Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
The two soldiers opposite them looked worriedly at Gibran. They knew that they had done something wrong. For three dragon crystals, they had set up a scheme to trick Julia and Edwina out of it, as they knew that Sunier was a friend of the two. Now that their plot was exposed, they felt guilty for Julia and Edwina. Thus, they didn’t know how to persuade them, nor could they blame their ruthlessness.
Suddenly, a figure flew above the woods and hastily dropped down. It was a magician in a black robe. He cast a glance at Gibran and turned his eyes to Julia with a bitter look. “You can’t blame Gibran for this, Julia. It’s all my fault. I planned this. You know what three dragon crystals mean to me. I wanted them too much. In fact… Gibran refused to take this task at the very beginning. I insisted!”
“Kane, we have got along with each other for a long time. Do you think I don’t know you?” Julia sneered. “You are a man that has no desire. I even wondered how you could become a ninth-grade magician! Now you tell me this was your idea?”
Each of her words were like needles sticking into their hearts. If this ninth-grade magician has no desire, then who was the one who wanted the three dragon crystals most? Whose idea was it?
Kane stood there speechless. He was not a good talker. Now that he was being questioned by Julia, he didn’t know how to explain himself.
Suddenly, Han Jin, who was sitting there quietly and enjoying the show, looked aside while casting his eyes into the woods at the southeast corner. The magician called Kane felt something as well and immediately released a magic shield for himself. The other members of Red Vanguards all realized that something was wrong upon seeing Kane, though they themselves didn’t find anything abnormal. Although they had the same profession, Reg had turned invisible but Gibran was still standing there, dully staring at Julia.
Three figures walked out of the woods, side by side. They were all soldiers. Their erect positions indicated that they were from the same alignment, but the distance they kept between them meant that they didn’t completely trust each other.
“It’s so busy here!” The soldier standing in the middle said smilingly. “Gibran, I didn’t expect you to be interested in this task.”
His tone was ironic, which greatly stimulated Gibran. As the leader of the Red Vanguards, Gibran should be calm to give an appropriate reply, but in fact, he was irritated and abruptly roared with a hoarse and trembled voice, “Get out of my sight!” Even his face was distorted and ever more ferocious.
The soldier was stunned. He didn’t expect Gibran to be so rude, and thus, his expression immediately turned cold. “Look with your own eyes, Gibran! We have formed an alliance with the Red Obsidian and the Free Eagles. We will share the three dragon crystals evenly! If you are a clever man, go away. Don’t stand in our way, and we can still be friends. Otherwise, Isolated Cliff City will have no Red Vanguards in the future!”
Before the soldier’s voices had died away, some faint figures moved in the woods. It was difficult to gauge the exact number, but there were at least hundreds of them.
The members of the Red Vanguards immediately became nervous. The two soldiers stepped in front of Kane, while Edwina, Julia, and Sunier quickly moved next to Yalina. Whatever happened, Yalina was the primary target of the enemies.
The battle was going to break out, but Gibran stopped trembling and turned calm on the contrary. He stared at the three soldiers opposite to him and said nothing
“So what, Gibran. Are you going to be our enemies or friends?” The soldier asked word by word.
Gibran suddenly turned to Julia. He could give up this task for Julia but now she had stood beside his target. It was obvious that for as long as Sunier was here, Edwina and Julia would fight for her! A hint of a bitter smile crept on Gibran’s lips. Should he protect them, the guys he had planned to attack? This was ridiculous!
Han Jin gave a lazy yawn. His behavior was hard to understand in such a tense atmosphere. Fortunately, none of them, both the members of the Red Vanguards and those mercenaries opposite them, had noticed him. For them, Han Jin was a humble nobody, a lamb that was waiting for its butcher. Who would pay attention to a lamb?
But for those around Han Jin, he was the absolute center. Seeing his careless expression, all of the young magicians felt safe. All their feelings of nervousness and bewilderment were gone. Now, they were confident they could face all the upcoming challenges, though no one knew where they had gotten this confidence.
“He still has the mood to yawn!” Sunier didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
“Was he always like this before?” Yalina asked with a smile.
“No, he would also feel nervous, afraid or angry.” Sunier narrowed her eyes as if she was recalling something. “But… I can’t remember when he had become so confident like this.”
“He is making progress at an unimaginable speed. He has the right to be confident.” Yalina let out a light sigh. She had more or less heard stories about Han Jin’s transmutation to a real strong professional from a sorehead noble. His progress was just too quick! At least, Yalina would no longer keep up her arrogance and confidence in front of Han Jin, the man who had saved her more than once. Plus, Han Jin had used only one year to grow, while she had practiced for over ten years. There was no reason for her to feel proud!
“Don’t you… fear?” Sunier stared at Yalina in astonishment. If it were a few days ago, she would have started to release magic like crazy to attack all the threatening creatures. Now, it was different from before – she was much more patient and calmer.
“Fear?” Yalina fixed her eyes on Han Jin. “He said he would protect me.”
Han Jin really should not have promised her this. No matter whether he had said this sincerely or not, she had remembered it – at least for now. As for how long she would keep this in mind, whether it was a few days or forever, no one knew!
Julia and Edwina were both astonished and turned their eyes toward Han Jin. Who was this young man? How dare he claim to protect a magus?
Han Jin looked up at the sky, then drowsily stood up while saying, “Are you going to fight or not?”
“Fight!” The soldier opposite Han Jin stared at him and said with a hideous grin.
“You really want to fight?”
“You think we came all the way here for sightseeing, boy?” The soldier sneered and then looked at Gibran. “You’d better step aside, Gibran, and we can still be friends. As for the dragon crystals, we will compensate you.”
“We are not afraid of you, Gibran,” another soldier coldly said. “Though we are not real friends, we have known each other for a long time. Now, we are willing to make a concession and compensate you, so you’d better accept our offer and not trouble us!”
Gibran dejectedly lowered his head and then waved his hand. The members of the Red Vanguards all retreated upstream Obviously, they had determined to stay out of this fight, but while they were retreating with their heads lowered, a ferocious light flashed across their eyes!
In fact, Gibran was not the most fearful one, nor were the soldiers standing opposite him, and it was understandable that they looked down upon Han Jin, as he was a nobody in Isolated Cliff City. However, it was strange that they would ignore Yalina, a magus, as if she was also a little lamb to them.
The only reason was that the messenger Forsa had sent was really good at promotion. He had described Yalina as a totally inexperienced magus who had been nearly killed by a thief at a much lower grade. Each year, there were lots of rookies joining mercenary teams. As experienced mercenaries, they knew how naive rookies were. So in their minds, Yalina was just a rookie with a relatively strong ability! Even Chipango’s mercenary team, a second class team in Isolated Cliff City, dared to take this black task under their influence!
All of them ignored it, as the magus was such a young one. Except for her talent and family support, Yalina also possessed extraordinary intelligence and perception. In the past, she had no chance to realize her own shortcomings, thus not being able to make any progress. However, the hardships she had faced during these days could make any ordinary person grow up quickly, let alone Yalina, a brilliant magus!
“How long can you hold on?” Han Jin turned around and asked smilingly.
“That is a question that I should ask you,” Yalina asked back. She really wanted to release some powerful magic and explode those arrogant guys into pieces!
“I can’t hold on for too long. There are too many of them.” Han Jin shook his head.
“You are really straightforward…” Yalina laughed and continued after a pause. “I can last for a very long time.” She was really confident in releasing and maintaining a mere defensive magic shield.
“Then I can rest assured.” This said, Han Jin waved his hand. In an instant, a ray of dazzling light appeared between the sky and the earth, dimming the afternoon sun. Other than the few mercenaries who were very strong and were able to control themselves, most of them subconsciously closed their eyes.
