Clang! Clang! Clang!
'What? Is there a battle going on?'
Vale was startled when he heard the sound of clashing swords ahead of him. He immediately entered his Phantasm State and used his Extrasensory Perception Spell to weaken his presence. He then found a place to hide quickly.
Bang! Bang!
A couple of gunshots followed as he realized that this battle seemed to involve some officials. After all, only police officers or those in the army would have firearms.
The country has strict control over firearms. It would be extremely rare for bandits or even normal criminals to possess some firearms, unless they were like the Snake Brotherhood which had ties with corrupt officials.
It had already been a week since the incident in the Enchanted Forest, and Vale had already visited a couple of cities or a total of 6 morgues.
If there were some people searching for him as 'Clovis', they would surely not think that he'll be lurking around various morgues to increase his Vitality.
"Hmm?"
As he swept his Divine Sense, he realized that the commotion ahead of him was a battle between ordinary people with only three Arcane Arts Practitioners.
However, Vale was baffled by the feedback sent to him by Divine Sense.
Martial Arts Practitioner with 5 filled Spell Lights.
Martial Arts Practitioner with 5 filled Spell Lights.
Mystic Arts Practitioner with 8 filled Spell Lights.
He was sure there was no Martial Path among the twelve Arcane Paths. The closes path he could think of would be the Combat Arts or the Knights Path.
Vale then swiftly moved to find the Arcanists he had sensed.
Soon, he found a battle between two groups of people.
The first group had a luxurious carriage protected by a couple of knights and police officers who weren't in their uniform. Nevertheless, Vale could guess that they were police officers because of the revolver they were using. It was a revolver that was only issued to police.
The second group had over 20 people but was underequipped, with only one strong robed Magician behind them.
Needless to say, the robed Magician was the Mystic Arts Practitioner he detected just a few moments ago.
It means that the Martial Arts was the Arcane Path of the Knights!
'I didn't know they were called like that. I wonder why they don't call themselves Martial Artists.' Vale mused as he watched the battle between the two groups.
Currently, only one of the knights could fight since the other one was restricted by a Mystic Art that was similar to the Dire Chains of the Dark Arts.
However, the mystical chains were glowing in red light and seemed disconnected from the spellcaster. It means that the Knight could only overpower the chains to remove it, or he could just wait until the energy on it was depleted.
Vale then shifted his attention to the female Knight who was about to attack the Magician. He wasn't sure who would win, but right now, he had no plans of interfering unless it would benefit him.
He chose to remain in his position and observe the situation.
***
"Knight Rose, you should just give up. You are still young. You have a bright future ahead of you. Stop protecting the son of that corrupt Baron before it's too late. Look at this…" The Mystic Arts Practitioner spoke with an intimidating voice as he waved his hand to destroy the guns of the police officers.
He did it so effortlessly that the officers could only step back and pull out their batons.
Knight Rose was obviously startled as soon as she saw how the robed Magician crumpled those guns like pieces of paper.
They couldn't even win with two Knights. Now that she was alone, she knew that she could die in this battle.
However, her honor as a Knight wouldn't allow her to surrender.
"The Baron's son is innocent, and he shouldn't bear his father's sin. If you have problems with the Baron, then look for him in his manor, not his son!" Knight Rose righteously spoke.
However, she knew it was futile to convince the Magician in front of her since he wasn't righteous either. He was just using the corrupt Baron as a justification for the slaughter he wanted to happen.
With that in mind, Knight Rose charged at the Magician, her sword raised and her shield ready. She hoped to close the distance before the Magician could cast any more of his Mystic Spells. She knew she had the advantage in strength and armor, but she also knew that Mystic Arts was unpredictable and dangerous.
The robed Magician saw the female Knight coming and quickly muttered an incantation. It was in Oardic, and Vale found this incantation interesting. It seemed quite different from Spells that he was aware of.
Anyway, the Magician pointed his staff at the female Knight and unleashed a blast of fire. Knight Rose dodged to the side, avoiding the flames, but she felt the heat singe her hair. She cursed and continued her advance. She covered herself with a stronger aura, not caring if she got exhausted prematurely.
The robed Magician didn't stop and used another spell, summoning a swarm of butterflies in various colors. The butterflies flew around the Knight, leaving trails of white lights as they entered through the gaps in her armor. For some reason, the Knight's Aura didn't block the lights!
Knight Rose was alarmed as she ignited herself with a fiery aura, but they were too many! She felt a surge of pain and anger, but she did not stop.
The robed Magician smiled wickedly and prepared his final spell. He aimed his staff at the Knight's chest and cast another Mystic Arts. A bolt of lightning shot out of the staff, crackling with electricity. Knight Rose braced herself for the impact, but it never came.
The lightning bolt hit her shield, which was made of a mysterious arcane metal. This Mystical Artifact conducted the electricity, sending it back to the staff!
Boom!
The staff exploded in the Magician's hand, sending sparks and splinters flying. The Magician screamed as he dropped the staff and clutched his wounded hand.
