Masked Knight

"Go!"

A warrior carried Rody on his shoulder, looked for the deepest woods and ran! The remaining five warriors stood in a row to block the way. Amu, the black-robed figure, sneered. He rushed forward with no fear of his opponents' swords. At the same time, he shouted, "You are still lazing around. That guy had run away! Be careful, His Excellency may cut off your head!"

The man on the tree still had a leisurely expression. "Don't have to be afraid! They cannot escape! First, kill these people!" The moment he said the word ‘kill’, his gentle facial expression suddenly turned murderous.

A light flashed as he shot out of the tree and immediately appeared in the middle of the battling crowd!

A cold air blew and the Imperial Guards were instantly frozen into ice.

The man stood still. He clapped his hands and smiled as he said, "Amu, look at this. This is the most graceful way of killing a person. Your bloody method of killing them is just like a butcher."

Amu had punched and shattered the last frozen warrior into pieces. His tall body then stood there as he said, "You fool!" He suddenly rushed forward and raised his hand to strike. Those frozen knights were immediately smashed into pieces. He then shouted, "You are a real idiot! Using your method, anyone could tell that you were the one who did this!"

The strengths of these two people were extremely terrifying. After that, the Royal Knights were completely annihilated very quickly. When there were no enemies left, Amu sneered and said, "Well, let's go and find that envoy."

The person next to him laughed and said, "Are you anxious? Don’t worry. They probably have met the boss by now…Have you ever seen the boss lose control?"

Amu still seemed dissatisfied with this person and angrily said, "We better hurry and catch up. Otherwise, the boss would get angry..."

The other person finally changed his lazy attitude. The moment he thought of the angry appearance of his boss, he boldness disappeared and he shouted, "Chase!"

These black-robed figures immediately rushed into the woods to chase after their target.

...

The loyal warrior carrying Rody raced wildly into the woods. Fortunately, he was strong. His normal training was rigorous and he could still run quickly even though he was carrying a person on his back. The sound of the killings gradually grew further away, but none of his companions caught up. He knew that his companions were already out of luck. He bit his lips, knowing that protecting His Excellency the Earl was his duty. As it was extremely dangerous at that moment, he could only dash on wildly.

As he ran, he suddenly heard a cold voice. "Are you tired?"

That voice seemed to be just by his ears. He suddenly stopped and, holding his sword in one hand, he shouted, "Who?"

His Excellency the Earl, whom he was carrying on his back, was still unconscious. The warrior was immediately vigilant and shouted, "You are sneaky. I am not afraid of you!"

The voice then said, "Very good, you are a very brave warrior. However, bravery does not represent ability."

The warrior showed a complicated gaze. He gritted his teeth and ran again. However, the voice continued to ring in his ears. "Hmp, you are running the wrong way. You should have gone left. This road leads to a dead end."

Nonsense!

The warrior cursed in his heart, 'You are bluffing!'

He ignored the mysterious voice and continued to run. However, after running for a while, he stopped. He had really run into a dead end!

There was a cliff in front of him. Unless he could grow wings and fly up, there was no other way.

"You see, I have already told you earlier that running left is the way out. However, you did not listen to me." The voice still sounded cold and cynical.

The warrior sighed and lay Rody down on the ground. He held his sword at his chest and readied his posture as he shouted, "Pesky! If you want to kill, come and do it! Warriors of the Empire do not fear death!"

The voice seemed to be silent for a moment. After a sigh, the voice said, "Yes, you are right. To me, the warriors of the Radiant Empire are worthy of respect compared to the Roland Knights."

There was a rustling sound of the leaves being stepped on. A tall figure slowly came out from the trees.

The figure was more than two meters tall. His black robe was similar to those people who had launched the surprise attack earlier. However, that figure did not wear a mask. Obviously, he felt such cowardly actions to be beneath himself. When the warrior saw his face, he could not help but look surprised!

The outlines of that person’s face looked as if it was cut by a knife. His eyes were almost closed but revealed a sharp gaze. He had two dark red birthmarks on both sides of his face. The dark red patterns look like fire printed on his cheeks.

He quietly walked over without any fighting energy. However, his fierce imposing manner, with a bone-chilling effect, made the warrior instinctively step back.

"You see, you are still afraid." The man had a mocking look. "It is human nature to feel fear when faced with a strong enemy. You are also the same. Even if you are braver, you cannot overcome this nature."

"Nonsense!" The warrior could not suppress the impulsive feeling in his heart. He growled and thrust his sword forward.

The black figure showed mercy in his eyes and only casually waved his hand. The warrior screamed miserably as he flew away and crashed into the cliff wall behind him. He fell heavily beside Rody and spat out blood. The warrior struggled but could not stand up.

"You don't have to be so anxious. I won't kill you immediately." The black figure sat down cross-legged. He gently picked up a withered branch on the ground and gave a light smile. "Can we chat? I have never seen people from the Radiant Empire before. Tell me, what is your continent like?"

The figure saw the warrior looking at him with hatred. He smiled and said, "Ah, I had almost forgotten. You still do not know my name. My name is Ni Lin1!"

He held his hands behind his head and leaned on a tree as he smiled faintly and said, "I am not human. So, I have always been curious about mankind. You, for example…I can see that you are not afraid of death. You are very brave. Right now, you are not worried about your own life but the life of the person lying next to you. You are worried about his survival, am I right?"

The warrior gritted his teeth and spat. "Ptui! I am His Excellency’s guard! My survival is not important! As long as His Excellency can wake up, he would be able to cut you down!"

"Oh?" Ni Lin exclaimed with curiosity. "Is Your Excellency really so formidable? Is he really that powerful? However, I heard that the strongest person on your Radiant Continent is someone from the Tulip family."

When the warrior heard the name ‘Tulip’, his face immediately showed an expression full of reverence and pride. He then said, "What do you know? His Excellency the Duke of the Tulip Family is the world’s most powerful warrior! He is the Empire’s God of War!"

Ni Lin nodded and softly asked, "So who is more powerful...this man beside you or the Duke of the Tulip Family?"

The warrior was stunned for a moment and he instinctively wanted to blurt out, "Of course, the Duke of the Tulip Family!" However, when he recalled the magical scene at the sea that day, he hesitated. With a stern expression, he ferociously asked, "Why are you asking this?"

Ni Lin shook his head and replied, "I just want to know what the strongest human looks like. Once I know this, then things would become much simpler. Killing one person is simpler compared to killing two people. Don’t you agree?"

Although the warrior felt pain in his chest, he still laughed loudly and said, "You? You think you can defeat Our Excellency the Duke on your own? Such arrogance! Even the Paladin of your Roland Continent was defeated by Our Excellency the Duke of the Tulip Family!"

Ni Lin did not get angry. He still smiled and said, "Haha, this is probably a type of human emotions: worship, am I right?"

The warrior’s expression finally changed and asked, "You keep on saying that you are not human. What are you?"

Ni Lin shook his head and did not speak. However, an old voice suddenly came from the side. "He is not a human, he is a Dragon!"

Ni Lin laughed and showed an expression of ridicule. "Finally, you lost your patience and revealed yourself?"

The old voice also laughed. "Your Excellency Paladin, haven’t you been waiting for me to appear?"

An old man in a gray sorcerer robe and a pointed hat floated down from a tree. He stood between Ni Lin and the warrior. He nodded gently and said, "Your Excellency Paladin, I have appeared."

Ni Lin stood up and laughed. He said, "Very good, I was just thinking about how patient you would be, Great Sorcerer Yin Xing2."

Yin Xing gently ran his fingers through his grizzle beard and sighed, "Your Excellency Paladin, I was ordered by His Excellency Sith to protect this man, so you cannot kill him."

Ni Lin smiled and replied, "You did not show yourself earlier. You only appear now when I am alone. Looks like you sorcerers are cowards."

Yin Xing shook his head and said, "His Excellency Sith’s order was that I should not act unless there is an absolute necessity." He then said in a mocking tone, "But didn’t you force me to come out? You followed them all the way here, but you did not attack. Instead, you chatted with him here. Weren’t you just waiting for me to appear?"

Ni Lin nodded and replied, "Correct, my principle has always been, ‘killing one is simpler than killing two but killing once is more convenient than killing twice’!" He held the sword at his waist and spoke in a cold tone, "So getting rid of all of you at once is much more convenient than fighting twice."

He stood at the same place. His body moved but at the same time, it seemed he did not move. However, an oppressive shadow instantly rushed to the front of Yin Xing. He then raised his hand and swung his sword down.

There was a loud noise as Yin Xing, the great sorcerer, stepped back. Ni Lin's sword was swung down onto his head but suddenly stopped just before it touched his head!

It was as if there was something invisible blocking the sword.

"A boundary3!" Ni Lin raised his eyebrows and laughed, "Your Excellency Yin Xing, do you think a Great Sorcerer’s boundary can stop me?"

Yin Xing admitted, "No, no matter how you see it, I am not your match." His mouth then turned up at the corner in a strange smile. "But…Your Excellency Paladin, have you forgotten that my name is Yin Xing?"

The old sorcerer raised his hand and a silver light appeared from his hand. The silver light wrapped around his body, Rody and the warrior, who were on the ground behind him. Instantly, the three of them disappeared at the same time.

Ni Lin suddenly opened up his narrowed eyes and laughed, "Well, I had expected you to do this!"

His eyes were wide open and the flame-like patterns on his face seem to flash with a strange light. He then shouted, "Sa. Mo. Li. Ya4!"

Boom! There was a loud explosive sound as an abundant amount of a dragon’s aura burst out from his body. After that, the surrounding area of more than twenty meters radius shined with a flame-like light.

The flame-like light suddenly revealed the hidden bodies of Yin Xing, Rody, and that warrior. Yin Xing’s expression changed. "A dragon’s boundary!"

"It is a dragon’s boundary!" Ni Lin once again attacked like lightning. His sword suddenly struck out and severely slashed down.

Clang! There was a loud sound. Yin Xing's boundary shook violently and his body also trembled. He then spat out a mouthful of blood and stained his grizzle beard.

"Old man, I wonder how many more of my slashes you can endure!" Ni Lin’s calm expression disappeared and replaced with a murderous expression.

His sword slashed out.

Yin Xing hastily shouted, "Go!"

He raised a finger and a large tree next to him was suddenly uprooted and flew over to block Ni Lin’s sword. Craaash! The tree that was so big it needed several people to hug it was cut into two by the sword. The two cut-off masses flew out. Yin Xing grabbed both men and retreated to the front of the cliff.

He quickly took out a white crystal and bit his finger before dropping a drop of blood onto the crystal. The crystal immediately broke into powder and dispersed. A holy light flashed and a huge hexagram appeared on the ground.

Ni Lin sneered and said, "A defensive boundary? Looks like you have some treasures with you."

The old sorcerer did not dare say anything. He just sat there with his eyes closed and continued to silently chant his spell.

Ni Lin suddenly removed his black robes and revealed the golden armor he wore beneath it. Golden fighting energy burst out from his stalwart body. The fighting energy on the sword in his hand also seemed to burn like a flame.

With the presence of the flame, Ni Lin’s expression twisted as he shouted, "Do you think that your defensive boundary can stop me? Do you think you can stop the strongest warrior of the dragons?"

He grabbed his sword with both hands and suddenly his armor automatically fell off, bit by bit, to reveal his dragon muscles. A dark red pattern was printed on his chest. The pattern was that of a flying fire dragon.

"Cut!" With a shout, the Dragon warrior swung his sword down to cut the edge of the hexagram.

Two balls of light clashed. The upsurge of waves disintegrated the nearby trees. That sorcerer, Yin Xing, tightly closed his eyes as blood slowly flowed out of his mouth but the surrounding hexagram became even brighter.

...

Somewhere at a distance in the woods, Amu and the other Dragon soldier had almost caught up. There was a sudden quake ahead of them in the woods. Amu turned pale and asked, "The boss seemed to have gotten angry. Can you feel it?"

The lazy guy beside him also became solemn and said, "Ump, it is the boss’ Sa. Mo. Li. Ya dragon boundary! Perhaps he had encountered a powerful opponent?"

Amu grinned and said, "Who else could it be? It must definitely be those guys from the Sorcerer’s Association."

The two of them then hastened their pace forward.

...

They were all corpses on the ground outside the woods. Augustine abruptly reined in the horse. He then jumped off the horse as it neighed. After that, Augustine said, "We are late! Someone has already attacked the convoy!"

The Black Veil Saint was astride a red horse. She looked at the tragic scene, the aftermath of the fight, in front of her and sighed, "It definitely must have been the work of those people from the Dragon race."

Augustine became gloomy and said, "Dragon race? Didn’t the Elder send me to carry out this task? Why are the Dragons here too?"

The Black Veil Saint shook her head and said, "Augustine, don't you understand? The Elder had already expected that I would not compromise. They had already decided that both of us are traitors!"

Augustine was silent. He quickly searched around and found that the carriage was empty. He then turned around and shouted, "There is nobody in here! That envoy must have escaped!"

The Black Veil Saint frowned. "Escaped? How could a mere human escape from the Dragon warriors?"

Suddenly, they felt a strange aura coming from the woods. The two horses became frightened and neighed. The Black Veil Saint quickly jumped off her horse and said, "That is a Dragon’s aura! They are inside the woods!"

"Let's go in!" Augustine added as he grabbed his sword.

...

Rody looked at the words written in the sand on the ground and cursed. "What? Old man Moses, you dragged me in here? Why did you bring me to this hell of a place?"

Moses continued to smile silently and wrote something on the ground with his foot.

"You are possessed!"

After Rody finished reading those words on the ground, he seemed dazed. Moses then stretched out one of his hands and waved it.

A picture emerged in front of Rody...That day at sea, Rody suddenly flew up from the surface of the sea. In that picture, Rody clearly saw ‘himself’ defeating that Paladin, Amore Hughes, until he was in a sorry state. After that, he saw himself using a terrifying Mystic Dragon Purge and how Amore Hughes resisted the attack. Finally, under the powerful Mystic Dragon Purge, the sea went through a tsunami-like scene and the Roland warships were annihilated...

Rody was stunned for a long while when he saw that. "I…I did this? Why can’t I remember?" He suddenly exclaimed, "That’s not right! That Mystic Dragon Purge should not have been so powerful! I had used it a few times in the past and it had never been this powerful!"

Moses gradually looked serious again. He slowly sketched a phrase on the ground.

"Complete state of Mystic Dragon Purge."

Rody frowned. "Complete state?"

Translator's Notes:

1. Ni Lin '逆鳞' means inverted scale.

2. Yin Xing ‘隐星’ means Hidden Star. Giving him an ‘English’ like name that sounds similar would destroy the meaning of the name and calling him Hidden Star is just weird. This is why I chose the name Yin Xing.

3. 结界 'Jié jiè'. A sturdy boundary. It could mean a field inside a magical circle or even a magical barrier. However, the word 'boundary' was used instead of barrier.

4. 'Sa. Mo. Li. Ya' A few words that don’t make sense even when combined together. It is the name of the spell.