Boom!
The explosion this time was bigger than anything everyone had seen so far. It engulfed more than fifty meters in radius, destroying everything within it.
The cloud dust rose into the sky and alarmed all the people. When they began to settle down, the soldiers on top of the wall could see two big sword marks that actually stretched for over two hundred meters behind the dust.
It was obvious who created it, and that person was standing in the middle of the field with two people lying unconscious.
The winner was none other than Duke Lorelei. He let out a sigh, "To think I would have to use every bit of my power to suppress them."
Evan turned around, looking at the two kids on the ground. There were numerous shallow cuts on their bodies. It would be hard to take care of their injuries like this. But there were some broken bones and muscle tears to the point where they wouldn't be able to recover for at least four to six months.
This was much worse than he originally thought. But it also showed the kids' potential.
"Seriously, the younger generation this day is terrifying." Evan shook his head helplessly. It looked like he was fine, but the next second, his hand dropped his own sword as lightning sparked around his arm.
The lightning spark actually inflicted enough damage to stop him from wielding his sword and an ice crystal bloomed like a flower on his back, causing an internal injury. Blood began to flow out of his mouth.
He never thought that two kids who had just become a Spirit Grandmaster managed to push him this far.
"It's over, I guess." Evan's killing intent started to spread in all directions.
However, that killing intent wasn't directed to Noel and Anna. Instead, this killing intent was protecting them from anyone that dared to harm them after this point. After all, people like Josephine or assassins from the Supreme Devil Organization could do it.
"…" The people in the shadows had no choice but to swallow their desire for a moment and tried to find the right time to kill these two kids before they grew too big.
After their presence disappeared, Evan picked up his sword with his other hand and carried Noel and Anna with his Spiritual Energy.
When they reached the gate, the soldiers, including their captain, came out to check Noel and Anna.
"This is…" Grandell gasped. He glared at the Sword Arbiter and shouted, "Why are you so vicious? They won't be able to move their body for at least a few months with this kind of injury."
"They should be glad that I hold back. If not, they would have died." Evan snorted, showing no sign of remorse.
"You…" Grandell gritted his teeth. He wanted to do something, but treating them would be the highest priority.
"You should bring them back. While it's not enough to kill them, they will die if you don't treat them right away!"
Grandell had no choice but to bring back Noel and Anna. Some people actually saw Anna and Noel's injuries and started to hate the Sword Arbiter.
Meanwhile, Evan remained silent the whole time and kept watching out for them to make sure that there was no ambush. Unless there was a Demon Saint here, they shouldn't be able to get past him. And if there was one, the Demon Saint would have been discovered due to their strength.
So, Noel and Anna were safe. That was enough for Evan. He didn't intend to save his face after accepting Noel's agreements anyway.
As soon as they were brought into the room, Grandell hurriedly turned around while saying, "Where is the doctor? He is too late."
"You don't have to call the doctor anymore. I have come here to treat my lord and the future mistress." A middle-aged man walked down the hallway with a bag that kept releasing a clicking sound.
"Hmm?!" The Sword Arbiter couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "You… Did they actually recruit you?"
"Well, isn't this the old man from the Sword Family?" The middle-aged man smiled calmly.
"So, their confidence comes from you." Evan pinched the bridge of his nose, realizing that Noel had prepared all this. "To think that they managed to invite the former Royal Alchemist Khalid."
Before coming here, Noel had sent out two letters. The first one was for the Sword Arbiter, but the second one was actually for Khalid. Yes, he was the only pillar that hadn't gone to the main city.
According to their agreement, Khalid had remained in the Stargaze Family's territory. But after realizing that the two had completely fooled the world and Noel was the mastermind, he could see the future in the Ardagan Family.
The moment Noel became an Earl, he instantly fulfilled his promise and swore his allegiance to Noel.
That was why Khalid had now formally served the Ardagan Family.
"While I don't have any healing ability, I have enough medicine to heal them. Though, it won't be an instant for them." Khalid said, "Other than the old sword and the two injured people, everyone can't stay in the room."
"Who—" Grandell didn't know Khalid, so he obviously couldn't allow this person to enter.
However, Khalid actually tossed a badge to him. This badge had the symbol of the Ardagan Family, but the silver color that made the badge indicated his status as a high-ranking officer of the Ardagan Family. In other words, the one standing in front of him was one of the pillars.
The badge was just distributed not long ago, so there was no way people could counterfeit it right away. And when he poured the Spiritual Energy into it, the rune would react, showing that it wasn't a fake badge.
"I apologize. Are you one of the pillars?"
"Pillar of Medicine, Khalid is the name. So, tell the soldiers to watch around and make sure no one disturbs us."
"Understood." Grandell nodded furiously. The spies would definitely use this time period to either assassinate Noel and Anna or send the information to the ones behind them. Since the Sword Arbiter protected them, they ended up with the latter.
"Alright. Let's see the wounds." Khalid scanned Noel and Anna's bodies.
"Don't worry. At least, I'm considerate enough not to injure her in those areas." The Sword Arbiter muttered.
"What are you saying? Do you think I will care about that? Though, the maids still have to change their clothes later." Khalid took out a small glass jar that contained a green-colored salve. "The biggest injury would be this one."
Khalid was looking at the deep wound on Noel's chest. Without hesitation, he took out a water bottle and controlled the water with his Spiritual Energy, washing all the blood away. After that, he covered the wound with the salve.
Anna's injury was also serious, but the only wound he used this same salve was the one on her thigh. It was harsh to have her muscle cut like that, so he treated it as quickly as possible.
After that, Khalid took out a container with a blue salve. He actually applied the smaller wounds with this salve.
As soon as he was done, he used the water to instantly wipe out the salve. To Evan's surprise, the wound instantly disappeared.
"Amazing…" The Sword Arbiter never thought that an alchemist could actually heal them this way.
But he wasn't done yet. He ground a few pills and mixed it into the water before using the Spiritual Energy to direct them into Anna and Noel's mouths, allowing them to digest the medicine.
Their breathing was instantly stabilized and their complexion improved drastically.
"This should be enough. The small wounds aren't that much of a problem, but the big wounds will definitely take more time, three to seven days, I presume."
"Will it leave a scar?" Evan asked.
"Depending on their recovery. Considering they are Spirit Grandmasters, there should be no scar as long as they wake up within the next twenty four hours and start mending their skin and muscle." Khalid explained.
Evan was astonished by the healing ability of all this medicine. It was to be expected from a Royal Alchemist.
Khalid took out two blue pills and one red pill along with a pale blue salve. "The blue pills should be enough to enhance your recovery metabolism for your internal injuries. The red pill is to supply some Spiritual Energy, and you should apply the salve to your wound. It's the downgraded version of this one."
Khalid was pointing at the blue salve that used to close the wounds instantly.
"I'm not going to receive that one?"
"What do you mean? It's hard to gather the materials for all this salve. Of course, they are for the lord and his future wife. You should be grateful that I give you that one instead of the normal salves that normal soldiers would use." Khalid shrugged.
"Hahaha." Evan chuckled and hurriedly swallowed the pills.
The moment the red pill entered his stomach, he could feel that it was melting and his heart beat rapidly, producing more Spiritual Energy for a moment. In just a minute, he managed to recover a tenth of his Spiritual Energy.
The other pills boosted his metabolism and the Spirit Mind had less stress in fixing the internal injuries. After that, the salve would close his wounds within an hour or two.
Even though he wasn't a healer, it was still amazing to see how his medicine let them recover easily.
As soon as they were done, they brought a maid who didn't have any Spiritual Energy within their body to ensure the safety of Noel and Anna. She changed their clothes carefully and respectfully as she was also one of the people whose life was greatly affected by Noel's visit.
The Sword Arbiter never left their side for a moment, ensuring that the two kids were safe. Meanwhile, Khalid ended up waiting for a few more days just because he wanted to see this town more closely. Just like the Sword Arbiter, Khalid wanted to see the potential the runes could bring to their lives.
As Noel predicted, the spies instantly confirmed the news about their condition.
"They are severely injured. Four to six months."
The spies began to send the message to their masters, informing them that Noel and Anna wouldn't be able to do anything for a few months. Since Anna had been moving around with her board, there was a potential that they could still move around, but it was impossible to train with that kind of injury.
That was why this should be good news for their masters. Obviously, people also wanted to assassinate them, but with the Sword Arbiter not allowing more injuries, they would have to clash with Evan if they wanted to assassinate Noel and Anna.
There was actually one more person standing on top of a tree a bit far away from the city. She was Josephine.
"The Sword Arbiter is indeed scary. I want to kill them right now, but he doesn't leave any gaps for me to exploit. I guess I have to discuss the matter with that person. It's not like they can recover easily from those wounds. Oh, we also have to block all the medical personnel, especially Clara since she was his superior in the past."
Josephine ended up tearing the space with her scythe and teleported somewhere.
Unbeknownst to them, everything was just a setup. In fact, it didn't take long for Noel and Anna to recover, let alone waking up.
Two hours after their treatment, Noel was the first one to open his eyes.
"Mhmm?" He let out a soft moan and saw the duke on the corner of his eyes. "It seems that I have failed."
"You brat. Do you know how shocked I was when you unleashed that technique? Both of you are truly monstrous. But what is scarier is how far ahead you could see."
"Well, the first part is completed, I guess?" Noel smiled. "Time for the next plan."
