- Chapter 1 : Running away from home
- Chapter 2 : The Dark Street
- Chapter 3 : Sacrifice
- Chapter 4 : Operation Rescue Liola
- Chapter 5 : Kaigleser
- Chapter 6 : The Voice of the Dragon Cross Necklace
- Chapter 7 : Glory
- Chapter 8 : X Rank Duel
This volume is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.
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 — 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
Back to top
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 — 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 — 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 — spectators gambling money and competitors gambling money with lives.
Back to top
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—”...
“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 — 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.
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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.”
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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.
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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 — 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?”
Back to top
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!!!*
Back to top
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.”
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