The man struggled to move his body and saw the young girl looking at him with a disdainful expression on her face.
He didn't answer her, but looked at the old woman behind her.
Gulp!
Gulping nervously, he lowered his head toward her and apologised, "Senior, please forgive me for my offence. I didn't know who you were. Please spare this junior's insignificant life."
"Heh, of course you didn't know about her. If you knew, I doubt you would dare to disrespect us even if you had an emperor mage backing you." Little Gene laughed.
She was really furious at him. How dare he disrespect her grandma and even arouse his killing intent toward her? Therefore, she didn't want to waste any chance of mocking him.
The man still didn't say anything in response and acted as if she wasn't present at all. He knew if he didn't ignore her, he would definitely become angry at her and that would prompt the old woman to attack him. Perhaps the next attack would directly take his life.
The old glanced at the people around before she looked at him and said, "Take us to your king. We require his assistance."
The man, who was constantly sweating in fear thinking that she would kill him, immediately felt relief wash over him when he heard her and hurriedly nodded, "Yes, senior. Please follow me."
He stood up with difficulty, threw a golden healing pill in his mouth, and led her inside the city. The armored guards, who were frozen in their place from the moment the old woman released her aura, also followed them. Their eyes flashing with deep fear and reverence when they glanced at the old woman's back.
…
Vista city, Count Wiley's mansion…
In a luxurious hall, three middle-aged were sitting around a round table.
If Max was here, he would find that the one of the middle-aged men looked identical to Dalton, who wanted to marry Flavia. He was Dalton's father and the Dalton's family's current head, Dean Dalton. He wore golden embroidered robes, had a handsome squarish face, thick brows and narrowed eyes. One look at him and anyone could tell he wasn't a good person.
The man on his left side was Count Wiley. He had a handsome face, silver hair, silver-coloured eyes, and he also wore a beautiful silver-coloured robe, looking quite attractive for a middle-aged man. Another thing that stood out was a scar across his head.
Even though he was infamous for his treacherous and vile character among those who knew him well enough, he looked amiable, with a small, good-natured smile hanging on his lips.
The last man wore a white robe and had a silver mask on his face. From the feeling he gave just by sitting there, one could guess this man wasn't only strong but also was used to be in an influential position.
Count Wiley looked at the two men, his eyes lingering on the silver-masked man for a while longer and asked, "If you gentlemen don't mind, may I ask what brought the Lord masked ghost and sir Dean to my humble abode?"
The silver-masked man waved a hand. A painting of a bluish-purple sword appeared on the table in front of Count Wiley.
Seeing the painting, Count Wiley's eyes narrowed, and his smile gradually vanished. He gave Dean Dalton a profound look before looking at the silver-masked man questioningly.
"Was the sword used by your friend's wife the same as this one?" The silver-masked man asked in an even tone.
Wiley closed his eyes for a moment before nodding calmly, "Yes. It was the same."
"And it had thunder attribute?" The masked man asked again.
"That's correct." Wiley nodded calmly, but inside, he wasn't calm at all. He was constantly cursing Dean for telling the Royal family about the sword. That's right, the masked-man was from the Green Leaf kingdom's royal family.
Years ago, when he found out about the extraordinariness of Hannah's sword, he wasn't strong enough to snatch it from the Garfield family. Therefore, he had asked for Dean's, who is the husband of her sister, help.
At that time, he had struggled to hide the sword's existence. However, it seemed Dean had found about it.
'Why did you have to tell the royal family about it, you dumb bastard? Now, I won't be able to keep it for myself.' Wiley cried out in his heart.
After failing last time, he had been planning to take the sword from the Garfield family without causing a commotion like last time.
If he was given just a few more months, he would've acquired it and destroyed the Garfields too, with no one finding out about it. But it seemed all his efforts and planning were wasted now.
"I understand." The masked man nodded and stood up, calmly continuing, "Now you have two choices."
"First, I kill you right now. But I don't want to do that because you are my family's capable subordinate. Hence, I'm giving you the second choice: swear an oath on your heart to not divulge information about the sword and be forever loyal to my royal family. In exchange, not will I spare your life, but will also help you and your family move to the central continent."
Wiley's brows furrowed before he suddenly started laughing. "Hahahaha! I know the famous silver-masked ghost is very strong. However, do you really think you can kill me so easily?"
Whoosh!
Saying this, he took out a black talisman from his spatial ring.
When the talisman appeared, both Dean and the masked man felt a sense of life-threatening danger wash over them.
"This… is this a witch's destruction talisman? How can you posses such a thing?" Dean asked in disbelief while looking at the black talisman with a terrified gaze.
"Haha! That's right. It's a witch's destruction talisman, and why do I have it? Let's just say I was just lucky to find it." Wiley laughed and asked, "Now, mister silver-masked ghost, do you still want to kill me?"
The masked man looked at the talisman in Wiley's hand with a grave look in his eyes. He knew if he insisted on killing him, he would be the one to die. In front of a witch's talisman, it didn't matter if he was a peak five-star mage. Even if he was a king ranked mage, he wouldn't dare to take it lightly.
Phew!
Exhaling a stifled breath, he asked, "If you kill us, you will die. You know that, right?"
"Of course, I know that. However, it's better to die later than now. Don't you think so?" Wiley chuckled darkly.
"You…"
Before the masked man could say anything, Dean patted his shoulder, indicating to him to let him talk. He knew as a strong five-star mage and a proud member of the royal family, the masked man was unlikely to take a step back and would only exacerbate things.
He then glanced at Wiley and said, "Wiley, let's not be rash and talk first, alright?"
Wiley nodded. He also didn't want to become a fugitive after killing them. So, he said, "Go on."
Dean paused for a moment said, "In a week, the demons from the demon continent would attack and our kingdom would also be a part of the battlefield. You can guess what will happen then, right? Almost everyone here will die. That's why we want that sword. With it and the backing the royal family has on the central continent, we can go there and not die uselessly."
Wiley's heart shuddered when he heard this and asked, "Are you sure the demon will attack so soon?"
"Yes. They don't want us to give much time to prepare." Dean said, and the masked man also nodded.
Wiley closed his eyes and became silent.
The masked man glanced at him, then at Dean.
Dean shook his head. "Let him think."
After a few short moments later, Wiley opened his eyes and looked at the masked man, "I swear on my heart that I won't divulge the information about the sword. However, I want you to guarantee you guys won't harm me and also won't instigate others to do the same."
The masked man raised his brows when he didn't hear him swear he would be loyal to his family, but he couldn't force him now. So, he agreed to his condition and also swore an oath. Dean also did the same.
Seeing this, Wiley finally put away the black talisman. As soon as he did that, both Dean and the masked man felt a heavy pressure disappear from their shoulders.
Wiley smiled at their reactions and then smiled. "Shall we now go and take the sword?"
The masked man took a deep and long glance at Wiley before nodding, "Let's go."
Whoosh!
After saying this, he, along with Dean, vanished. After a few seconds, Wiley also vanished.
Meanwhile, the Garfield family was going about their normal lives without knowing that the danger was rapidly approaching.
…
At the same time, on the demon continent…
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A strong suction force appeared above Amara's villa and all the mana in tens of miles of radius started surging towards it.
While everyone was surprised by this anomaly, in the servant's quarters where Max was breaking through to the three-star realm, a horrified scream sounded, almost rupturing Max's eardrums.
"Ahhhhhh! Don't!"
==X==X==
A/N: The current volume concludes with this chapter. I know it was too long and somewhat messy. However, I've already planned the next volume and it will be a lot better. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your support!!
