Chapter 1660: Declaration

Chapter 1660: Declaration

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Ning's stance got the Earl's attention. He looked at Ning for a brief moment, contemplating what had to be done. "You're young and feisty, but that doesn't mean you can disrespect an Earl. Move aside or you will be physically moved aside."

"Not until you tell me what you want with her," Ning said, standing his ground.

"What we want with the girl is none of your concern," the man said. "She is a criminal and the Emperor will decide what her fate will be."

"Criminal?" Ning asked. "What makes a girl who has never committed a crime in her life a criminal? Is it just because of what she was born as?"

"This is not a matter you should be bothering yourself with," the man said. "Now move aside and let us find the girl."

"Stay inside, Shara. Don't come out," Ning shouted. He could tell these men had no good intentions with Shara. Criminal? Just because of birth? That was no sign of a good ruling.

Not to mention, Shara wasn't even a part of the Empire. She was born in a duchy, which still wasn't under the rule of the man who had come to call himself an Emperor.

The Earl felt that they had been delayed enough and moved forward. The three before him moved simultaneously, pushing the old woman back.

Ning shoved his spear forward as a threat, but they continued pushing through it. Seeing as his Spear wasn't working, he quickly formed a barrier, stopping them all from entering.

The Earl stopped against the barrier, neither he nor his men able to move forward again. "What is this?" he asked, unable to tell for a moment. Then, his eyes turned to Ning.

"You dare try and stop me? Acting against me is acting against the Emperor," the man said. "And anyone who goes against the Emperor is to be punished by death. Remove this or I will kill you."

"No," Ning replied, letting out the rag from his spear. "You are the ones that need to be warned here. I have heard enough about what you want to do. You wish to hurt a girl for what she was born as. That is enough to tell me how terrible of an empire you have."

He turned around, looking to see who else he had to fight. The soldiers were swinging their swords wildly, without hitting the barrier.

What was up with them? Did they assume that the barrier was wide again?

Ning looked at the Earl for a brief moment, making sure where he was, before turning to the other soldiers to attack them. Even as he looked for the next target, something was horribly wrong here.

What was missing? What was wrong? Why did he feel as though he had overlooked something crucial, something that was...

"Behind you!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Ning turned and found the soldier he had just stabbed with his sword held high. The sword came down for Ning's head in a large swing.

Ning attacked swiftly, parrying the sword even as it came down. It went past his left shoulder, nearly stripping away a chunk of his flesh had he been just one second slower.

'What's going on?' he thought, watching the man swing horizontally this time around.

Ning ducked, and rolled in between the man's legs, arriving behind him again. He looked at the seam where he had attacked before and stabbed his spear through it again.

This time around, he realized what the issue was.

He heard no screams.

Any man, regardless of how strong he was, would scream when he was stabbed in the back with a spear. The pain wouldn't be immediate in most instances, sure, but it would start hurting the very next second.

Only, this man didn't scream or cry. He didn't even make a sound as he turned around and began pulling his sword up to mechanically attack once again.

It was at this moment that Ning realized that the soldier he thought he had been fighting, had been nothing more than just a corpse.