Chapter 381: Myths

Anfey liked nights. Some people were energetic during the day but very sleepy in the evening. They could not stop yawning after midnight. Anfey never felt that way. He seemed to be more alert and sharper at night. He also liked to travel at night.

After connecting with Heart of Nature, he acquired super-sensing ability, which allowed him to become the king of the night. What others could not see or hear, he could hear and see very clearly. The utmost in the natural world displayed in front of him without any secrets.

At that moment, Anfey could clearly see about 30 elves sleeping on three tall ancient trees about 600 yards away. The three trees formed an equilateral triangle. From wherever one group was attacked, the other two groups of elves could come to their aid right away.

No elf need to be on watch on two of the trees while just one elf was on watch on the third. It was close to dawn, which was the time people felt sleepiest and most tired. The elf on watch seemed to be affected by the sleep cycle. She leaned against the tree, falling asleep once a while. She leaned her bow behind the tree. She unconsciously kicked it with her heels. As a result, the bow slowly leaned, and finally fell on the grass. The sound of the falling bow did not wake the elf up. Instead, she seemed to fall sound asleep.

The elf seemed to be right in front of Anfey. He could even see the hairs on the elf’s face. Over 20 mercenaries talked quietly around a bonfire about 200 yards away from the elves’ camp. They looked fresher than the elves. The mercenaries planned to leave in the early morning and attack the elves and Tiger of Tawau mercenaries. They were still discussing the details of their plan. Ozzic and his group were concerned about fighting over 30 elves, since they had no idea how many arrows those elves could shoot from the beginning of the fight to the end. Anfey and Shinbella were not concerned with the threats from elves, but regular mercenaries had to be worried. Ozzic expected that more than one hundred mercenaries would get hurt or killed in the fight. Anfey decided to change the plan, because he did not want to see unnecessary casualties even though they all knew they made a living by risking their lives, and being hurt or killed was inevitable in battle. Anfey decided to leave early, around midnight, and start the fight before dawn. Ozzic and Shinbella would take their two groups of mercenaries to surround the elves. Anfey’s job was to get to the camp first to kill all the onlookers.

Anfey did not expect his plan would actually affect many people. The so-called equality was a lie made by bards. They never enjoyed equality. A king had a bunch of government officials and noblemen, while those same officials and noblemen had their own people working for them. When the country was under siege, the king was never the first one in danger. The king would not spend so much money on the military for nothing. Ozzic, for instance, could not run in front when they were in a tough battle. Ozzic could be considered an official, so he had people who would sacrifice themselves for him. It was rare to see leaders like Anfey who would go into the enemy camp on their own for the sake of the whole team’s safety. They only knew the size of their enemy, but had no idea how many top powers were there and what kind of difficulty they would encounter. Even Ozzic and Shinbella saw Anfey differently.

Anfey knew himself well. He was confident of travelling in the dark. He felt like he was going to have fun instead of completing a mission.

For a short time, Anfey had easily walked behind the elf who was on watch without any of the anxiety an assassin would normally feel. He looked more like he was visiting a friend. Anfey paused for a second before he bent down to pick up the bow. He looked at the elf and observed that the elf did not notice him.

Anfey carefully drew his bow and aimed at the elf. He let his finger go and the arrow flew hard at the elf’s neck. When the elf opened her eyes after feeling the pain, Anfey had turned the bow around on her neck. He grabbed the back of her neck with his left hand while he pulled the bow back with his right hand. The bowstring choked the elf and cut deep into her neck. A trickle of blood oozed out. The elf only struggled a little bit before she slowly fell unconscious on Anfey. Anfey was very strong, and he cut through the elf’s blood vessels and trachea in the blink of an eye. She went limp and died.

Anfey slowly lay the elf’s body with her stomach on the ground. He carefully looked around and found elves still sleeping while mercenaries were still chatting. Nobody noticed Anfey. The place was lightly guarded, but that made sense. Prey had to be alert at all times, but predators did not have to be as tense as prey. The elves and mercenaries undoubtedly both thought they were the predators.

Ozzic and Shinbella came down with their respective teams. Shinbella’s team was in charge of elves, while Ozzic was in charge of Tiger of Tawau mercenaries. Long and Ling took the lead, one for Shinbela and the other for Ozzic.

Anfey suddenly frowned. An elf sleeping on a branch opened her sleepy eyes and sniffed. She looked like she was smelling something. Anfey figured out the problem. Blood had a rusty smell. Elves were really sensitive to smell. She must have smelled something unusual.

Luckily, elves loved evergreens. Under the cover of the trees, the elf did not see what happened underneath her. Anfey carefully bent down and picked up the body. He turned around to the other side of the tree and put the body on the ground again. He dug some rotten earth and covered the elf’s neck, so the blood smell would spread more slowly and other elves wake up from it. Anfey could see every move of the other elf, so he was not nervous. He had not made a sound so far. The elf jumped off the branch. Anfey straightened his back and waited for an opportunity. Although the elf smelled something unusual, she did not necessarily know what the smell was, so she did not wake her peers up, instead deciding to check on it herself.

“Aika!” The elf looked around and called the other elf’s name.

Anfey squeezed his voice a little and answered her with a simple yes.

“You, little sleepy, I knew you would fall asleep!” The elf smiled and walked around the tree.

Anfey step forward diagonally as he quickly reached his left hand out to grab the elf’s throat. His strong grip not only closed the elf’s larynx, it also lifted her up by her neck. Anfey held his breath, watching to see if those sleeping elves would notice anything.

That elf struggled lightly for a moment. Unfortunately, she was lifted in the air and could not get out of Anfey’s grasp, not to mention warn her peers. She continued to struggle, grabbing Anfey’s hand. She scratched his hand and drew some blood with her final effort before her arms fell limp.

Anfey had turned himself into a statue, not moving at all. He did not let the elf’s body fall to the ground for a quite while until he was sure no elf had woken up. Anfey did not even care about the blood trickling from where the elf had scratched.

300 yards away, then 200 yards away, Shinbela and her mercenaries were quietly approaching as Anfey slowly closed his eyes. Just as he could dismiss the natural magic druids released, he could sense any living being with his telepathy and try to build a relationship with it in a very subtle way.

Anfey had killed two elves without anyone noticing, a hard feat for even a few hundred mercenaries. By the time Shinbella was about 60 yards away from Anfey, a few elves had already slowly sat up. They sensed something unusual and nervously looked down to check what was happening.

Anfey suddenly opened his eyes. The three big ancient trees where elves rested suddenly moved like gigantic savage monsters. The branches started to swing like crazy. No matter whether elves had been awake or asleep, they were suddenly swinging out of the trees.

Anfey moved so fast in the air towards the mercenaries about 200 yards away that he barely left any shadow. He thought there was no doubt Shinbella could take care of the elves now.

Anfey’s flying action was a signal. Suddenly, their animalistic screams and yells rose from everywhere. Shinbella rushed over with her mercenaries, while Ozzic led his mercenaries into the station of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. The 20 or so mercenaries around the bonfire were stunned and jumped to their feet one after another. As they were ready to turn around to help their peers, a person rushed out of the forest and ran at them with extremely quickly.

If those mercenaries were not blind, they could tell it was Anfey glaring in the dark with a Fire Sword about eight yards long. Anfey ran so fast that the Fire Sword left a fire tail about ten yards long. The mercenaries looked at each other and screamed as they all pulled out their weapons and ran at Anfey.

The elf archers knew they were in danger. The ancient trees were tall and big. Some elves were tossed out diagonally, while others were tossed dozens of yards into the air. They fell down in different places with a thud on the ground. Besides a few good elf archers, most of them got hurt to a certain degree. Some even passed out. They did not notice how bad the situation was until they were ready to fight back. No one would sleep with bows on their back. That would be too uncomfortable, so they usually piled their weapons together. Now they had no idea where their weapons had been tossed. They were stunned and frozen there.

Anfey swung his sword into a crowd of about 20 elves. He was at a disadvantage in numbers, but his fighting ability was way better than all 20 of them together. He was like a lion to 20 rabbits. The quantity of enemies did not mean much to Anfey. In the blink of an eye, Anfey had killed most of those mercenaries. The only about 8 mercenaries left were so shocked by Anfey’s fighting ability. He knew they had no chance to fight against him and were ready to turn and run. Unfortunately for them, Anfey was about ten times faster than they were. In addition, Anfey’s Fire Sword could reach a large area. Even though they ran in different directions, he could still easily take all their lives with one swing of his Fire Sword.

Ozzic took his mercenaries to recklessly kill Tiger of Tawau mercenaries in the camp. Some Tiger of Tawau mercenaries who surrendered and dared not fight back were pulled to the side. The Tiger of Tawau mercenaries with lower fighting ability were countered by over ten of Ozzic’s mercenaries with axes. Ozzic’s mercenaries swung their axes at Tiger of Tawau mercenaries, who were no match in a one-on-one fight, not to mention one on ten. Tiger of Tawau mercenaries with higher fighting abilities were shot by crossbow arrows. The power of crossbow arrows made by Jacob could not be neglected. It was very hard for people to react to them in time because of their speed. Beside the speed, their humongous magic power had killed those mercenaries one after another, even though the mercenaries’ fighting ability was high.

Shinbella seemed to finish her job even easier. The bare-handed elves posed no threat to Shinbella’s team. As a result, elves were roughly pushed to the ground by mercenaries. A few elves who tried to save themselves with magic had angered Shinbella. She slayed them with her gigantic sword.

The battle ended fast. Ozzic caught over 40 captives. The rest of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had been killed. Shinbella caught 17 elves alive. They only had to clean up the battle field, which was a great opportunity for them to collect trophies and get rich.

Anfey laid his eyes on the elves and slowly moved back and forth. Ozzic tried to learn from Anfey, and he looked at those elves as well, but they thought totally different things. Anfey wanted to find the answer for a myth to why Manstuly tried to kill him, while Ozzic looked at the elves with desire. Ozzic could not believe it they captured over a dozen elves.

“He even sent out dozens of elves to kill me.” Anfey had an incredulous smile on his face. “Can anyone explain why are you trying to kill me? I did not think I had any conflicts with elves.”

The elves were quiet. They were tied tightly and forced to kneel on the ground. Elves were too proud to surrender to their enemies. They were surrounded by many mercenaries. Other mercenaries were cleaning up the battle field, and about 20 of them were watching the captives of Tiger of Tawau mercenaries. Some mercenaries did not have room to stand, so they even climbed into the trees because it was rare to be able to see elves.

Anfey shook his head. He did not expect to get an answer from the elves. He could not decide what he would do to them. He definitely could kill a few to vent his anger. However, he had already killed over a dozen, and if he killed the rest, he might make a life-long enemy of elves. He thought he should not do that before he could figure out the real intention of Bruzuryano. If Bruzuryano wanted to take Manstuly’s side, Anfey could only find a middle ground.

Anfey suddenly felt element surges in the distance before he could say anything. Anfey could not help looking into the distance. He saw two black dots flying from a distance. While others could not even tell whether those two black dots were people or birds, Anfey had already recognized them. One was Blavi, and the other one was Riska. Anfey was shocked to see Riska there.

Blavi and Riska flew close to Anfey very quickly. They first flew up to make sure the group underneath them were their people before they landed. Neither Blavi nor Riska looked too good. They both looked exhausted, especially Riska. When Riska landed, he stumbled and almost fell. He could not wait to speak: “Anfey, we finally find you.”

“What happened?” Anfey hurriedly asked after seeing Riska so nervous.

“Alice sent me here. Suzanna…” Riska suddenly stopped and said earnestly, “Anfey, don’t get too upset. You have to control it, ok?”

Anfey felt his heading ringing. Not only his face turned pale but also his lips. He usually thought more than others, and especially when Manstuly tried to cheat him in Suzanna’s name. He could understand Manstuly’s scheme, but Suzanna also might be able to now, which had worried Anfey for the past few days. Seeing Riska’s face, he instinctively thought the worst—that Suzanna had been killed.

“What happened to Suzanna?” Anfey’s voice slightly trembled.

“I was worried you would not be able to control yourself.” Riska had a bitter smile. “You…”

“F*cking tell me!” Maybe it took Riska too long to speak, or Anfey cared about Suzanna’s safety so much that Anfey totally lost control. He screamed before he threw himself at Riska and grabbed Riska’s collar. Riska was only a mage and did not have a strong body. He felt choked by a steel grip and could not breathe. His eyes rolled immediately.

Everybody was stunned. Everybody said Christian was a gentleman, as was Anfey. No matter what happened, Anfey always looked nice. This was the first time any of them had seen Anfey lose his temper.

Blavi was the first to react. He immediately rushed over to grab Anfey’s arms. “Anfey, calm down, calm down!”

“F*ck off!” Anfey shook his shoulder. Blavi was hit and landed a few yards away. He flew at the crowd. Luckily, Shinbella held him in time. Anfey looked fierce and crazy. He stared at Riska and said, “Tell me!”

It was absolutely quiet right now. He yelled those two words instead of speaking them. Riska rolled his eyes and struggled to point at Anfey’s hands.

“Anfey, you are choking Riska. He can’t say anything.” Blavi rushed back and gripped Anfey’s arms tightly. Everyone there was stunned, but only Blavi could come out to stop Anfey, because he believed they were friends in good times and bad, and he did not think Anfey would not hurt him.

Anfey took a deep breath and slowly let Riska go, but he still looked mad and crazy.

Riska gasped. After Anfey released Riska, he bent over and struggled for air.

“Riska, hurry up and tell Anfey. If you do tell him now, it will only make him more upset,” Blavi sighed.

“An…Anfey, Suzanna is missing.” Riska finally got to the point.

“Missing?” Anfey was shocked.

“Yes, she was lost after she left Violet City. The little unicorn was with her.” Riska was afraid Anfey would go crazy on him again so he said hurriedly, “Alice has sent many people to search for Suzanna. Master Ernest found out about it and went to search for Suzanna as well.”

“Then what happened after they searched for Suzannna?” Anfey asked.

“We found a trace of her. Master Ernest said a group of druids and elf archers must have attacked Suzanna, but it seemed that Suzanna escaped from them. They did not get her.” Riska took some time to catch his breath. He continued, “Master Ernest asked me to tell you not to worry about Suzanna. She should be fine with her fighting ability as long as she remains alert. She might have gone back to Moramatch.”

Anfey did not look so angry and fierce anymore. “Where is Uncle Ernest?”

“Master Ernest went to keep searching for Suzanna,” Riska said.

Anfey went quiet for a while. He finally figured what had happened and forced a smile. “Blavi and Riska, I am sorry. I was just…”

Blavi patted Anfey on the shoulder and chuckled nervously, “What are you talking about, Anfey. I know you were worried.”

“Anfey, if you had grabbed my neck with a bit more strength, I probably would not be able to hear you say sorry now.” Riska was still a little scared as he rubbed his neck. The choking feeling was horrible, Riska thought to himself.

Anfey held his hand out and lightly punched Riska’s chest to show he was really sorry about what he had done. He did lose control of himself, and now he slowly was regaining composure. Ernest was right. The first surprise attack was the most dangerous battle for Suzanna. As long as she was alert, Suzanna should have the ability to protect herself. Even if she could not win the fight, she definitely could flee from danger unless her opponent was a top power.

Manstuly should still be in Maho Empire. Yolanthe would not let Philip do anything ridiculous. Other top powers had no reason to go after Suzanna. Suzanna never had any conflicts with them, nor did she have any conflict of interests with them. They would not risk being the enemies of other top powers to go after Suzanna. Thinking these thoughts, Anfey felt a lot better, even though he was still worried.

“Riska, take a quick rest. We have to leave soon,” Anfey said quietly.

Riska shook his head. “I do not need it.” He saw a row of elves kneeling on the ground. He asked in surprise, “Why are there elves?”

“They set up Suzanna and now want to set me up. It looks like they tried to catch all of us at once,” Anfey sneered.

Chapter 382: Cleanup

“I thought the elves were supposed to be peace loving,” Blavi said, shaking his head. Even though he respected the elves, he was angered by their actions. They did not want to fight with the elves. They even had elves with them. However, it was the elves that started the fight. Blavi knew that the four elves that came to join them should not be trusted, either.

The mercenaries had finished the job, and a few walked over to Ye. They whispered something to him, and Ye nodded, turning to Anfey. “The cleanup is almost done,” Ye said. “I suggest that we head back immediately.”

Anfey nodded in agreement.

“What should we do with the prisoners?” Ye asked, glancing at the huddled elves. “They will slow us down.”

Anfey frowned and said with a sigh, “Kill all of them.” If the elves only targeted him, he could take it as proof that Manstuly was working against him. However, they also targeted Suzanna, which proved that the elves were working against him even without Manstuly’s direction. If he let those elves go, the elves would think that he was too weak. He needed to teach the elves a lesson.

Anfey’s words were clearly not received well. A lot of mercenaries were very disappointed by his decision; even Ozzic was shaking his head. The elves, however, did not cry out or protest despite their shock. Normally, the worst punishment for an elf would be slavery.

Ye nodded and waved at his men.

“Wait, my lord!” a mercenary standing behind Shinbella suddenly said.

“What is it?” Anfey asked.

“If you are going to kill them anyway, my lord, why don’t you give them to us?” the mercenary asked with a smirk.

The mercenaries around him burst out laughing. The mercenary had said something a lot of the others were thinking. Even Ozzic grinned.

“What did you just say?” Anfey asked quietly. Ozzic frowned. He was very sensitive to changes in people’s moods. Anfey sounded very calm, but Ozzic felt that he was planning something.

“Give those elves to us, my lord,” the mercenary said. “We’ll take care of them for you.”

The mercenaries laughed again. Some of the elves looked at the mercenaries with disdain, but they did not make a noise. One of the nearby mercenaries reached over and grabbed one of the elves with a smirk on his face. The elf he grabbed narrowed her eyes in disgust. She yanked her arm out of his grip and slapped his hand away. The mercenary, angered by her resistance, took a step back and drew his sword.

“Shinbella,” Anfey called. “Is he your man?”

Shinbella nodded. She did not approve of the mercenary’s actions either, but she wasn’t certain when she should intervene. Anfey glanced at the mercenary. Shinbella nodded. She dashed towards the mercenary and knocked his sword out of his hand. Then she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying through the air.

The laughter and jeering stopped as the mercenary landed on the ground with a grunt.

“We are mercenaries,” Anfey said, looking at the silent mercenaries. “Not robbers, not rapists. Anyone who suggests otherwise can leave now.” He paused and looked at the mercenary who first spoke.

He knew he had to punish the elves to make an example, but he did not want to put them through unnecessary suffering. He was in the right in punishing them, but he wouldn’t be in the right if he let the mercenaries do whatever they wanted with the elves.

If he let the mercenaries do whatever they wanted, his leadership could be questioned in the future. Saul and Bruzuryano had placed their hopes in him, and he couldn’t let them down. His friends and wife were depending on him as well, so he couldn’t let them down either.

Anfey glanced at Ye, who nodded and drew his sword.

Unlike the elves, the captured mercenaries begged for mercy before they were executed. The elves, although they were clearly terrified, steeled themselves in the face of death. They did not make a single noise as they died.

The mercenary that first suggested turning the elves over to the mercenaries stood there. He glanced at the dead elves, as if ashamed by his earlier suggestion. He knew Anfey would not let him back into the mercenary group.

The mercenary lying on the ground did not move as the prisoners died. No one wanted to approach and help him because no one wanted Anfey and Shinbella to get angry again.

After the bodies were cleaned up, Ozzic took his men and began heading back. Anfey and Shinbella began heading back as well after they exchanged a few brief words. Ye, however, remained still as if he had some unfinished business.

Soon, the only people left on the field were Ye and the two exiled mercenaries. The mercenary that was still conscious walked over to Ye carefully.

“My lord!” he called. He had been part of Jagged Rose mercenary group since he was a teenager. It was a very sad thing to see his friends turn away from him as if they were strangers. To him, Shinbella’s action was betrayal. He did not know what to do.

“What is it?” Ye asked.

“You are familiar with Lord Anfey, my lord,” the mercenary said. “Can you talk to Lord Anfey for me? Please, I will forever be in your debt.”

Ye sighed. “If you want women, there are hundreds of women in White Mountain City,” he said, shaking his head.

“I know, I know,” the mercenary said. “Please, help me.”

“I will try,” Ye said. “I promise nothing.”

“Thank you, my lord!”

Ye waved his hand. “You’re lucky,” he said, glancing at the unconscious mercenary. “At least you’re not him.”

The mercenary nodded. “I never thought Lady Shinbella would…”

Ye narrowed his eyes and glanced at the unconscious mercenary. “Is he moving?”

“Really?” The mercenary frowned and turned to look at the man. Before he could do anything, however, a sharp pain in his chest distracted him. He froze, then fell to the ground as Ye pulled his sword out.

“You are blaming Shinbella for this,” Ye said as he walked over to the unconscious man. “You will only be trouble in the future. I have to take care of you two now.” He slashed the unconscious man’s neck and shook his sword. Ye knew that if enemies had found these two mercenaries, they would have spilled everything they knew. That would put everyone in danger.

The dying mercenary watched as Ye left, then he spat on the ground and grew still.

Chapter 383: Changed Rules

According to the information Blavi had, Archknight Fernando had ordered his entire army to attack Reddenburg after Anfey had left Shield of Light legion with Ozzic and a few others. It would take Anfey a few days to go back and forth, so he figured Fernando would have taken Reddenburg during that time. Anfey asked Ozzic to take his unit to the front and travel directly to Reddenburg.

It was not a peaceful trip. Many death spirits came at them like one swarm of flies after another. Fortunately, these death spirits could not pose any threat to a group of more than a thousand mercenaries and were killed. After fighting this kind of battle against zombies, mercenaries seemed to get used to his kind of weak attack.

After three days, Anfey led his mercenaries to Reddenburg. As Anfey expected, Reddenburg had become a command post for Shield of Light legion. About a hundred flags with different embroidered designs flew around Reddenburg. These flags had practical usage. Every flag represented a group. The one with a war horse on his hind legs in the center of a shield represented the frontiers of the Shield of Light legion. The one with a knight’s spear in the center of a shield represented the cavalry. The one with a roaring lion in the center of the shield represented Fernando’s personal bodyguards, which meant the central command was in the Reddenburg. Not only each battalion, but also each squadron and regiment had its own flag. It helped the commanders to give clear instructions to their people.

By now, Anfey could be considered a big shot. After finding out Anfey was back, Fernando and Christian both came out of the headquarters to welcome and greet him. As they walked back to the headquarters, Archknight Fernando walked in front, with Anfey and Christian walking behind. An unwelcomed voice rose: “Master Anfey? I heard you lost your wife? Please accept my condolences. Hahaha…”

Anfey was shocked and turned around to where the voice came from. Marquis Djoser and a few Knights of Light were approaching. Marquis Djoser had a gloating smile on his face. The Knights of Light looked a little awkward. Although many knew that Suzanna was missing, few had detailed information about it. They just thought Suzanna must have been attacked by death spirits.

This was not good news for most Knights of Light. They did have conflicts with Anfey for sure, but necromancers were their biggest enemy right now. Whether they could win the battle with necromancers would decide their fate. Anfey was on the same side in this battle and had made some major contributions. He even worked with Slanbrea and killed Necromancer Annunciata. It just showed they had no class if they were happy about Suzanna’s unfortunate fate.

The Knights of Light felt a little awkward, but Christian already looked mad. Even Fernando looked a little annoyed. Compared with Anfey, Djoser was of little use except for his Marquis title and some influence in the upper classes. Anfey was a capable and got things done, so seemed to be more helpful to Fernando.

“Of course. Suzanna is nothing special to you. You have some elf maids with you. It is no big deal…” Djoser was interrupted by a slapping sound.

Anfey had appeared in front of Marquis Djoser and hit him. Anfey did not punch too hard because he did not want to kill him right now, but not too light either because he would not be able to vent his anger otherwise.

Marquis Djoser put his hand on his cheek, stunned. He did not think Anfey would ever dare to hit him in the public. Everybody knew he was a marquis in the empire.

“How dare…” Djoser yelled.

However, Marquis Djoser’s yell was interrupted again. This time his sound reverberated back. Anfey swung his arm and punched Djoser on the other cheek. Anfey kept swinging and hitting Marquis Djoser without holding anything back. He put enough strength into the punches to make sure Marquis Djoser swayed from left to right but did not fall to the ground.

“Master Anfey,” Fernando called to Anfey worriedly. He felt Marquis Djoser was very nasty to Anfey, but he had to stop Anfey, since Marquis Djoser helped him before.

Anfey gave Djoser one last shot as Djoser spun in a half circle and fell to the ground. He looked at Anfey with dull eyes. His mouth was open but did not make any sound. He was not scared by Anfey, but Anfey had given him a concussion. The weak old man lost consciousness and could not even feel the pain or react in any way.

The Knights of Light behind Djoser hurried over and blocked Anfey from Djoser. Anfey kept his poker face and walked away.

“Master Anfey, you are…” Fernando had a bitter smile on his face. In addition to constraints from Christian, Fernando’s authority was limited. Even if Anfey had killed Djoser, he had no way to punish Anfey. To provide stability in the organization, he had to have Anfey on his side. The only option he had was to talk to Anfey and convince him. If he took a hard line with Anfey, he would only put himself in a defensive position. Two Knights of Light held Marquis Djoser up. His face had swollen and blood dripped down from the corners of his mouth down to the chest. His eyes were still dull. Fernando was worried that Anfey had hit Djoser so hard it would cause brain damage.

Anfey causally shook his hands like nothing had happened. He did not respond to Fernando’s pleas. Christian said quietly, “Anfey, let it go. We have time. We will get him sometime.”

Christian’s response actually shocked many people. He was such a gentle and polite young man. He never talked to anyone so aggressively. People actually changed as their circumstances changed. Suzanna and Anfey had done so much so they could live safely. Christian thought Suzanna and Anfey were his closest friends. Marquis Djoser’s gloating had made me feel terrible for Anfey. If he did not have such a sensitive position, he already would have beaten Djoser up himself.

Fernando cringed. Christian made it sound like punching Djoser today was not enough, and they would get him later. Fernando could say anything to Christian at that moment. He said, “Master Christian, we have waited for Master Anfey for so long. Let’s not waist time talking about it now.”

“What happened?” Anfey asked, shocked.

“According to our plan, we should have continued forward after we took Reddenburg. As you can see, Shield of Light legion did not move at all.” Fernando heaved a sigh. “Let’s talk inside.”

“Ok.” Anfey nodded and followed Fernando in.

No one, including Anfey, realized Anfey’s fight with Marquis Djoser had changed the way he handled things. Besides dealing with some weak and small groups, Anfey had been very cautious and never wanted to pick a fight with anyone. He had always fought back after others picked fights with him. After realizing Zeda was the grandson of Master Swordsman Philip, Anfey regretted killing him. He still thought he should not have killed Zeda even though he himself was in serious danger.

At that moment, after realizing Manstuly was behind the druids and the unpredictable potential of elves, he would still kill druids and elves. Knowing Djoser was a marquis of the empire and the consequences of making a large group of nobles unhappy with him, he still hit Djoser.

Fernando, Anfey and his group quickly walked into a tall and grand residential house. As everybody took a seat, Fernando rubbed his hands and looked at Christian. “Master Christian, should you tell him or should I?”

“You can tell. You know the situation better than me,” Christian said.

“Ok.” Fernando hesitated for a second and said, “First of all, I have to admit I made a huge mistake.”

“Master Fernando, you have blamed yourself already several times. You really do not have to do that,” Christian said with a smile.

“No, I have to make it clear.” Fernando shook his head. “Because of my mistake, the whole plan fell through. I have to take responsibility.”

“That serious?” Anfey asked in surprise.

“Yes, very serious. I planned to divide the army into two units, one to help Shuklan City and the other to help Madrid Town. I think you know about this plan as well, but we cannot go anywhere now.” Fernando looked helpless. “You must have seen a lot of death spirits when you came back from the northwest?”

“Yes, I did,” Anfey said.

“If you do not mind my asking: Why did you suddenly leave the legion?” Fernando looked concerned.

“Some friends were trapped by death spirits. It was urgent, so I did not have time to talk to you about it before I took my mercenaries over there,” Anfey said.

“I see.” Fernando nodded. He knew Anfey was just giving an excuse. He was really interested in the reason why Anfey suddenly left the legion, but it was not a good time to discover Anfey’s secrets. He returned to the topic at hand. “My plan was built on a premise that we have to save trapped mercenaries and wipe out all the death spirits around every territory we take over. The previous Death Wars taught us that all death spirits acted in a whole unit. If we were attacked by any death spirits, the nearby death spirits would come and help them. At the moment, they are not under the command of necromancers, but I still think the nearby death spirits would come help other death spirits. If I pick a fight with them, I think we could easily wipe out all the nearby death spirits.”

“Death spirits are currently in chaos without the leadership of necromancers. When we passed through the Transverse Mountains, we had many fights with them. Every zombie group had a leader. Did you notice they would not help each other?” Anfey said.

“I did notice that. I thought they were just wandering zombies left behind. The main force of death spirits should have continued their traditions of willing sacrifice and unity and had uncontrollable desire for human flesh and blood. However, the reality is the frontier unit under my command had a fight with death spirits and killed some zombies after they arrived Reddenburg. This fight was to attract more hatred and gather more zombies here. Do you know what happened the next morning?” Fernando asked with a bitter smile.

“What happened?” Anfey asked.

“The zombies trapped in Reddenburg fled. No zombie remained. I never thought they would flee. Are there even death spirits anymore?” Fernando said slowly.

“You should know that zombies now have the ability to evolve. The most evolved zombies not only can communicate with other zombies, but also communicate with us. They are just like humans. They have desire, reasoning, fears, and even know how to beg,” Anfey said.

Fernando went quiet for a while and nodded. “I know, but I kept thinking the way I previously thought about them. This is why I need take responsibility for making that mistake.”

“How many zombies fled?” Anfey asked.

“About 8,000. Not many zombies were trapped in Reddenburg from the beginning. Now they are all gone. This is not the most important thing. I thought the fight with zombies around Reddenburg would attract nearby zombies, but they did not react to it at all,” Fernando said quietly.

Fernando picked up a cup of water and poured some water on the table. He drew something in the water. After a while, the water gathered together again. “Right now, we have similar situations. The zombies we killed were very limited. There were many death spirits behind us, to the northwest and northeast. If we leave here, they would take over this area again. To ensure the safety of Reddenburg, we need divide our army and try to wipe out all the death spirits.”

“That would take a long time,” Anfey said.

“We have time, but the trapped mercenaries would not be able to hold out until we get there,” Fernando said slowly.

“Are you saying…” Anfey said.

“In general, we will divide the army into two units. The main force will be responsible for wiping out the death spirits behind us. The elite force would go and help the cities in danger. This is a tentative plan. I have not thought through how to do it. We can discuss the details together. I just have had a bad feeling recently. Those necromancers acted too weirdly. It’s possible they have some conspiracy we do not know about,” Fernando said.

“Why would you think that?” Anfey asked.

“Take Reddenburg, for instance. If necromancers had directed nearby death spirits to come, Reddenburg could have been conquered a long time ago. They did not ask death spirits to come. Instead, they all suddenly disappeared. I think there only could be two possibilities. One is they are so happy with the situation as it is now that they do not even care about taking over Reddenburg. This does not fit the necromancers’ style though. The second possibility would be they do not have any extra effort to spare. Then the question would be, What are they doing now?”

“Shadow Empire?” Anfey suddenly remembered what Black Eleven found.

“What did you say?” Fernando asked in surprise.

Chapter 384: Seventh Legion

The sky was already dark by the time Anfey and Christian left Fernando’s tent. Fernando wasn’t certain what Shadow Empire meant, either, but he knew that he must report immediately. The necromancers had the ability to cause more chaos earlier, but they chose not to. Clearly, the necromancers were distracted by something else.

However, Anfey knew that this was not something he could take care of. Even Fernando must report this issue. Even though Anfey had more power than before, he was still not important enough to be involved in significant decisions.

Christian and Anfey walked back to Christian’s house. The house was very well organized and had a few servants. Fernando had insisted on giving the houses to others, and instead of staying in a proper home, he chose to stay in tents with his soldiers.

However, the generals completely misunderstood his intentions. They knew that Fernando must go, and thought that he was only acting like a good person. The generals were biased, of course. Fernando’s actions were very admirable and rare. Very few generals were willing to give up proper homes for tents.

After Christian and Anfey settled down, Orsie appeared with a stranger. The stranger was tall and exceptionally thin, his sunken cheeks and eye sockets made him look more like a dying man than a healthy mercenary.

Orsie bowed to Anfey and Christian and said, “This is the man I was talking about earlier.”

The stranger took a few steps forward and bowed. “I’m Thompson, my lord,” the man said. “Leader of Thorn mercenary group.”

Anfey glanced at Orsie, who stepped forward and said, “Thompson told me he wanted to join our alliance, my lord.”

Anfey nodded. He turned to Thompson and said, “I see. You will become the head of the Seventh Legion. This is Christian and Riska, my trusted assistants. This is Blavi, our head mage. This is Elizabeth, the deputy leader of our mage group. This is Ozzic, head of the First Legion, and Shinbella, head of the Sixth Legion.”

Thompson grinned and nodded at everyone in the room. Ozzic waved his hand and said, “Come, sit down. You don’t have to keep standing, you know.”

Thompson hesitated for a second, then nodded and sat down next to Orsie. He was worried that he might cause the others to dislike him if he act too comfortable.

“I’m glad you came to us,” Anfey said. “In crucial times like this, we need every man and woman we can get. You alone are in charge of your legion. I won’t tell you what to do with it.”

Anfey knew that although his speech to Thompson wasn’t bad, it was not the most ideal. If Alice was here, she would have made a much better speech. However, his words had achieved the intended effect. He wanted Thompson to feel welcomed, but at the same time he want to set boundaries for Thompson.

“I understand, sir,” Thompson said. He turned, grinned at Orsie, and said, “Orsie convinced me to come. I know that the other nations already have this situation under control; only Country of Mercenaries is still in a state of chaos. We bicker too much, but we can’t go on like this anymore. An alliance is a perfect way to solve the problem. I think you are qualified to create a unified Country of Mercenaries, my lord.”

Anfey glanced at Orsie. He did not expect Orsie to be so persuasive. Thompson’s words had two layers of meanings as well. He showed that Orsie played a vital part in his recruitment. If Orsie was promoted, Thompson would be more likely to be promoted as well. If Thompson was in trouble, Orsie would extend a helping hand. He said that he wanted to see a unified Country of Mercenaries, which was something Anfey could achieve. He did not propose an impossible goal. If Thompson supported Anfey in becoming the ruler of the Country of Mercenaries, he would probably support Anfey on other things, as well.

The other mercenaries all fell silent after hearing Thompson’s words. Ozzic sat silently, thinking about what Thompson had said. He joined this alliance because he wanted more power. He did not even dream of a unified Country of Mercenaries, but Thompson’s words gave him an idea. If Anfey became the leader of a unified country, Ozzic would surely receive a position of power as a reward for his loyalty and his contributions to the cause.

Orsie narrowed his eyes. A unified country was well within reach at this point. Tiger of Tawau mercenary group was already in decline, and with Christian and the Shield of Light Legion and the alliance, Orsie was sure that unifying the country would not be as difficult as it might sound. Glory mercenary group had already been weakened by the civil war and the War against the Dead. Storm mercenary group may be harder to deal with, but with Brothers mercenary group and the alliance, it shouldn’t be difficult. Even though it would still be a difficult thing to achieve, it was not impossible.

Anfey shook his head. “We will speak of this later. How many men do you have left?”

“Around eight hundred,” Thompson said. “I’ve already spoken with them. Most of them are all willing to join the alliance. Some are hesitant.”

“What are you planning to do?” Anfey asked. He did not want to tell Thompson what to do with his own men.

“I will speak with them again,” Thompson said. “Those that are not willing to join will have to leave. They can take their weapons but nothing else.”

“They will die.”

“That will be out of my jurisdiction,” Thompson said with a sigh. “Reddenburg’s food supply is already depleted. We can’t spare anything. We can barely feed ourselves.”

“We brought supplies,” Blavi said. “We can spare a bit.”

“They are not part of the alliance, why should we spare any food for them?”

“Don’t back them into a corner,” Christian warned. “If you do, they may join our enemy.”

Anfey nodded. “If they join Fernando’s side, they won’t have to worry about food or supplies.”

Thompson paused and shook his head. “They won’t get that chance.”

Anfey nodded and frowned.

“We have to take a stance, my lord,” Thompson said slowly. “There are still dozens of towns out there, waiting for support. If we just let those fighters who do not want to join the alliance go, word will spread. People will think that joining the alliance means nothing. We cannot let that happen.”

“He’s right,” Orsie agreed. “We are mercenaries and mercenaries prefer freedom. If we let those men go, it may create unwanted side effects.”

“I support Thompson,” Shinbella said. Ozzic nodded in agreement.

Anfey glanced around. The mercenaries had already decided to support Thompson, but Christian, Blavi, and Riska did not say anything. They were not mercenaries and did not support a leader killing his own people.

“This is the only way,” Thompson said. “We have to be strong.”

“You sure nothing will go wrong?” Anfey asked.

“I’m certain,” Thompson promised, getting up.

Anfey sighed and waved his hand. Seeing that no one else was getting up, Thompson sat down again. “So are we supposed to go save those towns by ourselves?”

“Fernando will send some priests and knights with us,” Christian said. “He will send some cavalry as well.”

“How many?”

Christian shook his head. “He hasn’t decided yet,” he said. “I think the best option would be one of us.” Christian sighed and said, “Fernando is a very smart man. He knows how to plan his future.”

“It’s a shame,” Anfey said. “I would hate it for a good talent to go to waste.”

“If we are splitting up, Ozzic and Shinbella should come with me. Blavi, you should go with Orsie and Thompson. Keep your eyes open. Don’t let those priests fool you into doing anything you don’t want to.”

Blavi nodded. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let you guys down.”

Anfey smiled. “Orsie, Thompson, you two should keep an eye out as well. Blavi can’t take care of everything by himself.”

“I understand,” Orsie said.

“I agree with you, Thompson,” Anfey said with a sigh. “Do as you wish.” He turned to Christian and asked, “Did you receive any letters from Alice?”

“No,” Christian said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Suzanna is fine.”

Chapter 385: Real Cooperation

Where there is sunlight, there must be shadows. Sacred City, as the political and economic center, was one of the most prosperous cities in Maho Empire. However, usually it was hard for people to see shade in the dark corners.

There was a small no-name bar in the far end of the northwest part of Sacred City. Most customers here were have-nots living in the surrounding impoverished neighborhoods. The bar was neither too busy nor empty. Business was mediocre because slumdogs could not be too picky. Usually crooked businessmen mix water into the drinks, but the owner of this bar just added some alcohol to water. Drinks were cheap, but the bar owner still could make some money because the cost was so low.

Of course, any capable person with some status would not come here to drink. The owner of this bar was smart. He was good at targeting his customers. The most expensive drink only cost a silver coin. The flirty waitresses in the bar either had a lot of wrinkles on their faces or were not pretty. Their figures were nothing to look at. To be honest, in other areas, this kind of woman would not be able to get in to apply for a job in the bar. The owners of the bar would have asked them to leave. However, the waitresses seemed to be liked by customers here. They got good tips, and some of them even went to rooms upstairs with the customers after coming on to them.

This particular day, a special guest came to the bar. He was not large, but the clothes on him proved he was very different than those have-nots. He also wore shiny jewelry from head to toe. The three rings on his left hand were the most eye-catching. The middle one was a Dimensional ring. The people who grew up in poverty did not even know such a magical ring could exist. The owner of the bar definitely knew about it, so he was careful when he served him.

As it got darker, there were fewer guests. The owner of the bar looked a little nervous. He hesitated for a long time before he sent the waitresses home. He pushed the wooden door open and walked out of the bar. Soon after, three big guys walked into the bar one after another. They took a look at the old man first and walked to the few remaining customers one by one. After a short conversation, they slapped or kicked each one and asked them to leave. Very soon, the customers hurried out of the bar.

That old man continued gulping down cheap drinks and did not seem to know what had happened. The three large men looked at each other before slowly walking over to that old man. The owner of the bar walked in and carefully closed the door and locked it.

“Hey!” A big guy suddenly slammed the table

That old man still did not look up. The owner of the bar smiled. “This old guy almost drank half bucket of liquor. He probably does not even know who he is now.”

“Hey, isn’t it our master’s ring?” A big guy suddenly stepped up and yelled. “Who do you think you are! Thief!” The big guy tried to grab the old man’s left hand to take the three rings off.

The old man looked annoyed. He waved his hands and the big guy flew back fast. He looked like a little bird. Maybe this was his first time to feel the sensation of flying. He looked like he could not control the direction of his flight. In the blink of an eye, he smashed against the wall. The wall of the bar was made of wood. He flew right through it and was stuck halfway through the wall. His legs jerked and went limp. Nobody could see what happened to his upper body since it was on the other side of the wall.

The other two big guys looked terrified and immediately stepped back. The owner of the bar was shocked for a second before he yelled, “Help! Help! Someone is drunk. He is killing people.”

Coincidentally, patrolmen were nearby. They were attracted to the bar owner’s yelling. They knocked the wood door as they told the people inside that they were police officers. The bar owner rushed to the wood door as swift as a monkey. He tried to unlock the door he had just locked a few moments ago. He was so panicked that he did not seem to have control of his fingers. He was not able to unlock the door immediately, so the officer outside got impatient and broke down the door. The bar owner was knocked back to the floor.

“What’s going on here?” the officer yelled. He looked from the hole in the wall to the two big guys. He seemed to think the two were the criminals.

“Ah…” The bar owner got up from the floor, moaning. He pointed to the old man, who was still drinking. “Sir, it is that old man. I asked him to pay for his bill, but he refused to pay and hit my customers. Oh, my god, poor Jimmy.” The bar owner stumbled over and held his peer’s limp legs hanging from the wall and wailed.

The officer turned to look at the old man. He checked the old guy’s clothes first and slowly walked over. He said politely, “Master!”

“Don’t disturb him.” A gentle voice arose from outside.

The officer was shocked for a second before he turned to look out. The patrolmen immediately made way for him. That officer could not help looking shocked when he saw two armed soldiers walked in. They were all soldiers in charge of the security of Sacred City. An old man walked in after them. The officer’s hair stood up on end when he saw the face of the old man. He bowed respectfully. “Master Saul.”

Saul waved his hand and walked slowly to the drunk old man. He was quiet for a while, then took off his gown and hung it on the back of a chair. He took a seat across from the man and asked in a low voice, “Don’t you want to buy me a drink?”

The bar owner had stopped crying after Saul walked in. His face had immediately turned pale when he figured out that the old man was the famous Saul. Now he saw Saul asking that no-name old man for a drink, which just made him faint. They had not known their target was a friend of Archmage Saul. They definitely were not able to take such a consequence.

“Master Saul, here…,” the officer said timidly.

“Can you guys step out for a second? We do not want to be disturbed,” Saul said.

“Yes, sir!” the officer said immediately. He gave his fellow officers a look. The unconscious bar owner and two trembling big guys had given him enough clues to know what actually happened.

A few officers rushed over and took the two big guys and the bar owner out. The bar became quiet, but the old man never moved his eyes away from his glass. He slowly looked up. “Did King Yolanthe decide to kill me?”

“Bruzuryano, I do not understand what you are saying,” Saul said with a smile.

Bruzuryano heaved a long sigh and looked pained. “Manstuly has left. Haven’t you heard?”

“Yes, I know. Manstuly is Manstuly, while you are you. Two different issues. How could Manstuly think King Yolanthe would not know what he did?” Saul said calmly, with a chuckle. “You are such an honest person and knew about what he did, how could the king not know about it?”

“Druids have been working very well for hundreds of years. I did not think we would have stupid ass Manstuly. I am sorry you had to see that.” Bruzuryano paused and continued, “Saul, we have been friends for many years. I am not asking you to do anything that would put you in awkward situations. I only want you to tell me the truth if the king really thinks I am not related to Manstuly.”

“Sure. You know me. We are friends, but if the king has made any decision, I would not sacrifice the empire because of our friendship,” Saul said.

“I still could not believe.” Bruzuryano smiled bitterly. “Saul, our following has grown to over 800,000 people in the past few years. Does the king really allow us to keep growing? Doesn’t he worry the followers of God of Nature would post threats to his authority?”

Saul chuckled. “Bruzuryano, don’t you worry about it. Is that why you are still in Sacred City?”

“No, you are wrong. I believe it is inevitable,” Bruzuryano said slowly. “With Yolanthe’s personality, he definitely will constrain our development, or even hinder development. I only sincerely hope to get the king’s forgiveness and keep our losses to a minimum.”

“You do not really know King Yolanthe,” Saul said with a serious tone. “The king believes that people need beliefs in addition to the necessities of life. He believes that an appropriate amount of beliefs are beneficial for social stability. Of course, the power of religion can be terrible. The key is who has the control of it. The king would feel good if it is you.”

“What happens after me?” Bruzuryano asked.

“That is too far in the future. I don’t think there is any point in talking about it now,” Saul said.

Bruzuryano sighed and leaned back in the chair. He looked relaxed now.

“My old friend, you are not hiding here, drinking cheap drinks because you are worried the king would do anything to you, are you?” Saul said.

“It would be a lie if I tell you I did not worry about it. In addition, what Manstuly did is really disappointing.” Bruzuryano sighed. “Saul, do you know why Manstuly wanted to kill Anfey?”

“Kind of.” Saul nodded. “Is it because of the Heart of Nature?”

“Yes,” Bruzuryano said quietly. “The Heart of Nature used to be kept in the Central Temple. Manstuly wanted it and sent his people to attack the temple by surprise and tried to take the Heart of Nature. They were not able to do so because I coincidentally had just gone to the Central Temple and encountered them. I tried to take my people to see and confront Manstuly. Mauso tried to mediate between us. He forced Manstuly to apologize. After considering everything, I forgave him in the end.”

“Unbelievable. How come I didn’t know about it at all?” Saul said in surprise.

“It was shameful for druids, so we kept it a secret. No one talked about it to others. It made sense that you did not know about it,” Bruzuryano said slowly. “To be honest, it was my fault. I did not dare keep the Heart of Nature in the Central Temple anymore. I take it with me no matter where I went. I met Slanbrea in the Country of Mercenaries. He told me he was tracing Morgan and asked my help. Saul, you know what kind of necromancer Morgan is. I was ready to sacrifice my life for the fight against Morgan.”

“Did you really find Morgan? What happened?” Saul asked.

“Later? We did not find Morgan. Instead, we found his student, Annunciata. You know the rest of it.” Bruzuryano smiled. “I have many friends, but only a few I really trust. You are one of them. Because of the threats from Morgan, I felt I should give the Heart of Nature to someone I trusted so necromancers would not be able to get it. When I met Anfey, I gave him the Heart of Nature, hoping he would give it to you later. You are the most appropriate one to keep it among my friends.

“But you did not expect Anfey would bond with the Heart of Nature, right?” Saul smiled.

“No, I did not expect that. It was unbelievable that Anfey bonded with it.” Bruzuryano sighed. “Last time the Heart of Nature bonded with the supreme power, Dante, it was a thousand years ago.”

“It must be fate. If you did not give the Heart of Nature to Anfey, it would not have happened,” Saul said.

“You are right. That way, Anfey might be able to have a more peaceful life. Manstuly would not go after him either,” Bruzuryano said.

“Anfey does not like a peaceful life anyway. I know him.” Saul smiled.

“You not only know him, but also think he is good. So does King Yolanthe,” Bruzuryano said.

“Don’t you think the same?” Saul said calmly. “Dante was just a wandering beggar. After bonding with the Heart of Nature, he became a supreme power in ten years. If Anfey is given some time, he could be better than all of us. He had a supreme power as a teacher when he was a kid. What does it mean for him to be related to two supreme powers? Everybody thinks he is good.”

“Good?” Bruzuryano smiled. “King Yolanthe probably thinks even more highly of him.”

“What do you mean?” Saul asked.

“Granden has volunteered a few times to be the overseer of the Shield of Light legion, but King Yolanthe did not agree. Instead, he asked Christian to be the overseer. I think Anfey played a role in his decision,” Bruzuryano said.

“That is the personal issue of the king. Let’s switch topics,” Saul said quietly.

“Saul, you have not taken sides yet?” Bruzuryano said with a chuckle.

“Me?” Saul raised his eyebrow.

“Without others’ help, Manstuly will not be able to stop Suzanna in time. Saul, are you disappointed at your future son-in-law,” Bruzuryano said slowly.

“Bruzuryano, Bruzuryano, I have been treating you nicely, as my brother,” Saul said with a bitter smile.

“You are right,” Bruzuryano said jokingly, but there was hatred in his eyes. “If I was not so nice, I would have destroyed Manstuly when he had just become the Wolf King. If I had done that, we would not have trouble now.”

“It is not too late. The key is that you are determined to destroy him,” Saul said quietly.

“Manstuly kept me out of it, so he has been playing a game with me. Whether he survives or not, he could use Yolanthe to destroy the power of my temple. Do you think I would let him go this time?” Bruzuryano said slowly.

“It’s better you think this way,” Saul said. “I have been wondering why you would stick with Manstuly. Mauso and you could definitely have killed him. Anfey has bonded with the Heart of Nature and became a messenger of God for druids. It is so crazy that Manstuly wants to kill Anfey. Even Mauso is enraged about it. He pretended that he agreed to help, but passed his plan to us right away. We are lucky that he helped us, otherwise we would be short staffed.”

“Manstuly has a good wife,” Bruzuryano said bitterly. “Do not underestimate elves. Manstuly’s wife is an elf pharaoh and has powers among elves. With her help, Manstuly could be successful.”

“I did not get a chance to ask you whose idea was it to give Anfey a few elf maids. I know it would not have been your idea,” Saul said.

“Well…it was to help Anfey master the Nature magic faster,” Bruzuryano said.

“Really?” Saul asked.

“Of course,” Bruzuryano said.

Saul nodded and smiled. He did not continue on that topic.

“Saul, don’t you want to remind your future son in-law and just watch him to make mistakes?” Bruzuryano knew Saul must have noticed something and tried to switch the topic to avoid issues Saul did not want to talk about.

“I was not the one who did not want to remind him. The king wants to see the true colors of each one of them,” Saul said calmly. “I think I can understand him. Philip has claimed his loyalty to Wester, so Granden felt the pressure and rushed into believing in Manstuly.”

“To see the true colors of them? What could he see when they are pushed to the corners?” Bruzuryano sneered. He saw Saul looking annoyed and knew Saul did not like anyone to talk about Yolanthe with a sarcastic tone. He heaved a sigh and switched the topic. “I feel blessed to have the king’s forgivingness. I think we should talk about how we might work together.”

“Next step for cooperation?” Saul asked.

“Queen of the Elves is in charge of Spring of Life,” Bruzuryano said.

Saul was shocked for a second and said, “Don’t tell me Queen of Elves is on your side?”

“She is,” Bruzuryano said, smiling. “Queen of Elves did not like Manstuly so she will support me.”

“I think Queen of Elves disliked Manstuly’s wife even more,” Saul said.

“You are right again.” Bruzuryano nodded and felt helpless with the situation.

Chapter 386: Desperate

“No!” the druid screamed, quickening his pace. However, he was too slow and could not stop Suzanna from murdering his friend. He watched as the other druid fell still. Suzanna waved her sword, sending droplets of blood splattering all over the forest floor.

Suzanna turned towards the druid, her eyes narrowing dangerously. The druid slowed his pace under her scrutiny. Normally, she would only fight to kill. This time, however, her sword only caught the man’s arm.

The druid tried to move aside, but he was not fast enough, and the chase earlier had drained him of his energy. The druid cried in pain and fell to the ground as Suzanna’s sword slashed his arm.

Suzanna returned her sword to its sheath and walked up to him. For her, the fight was already over. She did not worry about an injured druid doing anything to her. She kept him alive because she needed news from outside. Suzanna knew very well that she was not their target. Their target was Moramatch, and she needed to know what was happening there.

Suzanna coughed a few times as she approached the druid. The druid pushed himself to the ground and looked at her fearfully. “If you kill me,” he said quietly, “Moramatch is done.”

“Will they let Moramatch alone if I let you live?” Suzanna asked.

The druid froze. He frowned, searching for words. He had already lost all of his companions, and his mission had failed. He wanted revenge, but he needed to live in order to get revenge.

“No, but I can give you a chance to save them.”

“I’m listening,” Suzanna said.

“Here’s the thing…” the druid began. Before he could say anything else, he became distracted by something behind Suzanna. He stared at the forest behind her with wide eyes, shocked and scared at the same time.

An eagle dove through the trees. It was much larger than normal eagles, its wings spanning over ten feet. The eagle seemed to be made from not organic materials but from metal, its feathers gleaming even in the dimness of the forest. The eagle was traveling very fast, even faster than Suzanna.

The eagle extended his claws and grabbed the druid, then dropped the man back onto the forest floor. The druid jerked a few times and became still. The eagle’s wings sliced through the trunk of a nearby tree, sending the tree crashing to the ground.

Suzanna drew her sword, watching the eagle. The unicorn whinnied loudly, warning Suzanna that the eagle was not someone she would be able to defeat.

The eagle burst into flame and a figure emerged. The figure lunged at Suzanna at an incredible speed. Suzanna reacted very quickly, raising her sword and slashing at the figure’s neck.

Suzanna and the figure were originally traveling at a similar speed, but the figure’s speed suddenly increased. Clearly, he had not been using his full strength before. He raised his arm and deflected Suzanna’s attack. Suzanna widened her eyes in awe. She had only met a few people who could block her attack with just an arm. Before she could recover from the shock, the figure slammed his fist into her shoulder.

The punch almost shattered her combat power and threw her back. Suzanna slammed into a nearby tree and crashed to the ground.

She pushed herself up, panting in pain. She glanced at the unicorn, who was frozen in shock. It wanted to run away, but it did not want to abandon Suzanna. However, it also knew that whoever just threw Suzanna back with a single punch was not an enemy it could take on by itself.

The unicorn took a few steps back, then dashed forward. It wanted to protect Suzanna and it decided that it would rather die than abandon her.

The figure raised his hand and grabbed the unicorn as it approached. The unicorn was lifted off of the ground, and all of its struggling became meaningless.

Suzanna pushed herself off the ground. She picked up her sword, gripping the hilt tight. Like the unicorn, she was facing the choice of whether she should flee. However, she knew that an opponent this powerful would never let her get away. With the unicorn in the figure’s clutches, Suzanna knew she had nothing to lose.

She summoned her combat power again and raised her sword. She summoned as much combat power as she could. The combat power seemed to have turned into solid gold, as more and more power amassed around her. The brightness of her combat power lit up the dim forest floor. The unicorn stopped struggling and stared at her in awe.

Suzanna took a deep breath and began dashing towards the figure. She was even faster than she had been before, aided by the combat power.

The figure tossed the unicorn aside and jumped into the air, ready to face Suzanna. He raised his arms and transformed into an eagle again, then he flew towards Suzanna. Even though Suzanna was faster than she had been, the eagle clearly had no problem matching her speed. He flew around Suzanna and turned into a person again, striking her. Then he transformed back into an eagle and flew away from her. He changed forms fluidly. Clearly, he was very skilled and had been practicing for many years.

The eagle flew around Suzanna again, ready to strike once more. This time, however, Suzanna was able to turn in time. She slashed at him with her sword, aiming at his neck.

The figure raised his arms and clashed with her sword. Both the figure and Suzanna were thrown back by the clash and crashed into the forest floor.

A few minutes later, the dust dissipated and revealed a large trench in the ground, made by Suzanna’s sword. Suzanna and the figure both stood, staring at each other.

“You must be Mauso,” Suzanna said under her breath. There were very few people that could take a hit like that with no armor and still stand with no problem. The man did not say anything. Instead, he simply stared at her.

Suzanna raised her sword again, ready for more attacks. Mauso was one of the most powerful druids, much more powerful than Suzanna. However, she knew that he was not good at close combat. If she could get close enough to him, she may have a chance.

She was backed into a corner. She knew the only way she might have a chance was if she abandoned all other thoughts. The only thing she could think about was the fight.

Mauso, sensing her enmity, narrowed his eyes. He raised his head and howled. A wave of wind sent all the rocks around him flying outwards.

Suzanna stood quietly, watching. She did not waver, as she was protected by her combat power. Mauso looked at her and sighed.

“I hope that I am not making a mistake,” he said. “Do not disappoint me.”

“I cannot afford to fail,” Suzanna replied calmly.

“Good,” Mauso said. He glanced at the sky again.

Suzanna lunged at Mauso, her sword held out in front of her. She was slower than before, however, because she knew that she would never beat Mauso with speed. She needed to conserve her energy.

The unicorn poked his head out from a nearby bush and fearfully watched Suzanna and Mauso’s clash.

Chapter 387: Sneaking

Reddenburg, as the headquarters of Shield of Light legion, was highly secured. Patrols composed of Knights of Light, priests and soldiers were patrolling the city. Countless torches lit up Reddenburg to make it a city that never slept. Even a top power could not easily sneak in without being noticed.

However, a person in a black suit was moving around Reddenburg like it was no big deal. He seemed to be able to predict when a patrol would come and would hide in the shadows. No one was able to sense his existence. When one patrol left, he jumped on a roof and ran as swiftly and quietly as a cat at night.

Finally, he jumped off the roof into a yard. He carefully opened a window, climbed in and disappeared. The window slowly shut behind him.

Ozzic was sound asleep in his bed and snorted a little. A sword lay on Ozzic’s chest, and he held it in his right hand. This was a habit of mercenaries. No matter where and when, he could be ready for a fight. A few days previous, they had gone to attack elves. The elves had gathered their weapons in a pile so they could sleep better without holding weapons. In fact, Ozzic also could have chosen a more comfortable way to sleep, but he did not. Survival skills had stayed with him.

The person in black suit sneaked to Ozzic’s bed and flicked on Ozzic’s forehead. Ozzic’s snoring paused for a second and continued to snore again. However, his eyes opened a crack and spurred his sword at the person in black backhanded. His mouth opened at the same time, trying to yell for help.

The person in the black suit slid to the side. The sword barely touched him. He covered Ozzic’s mouth with his right hand and said in a low voice, “It is me.”

Ozzic was shocked for a second and recognized Anfey’s voice. “Master, why are you here?”

The mercenaries on watch outside Ozzic’s room yelled, “Master, are you ok?” They sensed the combat surges from Ozzic’s room.

“I am fine,” Ozzic responded loudly. “I just had a nightmare. Shit! I dreamed that I was surrounded by a group of zombies.”

The mercenaries laughed outside his room. One of them joked, “Master, are those zombies male or female?”

“Are you stupid? Of course, they are male,” another mercenary joked. “If they were female, Master would have fought them differently. Master would not have used his combat power for that.”

“Fuck! You bastards. Next time we encounter zombies, I will peel all the females’ clothes off and leave them to you,” Ozzic joked back. “Shut up. I need to go back to sleep.”

The mercenaries laughed a little bit and went away. When it was quiet again, Ozzic slowly sat up on the bed and said, “Master, what’s up?”

Ozzic looked excited. He got serious quickly. If Anfey came to see him this way, it meant Anfey would give him something important to do, which made him feel important and unique.

“I need to go back to Moramatch right away,” Anfey said quietly.

“Master, aren’t we going to be divided into two groups to help Shuklan City and Madrid Town, respectively? Don’t leave now,” Ozzic said in surprise.

“Do you think I am in the mood to help others?” Anfey said calmly.

Ozzic did not understand at first. He had never been married. He had different ideas about women. He had sex with a number of women, but he never thought of marrying any of them. If he had to marry, he wanted to marry someone like Shinbella. He had no interested in weak women. Unfortunately, Shinbella was not interested in him.

Seeing Anfey’s worried look, Ozzic was shocked before he realized the reason. He smiled to try to cheer Anfey up. “Master, I understand. Right now your wife’s safety is your priority.”

“I am glad that you can understand,” Anfey said. “Can you be in charge of Shuklan City? Do you know what to do?”

“Yes. They can live if they listen to us, otherwise we will kill them,” Ozzic said with a fierce look. Yesterday he heard Anfey saying the same thing, and felt it sounded powerful, so he had remembered very well.

“Don’t overdo it.” Anfey said. “But do not show too much mercy if you have to kill them either.”

“I understand.” Ozzic paused. “Master, why did you not go yesterday?”

“I could not leave yesterday,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “There are so many people watching me. I cannot let anyone know I am leaving Reddenburg.” Anfey knew Suzanna got into trouble because of him. Manstuly’s real target was him. If anyone knew Anfey left Reddenburg, it would give Manstuly a warning. Besides, druids were not stupid. If he made any moves, Manstuly would know what he was trying to do. What else could he do but look for Suzanna? That would put Suzanna in even more danger.

“Who dares to tell your plans to others?” Ozzic said, wide-eyed.

“Too many actually.” Anfey smiled. “For example, Marquis Djoser. If he knows that someone is trying to kill me and Suzanna, he definitely would take advantage of it.”

“That old ass!” Ozzic looked like he was ready to kill Djoser. “Master, why don’t we just kill him. I know you cannot kill him yourself, but I can do it. It wouldn’t be the worst scenario to have some mercenaries be scapegoats.”

“It helps us to keep him alive,” Anfey said.

“Helps us? I do not see him helping us at all. I only see him messing with us!” Ozzic said.

“You will know later.” Anfey chuckled then thought for a bit. “Ozzic, if something happens, talk with Shinbela and make decisions together. Don’t act too much on impulse. Talk to Ye too. He is very smart and thinks clearly. It will help you if you can ask him for advice.”

“Got it, Master,” Ozzic said.

“After you guys leave Reddenburg, you tell them I am sick. Don’t let those Knights of Light and priests know I am not with you. The longer you can keep it secret, the safer I will be,” Anfey said.

“Master, do you think there are spies among Knights of Light and priests?” Ozzic asked.

“Nothing is impossible,” Anfey said calmly. “Besides, the ones who want me dead do not have to be spies. You know we do not get along with Church of Light. If there is any opportunity, do you think they would miss it?”

“Too complicated,” Ozzic said bitterly. “I am just wondering if those Knights of Light and priest are schemers by nature.” In fact, Ozzic was not that great himself. Making a League of Mercenaries was his idea. He even tried to take advantage of Anfey. However, it still gave him a headache when he had to deal with complicated situations. In other words, he realized he was not as good as other schemers.

“Do not mind others’ business. Just do what you have to do. Your mission will be successful if the Knights of Light and priests do not suspect I left until you guys reach Shuklan City,” Anfey said slowly.

“Master, you don’t want to go back by yourself, do you?” Ozzic asked.

“I wish I could take an army with me, but it would take too long. I’d rather go back by myself,” Anfey said.

“Master, that would be too dangerous. How about asking Shinbella to go with you?” Ozzic suggested.

Anfey liked that idea, but he shook his head after giving it some thought. “No, you guys need her help too.”

“Master, I have so many people with me. I do not have to have Shinbela, but you need a good helper.” Ozzic looked worried.

“No, I do not need help.” Anfey sounded very firm. If he used illness as an excuse, Ozzic could cover for him for a while. If Shinbella was missing as well, it would be hard for others to believe it. Anfey had to search for Suzanna. In the gigantic Transverse Mountains, he could sense everything around him for dozens of miles with the help of the Heart of Nature. Shinbella would not be able to help much anyway.

“You are…” Ozzic smiled bitterly. “Master, does Master Blavi know you are leaving?”

“He does not know,” Anfey said. “He is in charge of the group in Madrid Town. We are not in the same group. We do not need to bother him about this.”

Ozzic went quiet for a while. “How about Shinbella? If she asks me about you, should I tell her the truth?”

“Yes, I trust Shinbela,” Anfey said.

“Ok,” Anfey said with a serious voice and slowly walked to the window.

Ozzic was ambitious, but he knew the limits of what he could do, which was significant. He decided to work for Anfey in the end. Ozzic’s concerns about Anfey were real. Anfey and he were clearly supervisor and employee. The better Anfey did, the better situation Ozzic would be in. If anything happened to Anfey, his future would become a mess as well.

Anfey chuckled. “If the mercenaries in Shuklan City wanted to join the League of Mercenaries, make them the eighth unit. Try not to interfere too much, and give them the highest authority. We will deal with the results later.”

“Yes, master,” Ozzic said.

Chapter 388: Beginning

Anfey kept running at an incredible speed. In his previous world, he would never dream of reaching such a speed because of physically limitations. Here, however, he was aided by his newly-developed magical power.

Because of the Heart of Nature, he was able to see everything before him and find a path very easily. The Heart of Nature allowed him to concentrate much better and helped him see the elements that made up everything. Because of this ability granted to him by the Heart of Nature, he found it very easy to avoid any obstacles that might have been in his way.

Ahead was a wide river. Anfey did not stop or slow down. Instead, he waved his hand and concentrated on the river. A small piece of ice appeared in the middle of the river. He jumped and landed on the ice. He jumped again and landed on the opposite bank. The piece of ice bobbed in the river a few times, then slowly sank into the water, disappearing as the element dispersed.

A few minutes after Anfey crossed the river, he came upon a very large group of at least a few hundred zombies. The group was moving very slowly, but the sheer number of zombies was very terrifying. However, Anfey did not waver or change his path. As he approached the group of zombies, he jumped up into the air. He waved his hand and summoned an earth spike. The spike burst out of the earth. The zombies moved around the spike as if they did not even see it. Anfey landed on the spike and pushed off of it. He summoned another one, landed on it, then jumped off, landing beyond the group of zombies. He didn’t know where the zombies were headed and did not want to just leave the zombies alone, but he knew that he did not have time to take care of them. He could find them again after he finished taking care of what he needed to do.

He kept pressing on, passing the zombies before most could react to him.

After he passed the zombies, he kept on moving for a few minutes and came upon a group of soldiers.

The group of soldiers was bigger than the group of zombies and were in uniform. They marched in formation, surrounding a few dozen carriages. Clearly, this was a group of soldiers that was protecting supplies. The general sensed the surge of magic and saw Anfey moving towards them. He was sure that whoever was coming towards them wasn’t a necromancer, but he still wanted to keep up his guard.

He waved his hand at his men and drew his sword. The archers readied their bows and the soldiers drew their weapons. Before the general could bark another order, Anfey had already dashed past them.

The general narrowed his eyes as he watched Anfey disappear into the distance. Clearly, the person that had just brushed past them was very powerful, but he wasn’t interested in the things they were protecting.

Anfey did not stop until almost noon. He was running very fast, but his expression did not change and his breathing was still very smooth. Normally, he would be careful not to use all of his strength, but he was alone and did not worry about any enemies.

Soon, he was spotted by an elf standing in the crown of a tree. He was already approaching Transverse Mountains, but he was still too far for anyone to make out who he was. “Is that an Earth Dragon?” the elf asked curiously.

“There are no Earth Dragons living in the area,” a nearby druid said, frowning. A few other people joined the elf in the tree, trying to figure out what was heading towards them. They were a search party and were searching for their missing friends and enemies. They did not find who they were looking for, but instead they found a strange creature.

The trees suddenly began shaking, and a figure appeared through the trees.

“Is that a person?” one of the druids asked, confused.

“Do you know who he is?” another druid asked. The others all shook their heads.

A few moments later, Anfey landed on a branch not far from their tree. He glanced at the elves and the druids and asked, “Who are you working for?”

“Pardon?”

“Who are you working for?” Anfey asked again. “Bruzuryano? Mauso? Or Manstuly?”

“We are with Lord Manstuly,” one of the druids said. They were surprised by Anfey’s young age and were even more shocked by the fact that he was referring to Bruzuryano by his name. If he could refer to Burzuryano, Mauso, and Manstuly by their names only, this man might be very powerful as well.

“Manstuly?” Anfey repeated, frowning. He sighed and jumped towards the druid, kicking the man in the stomach.

The druid, caught off guard, was thrown from the tall tree. He landed on the ground with a thud and did not move again. The nearby elf cried out in surprised. She spun around and tried to kick him, but Anfey caught her leg in his hand and threw her away. She crashed into a nearby tree and fell to the ground.

Another elf jumped away from the tree, a longbow appearing in her hand. She nocked an arrow, but before she could release the arrow, Anfey jumped in front of her and kicked her in the stomach. The elf dropped the bow and doubled over. Then he kicked her off of the tree, sending her crashing to the ground like her companions.

The remaining druid turned and tried to flee, but he reacted too late. Anfey jumped toward him, punching him hard in the back. The druid gasped in pain and his body dropped to the ground.

The only one that successfully landed on the ground was an elf. She did not try to do anything and only turned to flee. Anfey summoned a longbow and nocked it, aiming at the fleeing elf.

The arrow pierced the elf and she stumbled, falling to the ground. She struggled for a few seconds, then fell still.

Anfey landed on the ground and found a dagger. He walked over to a nearby tree and carved, “This is only the beginning.”

He knew that Manstuly was hell-bent on killing him and his friends. He could not let that happen, and he wanted to send a message that he was ready for whatever Manstuly would throw at him. He may not be as powerful as Manstuly, but he was working very hard to change that fact.

Chapter 389: Running into Suzanna

When Anfey saw an enormous eagle and a cloud of flashing gold lightning with the help of the Heart of Nature, he opened his eyes suddenly. It was neither the speed of the eagle nor the flying sword radiance in rainbow colors that shocked Anfey, but rather a familiar figure.

Anfey had seen Ernest fighting with full force. At that time, the combat power hovering over Ernest had made it hard to see his face. This cloud of gold lightning seemed very similar to Ernest’s combat power. Although difficult to see, Anfey could make out that the person inside the gold flash was small, with long hair. The sword radiance the person released was so strong that it could easily shoot out dozens of yard into the air. Every sword radiance posed a threat to the enormous eagle. Obviously, this was a fight between two top powers.

What made Anfey suspect the person was Suzanna was the armor she wore. It was similar to the Ocean Blue Armor. It was not just the color of the armor but also the bright gold color. Anfey’s heart pumped really fast.

Anfey had strong self-control, so he did not rush over to check whether the person was really Suzanna. Instead, he held his breath and quietly walked forward. He only walked a few steps before he stumbled and almost fell into an ancient tree, because he saw a little unicorn in the range of the Heart of Nature.

Anfey felt so happy because the swordsman fighting with the gigantic eagle had to be Suzanna: there was no other possibility. Suzanna had moved one level up and become a real master swordswoman. Ernest had told Anfey that it was really hard to break the bottleneck to become a master swordsman from being a senior swordsman. The process varied for each individual. Some broke through after long-time experience, others did it after surviving risky situations, while others got inspiration from some agent, even though they only muddled along the life without any purpose. Anfey had no idea Suzanna had already broken through to the top.

Anfey felt happy for her but a little regretful at the same time. He was not jealous of Suzanna’s achievement. He had been thinking that he would be able to be there and witness this special moment with Suzanna. Unfortunately, life had taken them in different directions. He had missed this special moment for all kinds of reasons.

Anfey quietly floated up and flew forward quickly. He was in a hurry to see Suzanna, but he needed to kill that other guy first.

As he sensed the direction where the fight was moving, he was searching for the best place for him to attack the guy in surprise. When that enormous eagle was less than a thousand yards away from Suzanna, Anfey found a tall ancient three. He quietly climbed up the tree as swiftly as a snake and hid himself in the thick branches.

The eagle was Eagle King Mauso. Anfey wasn’t sure at first, since he did not understand why Mauso would rather stay in a disadvantaged position in this fight instead of fleeing, since Mauso could transform himself into an enormous eagle. It did not take long for Anfey to figure out the answer. Mauso apparently wanted to exhaust Suzanna’s combat power and give her a fatal attack. He figured Mauso could wait any longer for that chance.

Anfey’s judgement was right. The eagle was Mauso, but he had forgotten about the strong sensing ability Mauso had and the reason Mauso was called “The Observer”. Mauso’s sensing ability was not as good Anfey’s after he bonded with the Heart of Nature. Mauso could distinguish all the disdguises and release Eagle Eye magic all the time. As a top power, Mauso could not only sense disguises, but also the emotional changes of all kinds of living organisms within a thousand yards, which was exactly the range of Eagle Eye magic. As Anfey sneaked up into the tree, Mauso had already noticed Anfey.

The eagle’s eyes were as big as fists. The eagle had a playful look and suddenly flapped his wings, flying towards Anfey. As he was less than 50 yards away from the tree where Anfey was hiding, a tiny magic surge caught his eye. Mauso flapped his wings and instinctively went into a dive. He just sensed that he should do that.

Anfey suddenly appeared behind the enormous eagle with a Fire Sword in his hand. He swung the Fire Sword and created an area of light in the sky. Mauso increased his speed, flying so fast that Anfey did not even touch a feather, even though he thought he could definitely hit him.

The enormous eagle flew straight up with a series of screeches. It sounded like he was cursing something.

Anfey dropped straight down as a pile of debris sprang up from the ground. Anfey put his feet on it. After holding up Anfey, the pile turned into moving earth elements and disappeared. Another pile showed up and held Anfey in the air again. They looked like stairs to send Anfey to the ground. In fact, he had already released Levitation magic. Facing Mauso’s threats, it was too dangerous to control his body with just wind elements, so he liked the feeling of stepping on the piles better.

This time, it was Suzanna’s turn to get shocked. She stared at the back of Anfey as the thick golden lightning gradually faded away and showed her feminine figure. Since Suzanna left Sacred City, she had been missing her husband. Besides Shally, Anfey was her only family. When she was attacked and in danger, the feeling of missing Anfey seemed to be stronger. She had so much she wanted to talk about with Anfey, but she felt dizzy, with a lump in her throat, and no words came out when she actually saw Anfey.

After giving Suzanna a loving and caring look, Anfey turned back to Mauso and chased after him in the sky. Unlike Anfey, Suzanna had lost her sharpness. It seemed that she could see only Anfey and nothing more. Maybe this was the difference between being emotional and being reasonable.

Suzanna finally ran at Anfey and held him from behind. She seemed to hold tremendous pain as she grabbed his gown and held him tightly. She put her face on Anfey’s broad shoulder.

Anfey did not move. He did not put away his Fire Sword until Mauso had flown far away and did not pose any threat to them. He heaved a sigh because he knew why Suzanna had gone back to Sacred City and understood the pain of losing her mother. Anfey had experienced the same kind of pain in his previous world.

Anfey felt the coldness on his shoulder and heard the muffled crying. He patted Suzanna’s hand and slowly took her hands away from him so he could turn her around and hold her in his arms. Suzanna had been aggressive in the fight a second ago, but now she was just a helpless kid. She felt weak and let Anfey caress her. She had her eyes closed but tears ran down her cheeks and wet Anfey’s chest.

This was the first time Anfey had ever seen Suzanna crying. Suzanna was tough and strong. If she were not in extreme pain, she would not show her weakness in front of others. Even if she showed it, she would only show it in front of Anfey.

Anfey did not say anything. He only held Suzanna tighter. There had been too many times in his life when Anfey had missed romantic moments because he had been involved in some dangerous situation. He looked cold and could not come up with any sweet and comforting words, even though he loved Suzanna very much. Anfey had never been good at expressing himself. Instead of forcing himself to say sweet words, he would rather show his love in action to let Suzanna know he cared about her, just as he had killed on the previous day to show his hatred and resentment.

It was undeniable that most women wanted to hear sweet words, even though they knew their men loved them. A man like Anfey might be attractive at the beginning, but they could run into trouble once the couple was living together. Luckily, given her experiences in life, Suzanna did not have too many desires, including at this moment. She was happy to be able to feel cared by Anfey, and she gradually stopped sobbing.

They held each other in the forest. If it were not for the breeze, it seemed that time had stopped.

The little unicorn slowly walked over. He looked up to watch in curiosity and then ran to Anfey. He excitedly rubbed himself on Anfey’s leg, but Anfey could not spare himself to attend to him. The little unicorn noticed that no one was paying attention to him and made some screeches after rubbing a few times.

Anfey held his upper body still as he kicked the little unicorn with the tip of his foot. He liked this little guy, but it was not comparable to the love he had for Suzanna. He did not want anyone or anything to disrupt him and Suzanna right now.

The little unicorn jumped back in shock and ran away. He laid on the ground and felt wronged by Anfey.

As time went by, and without knowing how long they had been standing there holding each other, Anfey whispered to Suzanna, “Master swordswoman, my master swordswoman.”

“Yes,” Suzanna murmured. It was unbelievable that she had fallen asleep. For the past few days, she had been attacked by surprise, fled, fought back, chased after and fought with Mauso, and she was not able to eat, sleep, or rest well, which had made her exhausted. After she was able to cry out her sadness and felt Anfey’s firm chest, it seemed that she could not find another place warmer and safer than being next to Anfey. She finally had a moment to take a breath.

Anfey did not expect she would fall asleep. He was definitely shocked. He thought Suzanna would tell him her pain and sorrow after seeing him. After she calmed down, they could talk about how much they missed each other and snuggle together. They might even find a a quiet spot to make love to each other. Being apart from each other made their hearts grow fonder.

At that moment, Suzanna put her whole weight on Anfey, and felt she might fall if he did not hold tight to her waist. After hesitating for a while, Anfey sighed again. He decided to continue to stand like this because he did not want to wake Suzanna up. He could tell she was very, very tired.

Chapter 390: No Regrets

After moving up a level, Suzanna felt a significant change in her body. Even though she was exhausted, she only slept for a short while. She opened her eyes and stretched her body. She glanced around, her eyes finding Anfey, who was leaning against a nearby tree. He knew that the cold will not threaten Suzanna’s health, but he still set up a magic shield that blocked the cold wind. He turned and saw Suzanna staring at him and grinned.

“Did you miss me?” Anfey asked as Suzanna sat up.

Suzanna smiled. She moved closer to Anfey and rested her head on his shoulder. She did not say anything, but her actions showed that she had missed him very much.

“You must be exhausted,” Anfey said softly.

Suzanna smiled and shook her head. Both of them were trying to avoid confronting the truth, because the truth would remind Suzanna of some unhappy memories. She would rather keep her suffering to herself.

“What happened?” Anfey asked. “Since you left, I mean.”

“Wait a bit, won’t you?” Suzanna said, frowning. She did not want to say anything because she did not want to ruin the moment.

Anfey smiled. He stroked Suzanna’s hair and did not say anything. He wanted to know what had happened to Suzanna, but he did not want to ruin the moment, either. Suzanna had rarely made any requests. She was much better at following orders. He had found Suzanna, and he knew that they would have plenty of time to catch up.

The unicorn was sitting on the ground a few feet away, watching Anfey and Suzanna. It lifted its head and whinnied, as if it felt ignored and wanted to join the two as well. Anfey ignored the unicorn, but Suzanna turned and waved at it. “Come here,” she said, pushing herself up.

The unicorn stood up and galloped over. It stopped next to Suzanna and rubbed its head on her shoulder. Anfey frowned and waved his hand, shooing the unicorn away. He just wanted to spend some time alone with Suzanna and did not want anything to intrude.

“Don’t do that,” Suzanna said. “It saved my life.”

“Really?” Anfey asked, confused.

Suzanna nodded. “The druids didn’t want to harm it, so they weren’t using their full strength.”

Anfey nodded. “Of course,” he said. “Unicorns are holy to them.” He waved his hand at the unicorn, beckoning it to come closer. The unicorn galloped over to him and nudged his arm with its head.

The unicorn rubbed itself against Anfey and Suzanna a few times and settled down against Suzanna, resting its head on her lap.

“So, Lady Master Swordsman,” Anfey said with a grin.

Suzanna smiled. “Yes? Are you jealous now?”

“Never,” Anfey said. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Suzanna said with a sigh. “But it’s nothing.”

“What? It’s very important! You’re a master swordsman now,” Anfey said.

“You don’t get it,” Suzanna said, shaking her head. “I felt something when I leveled up. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like a giant barrier, you know? It’s like a cage surrounding our world. We are the birds. The world we know isn’t real. We are just seeing an illusion. Whoever set that barrier…we are just seeing what that person wants us to see.”

“What else did you sense?” Anfey asked, intrigued.

“I was too distracted by the fight,” Suzanna said, shaking her head. “It was fleeing. I don’t think I could have caught it if I wanted to.”

“Interesting,” Anfey said. “I think that’s an important discovery. You should talk to Master Saul about it.”

Suzanna nodded. “I agree.”

“Anyways, how did you break through?” Anfey asked.

“I don’t know,” Suzanna said, shaking her head. “I knew I had no other choices but to fight. I thought I was going to die, but my combat power just kept coming, and then…”

“Then you broke through?”

Suzanna shrugged. “That’s basically it.”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Anfey said.

Suzanna nodded. She told Anfey about everything she had encountered so far, including the initial attacks and the realization that the unicorn was following her. She smiled proudly when she told Anfey that she took care of her enemies alone without any aid. Anfey smiled encouragingly. He was very proud of her for being so strong and independent. She told him about the fight with the druids and the encounter with Mauso. Anfey frowned as she finished.

Suzanna did not notice anything strange about her fight with Mauso, but Anfey found a lot of things about the encounter suspicious.

“What happened then?”

“Then I ran into you,” Suzanna said. “Did you learn how to teleport? It would be very useful in the future. And are you practicing with your fire sword?”

Anfey retrieved Entos’s wand from his dimensional ring and handed it to Suzanna. “Check this out,” Anfey said with a smile.

“This is…” Suzanna’s eyes widened as she examined the wand.

Anfey nodded. “It is.”

“They… they’re so good to us,” Suzanna said with a sigh. She handed the wand back to Anfey. “How can we ever repay them?”

Anfey nodded in agreement. “We owe them so much.”

Clearly, Suzanna was moved by how everyone from Maho Empire treated her. In the past, she only worked for them because she liked the team. Now, she was willing to serve not just the team but also Maho Empire.

Anfey understood her sentiments. Saul and Ernest had taken him off of the island and helped him when he was just a nameless boy. Yolanthe had helped him numerous times as well.

Yolanthe was a very good king and a smart man. Anfey was willing to serve a king like him.

“Is everyone alright?” Suzanna asked. She knew that the druids and the elves were targeting Anfey and her friends.

“Some tried to fool me,” Anfey said with a grin.

“You didn’t fall for it, did you?”

“Of course not,” Anfey said, shaking his head.

“Good,” Suzanna said. “I know you’re not stupid.”

Anfey smiled. “You are very smart as well, Suzanna,” he said.

“We have made Manstuly our enemy,” Suzanna said softly. “We need to be much more careful now.”

“We do need to be more careful,” Anfey agreed. “But he was at fault. He attacked us first, did he not?”

“You’re right, but we still need to be careful,” Suzanna said. She knew that this was only the beginning of a long and difficult fight, but she was willing to follow Anfey. She knew that she would never regret her decision.