Mystical Journey

"What is that? How’s your hand?" Su Lin turned his attention toward Garen at the same time with Celine.

"Some kind of strong acid…" Garen shook his head to indicate that he’s okay, then exited through the entrance. "Didn’t think this Testament of the Dead would be so hard to recover…"

Garen’s face scrunched up and turned to the west side of the town. Celine and Su Lin stood up at the same time, facing the same direction.

"Duskdune Shura. He’s here." Celine sniffed the air and murmured.

"They’re not trying to hide. Here they are." Garen stated calmly. "Take care of yourselves."

Two silhouettes with black mantle appeared from the pine forest in the west. They stopped after arriving at the outskirts of the graveyard, silently observing Garen and the others.

"Duskdune Shura," Garen stepped up and asked, "Care to tell me your true intention? What secrets exactly does the Golden Sword Throne hold?"

He can sense the immense Bravery these two people possess. Duskdune Shura is, without a doubt, a powerful force, but what’s surprising is the other person also has power comparable to him. Garen didn’t have a good feeling about that.

Now that his speed has vastly increased, he wouldn’t have any problem protecting himself, but Celine and Su Lin would be in trouble. If the opponent really wants to harm them...

Synchronized, Duskdune Shura and the other person took off their hoods, exposing their facial features.

Duskdune Shura still looks the same with his time-ravaged features and wrinkles. The other person, however, looks pretty, but expressionless.

"A woman?" Su Lin looked confused, "No, he’s just androgynous."

Garen studied the new person. He looks just like the Ice Queen, the only things that gave him away are his Adam’s apple and flat chest. He had a rapier at his waist, and his snowy white hair was kept short, his eyes in the shade of lava.

"I am known as the Flamingo." The man said to Garen nonchalantly.

"Flamingo?" Su Lin and Celine gave each other a look, it doesn’t sound like a name, more a nickname.

"Duskdune Shura said you are qualified to enter the ruins, so he gave you the exact location." Flamingo explained calmly. "I do, however, require to do a little test on your qualification."

"Test? How?" Garen eyed him suspiciously.

"Defend yourself from me for one attack." Flamingo slowly pulled on his rapier.

A black shine came quickly.

Clang!

Before he finished his sentence, Flamingo appeared before Garen, his black rapier hacked at Garen rising forearms.

Like an electric saw cutting metal, sparks flew and the sound of metal grinding clanged!

Both Flamingo and Garen faced each other, slightly surprised at each other’s power.

Flamingo suddenly smirked.

Zing!

The rapier bent and bounced away.

"Rend!"

A black shine.

Bang!

The spot Garen was standing on now has two deep trenches. His right arm was protecting his chest, his left was pushing Su Lin standing beside him away. He himself was pushed a whole two meters back by that sudden attack.

Garen saw very clearly that in the split second, the black rapier had slashed him five consecutive times at the exact same spot. This is about the same level of control as Andrela’s Secret Sword Technique. Moreover, this guy’s as strong as an ox!

"My turn!" Garen’s face darkened with rage. He was readying his attacks when he suddenly lost his enemy.

"Not bad," Flamingo lightly landed beside Duskdune Shura. The black rapier was back in its sheath without anyone noticing. "He definitely qualified."

Duskdune Shura shot a glance at Garen.

"Thanks for this time, you’re the only one with some free time after all."

"Don’t sweat it," Flamingo said, "I owed you that much."

Flamingo bounded forward, dashing toward Garen again, the golden-redness in his eyes becoming more intense.

He isn’t extraordinarily fast, but somehow has a weird tempo to his movement, like the pumping of the heart. With every beat, his body would blur out just enough.

"Step aside!" Garen grunted. He guessed his intention and stepped aside to unblock the entrance to the tomb. Su Lin and Celine evaded as well.

Flamingo no longer acknowledged any of the trio, he jumped and disappeared into the tomb, like a bird in a swoop.

A shadow, Duskdune Shura, darted after Flamingo, and disappeared into the darkness as well.

A third mass disappeared. The Testament of the Dead. Garen felt a slight moroseness he couldn’t put into words.

"Flamingo… Another Master like Duskdune Shura… Celine, any idea who he is?"

Celine’s face was dark with seriousness, she nodded. "I recognized him. One of the top Grandmasters of Combat from the previous era, same as Duskdune Shura. Him, Duskdune Shura, and White Bird Holy Fist, the three of them were the strongest fighters in the whole Confederate, no one were able to surpass them. The strange thing is, he’s almost seventy years old, how does he still look so young? Even the Essence Locking Art couldn’t produce such ridiculous effect!"

"Another old geezer." Su Lin had no words. "I heard Duskdune Shura joined a secret group, the Immortal Palace Alliance. That guy isn’t one of them, is he?"

"It is possible." Celine confirmed, "I’ve heard of the Immortal Palace Alliance, there were five of them, every single one of them were abnormally strong."

"Garen, what do you think? Are you confident?" Su Lin turned his attention toward a brooding Garen.

"What he used… what he did, is not only martial arts…" Garen was deep in thought. "And his Bravery is as strong as Duskdune Shura."

"Not only martial arts? What are we even doing here?" Su Lin exclaimed. The two of them followed Garen here to track Duskdune Shura, but they never planned to fight Duskdune Shura directly! Duskdune Shura even had a helper this time!

"Don’t be rash to go inside." Garen shook his head. "We’ll wait for the Slash Brigade to arrive! If Duskdune Shura wanted to kill me, he’ll have a severe price to pay, but since he has a helper of the same level, I have no idea how it would turn out. We’re not here to court death."

"Then we should wait. We’ll look for a hiding place." Celine suggested, "This is the Werewolves’ area, I can find a way to avoid detection, but I need some place clandestine."

"What about the houses in town? We can stay a night over there." Su Lin proposed. "I think the Slash Brigade should be here soon enough."

"I’m fine with that." Garen agreed. He does not fear Duskdune Shura, but it would be tricky with Flamingo on the playing board.

"What do they want anyway? What’s the secret behind the Golden Sword Throne? What Flamingo did just now is definitely not martial arts!"

"Celine, does the Neptune Fist have any record on it?" Su Lin looked to Celine for answer. As the last successor of a powerful martial arts school, Celine has the most authority.

"I think so, but I can’t recall anything right now, sorry." Celine frowned, "Let’s find a place to rest. I might know what they are looking for."

"Oh?" That caught Garen’s attention.

With Flamingo’s help, his hope of getting his hands on the Golden Sword Throne is even slimmer than before. He could only hope for the Slash Brigade’s arrival, and look for opportunities when a fight breaks out.

Now that the two insanely strong people were down there, he dare not be so reckless to go in alone even though there may be Antiques of Tragedy in there.

The trio quickly left the spot, leaving behind the open tomb, and found a three-storied building for the night.

The floor, the walls, the handrail of the staircase, everywhere was covered with chalk and dust, as if it was lined with a furry gray carpet.

They swiftly cleaned up one of the least damaged room in the top floor, prepared the flint and tinder, made fire, heated up the deep fried pancakes, and cooked a meat mushroom soup.

While they are dining, the three of them started discussing about the tomb.

Garon sat quietly while listening to Su Lin and Celine’s analyses and guessworks, letting them take control of the tactic discussion.

He sat on the ground, looking into the fire while deep in his thoughts.

"Celine, tell me honestly, monsters like Duskdune Shura and Flamingo, how many are there in the Confederation?" Su Lin sounds as if he’s arguing with Celine.

"I counted, including the people from Immortal Palace Alliance, not counting people who wield firearms, not more than four." Celine replied softly.

"‘Not more than four’, but two were here for the Golden Sword Throne."

"Flamingo, Duskdune Shura, Palosa, these three are from the same era, they must know something between them, about the Golden Sword Throne. That’s why they’re here together, I suspect they’re all from Immortal Palace Alliance." Celine was unusually calm.

"Not necessarily true, Maybe they’re just good friends. My father’s case shook the whole Confederation, half the higher ups probably already knew about it, it’s not that hard to find out. That Flamingo dude must have gotten some news from somewhere before coming. I propose that we leave immediately, if we stayed here it’s only gonna get more dangerous." Su Lin frowned.

"You wouldn’t know, but Grandmasters of Combat like Duskdune Shura and Flamingo, once they approved of Garen, they will not reject his participation. Moreover, people of their stature and their pursuit of the ultimate, they have their own pride, it is impossible for them to jointly attack a weaker person!" Celine reasoned. "So we’re actually really safe."

"It’s true that I don’t know about their pride. What I do know, is if they actually joined forces, we’re dead!" Su Lin disagreed strongly, "I won’t bet my life on other people’s pride!"

Celine bit her lower lips, it’s obvious she’s hesitant to leave, but she couldn’t find a better reason to convince Su Lin of otherwise.

After a good ten minutes of silence, she spoke again.

"In Neptune Fist, there’s an ancient folio with the record of a secret treasure of Ancient Endorian civilization."

"Did you just recalled that, or are you finally willing to share that with us?" Su Lin crossed his arm in front of his chest, not feeling the urge to touch any of the food. He looks upset at Celine’s secrecy.

"Secret treasure of Ancient Endor?" Garen lifted his gaze toward Celine.