439 Scheme between the Thief and Bandi

'If Quick Rope died here, my secrets would also be buried along with his death.

'And I can keep myself safe until the danger is over.'

At that moment, for some reason, Thales had these kind of thoughts appear in his head.

'Is it?'

But before he had the opportunity to think carefully about it, Thales already acted.

*Thud!*

A mercenary felt a pain at the back of his head. He subconsciously touched his head, and he found a small stone landing by his feet.

Just as his anger rose and he was about to turn around to look for the person who threw the stone...

"Hey!"

An angry roar rang in the hallway!

The Disaster Swords who stood in formation were all stunned and turned around.

Standing at the end of where the light could shine was the extraordinary boy who had a powerful identity. He appeared from behind a stone pillar that was rather well-hidden in the hall. His face was red and swollen, and he looked quite fragile and weak.

The dozen armed mercenaries looked at each other at a loss.

The boy's chest heaved, but he glared at the dozen opponents in front of him as he shouted at the top of his voice, "I am here!"

In the next second, the mercenaries turned around and spread out, revealing Shawn the mercenary and Dean, who were standing in the middle of the group.

Shawn drew his axe. Dean was unarmed. There were even traces of bruises on his face.

When he saw his target, Shawn's eyes immediately lit up. As for Dean, he frowned slightly. There was a grave look on his face.

"Good. You saved us a lot of trouble."

Shawn cast Thales a profound glance. He strode towards the prince while he made a gesture. 

Once the mercenaries beside him received their orders, they immediately changed their target.

They spread out to both sides in a well-trained manner, and they gradually approached Thales in a semi-circle to surround him.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

"Hey, let's solve this problem first..." Dean's voice rang anxiously.

But Shawn interrupted him coldly. His footsteps towards Thales did not stop.

"I think I know which one is more important."

Dean stared at Shawn, who turned around, and he looked behind himself. He could only clench his teeth in indignation, because he was unarmed.

However, Thales did not look at the enemies who were closing in. He did not even pay attention to Shawn and Dean. He just stared at the spot behind them.

As the mercenaries spread out, Thales finally saw his target.

At the end of his field of vision was Quick Rope. He was down on one knee. He looked exhausted, and he looked extremely miserable.

The Crossbow of Time trembled in his hands.　　　　　

He stared at Thales from the distance. On his face was surprise, as if he was asking Thales what he was doing.

Thales breathed a sigh of relief.

He met Quick Rope's incredulous gaze and twitched the corners of his mouth, but it affected the wound on his face, causing him to be in so much pain that he hissed and turned his head to the side.

"Hand over your weapons, prince, and we will be slightly nicer to you." Shawn glanced at the sword in the boy's hand. His words were simple and crisp.

"Or you can hand over a leg. After all, Ricky's order was only to catch you alive," he said coldly while he pulled out the single-edged axe he placed behind him.

Thales frowned.

The mercenaries gradually drew closer to the prince. Some people had even arrived by his sides. He was about to be fully surrounded.

'Damn it.'　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales secretly gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.

'Now, what I need is…'

The next moment, Thales exerted strength on his hands and stuck his longsword to the ground!

When he saw Thales showing his submission, Shawn smiled and said, "That's right, be a good man..."

Then, Shawn's smile froze. It happened right after Shawn saw what Thales drew out of his bosom.

Dean's expression also changed while he was behind Shawn.

They were not the only ones who reacted this way. Some of the more experienced and knowledgeable mercenaries stopped moving simultaneously when they saw the thing in Thales' hands. They were so shocked that their face went pale.

"Do you recognize this?"

Thales pushed one of his hands against his sword and exhaled in exhaustion while he shook the Alchemy Ball in his other hand.

He looked at the solemn faces of the people around him and forced out a smile. He nodded with satisfaction.

"Yes, be afraid. Today, shall we die together?"　　　　

Shawn's face became dark. With his eyes, he signalled at several mercenaries armed with long-range weapons to be ready to attack.

"Where did you get it?"

Thales shook the Alchemy Ball in his hand, shocking them so much that they took another step back.

"Don't forget, this is the Alchemy Tower's territory."

'Very good.

'For now, I managed to control the situation.'

The prince looked calm, but his heart was actually extremely anxious.

He lifted his gaze and looked at the person at the other side.

"Hey, Quick Rope..."

But before he could say anything, another enraged yell suddenly sounded.

"Idiot!"

Quite a number of mercenaries turned their heads in surprise.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Behind them, Quick Rope shouted angrily with rage burning on his face while he remained kneeling on the ground, "Why did you jump out at this time? You want to save the world or something?"

He glared at Thales with gritted teeth while he waved his fist, as if the latter was the man who murdered his father.

"Would it hurt if you just kept yourself hidden properly?

"Do you even have a f*cking brain?!"

His voice was as loud as a lion's roar. It echoed in the hall.

Even Shawn and Dean were stunned.

The smile on Thales' face instantly froze.

'About that…'

He looked at the Alchemy Ball in his hand, closed his mouth, and his face went cold.

'Damn it…'

Shawn raised his eyebrows. He shrugged while his attention still remained on the dangerous item in Thales' hands. "Wow, such brotherly love, how deeply touching—"

"You, shut up."

Shawn was rendered speechless for a moment. He widened his eyes and realized that the person who interrupted him was Thales, whose expression was cold.

'What?'

The next second, the Prince of Constellation put down the finger pointing at Shawn right before the stunned mercenaries, took a deep breath, and puffed his chest out.

"Hide myself? F*ck off!"

Thales' glare was fierce. Without showing any intention of backing down, he yelled back Quick Rope, who was at the other side of the hall.

"We are eighteen floors underground!

"Use your rotten brain!"　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales pressed the Alchemy Ball against his chest and waved his hand towards the people around him. He started cursing without caring about his image.

"Where can I motherf*king hide?!

"Where can I hide, huh?!"

Thales beat his chest aggressively as he continued to ask relentlessly, as if he had to yet work off his anger.

"Where?! Tell me! Where can I hide?!"

His voice was deafening. His voice echoed off the walls.

Thales' entire act of condemning Quick Rope shocked the latter so much that he was stunned.

Quick Rope subconsciously shrank a little, scratched his head, and blinked dumbfoundedly.

Their shouting match caused the mercenaries, including Shawn, to look at each other. They were baffled.

'Is this... an internal conflict?'

"Calm down, prince." Shawn gritted his teeth as he stared at the Alchemy Ball in Thales' possession. He was afraid that Thales would accidentally throw that thing while he was this agitated.agitated.

"Don't drop that thing."

Only Dean fixed his eyes on Thales while his eyebrows were furrowed tightly.

But Thales still glared at Quick Rope with anger burning in his eyes. He stroked his chest while he panted, still trying to steady his breathing, which had become ragged because of him shouting just now.

'Damn you, you idiot…'

The next moment, the Quick Rope suddenly raised his eyebrows. His voice became softed, and his tone made him sound as if he was relenting to Thales.

"Okay, okay, you're right. There is really no place to hide..."

But as Quick Rope went on, he seemed to have remembered something. He once again become bold, forceful, and aggressive.

"But I can't help it!"

Quick Rope's expression became fierce. He waves his fist at Thales.

"Have you forgotten? I'm just a shoddy thief who can't even open a door!"

Thales bit his lip. He glared at Quick Rope with a frown. His gaze was like a knife, as if he had been angered.

He stared at Quick Rope so intently he made the latter feel guilty.

As they listened to this poor excuse of an internal conflict, the mercenaries look at Thales before they looked at Quick Rope. Many of them had their attention trained on Thales' Alchemy Ball. They were incredibly wary of it.

Shawn coughed a bit. At least, he still remembered what his real goals were. "Okay, the drama ends here..."

However, in the next second, they saw the muscles on Thales' face tense up!

The boy suddenly bent down, picked up a stone by his feet, and threw it with a ferocious look!

Several mercenaries who were close to him were shocked. They subconsciously lifted their shields or raised their hands to fend against the stone.

Then, under the dim light, they saw the stone fly over their heads violently in a curve, brush past the ceiling, and land on… Quick Rope's head.

*Thud!*

When that dull thud rose, Quick Rope jolted. He immediately held his forehead and screamed in pain, "Ouch!

"Hiss... You hit me..."

Before the stunned mercenaries, Quick Rope touched his temple, which had started bleeding because of the stone. He pointed at Thales in disbelief.

"You brat, you actually threw a stone to hit me—"

But Thales' rage was unstoppable. He interrupted him again.

"I'm teaching you a lesson on behalf of your father!"　　

Thales retracted his hand, which had become numb because of the Sin of Hell's River. He ignored the enemies around him and started yelling as if he was venting his anger,

"Don't be a thief in the dark!"

He closed his eyes. With every ounce of his strength, he roared at Quick Rope, who had a pitiful look on his face across the hall.

"Be a tough man! A bandit who would break a person's door and rob that person's door in broad daylight!"

Quick Rope was stunned by his words, and he looked at Thales dumbfoundedly.

While the duo quarrelled intensely, the mercenaries broke into cold sweat. Their eyes followed the Alchemy Ball as Thales swung it up and down in his hand.

The next second...

"Bandit?"

The Quick Rope was obviously very angry. The first thing he did once he registered what was happening was to grit his teeth and retort.

"You say it so easily! I don't even know how to be a bandit..."

"You don't know how to be one?"

The quarrel between Thales and the Quick Rope was getting more and more intense. "If you don't know how to, can't you f*cking ask?"

Quick Rope paused for a while.　　　　　　　　　　　

'If you don't understand, then ask?'

He stared at Thales in a daze.

The next second, Quick Rope sucked in a deep breath, jumped up from the ground, and sprinted to the steps in the distance!

He was so quick and ran at such a tricky angle that the two mercenaries keeping their eyes on him had no time to react to him fleeing.

They could only watch him disappear down the stone stairs.

Before Quick Rope left, he did not forget to leave Thales a sentence.

"F*ck you!"

Thales listened to Quick Rope's words echoing in his ears while he watched the Quick Rope escape from danger. He breathed a sigh of relief.

'Okay...

'At least...

'At least I made it.'

"He just left you like this?"

Shawn narrowed his eyes at the direction Quick Rope disappeared to.

"Loyalty isn't worth anything, is it?"

"Hey, catch him!" Dean, who was empty-handed, became anxious. He first tried to catch up to Quick Rope before he realized that he was unarmed. He quickly turned his head around to urge Shawn to take action.

"Don't let him run away!"

But Shawn just waved his hand. His gaze did not leave Thales.

"Calm down, he can't run too far. The prince is still our priority!"

The mercenaries once again pushed down on their weapons. They completely blocked all the prince's possible escape routes.

Thales' heart tensed. He quickly sneered and shook the Alchemy Ball in his hand.

But Dean could not wait. He glared at the stone steps Quick Rope had disappeared to before he pointed impatiently at Thales. He said,

"Don't hesitate! I have him all figured out! Hurry up and capture the prince!

"I know him... no matter how much you threaten him, he will not dare to activate the Alchemy Ball!"

Shawn and the mercenaries were stunned. They turned to Dean. "What?"

Thales' smile also froze.

"This prince only came out of the stone pillar to save his companion."

Dean gnashed his teeth and said, "If this Alchemy Ball blows up the entire area and bury all of us underground, including the one just now, what's the point of him coming out at all just now?"

This statement was like a beacon of light shining into darkness. It caused Shawn to be slightly startled.

The mercenaries turned their heads and looked suspiciously at the bargaining chip in Thales' hands.

Thales gulped. He smiled at Dean, who looked very displeased. Thales felt that his smile was a little stiff.

'F*ck…'

He hated smart people the most.

"So..." Shawn's expression became stern. He tentatively took a step forward and drew closer to Thales.

Thales was anxious. He shrugged at Shawn awkwardly.

"No, no, I know clearly what I have in my hand—"

But he was interrupted.

"Cut the crap, just take him down," Dean spat hatefully.

"Then go chase after the other one."　　　　　　　　　

With deep suspicion, Shawn took another step forward. He was now only two swords away from Thales.

But Thales did not move. However, his smile had already disappeared from his face.

'This is bad.

'I was seen through.

Dean continued coldly. "Don't forget, the longer you drag this on, the more unfavorable of the situation we would be in. There's no difference between dying in the hands of the Alchemy Ball or the Constellatiates."

This made the group of mercenaries frown.

When he saw Thales' expression, Shawn seemed to have understood something.

In the next second, Shawn's gaze turned sharp. He swung his axe!

'This is bad.'

Thales shuddered in fear. He subconsciously pulled out the sword beside him!

*Clang!*

Thales stepped back and barely managed to push away the blunt side of the axe swinging towards him.

While Thales was still breathing in shock and fear, Shawn stared at his weapon.

"This is Ricky's sword."

'Damn it.'

Thales looked at the mercenaries around him. When he saw that they had completely blocked his escape routes, he knew that his act to trick them had failed.

"Yes."

The prince swung the good sword that allowed him to create smooth arcs in the air before he stuffed the Alchemy Ball back into his bosom in vexation.

Now, his only advantage was that the other side wanted to catch him alive.

"What happened to him?" Shawn asked with a frown.

Thales heaved a sigh of relief. He gauged the pain in his chest. 'Fortunately, the sequelae of the mystic energy seems to be slowly going away.'

"Ricky—"

But before Thales could finish speaking, Shawn moved again!

The Sin of Hell's River shuddered in his body. Fortunately, Thales was able to react. He lifted his sword with both hands and deflected his opponent's attack. He took a step backwards again.

However, Shawn's attack was relentless. He went on full offensive, swinging the axe until it created huge gusts of wind that went charging to him.

It seemed that he was bent on defeating Thales.

Thales was dragged into the fight suddenly, and because of it, scrabbled to fight back against Shawn. At the same time, he had to be careful about the movements behind him.

The mercenaries around him were eyeing him as if they were staring at prey, but they only stood in place and did not intervene in Shawn's battle.

It seemed that Shawn wanted to take him down personally to avoid unnecessary casualties—whether it was Thales or the other Disaster Swords.

*Swoosh!*

Shawn's axe came swinging horizontally!

The Sin of Hell's River surged to his arms and waist. Thales gritted his teeth and prepared to block off the axe, but he instinctively froze.

'Something's wrong.'

Sure enough, in the next second, Shawn stopped swinging his axe horizontally. It was a feint! He held the axe handle with both hands and changed his attack to slam the hilt into Thales' abdomen!

His momentum was as swift as lightning!

Thales sucked in a sharp breath. He managed to pull back his longsword in time, parried the axe handle, and used his shoulder to ram against Shawn!

*Thud*

The two separated again. Shawn stared Thales while the latter panted. The mercenary was slightly puzzled.

"You..." he muttered, but gave up halfway and gritted his teeth.

Thales was not as good as his opponent, be it in terms of his skills or physique. He retreated two steps back. Right when he got a firm foothold, Shawn rushed at him again while roaring!

*Cling!*

As the metal clashed against metal, Thales gnashed his teeth and brought out the exact same amount of strength he used when he fought against the orcs in the desert. He stood firmly on his feet and blocked the the opponent's powerful swing.

The next moment, the prince twisted the longsword and executed a counterattack using his sword handle—one of the attacks in Northland Military Sword Style. He struck Shawn's chest, causing the latter to groan while he moved back.

As he watched his opponent retreat, Thales took a deep breath.

He remembered the feeling of blocking Shawn's full powered blow just now, and he was puzzled.

'Very strange.

'Too strange.　　

'When Shawn attacked, his power in his swing… was somewhat light.

'Is it an illusion?'

He did not have too much time to think. Shawn's attack had arrived right before his eyes again. Thales had to abandon all thoughts, concentrate, and fight back at full attention!

Drag the fight.

He had to drag the fight until the situation change!　　　　

*Thud! Clang!*

The sound of steel clashing against metal rose and fell.

Shawn's offensive strikes were very fierce, an obvious sign that he had a lot of experience, and he often used his footsteps to confuse his opponent.

However, his axe was extremely agile. The angle of his cuts were as difficult to fend off as a nimble sword. Thales had to use every skill at his disposal to neutralize several dangerous situations and avoid being captured. 　　　　

*Whoosh!*

The wind whistled.

Once again, Shawn's three consecutive axe swings came charging at him. It looked like a skill that was treated as a priceless inheritance passed down through generations within a family.

Thales was startled.

Luckily, the Sin of Hell's River did not disappoint him. It surged into his body.

As a loud metalling thud rose, Thales retreated, but he did not stumble. He avoided the first attack, blocked off the second fatal blow, and received the third attack according to what he was taught.

Shawn's offensive was not successful. He took a step back, and he could not hide his shock and resentment.

'What's going on?　　　　　　　　　　　　

'This boy…'

They had engaged each other for five or six rounds, but he had yet to capture the boy. The mercenaries around them began to whisper, which made him quite angry.

When he saw his opponent move back, Thales regained his footing, panted hurriedly, and recovered his strength.

But he finally sensed what was wrong.

'I managed to block all of them.'

While he wheezed and sweated, Thales slowly raised his head, and looked at his opponent in surprise.

'I actually… blocked all this person's attacks?

'It's like… I was enlightened or something.'

Thales scratched his head, baffled.

'That's strange, did I suddenly become stronger?'

But he shook his head again and dismissed the idea.

'Impossible…'

In the past, no matter who he fought against: Serena, the Fire Knight, Nicholas, Monty, the orc whose names he could not recall, and Zakriel, Thales was always the one who was beaten up and had no power to fight back, was he not?

'Wait.'

Thales reevaluated his opponent.

'This... Shawn.

'Shawn's strength is average.'

The prince remembered the orcs in the desert, along with their great power, which was great enough to allow them to flip over horses.

'Shawn's speed... hmm, it's decent.'

Thales remembered the Northlander swordsman Klein's lightning-fast attacks, along with the shocking scene of Raphael taking six lives within two seconds when Thales was detained in Lampard's hands.

Shawn's offense was very strong. It could be counted as his specialty, and was comparable to Kohen's strength six years ago, but…

'Offense?'　　

Thales remembered three people at the same time.

One of them carried a silver-black bow on his back. His strength surged through his entire body like a volcano as he charged forward in the bloody waves shed by the people from his own army and his enemy's army. No one could stop him.

The other person was dressed in armor while he held a golden saber in his hand. He decided from the sky with a frightening momentum, and he effortlessly broke the joint defense formed by five people.

And the last person...

Thales touched his neck and forehead. The two wounds that he had gotten not too long ago instantly throbbed in pain. The pain sent a shiver down his spine.

Thales suddenly came to understand something.

'As for Shawn's attacks and feints...

'They're just…'　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

*Whoosh!*

Shawn once again roared and rushed at him. He had made the decision to no longer hold back out of fear for Thales' life. He swore in his heart to end the battle in the next battle.

Shawn swung his axe down, but this time, Thales just frowned slightly.

With his senses enhanced by the Sin of Hell's River, Thales subconsciously felt something.

Sure enough, as the other party was halfway through his attack, he turned the vertical slash to a horizontal swing. His momentum was fierce… and his swing landed on the block that Thales had prepared one second ago.

*Clang!*

Shawn stared at Thales in shock as the latter blocked his attack easily.

'How did he?'　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales exerted strength on his waist, pushed Shawn back, and stared at Shawn's blade, a little unused to this.

'These feints... are a bit too obvious, aren't they?'

Thales could not help but thought.

And Shawn stared at him stunned while he was before him. He wondered how his attacks could have failed.

"Don't be discouraged, your axe is very powerful, and the feints are very realistic."

Thales stepped back, laughed dryly, and comforted him.

"But I know this person..."

Thales rolled his eyes and frowned when he remembered the man.

"He also likes to use feints and fakes. With his Power of Eradication, he could slash everywhere he wanted. My Goodness, I can't tell when he is attacking and when he is luring the enemy...

"Compared to his, your fakes fall short a little..."

'That's right.'　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales suddenly understood.

Due to his experience of losing miserably countless times, every single time he faced off against an enemy, he would be nervous. By force of habit, He would use the battles he once fought in the past as a reference: his battle against the archduchess of the vampires, the Fire Knight, the Star Killer, the Raven of Death, the desert orcs… and the almost undefeatable Knight of Judgement.

Thales raised his head and looked at Shawn.

'That means…'

When he thought of this, Thales sighed. In his agony, he understood a frustrating fact.

After experiencing so many battles where he lost more than he won… he became even more susceptible to beatings.

And this feeling… was even more obvious after he has been beaten up by Zakriel.

Under the light provided by the torches the mercenaries held, Shawn stared at his axe handle. Both of his hands trembled slightly.

He felt the gazes and whispers of his comrades around him. His breathing was getting faster and faster, and the heat on his face was getting hotter.

'No way. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

'No way, how could this be…

'That's just a boy…'

Thales came back to his senses and suddenly realized there was something off. He quickly changed his tone to remedy the situation.

"I mean... you... is it possible that your fakes, um… still have..."

He shrugged and showed an awkward and polite smile while he tried to search for a word that was more pleasant to the ears.

"Still have... some room for improvement?"

Shawn jerked his head up!

Thales' smile slowly disappeared.

When he saw the increasingly savage and furious expression on Shawn's face, Thales felt that he might have said something wrong.

Sure enough, in the next second, Shawn glared at him so angrily that it looked as if his eyes were burning, and his gaze was as sharp as blades. He roared, "All hands, charge forward together!　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

"Get him!"

Thales's heart went cold.

'This is bad.'

Thales had only had time for this idea to appear in his head before the mercenaries surrounded him from all sides. They roared and charged at him together!

'Aaaahhhh!'

The Sin of Hell's River surged in him uncontrollably and was activated fully!

*Clang!*

The harsh clashing sounds between weapons rang again, but this time, the sounds were even more chaotic than before!

Thales struggled to fight back against a hammer handle aiming to hit the back of his head before he parried off an iron rod swinging towards his left leg. He then had to roll away to avoid three weapons he absolutely could not block!

But when he got up, he did not even have time to gasp before he was greeted by an attack that came charging at his head.

Thales struggled to block it. He grunted, but a mercenary behind him rushed towards him while brandishing his weapon!

He was going crazy from the stream of attacks.

'If I knew earlier, I wouldn't have said anything!

'Why did I provoke Shawn?!'

In the next ten or so seconds, Thales felt that he had returned to that night in the desert. Orcs attacked him while roaring from all sides, and they did not give him any chance to breathe.

'If it was not for the Disaster Swords wanting to catch him alive, he would have long been…'

*Whoosh!*

Thales felt a pain at his back. He was struck by an axe handle when his movements changed, no longer following what he intended to do in his mind.

'Damn it!'

One mistake led to another. While pain flared in his back, it caused Thales' next defense to also not conform to what he had in mind. He received a vicious slam into his abdomen!

While he endured severe pain and sweat rolled down his skin, Thales grunted and rolled to the ground to avoid the three figures who were ready to pounce on him.

'It's over.

'The end.'

After a long period of high-intensity battles, Thales was basically only moving his body through sheer will. His body finally swayed, and he was about to close his eyes.

But at this moment…

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

A terrifying roar that did not like sound like it came from a human appeared from the other end!

The mercenaries were surprised!

But before they could come back to their senses, a strong figure rushed into the crowd! No one was able to block him!

*Bang!*

"HAAAAAAHHH!"

The strong intruder roared and sent two mercenaries flying by his charge, and before the third person turned to use his blade to greet him, he stretched his nimble arm, and he lifted his opponent up in the air!

A cry of surprise rose.

Thales was struck by a thought. He immediately lowered his head and felt a chill down his spine.

*Boom!*

The mercenary who was lifted was thrown over his head. His scream continued as he flew ten meters away before he knocked down five or six people.

Several torches were extinguished. The situation instantly descended into chaos!

"No!"

Shawn's exasperated voice rose.

"Intruder!"

Thales was stunned.

He was not able to react when a Disaster Sword beside him turned around, roared, and exchanged positions with another person who came forth to join the attack!

*Clang!*

The sounds of battle rose into the air.

Thales almost thought that he was back on the battlefield.

"Kill, kill, kill." A desolate, quivering voice rose. While the Disaster Swords retreated with grunts, that voice laughed brokenly while its owner swung his sword.

"It feels wonderful to be back on the battlefield."

Fresh blood splashed everywhere.

A mercenary's head nearly toppled down its body. The only thing connecting it to its body was a bit of skin.

"Although… my skills have deteriorated considerably..."

The murderer did not look at Thales. He went to his next opponent.

'It's him.'

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Thales took a deep breath and stood up by supporting himself with his sword. The strong intruder roared and ran past him like a hurricane.

He was like a grizzly bear crashing into the crowd without fear.

The scene was getting more and more chaotic.

"Slow down, Bruley"

A lackadaisical voice rang. He sounded quite resigned.

"It has been more than ten years... remember to warm up first!"

Thales turned his head and saw a man in rags standing right in front of a mercenary. That man avoided an attack from an axe before he nimbly extended his leg to trip the mercenary.

*Plop.*

The mercenary no longer had a chance to fight back. The owner of the lackadaisical voice swiftly stretched his hand out and broke his throat.

That lackadaisical man picked up the axe that fell from his enemy and looked up.

The man's hair and beard were both equally long. He grinned at Thales, it was rather hideous.

The prince stared blankly at the three people who charged into the battlefield.

Then, Shawn's roar rose from behind him!

"You damn—"　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales subconsciously turned and picked up his sword.

But before he was able to fend off Shawn, another slim figure appeared like a gust of cold wind behind Thales!

*Clang!*

The figure held a sword in his hand and blocked Shawn's fatal strike. He snorted in disdain.

Shawn scowled and gritted his teeth. "You—"

The newcomer said coldly. His voice was steady. "So… Battle… it's still the same old feeling."

Shawn saw his opponent's expression change.

He suddenly found... an ugly, hideous brand on the other person's face.

That was…

The next second, the newcomer turned. He disregarded Shawn ripping him a new wound on his shoulder, and he just used his forehead to slam into Shawn's nose!

*Thud!*

Shawn yelped in pain. The newcomer slammed against him with his shoulder before he swung his longsword!

*Rip!*

The tearing of flesh rang. Shawn's expression became stagnant, just like how water would freeze in a stream when winter arrive.

After a second, the person shut Shawn's eyes, which were open even after he died. He then pushed the body away from his bloody sword.

Shawn's body fell to the ground, facing Thales.

Thales stared at person who came in a dumbfounded manner.

He recognized the other's movements.

'That is…

'Iron Body style

The man turned to Thales. His gaze was steely while he reached out to him gently.

Thales froze for a second before he took the person's hand—full of calluses—and borrowed his strength to get up.

"Humans relied on a consecutive, sharp, and desperate attacks while they went up against the ancient orcs, not defenses relying on shields to protect themselves. That's why there are only three defensive styles and seven offensive styles."

The voice was steady. His tone was cold.

'He is talking to me...?'　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thales was instantly struck by an idea!

"Don't misunderstand, the prince whom I have never met, I am not criticizing you.

"I am just very curious..."

The unkempt figure with the brand lowered his head. A cold glare shone through his ungroomed hair and beard.

"...which balless sissy in Renaissance Palace..."

The person released Thales. He ignored the fierce and tense battles around him while he picked up a shield from the ground.

"...taught you the Northland Military Sword Style?"

He stared coldly at Thales, whose mind was practically blank at this moment, and he snapped at Thales fiercely, "Because you look really stupid when you used it."

While the sounds of battle rang around him, Thales stared at the man in a daze.

In the next second, the former chief vanguard of the Royal Guards, Quill Barney Jr. executed the Confrontation Stance and walked past Thales' side without looking back to great an incoming enemy.

Thales took a deep breath.

He slowly turned to the direction of the steps.

Sure enough, there was a young man who had his back bent and his hands placed on his knees. He panted harshly before gritted his teeth to stare at Thales from the distance.

Thales smiled.　　　　　　　　　　

The young man raised his hand and threw a rod-like, dark green key back to Thales.

He pointed to the red bump on his temple and revealed a fierce expression.

"F*ck you," Quick Rope cursed, "I can't believe you used this toy… to hit me!"

Thales could not refrain to sniggering.

He turned his head and watched the veterans from the Royal Guards of Constellation meet their opponents one by one, subsequently taking their lives.

But that was no longer important.

The corners of Thales' lips curled up. He turned his head to the side and flipped Quick Rope the bird, showing no sign of intending to backing down from their volley of insults.

'The clumsy thief who can't even open a lock… has at least become a bandit for once.'