Volume 4, 8 : X Rank Duel

Volume 4, Chapter 8 : X Rank Duel

“Lancelot!”

Mizerui zipped by in the air quickly with a cold smile on his face.

The unicorn and its master before him seemed they hadn’t noticed they were being followed.

Mizerui lifted his right hand, and the space on top of the unicorn started twisting, and the unicorn started to scream, then it started free falling, and disappeared into the thick clouds.

Mizerui quickly followed and flew downwards, until his feet landed on the earth again.

Mizerui’s slender body stood in a barren plain. A cold light flashed on his gold-framed glasses, “Angering me is very dangerous, Lancelot.”

“To not let an Assassin endanger the world, I would have done it no matter how dangerous it is.”

A deep but magnetic voice could be heard a few meters behind Mizerui, and it was accompanied by crystal clear horse neighs.

Mizerui didn’t turn his head, instead he reached out his hand to push his glasses up, then he said softly,

“Lancelot, if you’re happy with executing your sense of justice, then that’s fine, but why must you mess with me? It’s just not Barbalis, even your good friend Blood Wolf was fond of Liola, so why do you have to go against everyone’s wishes?”

“Even if I were to become the enemy of the world by maintaining justice, I wouldn’t hesitate. I wouldn’t release an Assassin’s seal for even my friend Blood Wolf.”

Lancelot’s tone and attitude were resolute. In his mind, there was nothing more important than protecting justice and the safety of the world. If anyone or anything had one in a million chance of harming the world, then he felt it was his duty to reduce the one in a million chance to zero.

Mizerui finally turned around, and impatience flashed in his eyes. He smiled coldly, “I’m much more dangerous than Liola, why don’t you come seal me?”

Hearing Mizerui’s mockery, Lancelot calmly unsheathe his sword, “You are indeed dangerous, even more so than the Assassin.”

‘Could it be?’

Interest flashed across Mizerui’s eyes. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked,

“Could it be… the main reason you sealed Liola was to lure me out?”

“Not at all, it’s also to prevent him from becoming a powerful bargaining chip for Miluo.” Lancelot’s body suddenly emitted a white aura, and prepared to attack at any time.

“Even the righteous Paladin learned how to use tricks, but aren’t you worried about the Dragon Emperor? Don’t forget, I am the Emperor’s good friend too.”

As Mizerui spoke, he quietly moved back.

To a Sorcerer, the farther away the enemy is, the better, especially when the opponent has a blazingly fast unicorn as a mount or if it’s an Assassin like Liola, who relied on their terrifying speed.

Of course, Lancelot also knew the weakness of Sorcerer was close-quarters combat. When Mizerui was buying more time with questions about the Dragon Emperor, Lancelot didn’t waste any time and used his unicorn to catch up to Mizerui.

As Lancelot swung his sword towards Mizerui, he said with a deep voice,

“You’re not truly following the Dragon Emperor. Though I don’t know what your intent is, I’ve already seen you sneaking around in the palace more than once.”

He couldn’t believe he had been seen!

Mizerui’s expression faltered, and pulled out his staff. A sapphire the size of an egg immediately emitted a faint blue light, and blocked Lancelot’s white sword.

Mizerui followed up with a short incantation, and massive weight immediately spread from the tip of the sword to Lancelot’s arm muscle.

After shaking his arm a bit, he concentrated his white aura around his arm and sword. Lancelot seemingly ignored the tons of weight, turned his blade, and continued to swing at Mizerui.

Mizerui knew his couple of moves wouldn’t be able to stop the Paladin. Mizerui’s other hand had already prepared other magic, “Reverse Gravity!”

The spell was not targeted at Lancelot’s sword, but instead at his unicorn’s feet.

The unicorn had its feet floating in the air, as the heavy Lancelot rode on its back, as a result of Mizerui’s spell. The two opposing forces made it impossible for the unicorn to keep its balance, and it fell to the ground. It desperately struggled to get up, but it was no use.

Lancelot, of course, could no longer stay on his mount.

After fumbling around on the unicorn, he leapt off, and the sword in his hand had broken the light blue protective shield. It was an opportunity he couldn’t miss, so he sent a flurry of attacks toward Mizerui, who was having a hard time blocking all the attacks.

The sword scathed Mizerui’s left face. Had he not place down magic around him as a habit, Mizerui’s head would probably had been impaled by the sword, instead of just a simple mark.

Though the scratch did not take Mizerui’s life, it seriously angered him. Mizerui, as a rank-X criminal, still walked around without any disguise, because he was a fearless, and dangerous Sorcerer.

“Lancelot!” Mizerui’s blue eyes were fuming.

An enormous magic centered around Mizerui exploded, then took the shape of a tornado. The ground sank as if something heavy pushed it down. It first sank near Mizerui, then spiraled outward.

The ground beneath Lancelot was an exception. A strong, white aura exploded, equalled to Mizerui’s magic.

Though the ground surrounding him sank like a trench, the ground covered by Lancelot’s white aura remained untouched.

Mizerui’s body was enveloped by a dark magical aura, which contrasted with Lancelot’s white aura.

The only common thing between them was they were both unquestionably strong. Two of the top rank-X powerhouses were about to start a world-shaking duel, and the outcome of this battle would forever leave its mark in the history…

Crackle, crackle.

They both heard a strange sound. Two of the world’s most powerful people twitched both their faces, then slowly looked towards the source of the noise.

Crouching in the hole he dug, the ‘movie-watching, cracker-eating’ Barbalis felt two pairs of firm eyes on him.

He calmly swallowed his crackers, waved his arms and said, “Don’t mind me. Continue, continue.”

Lancelot’s face sank, while Mizerui laughed helplessly and bitterly.

“What? Why are you not fighting?” Barbalis jumped out of the hole, and dusted his bum. Acted innocent and said,

“Too bad, the duel between the strongest Knight and Sorcerer was actually interrupted by me. Had I known, I wouldn’t have eaten crackers.”

Mizerui said expressionlessly, “Stop pretending, Barbalis, you were only here to prevent the fight.”

Lancelot tightly held onto the sword in his hand, but after looking at Mizerui and Barbalis, Lancelot didn’t raise his sword. As far as he knew, Barbalis had a very special and strong magical abilities. Facing these two powerful opponents, Lancelot was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle them both.

“Mizerui, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m mainly here to discuss a few things with Lancelot.”

Barbalis smiled and glanced at Lancelot, whom became alert again after hearing this.

“What would you discuss with him?” Mizerui began to be curious.

“About that seal on Liola…”

“I will not help him release the seal.” Before Barbalis finished, Lancelot immediately refused.

Barbalis showed a disagreeing look, “If you’re not going to help him, you might as well kill him.”

“What’s wrong with Liola again?” Mizerui frowned.

‘This little runt… couldn’t cause less trouble now that he lost his Kung Fu?’

“The Adorning Flowers has a hit on him.” Barbalis glanced at Lancelot, whose face seemed to change a little, and continued satisfactorily,

“When Black Rose came for him, she almost sent him to judgment day, and because Liola didn’t want anybody getting hurt, so…”

Barbalis thoroughly explained everything that happened recently.

Mizerui was stupefied as he was listening, and he finally dropped his jaw,

“T-this guy… could he have been any more unlucky? He walked into the Dark Arena Pyramid himself? Isn’t that the headquarters of the Adorning Flowers?!”

Barbalis laughed bitterly, “And you also knew in order to save him, Kaiser and the others barged into the Dark Street, and caused quite a ruckus there.”

“They actually made it out alive? According to their abilities, without Liola’s peerless Kung Fu, they should have had zero chance of walking out of the Dark Arena Pyramid alive.” Mizerui locked his brows together.

Barbalis exaggeratedly sighed and continued to explained,

“The main reason was there were only two out of the Six Forbidden Sins present, but in the end it was because of Qiusi, Gladiolus agreed to let them go. Otherwise, things would’ve been far worse.”

Barbalis coughed lightly,

“Last time Black Rose came to assassinate Liola, Baolilong almost died along with him. And this time in the Dark Arena Pyramid, many young students with bright futures almost died with him, and one of them was a Blue Knight. They were all friends of Liola, and they would never abandon him. If there are more Assassins to come, they would definitely shield Liola…”

Some rarely-seen hesitation appeared on Lancelot’s face and his brows were locked. He thought to himself, if he doesn’t release Liola’s seal, he would most likely die in the hands of the Six Forbidden Sins. But as for the risk of other people dying, it wasn’t likely. Without any profits, Assassins would never kill more than they have to. Lancelot was very familiar with the profession he hated the most.

However, if he were to release Liola’s seal, then the world would have an additional Assassin, and possibly the strongest Assassin. Lancelot would never allow this to happen. After thinking about it, Lancelot looked at Mizerui and then turned to climb onto his unicorn.

“Wait, what about Liola’s seal…”

Barbalis hadn’t finished, but he was interrupted by Lancelot’s deep and solemn voice,

“I trust Mizerui and Barbalis should have enough power to protect one person. This is where we stop today. Mizerui, I hope you do what’s best for you, and live up to the Dragon Emperor’s trust and hope in you.”

After having said so, the unicorn lifted its front leg; after a majestic neigh, it flew up in the air, leaving behind two people staring at one another.

Barbalis then burst out in tears, “Are you telling me I have to be glued to Liola?”

Mizerui coldly glanced at Barbalis, whom suddenly felt a shivering cold through his body. His face then turned pale.

“Mizerui, y-you are not thinking of letting me handle the entire Six Forbidden Sins by myself, right?”

Mizerui smiled.

“Stop trying to trick me, Barbalis. You may have fooled Lancelot, but you can’t fool me. I was just cooperating with your lies in front of Lancelot. Qiusi is already in the Dark Arena to watch. His only son and the only thing he cares about, Meinan, ran to rescue Liola. I trust Gladiolus would not want to offend the Aklan Prime Minister, and will therefore cancel the hit on Liola.”

Barbalis raised his brow, and said.

“Mizerui, you’re quite smart; you did indeed guess the outcome. That is correct, Gladiolus did indeed cancel the mission to assassinate Liola. However, judging from the abilities of the troublemaking group, even without the Six Forbidden Sins, the dangers that await them won’t be few. I was hoping I could trick Lancelot into releasing Liola’s seal, but the Paladin’s stubbornness is as famous as his power.”

Mizerui carefully thought.

‘Indeed, if Liola’s seal could not be released, then his toy would have to report to the grim reaper soon.’

However, Lancelot’s seal was very difficult to release, and this made it troublesome for Mizerui.

Barbalis suddenly asked, “Mizerui, which side do you think wants Liola dead? Miluo or the Dragon Emperor?”

Mizerui frowned.

“I’m not sure, really not sure. Both sides have reasons to kill Liola. What’s important is, which side is actually righteous? What happened before, exactly? Why did the Dragon Emperor’s Sacred White Dragon, otherwise known as Miluo’s wife, die in vain? Why did princess Anise go to another world? Could the hatred between the Dragon Emperor and Miluo only be caused by the Sacred White Dragon’s death?”

Barbalis looked into the sky, and said mysteriously, “Perhaps we can find all this answer from that silver-eyed Assassin.”

“Seriously?” Mizerui narrowed his eyes, “Why did you say the same thing as Qiusi?”

_______________________________________________________________

“Will Meiji be fine in the Dark Street?”

After having crashed the Dark Street, causing the pyramid to collapse, and after Qiusi cried as he agreed to pay for the damages they caused, the gang finally arrived at the academy ranking matches stadium safely.

What they didn’t know was Barbalis abused his powers again, and changed the time of the matches to be in three days, so they could have some rest after coming back from the Dark Street, before they have to participate in another match.

Kaiser shrugged, and said without care.

“Sister seemed to be doing fine there. Every problem she may have, Gladiolus would probably help her. She herself said she didn’t want to become my baggage, so I don’t really have a choice! Gladiolus will take good care of my sister, so it should be fine. Perhaps in a while, I will suddenly have an Assassin brother-in-law. Speaking of which, I seem to be fated with Assassins.”

Liola nodded while thinking Gladiolus backed off again and again because of Meiji, so he will most likely do his best to protect Meiji. Therefore, Liola wouldn’t worry about her.

However, many people did worry about Liola. After the promised three hours had been past, Liola experienced the pain of being sealed again, and his Ki was nowhere to be found. He became an agile normal person again.

Thinking about his predicament, Liola’s face sank again.

His companions, who saw his countenance all yelled in a worried manner. “Liola, what are you thinking again?”

Tears fell down Purity’s face. She wept as she pulled the corner of Liola’s shirt, “Liola-dage, please don’t run away from home again.”

Daylight and Meinan’s faces were also filled with worry.

Kaiser’s face sank as he threatened, “Stupid Assassin! If you act rashly again, I will take my gun and break your legs so you won’t be able to go anywhere at all!”

“Baolilong will never leave papa’s back again!”

Baolilong’s stubborn face showed itself from Liola’s back, declaring its determination. Baolilong’s two little chubby hands also tightly held onto Liola.

Liola smiled slightly, “I’m not going anywhere, because there will always be people following me.”

Everyone laughed, and even Kaiser said happily,

“Haha, we are safe in this lounge, and I don’t believe Liola’s smile could cause any curses.”

Bam!

As if to challenge what Kaiser said, a giant Dragon foot broke into the lounge, and landed on the table everyone was sitting around. The food and drinks on the table spilled onto the people around, and everyone’s smiles froze. They all sat around the table like statues.

“This is your payback from destroying our lounge before!”

Yiyu stood on top of the Water Dragon, and Yizhou was sitting next to him with a cold face.

The Dragon whose foot broke through their ceiling was, of course, the Water Dragon’s foot. Everyone woke up from their daze, and they all raised their head to look at Yiyu and Yizhou.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but I can’t seem to get angry!” Kaiser was maintaining his smile.

Purity clapped her hands together in front of her chest as if she was praying, and she smiled like a saint.

“Yeah. Considering we risked all of our lives a few days ago to rescue Liola out of the Dark Street, why would this little quarrel matter?”

“After having seen a tsunami, no one would care about a small ripple.” Daylight’s eyes looked as if they belonged to an unfathomably wise hermit.

As for Liola, he was the person whose expressionless face could not even be affected by tsunamis. Yiyu and Yizhou meant nothing to him. He picked up the newspaper with his left hand, and the cup he rescued in his right hand, then leisurely started reading the newspaper.

“Hahaha! What a bunch of turtles! A Dragon foot could make them pee in their pants.”

Yiyu arrogantly laughed at the people from other academies. He had a super condescending look while he looked at the Aklan Academy students.

“What a bunch of losers!” Yizhou coldly added.

As the sound of a gunshot being heard, a fireball scratched Yiyu’s face. Along side with Kaiser’s detestable look and his hand held up a middle finger.

This all explained one thing. Kaiser would never be a peaceful, kind soul… In fact, there was no peaceful soul in the Aklan Troublemaking Squad.

Purity had already puffed her cheeks and “summoned” her Angel Mecha, Nana, and Daylight was busy with his magic to call forth the Red Dragon Flames.

“Let’s go! The crowd is waiting for you to be badly beaten by us, at the point where you have to beg for mercy while lying on the ground!”

Yiyu, whose face was scratched by the fireball, was enraged. He roared at the Aklan Academy team, and commanded the water Dragon towards the center of the arena.

The giant Red Dragon, Flames, appeared out of the magic circle Daylight drew.

After a majestic Dragon roar, Daylight, Meinan, and Kaiser all jumped onto the back of the Dragon. Purity climbed into the Mecha’s chest the four of them gritted their teeth as they wanted to have a duel with Violet Academy.

Liola put down the newspaper in his hand. A light smile flashed across his face. Liola took out a pair of dark eye protective gear and put it on, then said to the Baolilong behind him,

“Baolilong, transform into a large Dragon. We have a match to win.”

After not having the chance to become a big Dragon for quite some time, Baolilong happily agreed, and immediately turned into a ten-meter tall beautiful white Dragon.

It carried Liola up into the air and caught up with the Red Dragon and the Angel Mecha.

Kaiser lazily laid on the Dragon’s back and said, “Aiya, I thought you were going to continue to bum in the lounge.”

Liola flashed a smile, “That was my plan, but the lounge was destroyed.”

Kaiser turned onto his back, and crossed his legs.

Daylight and Meinan turned and flashed a smiled towards Liola, while Purity skillfully controlled the Angel Mecha.

Above the sunny day and the clouds, they looked like they were in perfect harmony. After having survived so many dangers and difficulties, this team would live happily ever after, for eternity…

… Just kidding! The story’s not over.

In the blue skies and between the white clouds, a little white dot quickly closed in towards the group.

Everyone looked curiously at the little white dot. As it got closer and closer, everyone was able to see what it was more clearly, and at the same time everyone’s face looked more and more downcast, especially Liola, who couldn’t stop his body from trembling.

Kaiser suddenly jumped up. while squeezing the words between the cracks of his teeth, he said.

“Lancelot! What the hell is he doing here?”

The handsome White Knight who was riding on the unicorn pulled the leash, stopping in front of the White and Red Dragons.

The Paladin still pridefully and majestically looked down at the gang, as if he was the God of the Sun being sent to judge them.

His justly lips slowly opened to say, “Liola, hand over your Dragon Cross Necklace.”