Liola and Baolilong¡¯s Highness, because they both signed a Dragon bond, the effect they have on each other runs even deeper.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying Baolilong might have learnt Liola¡¯s Kung Fu?¡± Kaiser asked with extreme anticipation. If that was the case, then there might still be some hope for this match.


    Flames broke everyone¡¯s hope by shaking his head, and said, ¡°Kung Fu isn¡¯t something you learn by simply affecting one another, just that Baolilong¡¯s Highness might try to imitate Liola¡¯s way of fighting and his moves.¡±


    Kaiser and others¡¯ faces sank again, but as soon as they heard something happening in the arena, their eyes were immediately fixed on the arena. On one hand, they were worried about Baolilong losing, but on the other hand, they were worried Baolilong might get seriously injured.


    Baolilong was actually performing even better than Kaiser had thought. Under Liola¡¯s influence, Baolilong¡¯s dodging skills were excellent. Even though Miluo¡¯s black rays were incredibly fast, Baolilong was always able to dodge it in the nick of time.


    Perhaps Baolilong did not know Liola¡¯s Kung Fu, nor understand things like Ki or Windborne Blade, but dodging depended on basic attributes like perception and speed, and basic attributes¡­ were exactly the things the master would have the most influence on the Dragon.


    With Liola¡¯s influence, Baolilong, who had evolved once already, was developing unconsciously towards speed and agility. In addition, having thin and elegant bodies, Sacred White Dragons were indeed fit to develop this way. This was why Baolilong, despite not being completely grown up, would have unsurpassable flying speed compared to other Dragons.


    Although Baolilong could avoid defeat by relying on its speed, but it was also because Miluo was not completely serious yet. Miluo was simply trying to see where Baolilong¡¯s strength lies, and by now he was more and more certain that speed was the advantage Baolilong held.


    ¡®It¡¯s time to take this fight seriously.¡¯ The Black Dragon King¡¯s red eyes tightened, and suddenly raised both of his hands. A dozen black rays shot out from each of arms, and headed towards Baolilong, surrounding it. Baolilong was initially a bit nervous, but it thought about papa. To papa, this was nothing, if it was papa¡­


    ¡®Dodging requires perception and reflexes. When Baolilong grows up, I¡¯ll teach you.¡¯ Liola rubbed Baolilong¡¯s soft white hair.


    ¡®Papa, Baolilong won¡¯t let you get worse.¡¯


    Baolilong¡¯s eyes shone with determination. It concentrated all of its attention on the black rays, and it felt the darkness within the black rays. Gradually, everything around Baolilong seemed to become grayscale, and only the black ray was of a different color, which made it seem very obvious in such a gray world.


    Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Crouch, dodged three rays, back tumble, and another five rays. The place it landed had two more, so it changed postures in mid-air, making it land slightly back. It lowered its waist, and dodged the ray headed towards its head. There were many more dodging actions that followed. Unknowingly, Baolilong suddenly realized, the many black rays that looked impossible to dodge were now successfully dodged.


    ¡°Wow, damn¡­ a-am I looking at Liola?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes widened and jaws dropped. He thought these kinds of tricky moves could only be seen in Liola¡¯s fights.


    ¡°Baolilong¡¯s really great.¡± Purity had her hands covering her face because she did not want to watch, but she could not help herself from peeking through the cracks of her fingers. Coincidentally, she saw the trick moves Baolilong did to avoid all the rays.


    Miluo was obviously a bit surprised as well. He had thought this move would have been enough to defeat Baolilong, but he did not expect Baolilong to come out of this completely unscathed, and even using faster speed and more agile moves than he had observed before.


    ¡°More powerful than I imagined.¡± Miluo licked his lips, beginning to think this match had gotten more interesting.


    ¡°Ah! He¡¯s talking!¡± Kaiser suddenly turned his head to ask Meinan, ¡°Is he awake?¡±


    Meinan rolled his eyes at Kaiser, ¡°Liola still knew how to talk when he was under hypnosis.¡±


    ¡°Right, almost forgot.¡± Kaser scratched his face. He must have wanted the victory far too much.


    Two intense black shadows emitted from both of Miluo¡¯s hands, and the black shadows spread around the surroundings like lightning. Miluo revealed a sinister smile, ¡°Little runt, the big moves are coming. Surrender now if you want to live.¡±


    Baolilong glanced at the black shadow in Miluo¡¯s hands, and did not think anything about whether it could dodge the attack. Instead, it hurled a lightning ball towards Miluo, forcing Miluo to change position, and the black lightning in his hand seemed to have stagnated. The moment he moved, a few more lightning balls headed towards where he stood. Because lightning balls weren¡¯t a large-scale Magic, Baolilong almost did not need any time to create several of them, but Miluo¡¯s spell would take at least a dozen of seconds to prepare.


    The crowd looked at Baolilong, with an innocent look on its face, crazily threw lightning balls. Miluo, while preparing for the large-scale Magic, could do nothing but dodge, and he could not catch a break while he was dodging to continue charging the black lightning in his hand. At that moment, it looked like Baolilong was forcing Miluo into a corner on the arena.


    After a while, Miluo looked infuriated. A Dragon roar came out from his throat, completely abandoning the black lightning in his hands, and decided to use the same strategy as Baolilong had used. Black rays appeared again, and this time, he was serious and no longer underestimating his opponent. The black rays exploded, and the whole arena was covered densely with the rays.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re good at dodging,¡± Miluo smiled sinisterly, ¡°I won¡¯t even give you room to dodge.¡±


    Baolilong was indeed stuck: there were black rays next to his hands and feet. Never mind dodging, it could not even move!


    ¡°Baolilong!¡± Purity saw Baolilong acting like a bug falling into a spider¡¯s web, trapped within the black rays, and she almost fainted.


    Miluo seemed to be intentionally toying with Baolilong. Instead of making all the black rays attack Baolilong at the same time, he playfully made the rays around Baolilong¡¯s leg collide with its calf. Long blood marks immediately appeared on Baolilong¡¯s white legs.


    ¡°Ow¡­¡± Tears filled up in Baolilong¡¯s eyes, but seeing Miluo¡¯s sinister laugh, it stopped crying, and tried hard to blink the tears away.


    Seeing Baolilong trying to hold back its tears, Miluo maliciously shifted the black rays next to Baolilong¡¯s face, leaving behind another blood mark on its clean egg-shaped face.


    The pain made tears fall out of Baolilong¡¯s eyes, and this infuriated Baolilong. It yelled angrily, ¡°Bad papa! It hurts!¡±


    Angry, Baolilong did not care about anything, and electricity began to flow out of its body.


    ¡°W-wait¡­¡± Miluo was a bit shocked. Did the little runt not know that the collision between black rays and electricity would result in¡­


    Bang! ¡­ Explosion!


    ¡°My God!¡±


    Kaiser opened his mouth to yell, and dropped to the ground with an ugly gesture, waiting for the heat wave from the explosion. However, he could not feel the heat from the explosion nor the sensation of getting hit. Purity snapped, ¡°Stupid Kaiser! Did you forget Meinan is here?¡±


    Right! He had forgotten the human-shaped protective shield was right next to him, so what was he afraid of? Kaiser got up from the ground embarrassingly, he suddenly remembered, and yelled, ¡°Crap! Where is Baolilong?¡±


    Meinan kept staring at the center of the explosion, the place where Baolilong and Miluo stood. The explosion caused the arena to be filled with smoke, and he could not discern what had happened. This kind of waiting made everyone nervous, and Kaiser began to murmur, ¡°Crap, crap, if something happens to Baolilong, Liola would tear me into pieces.¡±


    In the midst of the smoke, a white figure rushed out, and flew into the sky. Then, bolts of lightning wider than a person were shot out from its mouth. The bolts pierced out of the sky, making the smoke-filled arena even more destroyed than it was before.


    ¡°Baolilong!¡± Kaiser yelled excitedly.


    The white figure was Baolilong in its Dragon form. When the explosion happened, Baolilong instantly turned into a small Dragon, and its Dragon scale naturally had far higher defense than its human form. After the explosion, it used the time to transform into a large Dragon, fly into the sky, and began to use its lightning attacks.


    Although it sounded like a complex strategy, but Baolilong¡¯s thoughts were quite simple. When the explosion occurred, it suddenly felt like the explosion was hurting, so it immediately turned into a small Dragon, and did so to make the pain go away. After the explosion, it felt old papa was very detestable, making Baolilong hurt so much, so it got angry, and used its normal way of attack, also known as flying into the air and cook the enemies on the ground with bolts of lightning.


    ¡°Bomb away! Bomb away!¡± Kaiser and others yelled excitedly. Having thought Baolilong might have lost in the first move, they were now ecstatic that Baolilong performed much better than they had expected during the battle.


    Baolilong did indeed bomb away the best it could, and the lightning pretty much continued endlessly for a while. However, after a while, it stopped. On one hand, it was tired, and on another, old papa was still, after all, papa, and Baolilong¡¯s heart still had a sensation that it should not do this, so it did not continue to bomb.


    The stage got quiet, and Miluo did not seem to make a sound or move. As a Black Dragon King, could he have lost so easily?


    Impossible, everyone thought in the stadium. Never mind the Black Dragon King. Even for a relatively strong matured Dragon, it would be possible to survive those attacks. Therefore, the King of the battle race of Dragons could not have possibly lost like this.


    Everyone¡¯s guess was correct. From the smoke of the explosion, a body darker than the darkest of nights slowly emerged, and it grew bigger and bigger: from the size of a person, to the size of a building¡­ until it finally became a dark mountain. The smoke completely cleared, showing the true form of the mountain. It was indeed Miluo¡¯s giant body, with each of his scale as large as half a person, and stronger than steel.


    In the middle of darkness worse than a night of despair, a pair of giant eyes opened ¡ª a pair of red eyes with a sense of coldness. The thing reflecting from his eyes was none other than Baolilong in the air.


    ¡°I have a question, why would Miluo be especially big?¡±


    Kaiser tilted his head, and asked the quiet flames. This body size was far too different from other Dragons. Good thing Miluo did not have a master, because if he did¡­ damn! Could this be even be called a mount? They might as well build a palace on top of him.


    Flames bit its lips, and said helplessly, ¡°Rumor has it that when the Black Dragon King was courting the Sacred White Dragon, Bairui, he said he was about a thousand years old, but truthfully¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that guy lied about his age and pretended to be young to pick up chicks?¡± Kaiser immediately followed up.


    Flames did a ¡°I don¡¯t know either¡± shrug.


    ¡°Crap¡­¡± Meinan suddenly said.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kaiser immediately withdrew his playfulness, and turned his head to ask.


    ¡°Baolilong¡¯s lightning doesn¡¯t seem to hurt Miluo at all.¡±


    Meinan bit his lips tightly as he watched the situation in the arena. When Miluo was still ¡°growing,¡± Baolilong took the opportunity to shoot many bolts of lightning. However, it seemed to have been completely useless. When the lightning stroke Miluo¡¯s scale, it did not even leave a single mark.


    Miluo did not seem to care about Baolilong¡¯s attack, and let it attack freely. He did not seem to be hurt, or even itched, nor did he seem to launch any counterattacks, as though he was enjoying the scene of Baolilong being helpless.


    Kaiser knew things were going bad when he saw this. Miluo was practically treating Baolilong¡¯s attacks as tingles, so what would happen when Miluo begins to attack? He did not expect Baolilong would be able to treat Miluo¡¯s attacks the same way. Instead, he was very worried about Baolilong¡¯s safety.


    Baolilong¡¯s attacks may not have hurt, but it kept up the stamina. It kept bombing for a long time, from the early morning when the match began, until now when the sun was high up in the sky. The temperature was already fairly high, along with the explosions caused by Baolilong¡¯s attacks, the temperature made everyone sweat endlessly.


    Kaiser wiped away his sweat, raised his head to look at the sky, only to realize the sun was already straight up in the sky. The two Dragons had been fighting for a whole morning. Kaiser vaguely felt something was wrong. He looked at the arena, and Miluo still did not begin his attack. So where did this feeling come from exactly?


    Kaiser asked Flames next to him, ¡°Flames, is Daylight still over at where Mizerui is?¡±


    Flames nodded. In order for Mizerui to know the situation in the Dragon duel, they intentionally asked Daylight to stay over there. Truth was, the main reason for doing this was, the moment when they lose, Mizerui would immediately know, and he could take Liola to run away, or¡­


    ¡°Do me a favor and ask them if there¡¯s something strange going on with Liola.¡± Kaiser did not ask if Liola was awake, because if he was, he would have rushed over in an instant, so there was no need to ask. He must be still sleeping on a bed.


    Flames agreed, and immediately used telepathy to ask Kaiser¡¯s question. After a while, it answered, ¡°There is nothing different with Liola. He still looks to be sleeping. Master wanted me to ask you, are there any problems?¡±


    Kaiser thought a moment, and told his suspicions to Flames, ¡°I feel like the Dragon Emperor doesn¡¯t seem rushed at all today. Also, Miluo seems to be severely slacking off, but the Dragon Emperor doesn¡¯t seem to care at all. This is completely different from his nervous attitude yesterday, and it seems very strange¡­¡±


    Kaiser looked at Flames, thinking it was transmitting the message to Daylight, but after a moment of silence, it suddenly said, ¡°Kaiser, I have been feeling like the Dragon Emperor is waiting for something, and he doesn¡¯t seem to be concerned with anything.¡±


    Kaiser paused. First, it was because he had no idea Flames would express its own opinion, and then he thought about what Flames said. Indeed, the Dragon Emperor seemed to be waiting for something, and he did not seem to care about the outcome of this fight.


    He looked at the Dragon Emperor from afar. Was that really the case? Or perhaps the Dragon Emperor was far too confident Miluo would win? After all, no matter which angle one looks at the fight, Miluo was sure to win.


    But thinking about it some more, Kaiser¡¯s face sank. He moaned, ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter if the Dragon Emperor is waiting for something, or too confident Miluo would win¡­ d-doesn¡¯t this end in the same way? Crap!¡±

 Volume 13, 8: Final Battle

    Volume 13, Chapter 8: Final Battle


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡®C-can¡¯t win¡­ but if I lose, papa would become worse. What should Baolilong do?¡¯


    Baolilong¡¯s eyes were wet, and tears were threatening to fall. No matter how hard it tried to bomb, old papa did not seem to be afraid.


    ¡®I can¡¯t win, but I have to win. What do I do?¡¯ Baolilong felt helpless, and it called out to Liola in its heart. If Liola was right here, Baolilong would have rushed into papa¡¯s arms.


    ¡®Papa! Why are you still sleeping? Baolilong misses you very much.¡¯


    Having sensed Baolilong stopping its attacks, Miluo almost seemed unhappy. Suddenly, a few black rays¡­ no! They might have been black ¡°rays¡± to the giant Miluo, but to others such as Kaiser, they were practically ¡°black pillars.¡± The pillars erupted from the ground and shot straight up into the sky. From the ground, the pillars looked endless, as though it was connecting the ground to sky.


    Baolilong was surprised by the sudden attack, and immediately dodged to the side. However, the black pillars from the ground became more and more numerous, and they did not seem to go away after they were shot. Gradually, more and more pillars were shot out, and it became harder and harder for Baolilong to fly around them.


    Before long, Baolilong suddenly realized, the black pillars had become a bird cage, and it could not escape from it.


    Baolilong was mad!


    It suddenly spit out lightning towards the black pillar. However, not only did the pillar not buckle under the lightning, but because Baolilong diverted its attention to attack the pillar, another pillar slammed right into it. The momentum sent Baolilong flying, landing on yet another pillar. Painful Dragon roars continuously emitted from his mouth.


    ¡°Baolilong!¡± Purity covered her mouth, with sympathy filling her eyes.


    ¡®It hurts! Papa!¡¯


    The space became more and more narrow. Even for Baolilong, whose speed and reaction time were first class, it was still having trouble. In addition, having rammed into pillars, its back and left wing were both in pain, and its flying became slightly unstable.


    With another carelessness, Baolilong suffered the same fate again, and it was worse this time: because the distance between pillars had decreased, the moment Baolilong scrape a pillar, its flight path had been altered slightly, causing it to run into another pillar. Even after barely returning to a stable fight, it had no time to dodge another pillar from the ground.


    Before long, Baolilong¡¯s snow-white body was full of wounds, and blue blood frequently dripped down while it flew in the air, along with painful roars often coming out of its throat.


    ¡°Stop! Hurry and stop!¡± Purity yelled loudly at Miluo, ¡°It still is a little child, and it¡¯s even your child. Stop hurting it!¡±


    In the end, Baolilong really did seem to lose its ability to reason from the pain. It saw the countless number of pillars around it, and with a dizzy head, it thought there was nowhere to go¡­ Its wings were hurting, and it wanted to stop flying. Baolilong looked around, and found a blackish place where there was no pillars. He happily flew over, landed on the place, and opened its wings happily to rest.


    All the audiences had wide open dropped jaws¡­ H-how could it go and land on Miluo¡¯s back? That¡¯s basically delivering victory to Miluo.


    Miluo paused, and became infuriated; he viewed Baolilong landing on his back as an act of intentional provocation. Black smoke emitted from the giant body, and Baolilong was caught by the viscous air. It desperately flapped its wings to try to leave this terrifying place, but the black smoke held it in place. Even being the Sacred White Dragon, Baolilong seemed to be almost suffocating thanks to this black aura.


    ¡®No! It¡¯s scary! Papa¡ª¡¯


    Baolilong desperately called out to Liola in its heart¡­


    * * *


    Daylight was in the room, reading the book he got from the royal library, when he suddenly received a communication via telepathy from Flames.


    ¡®Master, its Highness, Baolilong, can¡¯t hang on anymore, it¡¯s already¡­ impossible to win.¡¯


    The book suddenly slipped out of Daylight¡¯s hands and fell on the ground. Sitting quietly on the side, Mizerui seemed rather calm; he asked lightly, ¡°Lost?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Daylight, who saw him being extremely calm, thought he had already decided to take Liola away, so he also became calmer. Although he had always been firm about not lying and follow through promises¡­ this time, however, even he was in favor of Liola running away. Not only because the match unfair to begin with, but also because Liola must eat the Heart of the Dragon Emperor if they lose, and he would no longer be himself. As his companion, Daylight did not want to see him ending up like that.


    ¡°Hurry and take him away.¡± Daylight urged, unsure of why Mizerui was still sitting still; would it not be better to take Liola away as soon as possible?


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Daylight suddenly glared at Mizerui. Was it really him who said that? Daylight tried to ask, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Mizerui stood up slowly, and walked to the bed where Liola lay, and watched the person sound asleep on the bed. He started to explain, ¡°Ever since last night, I¡¯ve been trying, but I don¡¯t know what the Dragon Emperor did to Liola. Although I can seem to teleport away, I cannot find a way to take Liola with me.¡±


    Hearing his explanation, Daylight began to panic. Then¡­ what should they do? Were they really going to let Liola eat the Heart?


    Mizerui took out a shiny dagger from underneath his robe. The expression on his face was extremely rigid, as though he did not act this way, and would not have the courage to do what he was about to do.


    ¡°I-isn¡¯t that Meinan¡¯s dagger?¡± Daylight looked suspiciously at the dagger, then, suddenly realizing something, he hurriedly pushed Mizerui aside, then stood between him and Liola. He roared, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°This dagger was handed to me by Meinan personally.¡± Mizerui stated calmly, ¡°Kaiser said, instead of me using Magic to blow him into disfigured pieces, it is much cleaner to use a dagger. After all, there are still people waiting for Liola to come back; therefore, even if we cannot bring Liola back alive, we can at least keep him looking good.¡±


    ¡°Kaiser and Meinan¡­¡± Daylight was deeply shocked, ¡°They want to kill Liola?¡¯


    Mizerui was suddenly infuriated, for he had held it in for a long time. He roared, ¡°Would you rather we kill Liola now?! Or let the Heart of the Dragon Emperor kill him, and use his body to hurt those he cares about?! You pick one then!¡±


    Daylight¡¯s face also turned rigid. He thought about Caffey; after being controlled by the Heart, not only did he kill his wife and his Sacred White Dragon, he even murdered his own son¡­ What would Liola do then? Of course, Liola did not have a wife, but he had a Sacred White Dragon who was basically his son, and he had his companions. If Liola was truly controlled by the Dragon Emperor, everyone who used to stand by his side would have no choice but oppose him. In the end, they would all either be killed by him, or kill him¡­


    Daylight¡¯s always upright body suddenly collapsed, and instead it was now warped from tiredness. He reached out his hand towards Mizerui, and said, ¡°Let me.¡±


    Mizerui hesitated a moment, but still handed the dagger to Daylight. Instead, he focused his attention on the surroundings, in order to prevent the Dragon Emperor from sending people to take Liola away immediately after winning the tournament.


    Daylight turned around, facing Liola on the bed, and smiled bitterly, ¡°Liola, I¡¯ve never ever imagined it would be me who would end your life with my own hands. B-but if you¡¯re awake, you would definitely choose to end your life rather than eat the Heart of the Dragon Emperor¡­ that has been what you were thinking since the beginning, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°As such, maybe it¡¯s best if I send you the rest of the way, so you wouldn¡¯t have to hide in a corner to commit suicide, and we won¡¯t even be able to find your corpse for a proper funeral.¡± Daylight smiled lightly, and the dagger in his hand was raised suddenly. He carefully aimed it at where Liola¡¯s heart would be, hoping his companion could die without suffering any pain.


    No matter how careful the aim might be, it should not take much time, but Daylight held the dagger up for quite some time. With his eyes overflowing with tears, Daylight closed his eyes turned his head, and swung his hand downward¡­


    In that instant, a slender hand suddenly grabbed Daylight by the wrist. Since Daylight did not expect this, the dagger suddenly fell out of his hand.


    ¡°Liola?¡± Daylight was deep in shock. He did not expect Liola would wake up in this moment, but he was not worried Liola might misunderstand him. Instead, Daylight was worried Liola would not allow him to complete the euthanasia, and carry the weight of killing his own companion.


    ¡°Dragon Magic¡­ I know it.¡± Liola answered irrelevantly. He slowly got up from the bed, and said absent-mindedly, ¡°I saw Lucifer¡¯s Dragon Magic¡­¡±


    Daylight¡¯s eyes widened; Liola knew Dragon Magic? Then the match¡­


    * * *


    Baolilong was caught in the black smoke, and the pain it suffered was immense. Kaiser and others yelled several times to surrender, but Baolilong remained firm and cried that it would never surrender, no matter how painful.


    ¡°Baolilong!¡± Kaiser really wanted to slap himself. Why did he have to spell out everything to Baolilong before hand, resulting in it unwilling to give up? But now everyone could tell, there was no chance it could win, and prolonging this battle would only result in more pain and suffering.


    ¡°Baolilong, Purity beg of you; surrender, and stop fighting!¡± Purity cried out to it.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Baolilong also cried back. It did not want papa to become how he was before, no¡­


    ¡®Baolilong¡­¡¯


    Baolilong blinked its eyes. ¡®Papa? Are you awake?¡¯


    ¡®Baolilong, listen to me. Focus all your power to your forehead, the marking of our bond.¡¯


    ¡®Okay!¡¯ Baolilong agreed, and started to focus all the divine powers towards its forehead.


    ¡®It¡¯s not enough. Baolilong, don¡¯t be afraid, put all your powers to the mark.¡¯


    ¡®But,¡¯ Baolilong hesitated, ¡®I have to save power to stop old papa, otherwise Baolilong will be dragged into dark places.¡¯


    ¡®I will protect you, don¡¯t be afraid. Do you trust me, Baolilong?¡¯


    ¡®Mhm! Mhm! Baolilong trusts you. Papa is the best.¡¯


    Baolilong put every last bit of power towards the binding marks on its forehead, not even leaving enough strength to move its limbs. It firmly trusted Liola; had Baolilong been able to live without its heart beating, it might have even transferred that bit of strength towards the mark.


    ¡®It¡¯s enough. Now Baolilong, drop all your psychological barriers towards me¡­¡¯


    ¡®What¡¯s a psychological barrier? Baolilong doesn¡¯t understand.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m wrong. You never had your guards up towards me. The person who had it was always just me.¡¯


    But now, he would no longer have any guards towards it. Liola let go of all the walls he had in his heart. Baolilong was his Dragon, and even more like his child or his brother. It never had a single thought of malice towards him, and this little kid had trusted him without any reservation.


    Only when there was no impedance between the Dragon and human, and their minds were completely connected, to the point where they can give their lives for one another, would it be possible to cast Dragon Magic. It was a Magic based on complete trust.


    When the human was Dragon, and when the Dragon was human, miracle would happen!


    Liola was still inside the room, and a blinding brightness emitted from his body, one unique to the Sacred White Dragons. Two different voices spoke out when he opened his mouth, ¡°Ready?¡± He did not call Baolilong by its name, because by now, half of him was Baolilong.


    Buried deep within the black smoke, Baolilong opened its mouth as well. Like Liola, two different voices could be heard, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Divine Lightning of the Heavens¡±


    * * *


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Meinan stared blankly at the sky. The entire sky seem to be emitting a faint gold light. Then, Baolilong suddenly gave an earthshaking roar from within in the black smoke. After the earth stopped shaking, Meinan suddenly had a bad feeling. He raised his head again to look at the sky, and the golden light in the sky converged towards the center like a vortex. Though it was ¡°converging,¡± it was not a small spot the light converged on, but rather the entire sky above them.


    Every place bathed by the golden light became bizarre; the wind blew so strongly that people felt pain on their skins.


    ¡°Kaiser, this isn¡¯t looking great!¡± Meinan roared.


    ¡°Bastard! Isn¡¯t that obvious? I think Baolilong has gone on a rampage!¡± Kaiser yelled back, but his heart was filled with happiness, ¡°Looks like Liola doesn¡¯t have to die!¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to die¡­ but I think we will!¡± Meinan yelled desperately.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Kaiser ducked to dodge a giant rock, and screamed in the strong wind, ¡°Then we should bail, hurry! Let¡¯s fly away with Purity! Flames, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Meinan nodded, and each of them dragged Purity by one of her hands, and quickly flew up. Luckily, there was enough time; not only did the three flew out of the golden sky¡¯s range, many of the Knights in the audience also used their legs to run out of range.


    After the four of them flee like refugees, they all tried to catch their breaths as they looked back to see what was happening. Miluo was obviously panicking; even though he had lived many years, he had never seen anything like that. His giant body stood up, and before it took many steps, it reached the edge of the golden sky. Everyone scattered away from him, to stop themselves from becoming a pancake. But the moment Miluo reached the edge, he ran into an invisible wall. No matter how hard he pushed or shoved, he could not leave the area.


    Purity suddenly yelled, ¡°Guys, look, the Dragon Emperor can¡¯t leave either.¡±


    Sure enough, the Dragon Emperor was also standing at the edge. He was not charging senselessly like Miluo, but he reached out his slender fingers and lightly touched the invisible wall. Everyone saw his finger looked like it was stopped by glass, stopping in the air.


    ¡°Your Highness!¡±


    All the Knights began to yell, and they hurried back to save their Emperor, but the golden sky that generously allowed them to leave, would not allow them to come back. Another transparent wall stopped the Knights, making impossible for them to go back to save their Emperor.


    The Dragon Emperor seemed unusually calm, as though he already knew this already going to happen. He raised his head to look at the sky, and his calm looks gave no indications of what he was thinking.


    ¡°The sky¡­ gold lightnings!¡± The Knights all yelled.


    The first bolt of lightning struck down, as if it was just a warning shot. When this bolt of lightning struck, it was wider than Miluo¡¯s black pillars, and a prideful figure appeared in the sky. It was a beautiful Sacred White Dragon, and the pink eyes told everyone, it was Baolilong. However, this Baolilong looked even more matured and beautiful than before, and every single white scale on its body was shimmering with a golden light.


    When it slowly flapped its wings, countless golden lightning shot out beneath its wings, shooting down to ground like lightning from Zeus himself.


    The golden lightning immediately filled the space between the transparent walls. It looked as though the walls were covered by a golden light. Everyone stared at this blankly, including the Knights who were anxious to save the Dragon Emperor. Not because they weren¡¯t loyal, but because the situation was clear to them, they were no match against the golden lightning.


    ¡°This is too crazy, what the hell is this?¡± Kaiser asked while staring.


    ¡°Dragon Magic.¡± Flames answered reflexively. It was stunned also. Although it had already known from its master that Liola had gained the insight to Dragon Magic, but it would have never fathomed the spells would have such overwhelming and terrifying power.


    Kaiser gulped, then said, ¡°If I mess with Baolilong again in the future, someone please remind me with the words ¡®Dragon Magic¡¯.¡±


    Everyone else nodded in awe.


    * * *


    Since the percentage of people staring absent-mindedly had reached one hundred percent, no one knew how much time had past before the golden lightning had faded away, leaving behind only beautiful sparkles twirling around in the air.


    Everyone slowly regained their senses, and they looked inside to see what had happened; Miluo¡¯s giant body was now nowhere to be seen. Kaiser and others were shocked, wondering if Miluo¡¯s corpse did not even survive the onslaught? Crap, he was, after all, Baolilong¡¯s biological father, and he was only under control.


    Kaiser and others ran over quickly. It wasn¡¯t until now that they saw two people inside. To be more accurate, one Dragon and one human. Miluo was lying face-down on the ground. Because he had turned into Dragon form before, his clothes were already gone, so he was on the ground, naked, with his dense long hair barely covering him. Nevertheless, one could see there were not many wounds on his body.


    This made Kaiser and others very surprised. Judging from the attack they had seen, how could it not have leave any major wounds on Miluo¡¯s body?


    ¡°The attribute of the Dragon Magic is decided between the Master and the Dragon.¡±


    Standing on the side, the Dragon Emperor looked like he was about to fall over at any moment, however, he burst into laughter instead and explained, ¡°Haha, looks like those two don¡¯t want to harm anyone, and used such an unique Magic. Although it drained the enemies of all power and will, it did not actually hurt their bodies.¡±


    At this time, Baolilong also fell out of the sky. In its human form, Baolilong was also naked, and it looked completely exhausted. It crawled into Purity¡¯s arms, and murmured, ¡°Papa is coming.¡± Then, fell asleep soundly. By the looks of it, Baolilong was far too tired, and not even the end of the world could wake it right now.


    As if to fulfill Baolilong¡¯s words, Liola walked towards them from afar, followed by Mizerui and Daylight. He walked up to everyone, and turned around to see his companions. Everyone looked truly happy to him; how could they not? They originally thought they may have to personally kill Liola to prevent him from falling prey to the Heart¡¯s control, then living a life that he wish he could end.


    In the end, everything seemed to made an one eighty. Liola did not have to die, nor would he be under control, and everything sad and tragic had past¡­ Tears of joy filled everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Liola smiled lightly towards his companions, and turned around to face the Dragon Emperor once again. Since he had gained the knowledge of the Heart, and thereby Lucifer¡¯s past, even while talking, Liola could not help but include a sense of sympathy,


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost, Dragon Emperor.¡±

 Volume 13, 9: Kill No More

    Volume 13, Chapter 9: Kill No More


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    ¡°I lost? I lost¡­ hahaha!¡±


    The Dragon Emperor seemed to be on the verge of insanity. His smile looked crazed, completely losing his usual elegance and calm. He screamed on the top of his lungs, ¡°I did lose. Then, kill me, and you better do it quick, because if you don¡¯t, I will use this body to hide in everywhere you go, and kill every last person you care about!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with my own child. I¡¯ve been holding my anger back from Cappuccino for a long time. He will be the first!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! You are not allowed to say that!¡± Liola roared loudly, with his face rigid, because he believed the Dragon Emperor would do whatever he said, this made Liola feel afraid. He did not worry about his own safety, but he could not allow those whom he cared to be in danger because of him.


    ¡°Then, it will be Lanski, your twin sister. Then, Kaiser, that damned descendant of Gle¡¯s descendant; I will tear his mouth apart!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Shut up!¡± Liola walked up to him, and swung a few punches at the Dragon Emperor, trying to shut him up.


    ¡°Softness will make you unfit to be a good Dragon Emperor; you will understand that soon enough.¡± The Dragon Emperor said lightly. The bruises on his cheeks were obviously not enough to stop him from talking, ¡°In time, you will become as cold as I am. Only a cold and cruel king could lead his people to the most glorious place.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liola declined decidedly, ¡°I don¡¯t want glory. I just want everyone to laugh happily, and that is enough!¡±


    ¡°Is that so? You really have no ambition, my child.¡± The Dragon Emperor glanced at Liola with discrimination.


    Liola turned his head to look at other people: Kaiser, Daylight, Meinan, and Purity, were all smiling and did not say a word. They were all willing to let Liola decide what he should do.


    Seeing this, Liola¡¯s heart felt some peace. He calmly said to the Dragon Emperor, ¡°Now, return my father, Caffey, to me. It¡¯s already impossible for you to conquer the world, and he is therefore no use to you anymore.¡±


    The Dragon Emperor¡¯s body went rigid, and a long while passed before he showed a malicious smile and said, ¡°Too late.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Liola asked with a stiff face.


    ¡°The moment Susanna died, Caffey¡¯s consciousness had already been destroyed, and there is nothing left now.¡±


    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be, you¡¯re lying.¡± Liola¡¯s heart began to panic. He had once promised Mocha he would definitely save Caffey, but if Caffey had been gone for twenty years, what could he possibly do?


    ¡°It¡¯s true. If you don¡¯t believe, touch my chest; do you sense two hearts, or just one?¡± The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly.


    Liola reached out his trembling hand, and pressed it against the Dragon Emperor¡¯s chest. Indeed¡­ indeed it only had one heartbeat!


    ¡°Caffey¡­ is dead?¡±


    Liola¡¯s eyes suddenly darkened. This person in front of Liola¡­ because of him, Liola was bereaved of his loved ones: his father Caffey, mother Susanna, and older brother Mocha! If none of these happened, Liola would have been a part of a happy family.


    Revenge! If father was no longer there, he could not let the Dragon Emperor go! Liola flattened his lips, reached out his left hand to hold the Dragon Emperor against the ground, and took out Broken Silver with his right hand. The cold and sharp light reflecting off Broken Silver was an announcement to everyone, its master was going to kill again.


    ¡°Father Caffey, brother Mocha, I will avenge you both.¡±


    Liola raised Broken Silver, and aimed it at the Heart that had lived for thousands of years. Though looking at Caffey¡¯s face, he was still hesitant, but the thought of revenge grew in his mind, and Broken Silver still jabbed down in the end¡­


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    A yell could be heard from afar, but Liola¡¯s Broken Silver had already landed, making the sound of a sharp blade inserting into another object.


    Kaiser and others turned their heads to look, noticing the person yelling was actually Yizhou, and Yiyu was following behind him while trying to catch his breath.


    ¡°Is it too late?¡± Yizhou asked with a pale face. His eyes were able to vaguely see the hilt of Broken Silver, and the other half was already¡­


    Tears streamed out of Liola¡¯s silver eyes, dropping to the chest of either the Dragon Emperor or Mocha. He trembled and said, ¡°I can¡¯t do it¡­ No! I must kill him, or how could Caffey and Mocha¡¯s deaths be avenged?¡±


    Hearing this, Yizhou looked carefully, realizing Broken Silver had not pierced Caffey¡¯s chest, but the grass next to him. But now, Liola raised Broken Silver again, and this time, his eyes were even more firm, filled with even more rage¡­


    ¡°Stop him, hurry!¡± Yizhou said as he quickly walked up to try and stop Liola from killing the Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°What are you doing? Whether he¡¯s going to kill or not, it¡¯s Liola¡¯s decision, and none of your business.¡± Kaiser blocked Yizhou¡¯s path, and yelled at him.


    Daylight also raised his sword to stop Yizhou dead in his tracks.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Yizhou said nervously and anxiously, ¡°He¡¯s not Liola now; or I should say, he¡¯s not just Liola now.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Kaiser was thoroughly confused, but for some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling. After a bit of hesitation, he still turned towards Liola and yelled, ¡°Hey! Liola, you wait a minute, don¡¯t kill him yet.¡±


    Liola, however, raised his head, and his eyes had a terrible resentment, enough to drive fear to his companions. He said with incredibly toxic tone, ¡°No! He must die; I will kill him, and avenge my father and brother!¡±


    Originally, Kaiser was simply thinking the Dragon Emperor could not run away, so it did not matter if they stopped to listen to what Yizhou had to say. However, Liola¡¯s eyes and words now caused him to feel something was indeed wrong, for Liola would never exhibit such malice.


    ¡°Stop him!¡± Kaiser no longer blocked Yizhou¡¯s path. Instead, he yelled towards Daylight, whom was also puzzling over Liola¡¯s strange actions. The moment he heard Kaiser say so, he immediately ran towards Liola without hesitation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about stopping me.¡± The Broken Silver in Liola¡¯s hand again jabbed down towards the heart¡­


    Mizerui, who was standing by the side, also realized something was wrong, and threw a gravity ball towards Liola. Being unprepared, the gravity spell hit Liola and sent him flying a good distance before he was finally able to stop himself. He stood up slowly, and eyed everyone coldly. His tone was filled with rage, ¡°Is that so? Even you want to stop me from avenging my family? I will not forgive you¡­ Anyone who dares to stop me from revenge will not be forgiven!¡±


    Kaiser used even louder voice to yell, ¡°Liola! What the hell is wrong with you?¡±


    The roar was loud enough to resound in the entire stadium. Hearing his name, Liola paused, and he felt skeptical. What was he really doing right this moment?


    Yizhou finally had a chance to speak, and he said calmly, ¡°He¡¯s being affected by the Heart of the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Kaiser suddenly turned his head, and asked in complete disbelief.


    Everyone froze, especially Liola himself. He was affected by the Heart? How could that be possible? The Dragon Emperor had lost, and he was lying still on the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ What I could possibly do for the successor with my lowly skills,¡± Yizhou¡¯s face looked a bit embarrassed, ¡°So I casually looked around in the royal library, to see if I could find something to help the successor.¡±


    ¡°Casually looked around? You call looking around without resting after the match that almost killed you ¡®casually looking¡¯?¡± Yiyu grunted.


    ¡°I found Caffey Highness¡¯s diary hiding inside the library.¡± Yizhou took out a crumbled, aged book, ¡°It detailed the long journey of struggle he had with the Heart, and in the end, he even had an analysis about the Heart of the Dragon Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Heart of the Dragon Emperor, is not truly a heart.¡±


    Yizhou said calmly, but every word he said blew everyone¡¯s minds.


    ¡°It¡¯s a strong body of collected hatred over the years,¡± Yizhou glanced at the Dragon Emperor, and continued, ¡°So the Dragon Emperor would only have one kind of heartbeat in his body, not because Caffey Highness had been destroyed, but rather because there has always been one heart.¡±


    ¡°What are you trying to say exactly? Can you just get to the point?¡± Kaiser¡¯s feeling of forebodement grew in his mind. He did not care about anything else ¡ª he just wanted Yizhou to finish quickly.


    Hearing Kaiser¡¯s demand, Yizhou said directly, ¡°Last night, the Dragon Emperor went to see Liola, right? That was the time when the Heart was no longer in the Dragon Emperor, and it was in Liola¡¯s body instead.¡±


    What?!


    Everyone was silent for a while, before Kaiser smiled dryly, ¡°Yizhou, this joke isn¡¯t funny at all.¡±


    ¡°Liola did not eat the Heart of the Dragon Emperor, so how could it be in his body?¡± Mizerui asked in disbelief. He was there last night, and he could see everything clearly. The Dragon Emperor did not touch Liola¡¯s body, so how could the Heart have moved?


    Yizhou shook his head, and said, ¡°The Heart of the Dragon Emperor is not a real heart, and the ritual of eating the heart was simply to make the next Dragon Emperor more fragile, so the Heart could take over the body faster.¡±


    Making him more fragile? Mizerui¡¯s expression changed, remembering what the Dragon Emperor said to him last night. Could this be the reason why he thanked Mizerui for making Liola fragile?


    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± Kaiser felt a sensation of suffocation. If everything Yizhou said was true, then the whole entire match was a ploy in the beginning? The Dragon Emperor never planned to win this match honorably?


    ¡®Damn¡­ Is this the reason why he didn¡¯t seem to care about the match today at all? Because the Heart had already successfully transferred into Liola¡¯s body, so the match today was meaningless.¡¯ Kaiser shook his head, ¡®No! It can¡¯t be like this! If the Heart still took Liola over, then what was the point of everyone, including Baolilong, doing their best to try to stop him?¡¯


    Not seeing even the slightest hint of a joke on Yizhou¡¯s expression, Kaiser grew angry, ¡°Stop being ridiculous. If the Heart is already in Liola, why hasn¡¯t the Dragon Emperor turn back into Caffey?¡±


    ¡°He already is Caffey,¡± Yizhou answered calmly, ¡°Just under Idojin¡¯s hypnosis. I¡¯ve already spoken to Idojin ¡ª my fists and Yiyu¡¯s hypnosis forced him to tell us.¡±


    Yiyu took a step forward. As an apprentice of Idojin, he should know how to undo a temporary hypnosis. He was not able to break Liola¡¯s hypnosis because it was a complete and permanent one, but because they lacked time, he believed his master could not have completed a full hypnosis.


    Yiyu began chanting a spell, and the Dragon Emperor suddenly grabbed his head in pain, but he did not seem to struggle for long. It was probably because Idojin was beaten to a pulp by Yiyu, and therefore did not have much power to maintain the hypnosis, so it was easily released by Yiyu.


    He raised his head blankly, and the expression on his face was no longer that of the cruel yet elegant Dragon Emperor. He looked around in confusion, and finally found a familiar face, then he yelled loudly,


    ¡°Little Mi!¡±


    [T/N: Nickname for Mizerui.]


    Mizerui¡¯s body froze, but he did not know whether he should believe this person was Caffey, or if it was the Dragon Emperor toying with him again.


    ¡°Why are you the only one here?¡± Caffey¡¯s expression made it even more clear; he had a confused look. He scratched his face and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else? Where¡¯s my wife?¡±


    Mizerui was a bit speechless. It looked like Caffey had not the slightest memory of Susanna¡¯s death.


    ¡°Is he Caffey?¡± Kaiser tried to ask Mizerui.


    Mizerui paused as he looked at Caffey¡¯s eyes, those clear yet confused eyes; his face had a hint of skepticism yet it always had a slightly idiotic smile, and even his body language changed from the arrogant Dragon Emperor with his head held high, to a lazy look with his shoulders down and his back slightly hunched forward¡­ This was Caffey, definitely! This was Caffey!


    ¡°You are Caffey.¡± He called out lightly, feeling the wetness in his eyes. It had been a long twenty years, ever since Susanna¡¯s death, he had never seen the true Caffey again.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Caffey blinked, unsure why Little Mi would call him and not answer his questions.


    Hearing Mizerui¡¯s call, everyone¡¯s face changed. If Caffey was back, then it meant the Heart of the Dragon Emperor would be¡­


    ¡°What about me?¡± Liola suddenly spoke, and asked blankly, ¡°Who am I?¡±


    Liola¡¯s gaze crossed paths with everyone present, then he smiled sadly.


    ¡°Am I¡­ the Heart of the Dragon Emperor?¡±


    Silence befell the place. Everyone were shocked by the change, and no one knew how to react. They all stared at Liola blankly, trying to find the trace of the Heart on his face.


    But no matter how they looked, it was still Liola they saw! Kaiser locked his eyebrows, and checked Liola up and down. The more he looked, the more he thought Liola did not change at all! He walked closer unconsciously, trying to examine Liola in detail.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get close to me!¡± Liola shouted towards Kaiser as he raised he raised his head, and Kaiser was shocked and stopped.


    Liola said with a hurt look in his eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t want to harm anyone, especially you guys¡­¡±


    ¡°Susanna~ so you¡¯re here, why didn¡¯t you call out to me?¡±


    Before Liola had a chance to finish, Caffey rushed up to him, and hugged him tightly. He said happily as he rubbed his body against Liola¡¯s, ¡°Susanna, I think you¡¯ve gotten thinner. Your muscles don¡¯t seem as obvious anymore, hehe, you¡¯re now more huggable than before.¡±


    ¡®Damn, Liola is a guy¡­¡¯ Everyone¡¯s face suddenly turned strange, ¡®How muscular could your wife have been?¡®


    ¡°Caffey, that isn¡¯t your wife!¡±


    Mizerui reminded hurriedly, but it was too late. Caffey, who mistook Liola for his wife, had already pecked him a few times on the face. Liola was in a bit of trance, and he did not wake up from it until his cheeks got kissed a few times. Then, he saw Caffey made a kissy face and about to kiss him on the lips¡­


    Liola was shocked, and an Assassin¡¯s instinct made him jump backward. Before his biological father¡¯s lip got close, he gave him a super slap, and the force made Caffey spin a few complete turns where he stood.


    Liola tried to catch his breath in shock, and suddenly remembered he had just slapped his own biological father. It seemed like something he shouldn¡¯t do? He looked at the ground worriedly, only to notice, Caffey had already reached his thighs, rubbing his face against them as he sighed, ¡°Wow, honey, even your legs got long and thin. How did you take care of them so well?¡±


    Liola¡¯s face suddenly changed, and couldn¡¯t help using his other leg to give Caffey a kick¡­ However, one kick was not enough to get rid of the Koala on his leg, so he then threw out a series of kicks!*


    [T/N: This sentence refers to Chun Li¡¯s lightning kicks.]


    Mizerui said calmly, ¡°Liola is indeed Susanna¡¯s son, he even beat Caffey in identical ways. Caffey turned exactly three and a half rotation after getting slapped, and their kicking patterns are both very rhythmic. However, Susanna usually kicks harder, and screams while beating Caffey, usually something like ¡®Go to hell,¡¯ etc.¡±


    Everyone heard what Mizerui said while looking at Liola desperately trying to kick Caffey off, but Caffey held on firmly and would not let go. He then tried climbing even further up Liola¡¯s leg.


    Kaiser and others could do nothing but make a face.


    ¡°What the hell, I can¡¯t really have a serious or angry mood now.¡±


    Kaiser threw his hands behind his head. Heart of the Dragon Emperor or whatever, who the hell cares! What kind of problems did the Troublemaking Squad had that weren¡¯t earth shattering? In any case, they would always find a way to resolve it!


    ¡°Kaiser, hurry and help me.¡±


    Liola dragged the Koala on his leg as he ran towards Kaiser and others, completely forgetting he had just told Kaiser not to get close to him moments ago.


    ¡°Hahaha! No, thanks.¡± Kaiser bursted into smile, and turned to Daylight, Meinan, and Purity, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare intervene in the touching reunion between father and son! The heavens would smite us if we did.¡±


    Daylight, Meinan, and Purity all nodded as they tried to hold back their laughter.


    Liola ran towards the three, as he shouted with an almost helpless tone, ¡°Kaiser~~¡±

 Volume 13, 10: A World Filled with Smiles

    Volume 13, Chapter 10: A World Filled with Smiles


    This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.


    A figure with a long black robe stood quietly in the rear garden of the Dragon Empire¡¯s palace. A closer look would reveal this person¡¯s slender figure, and his night-like long black hair reaching all the way to his hips. He wore a black long robe, without many ornaments on it, just a shining diamond on his collar, and he had a Turkish blue cape around his shoulder.


    The simple clothes seemed to be juxtaposing the uniqueness of his coldness and pride, and a simple look would make it clear this person was no ordinary person. But what showed even more of his identity was the luxurious crown atop of his head. The only person who would wear a crown was none other than the Emperor of the Dragon Empire.


    ¡°Liola, still, you did change¡­¡±


    A person walked over, wearing an ornated Magician¡¯s robe, but with sloppily rolled up sleeves. His green and messy hair were resting on his shoulders.


    The black figure slowly turned around, and his elegant face seemed to be filled with coldness. He said gently, ¡°Kaiser.¡±


    The person walking over was indeed Kaiser. His originally childish face had grown slightly longer, and he had matured slightly¡­ but not enough. He no longer looked like the fifteen year old, but maybe twenty at most now.


    ¡°You would not have done this before.¡± Kaiser said with a hurt expression as he looked at the proud man. He shook his head and smiled bitterly.


    Liola slowly opened his mouth, ¡°A person¡­ will change inevitably.¡±


    ¡°You changed far too quickly,¡± Kaiser chuckled bitterly, ¡°This makes me think the whole thing was just¡­¡±


    ¡°Just what?¡± Liola asked subtly.


    The two people stared at one another as the cold wind growled, making the flowers around the garden face away, as though they were weeping for the change in the friendship of these two individuals¡­


    ¡°Just, your true self!¡± Kaiser roared angrily, and hurriedly threw the stack of official documents on the ground in front of Liola.


    ¡°You bastard! Do you really think placing the royal seal on the desk, the documents would read over themselves then put the seal on themselves?


    ¡°My dream is to make money easily! Not busting my ass for work. I quit!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going on a strike! I¡¯ve been working for more than eight hours a day!¡± Kaiser continued to protest on the top of his lungs, not caring about the contradiction between him saying he quit and going on a strike.


    Finally, he also threw down the words, ¡°And I don¡¯t ever want to talk to you again!¡±


    After yelling all the words he needed to say, Kaiser breathed deeply and glared angrily at Liola. Where the hell was justice?! Why did he have to bust his ass while some bastard enjoyed flowers in the back garden, or sit in a pavillion sipping tea, while dumping all the work on him?


    Dear God! He even thought Liola was not similar to that idiot Caffey even the slightest¡­ Bullcrap! They were definitely 1000% father and son! At least on the subject of slacking off in terms of politics, Liola inherited every bit of it from his father!


    Caffey and Liola were father and son, so it made sense they were alike, but why the hell did he have to take the place of Mocha when he was still alive? If he knew this earlier, he would have fought to take the knife wound for Mocha, woooo.


    Liola said emotionlessly, ¡°You¡¯ll have a raise.¡±


    ¡°Bastard.¡± Kaiser¡¯s face grew angrier, ¡°It¡¯s not something a raise would solve this time!¡±


    ¡°You can go to the treasury every month for a gold brick as your allowance.¡±


    ¡°Wh¡­ what is one gold brick to me! I, Kaiser, am not someone who can be bought with money!¡± Kaiser wiped away the saliva from the corner of his mouth, and declined the offer with the straightest face he could muster.


    Liola raised his index finger.


    ¡°What?¡± Kaiser stared blankly at the finger, and asked, ¡°Are you raising my salary by one million?¡±


    Liola shook his head.


    ¡°Ten million?¡± Kaiser¡¯s eyes were now lit with $$.


    [T/N: wan = 10,000, 1 mil = 1 hundred wan, 10 mil = 1 thousand wan. In Chinese, both of these are representable by ONE, consider changing English equivalent to one BILLION instead, to make more sense to an English audience.]


    Liola shook his head again. His index finger now pointed past Kaiser¡¯s shoulder; he shrugged and said, ¡°I¡¯ll ask Daylight reduce his lecture to you by one hour.¡±


    Kaiser felt the hair on the back of his neck standing; could it be¡­


    ¡°Kaiser! How could you talk like this to Emperor Silver Moon?¡±


    It was indeed¡­ Kaiser¡¯s face sank.


    During Liola¡¯s coronation, everyone was very sensitive of the name ¡°Dragon Emperor,¡± and the thought of them calling the name respectfully made them extremely wary, so everyone decided to use a different title for Liola. Because of the lack of creativity, they decided simply to keep using successor Silver Moon¡¯s name, so they named him Emperor Silver Moon.


    Daylight wore white Knight¡¯s uniform, lined with a light yellow decoration. He performed a Knight¡¯s salute to Liola, and after Liola returned the salutation, he turned and began to speak to Kaiser, ¡°Even if we¡¯re all good friends, when Liola is wearing the crown, he is Emperor Silver Moon, and we are his subordinates. We cannot offend him, we must be polite, we have to respect Emperor Silver Moon from the depth of our hearts, after all, he #$&%*&@¡± (An endless lecture ensued.)


    Kaiser¡¯s showed a painful look, as if he had been hit by a ¡°Final Attack¡± Magic spell. His sorrowful eyes looked past Daylight¡¯s shoulder, meeting with Liola¡¯s gaze, and they spoke without words.


    ¡®Make him shut up, I beg you, and I¡¯ll go back to work immediately!¡¯ Kaiser said by gesturing his eyes.


    ¡®No, only one hour less.¡¯ Liola looked back mercilessly.


    ¡®Y-you cold, cruel bastard!¡¯ Kaiser glared at Liola angrily, his gaze filled enough heat to burn a hole in Liola¡¯s royal robe.


    Such burning eyes, Daylight of course had also noticed. He frowned, and said slightly angrier, ¡°Kaiser, you can¡¯t use such disrespectful way to look at Emperor Silver Moon. As a Knight, we must respect our Emperor from the bottom of our hearts, otherwise, &^%@#*&@¡±


    ¡°AH¡ª¡± Kaiser suddenly pulled his hair as he screamed towards the sky, and said crazily, ¡°I don¡¯t want the raise anymore! Please, just make him shut up~~¡±


    Liola showed a hint of smile from the corner of his mouth, ¡°All right. Knight Daylight, as my right hand man, Kaiser has much business to take care of. Let¡¯s take a raincheck on the lecture, and help me escort him back.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Emperor Silver Moon.¡± Daylight turned around, and courteously saluted Liola.


    Kaiser began to walk back in a depress manner. With his back towards the two, he did not realize Daylight suddenly showed a secretive smile, while Liola gave him a ¡°thank you¡± look. Finally, they both smiled at one another as they watched Kaiser walk further and further away.


    Kaiser paused, and turned his head to look, but Liola had already withdrew his smile, and returned to his former, solemn look. Daylight, on the other hand, did not care, for he always had a smile on, nor did he think Kaiser would figure out these two were cooperating with each other. Kaiser scratched his face, not realizing anything was out of the ordinary, he yelled with a lack of motivation, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Daylight, what are you still doing there?¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Daylight hurried up to catch to Kaiser.


    Kaiser walked as he murmured, ¡°I¡¯m definitely going to tell on you to Purity.¡±


    ¡°Oh? She¡¯ll be here tomorrow afternoon.¡± Daylight replied with a smile.


    ¡°Hmmph! You don¡¯t seem scared at all! I¡¯m going to tell on you to Feir, and tell him you¡¯re bullying his little sister, hehe!¡±


    ¡°But, the last time you did that to Feir, he came with a smile and asked me, ¡®What, you finally learnt to bully my sister?''¡±


    ¡°Damn! Last time Purity told on me, Feir came at me with a crappy attitude to make things right. Why is it so different with you? Where is the justice in that?!¡±


    The two walked further and further away while making small talks.


    Liola stood still in the same spot as he watched his companions walk away. Hearing Kaiser say he had changed, even though it was just a joke, he still could not refrain from thinking about the time when he had discovered the Heart had already moved to his body, and how much he feared that he, too, would be taken over by the Heart, and turn into a cruel and heartless Dragon Emperor.


    Fortunately, he did not choose to kill his father Caffey.


    After Caffey had found out what happened, he spoke about what he finally found out after hundreds of years of struggle with the Heart ¡ª a way to destroy the Heart of the Dragon Emperor. If they could purify the souls of the thousand Knights who were sacrificed for this curse, the curse of the Heart would naturally go away¡­


    Although it sounded easy, but considering the size of the world, and the thousands of years that had past since the event, no one would know the location where the curse was cast, other than perhaps the Heart itself.


    Although Caffey had figured out a way, he did not have enough time to find the location before he was completely controlled by the Heart. Liola began to worry if he really could find the land of the cursed before the Heart took control.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± At the time, Kaiser patted his back, ¡°The world is practically yours; all the Magicians in Aklan Republic, the Maxuns and Mechas of the Commerce Alliance, and the loyal Knights in your Empire can definitely find that damned place.¡±


    In the end, they really did mobilize everyone in the entire world. As soon as Qiusi heard about this news, he immediately sent the entire Aklan Republic¡¯s population of Magicians to every corner of the world to look for the cursed place, telling them not to come back if they could not find it. There was a sudden increase of homeless Magicians around the world.


    The Red Commander worked with Qiusi, developing a Maxun capable of detecting negative Magic, and they ¡°threw¡± out the Mecha Fighters from the Alliance, flying over the world detecting the presence of negative Magic. There were quite a rumble around the world at the time; even when someone who had cast a curse spell wanted to go to the bathroom, a bunch of Mechas would land from the air, surrounding the person who cast the curse, making them beg for mercy and swearing never to do it again.


    As for the Dragon Empire, now that the Dragon Emperor (Caffey) and the successor had reconciled and gave the search order together, there was no reason why any Knight would not try his/her best to look.


    All in all, the skies were quite a busy place; there were Magicians, Mechas, and Knights with all sorts of mounts. Occasionally, there would even be ¡°air accidents¡± because they were all tired from searching, and ended up colliding in the air from carelessness.


    But nobody would¡¯ve imagined, the people who eventually found the cursed land, were two girls in their twenties.


    Liola closed his eyes, and murmured gently, ¡°Lanski and Jasmine¡­ I owe you far too much.¡±


    ¡°Blue Mountain, Macchiato has sent a letter.¡±


    A loud calling to him interrupted Liola¡¯s thoughts. His face immediately become expressionless, even to the point where he did not want to turn to see the person running towards him.


    ¡°Blue Mountain? Blue Mountain?¡±


    Caffey noticed his son did not react, and decided to grab him by the shoulder to turn him. He then took out the envelope, and put it up to Liola¡¯s face like it was some sort of treasure. He said excitedly, ¡°Look! Look at these pictures! Macchiato and Jasmine ran off to some strange land again. Looks like they really love adventures.¡±


    Liola sighed, and again reminded his father despite its uselessness, ¡°My name is Liola, not Blue Mountain, and your daughter is called Lanski, not Macchiato.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Caffey¡¯s face turned rigid, but seconds later he returned to his former self; he complained as if he had been wronged, ¡°You two are my children, and I should be the one deciding your names. Besides, I promised Bairui, I would name all my children after coffee.¡±


    Liola frowned. Changing his name really should not have been a problem, and Lanski had already stopped fighting it after getting used to Caffey calling her over and over. However, calling Liola ¡°Blue Mountain¡± was far too¡­ too troublesome. Because every time Caffey calls him like this, if there was anyone standing near, their first reaction was to widen their eyes, and then say with shock, ¡°Blue Mountain?¡± Then, they would look at Liola, and finally¡­ they would burst into laughter and would not be able to stop.


    ¡°Speaking of Bairui, has father taught Baolilong healing Magic yet?¡± Liola suddenly remembered an important matter.


    Caffey¡¯s jaws dropped, then answered straightforwardly, ¡°I forgot.¡±


    ¡°I figured.¡±


    Liola sighed helplessly. Who said he did nothing but enjoy flowers and drink tea in the back garden? In fact, he felt like his work was extraordinarily difficult. Not only did he have to handle all sorts of strange problems Cappuccino caused around the world (mainly paying back things he had broken and deal with all kinds of complaints), he also had to take care of Baolilong, who had just turned into a ¡°male Dragon,¡± stopping him from running around while naked. Baolilong even liked to hug Daylight¡¯s Flames while not having any clothes on, resulting in Flames leaving burnt marks here and there on Baolilong.


    Speaking of which, perhaps Flames had gotten addicted to wearing Mandarin gown, or for some other reason, Flames had, contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, chosen to be a girl. Thus, she attracted a pervert (whose master was Blood Wolf) who was always hanging around her, until all the hair on its body had been burnt by the Fire Dragon. Then, it would go back to its master and cry. But the moment its hair grew back, it would return to get burned once again.


    There was also a young and silly Dragon who did not understand reasoning and love to get jealous (whose master was Liola). Every time he got burnt, or see that Blackie did not get burnt, it would vent by breaking things, starting small from things like tables and vases, going all the way up to walls and towers or the like. Every time Liola looked at the destroyed things, he would have a headache thinking how he would tell the Secretary of Treasury, Kaiser, so that he would not get far too furious.


    Liola continued to think about his work details without an expression on his face.


    And, he would have to look after Caffey, otherwise he would run into all sorts of unimaginable troubles. One time he was abducted by a human trafficker. When Liola rushed to the site of his auction, he saw Caffey standing on the auction stage, arguing with the trafficker about how their starting price for him was far too low, especially since he¡¯s the (ex-) Dragon Emperor¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find Baolilong.¡± Liola sighed, and thought he could not leave Baolilong alone for too long; otherwise, he did not know how many of the once useful things would turn into trash metals again, followed by Kaiser going crazy¡­


    ¡°Yes! Yes! It¡¯s been a long time since we¡¯ve had a picnic. Let¡¯s also take Blackie and Flames along.¡±


    Caffey casually grabbed his son¡¯s hand, and began to drag him along.


    With a long robe, Liola almost fell from Caffey pulling him forward, and after catching his footing, Liola got dragged a few more steps, but suddenly the person in front of him stopped, causing Liola to almost run into his back.


    ¡°Ah! They¡¯re already here.¡± Caffey yelled happily.


    Liola raised his head to see Flames running towards them angrily, and it seemed she was about to tell on Baolilong again, while Blackie and Baolilong were running behind her, occasionally trying to trip each other. The wolf and the Dragon both looked so angrily that smoke was coming out of their heads¡­ Wait! Smoke really was coming out of their heads! It seems like they were both burned by Flames.


    Following them was Kaiser, who was walking leisurely with his hands behind his head, and Blood Wolf, who was forced to stay in the palace because Blackie went off to chase after Flames. He even had a bottle of wine in his hand, and was walking while talking to Daylight, who was bitterly smiling. Although Liola did not hear what they said, he was able to guess Blood Wolf was trying to force Daylight to drink again despite Daylight¡¯s avoidance in alcohol.


    Although there were not many people who were truly smiling, perhaps only Daylight¡¯s forced smile would kind of count as smiling, but everyone he saw here¡­ made Liola feel warmth in his heart, as if¡­


    The whole world was smiling.