Chapter 428: Dark BladeDark Blade

With his incredibly sensitive mental strength as a level-19 Archmage, Lin Li quickly detected the magical waves his men emitted.

The mages of the Tower of Dusk were hiding amongst the dense bushes then, and perhaps because they had just met with an attack, they seemed slightly sheepish. Those who were more heavily injured even needed the support of others as they could not stand at all. Gerian was unharmed save for the obvious charred marks on his gray robes and the sweaty dirt streaks on his round face. He was panting heavily while he cursed away at the damned adventurers.

Gavin, on the other hand, looked calm as he settled those who were injured before sending out about 10 Warlock’s Eyes to survey the surroundings. After this was done, he divided the remaining mages into two groups to take turns patrolling. He was a man of talent indeed. While he was not very powerful and lacked leadership abilities, he was very meticulous, and almost always made sure he did not leave any loopholes.

After making sure that he did not miss even a single loophole, Gavin sighed before he leaned against a tree tiredly…

“Gavin.” Just then, a familiar figure emerged from amongst the trees, with an unfamiliar old man following closely behind.

“You’re finally here, President Felic…” Gavin heaved a sigh of relief, and went to welcome him happily, at the same time wondering why that old man seemed to have an aura of danger…

Lin Li did not bother doing the introductions after he emerged from amongst the trees; he asked about the situation immediately. “How’s the situation?”

“Very bad. God knows where these adventurers came from; they’re large in numbers, and powerful as well. I fought with one of them as we were retreating, and he was an Archmage of at least level-16. There seems to be more than one level-16 Archmage too. According to Mr Gerian, there are at least four of them…” Gavin looked concerned. “To be honest, President Felic, I really doubt whether they are actually adventurers. They seem more like a private corp sent by one of the strong powers out there…”

“Why do you say so?”

“Logically speaking, adventurers will not attack unnecessarily, as there isn’t a mercenary corps in the Breezy Plains that is powerful enough to do as they please as of yet. They will be in huge trouble if they offend anyone not to be trifled with. We already showed them that we meant no harm earlier, but they still went ahead with their attack and even pursued us as we were retreating, looking for clues of our whereabouts nearby the whole time. It seems as though they were out for blood…”

“Hm, you’ve got a point there…” Lin Li nodded his head as Gavin did make some sense. Mercenary corps had always stressed keeping peace with each other so that they could all make a living. This meant that they would never deeply offend any other force unless absolutely necessary. After all, no matter how powerful the mercenary corps was, they would find it hard to make a living if they made too many enemies.

They might really be a private corp sent by a strong power somewhere out there…

But who were they…?

Lin Li scratched his head before he paused suddenly. Could it be the Malfa Family?

Upon further thought, he realized that this could be a possibility. Who else but they would have the ability to hire at last four level-16 Archmages? Moreover, the young master in charge even went to the trouble of luring the Crimson Python to Black Clouds Town. It seemed like the Malfa Family could really be after the Crimson Python…

“Isn’t this too much of a coincidence…?” Lin Li brushed his nose, thinking that Hutton could not be that unlucky to have gone through all the trouble of avoiding him and giving up a helper as powerful as Sendros only to bump into him again. Furthermore, he was unlucky enough to have injured people from the Tower of Dusk…

If the Malfa Family was really behind this, they could not blame him for taking revenge.

“President Felic…” Gavin quietly reminded him seeing Lin Li remain silent for so long. “We have already been hiding in the forest for some time as there were too many people. They will probably be here soon. Do you think we should shift our location…?”

“Shift our location?” Lin Li glanced at Gavin in doubt.

“I mean to retreat…”

“…” Lin Li did not even say anything this time as he turned to Sendros. “Do you think Hutton could be so unlucky?”

“How would I know…?” Sendros gave Lin Li a look, and hurriedly said, “I am short on time now and still have to return to the Darkness Shrine after helping you get rid of the Crimson Python. Quickly settle everything and don’t waste my time. If there is really someone after us, then just kill all of them.”

Gavin was still wondering who this old man was, and almost choked when he heard what Sendros said out of the blue.

J-just kill all of them!?

Who was this old man, and why was he so sure of himself?

Did he not hear a word Gavin had just said? There were at least four level-16 Archmages and at least a dozen or so Warriors and Bandits above level-15. Even the Tower of Dusk had to retreat in front of such a powerful group. Who does this old man think he is, a Legendary-mage?

“Alright…” Lin Li thought about it and decided not to waste any more time on this. He nodded in agreement and called Gavin over. “Gavin, gather everyone.”

“Yes, President.”

Even though Gavin still had doubts, he did not dare go against Lin Li’s words. He had stayed at the Tower of Dusk long enough to know that President Felic was resourceful in his own ways.

Gavin quickly gathered everyone. There were 26 Magic Shooters—28 people in total including Gerian and Gavin. Having been in a fight earlier, there were cuts all over them, but none too serious. Lin Li quickly spotted a disheveled Gerian sitting in the midst of the crowd.

“Gerian, my good sir, you’re not that young anymore, so why would you join in the fight? Look at how charred you look! You’re not hurt, right?”

“You little bastard, how dare you look look down on me! I’m not even 60 yet! Watch me, I’ll be equally active even 10 years from now!”

“…” It was futile to try and talk over it with this old man. Lin Li shook his head as he retrieved a few bottles of Recovery Potion from his pocket, intending to have Gavin pass them to the injured mages, but suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming from the forest.

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The originally calm forest suddenly became chaotic as the frenzied sounds of footsteps and shouts broke the tranquility. Lin Li could also feel powerful magical waves in the sky moving towards the forest at an alarming speed.

“That’s fast…” Of course, no matter how powerful the magical waves were, they were only rushing to their death with Sendros here. Lin Li paid no heed to them, and merely gave the forest a look before he gave Gavin the potion bottles. “Let those who are injured drink it.”

“Oh…” Gavin hesitated, and then left with the potion bottles.

Then, Lin Li saw a group of people run into the forest.

The person leading them was a Warrior who looked to be in his thirties. He wore an armor of red and black, and wielded a sword shining red. A large ruby was sitting on his finger, emitting red-hot magical waves. Even Lin Li could tell that his magical equipment was of good quality, and would easily fetch tens of thousands of gold coins at the Gilded Rose. This man was pretty decent in abilities too, and from what Lin Li could tell, he was probably around level-17. He was probably comparable to the two Warriors who had been guarding Adelo at the Scar of Death.

There were about 50 people following behind this Warrior—all Warriors and Bandits from level-10 to level-15. They moved orderly, and one could tell at a glance that they were a trained group and might even have trained together for a long time. Even a fool would know that they were no adventurers…

There were now over 50 people in the once empty forest, and it suddenly appeared crowded. In order to give himself some space, Lin Li had to take a few steps back…

“Ha, I’m in luck. I found all of you so quickly…” The leading Warrior saw the Magic Shooters the minute he entered, and a sinister smile appeared on his face immediately.

“Who exactly are you?” Lin Li could not help but frown when he saw them run into the forest. They looked unfamiliar, and did not seem to be from the Malfa Family.

Could he be wrong?

“Damn it, you bastards run pretty fast indeed. To think I’ve had to chase after you for so long…” He seemed to know the abilities of the people from the Tower of Dusk after crossing hands with them earlier, and did not bother to strike immediately. Instead, he continued rambling on before looking at Lin Li in disdain. “Who the heck are you?”

“I’m Felic…” Lin Li replied honestly before he turned over to Gavin and the rest. “Their President. I have no intention to do anything besides asking how they have offended you. Why did you attack them out of the blue?”

“Stop messing around with me. Since the bastard Malfa Family sent you here, surely they’ve told you why you’re here? If not, then blame it on your bad luck. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter even if you know. You see, my mission is to kill anyone who dares come near the cave. So if you must, go blame it on the bastards of the Malfa Family for sending you to your death but not telling you what is it about…”

Lin Li frowned. It seemed like the Malfa Family was not behind the attack on Gavin and the rest…

He brushed his nose sheepishly at this, embarrassed about the fact that he had wrongly accused Hutton…

Just then, Lin Li heard Gavin’s sudden exclamation. “You’re from the Dark Blade?”

“How could you tell?” Even though Gavin saw through them, the Warrior did not bother refuting his claim, and even looked somewhat proud.

Well, the Dark Blade did have something to be proud of.

The Dark Blade was the most powerful bandit group in the whole Breezy Plains, and even in the whole Felan Kingdom for the last hundreds of years. The Syer Bandits were merely lowly thugs in comparison with the Dark Blade, and could have been exterminated by the Dark Blade if only the latter so wished. Even Vanskore would be considered mediocre in the Dark Blade.

It was said that the Dark Blade was headed by three Legendary powerhouses, just like the Glittergold Trade Union.

It was just that they were much more mysterious in comparison to the bosses of the Glittergold Trade Union as people had yet to see all three of them at once.

Actually, for the past hundred or so years, the Dark Blade had moved on from being just a bandit group. They had influence over the whole Breezy Plains, and had more than 10,000 members; hence, they never resorted to robbing.

However, that did not mean that they would have trouble getting money. It was quite the opposite for them, actually. At their level of influence, they did not have to resort to robbing; instead, their reputation alone was enough for businesses to offer them protection money and bribes. Even big names like the Glittergold Trade Union would work with them occasionally to prevent unnecessary trouble.

Of course, in exchange, the Dark Blade sent men to protect these businesses, and even to escort them sometimes so as to deter foolish bandits from eyeing their wealth.

Their annual earnings alone were more than what the Syer Bandits made in a decade. On top of that, they had ventured into different fields and almost every business. So vast was their wealth that perhaps even the Glittergold Trade Union would not dare belittle them.

Their abilities were even more astounding as they were the Malfa Family’s biggest enemy since they were situated in Aminya as well. All the conflicts that happened between them in the past few hundred years resulted in a deep feud between the two powerful forces.

However, even though the Malfa Family basically controlled Aminya, they still could not do anything about the Dark Blade. In fact, the Dark Blade had gained an upper hand for a period of time, and if not for Cheyenne suddenly breaking into the Legendary-realm, the Malfa Family would have became a myth a long time ago.

Gavin couldn’t help frowning as soon as he thought of the Dark Blade’s reputation, sighing as he thought that President Felic was simply too stubborn for being such a fine young man. He was young, after all, and did not know the virtue of holding back his anger. That was such a great opportunity for them to escape, but it seemed that would be nearly impossible now…

“Alright, enough of this nonsense. I will send you on your way so that I can finish my work for the day…” The Warrior seemed to have lost his patience as he waved at the men behind his back without turning back. “Finish them off. Remember to be quick, or else Young Master will be mad.”

“Why so impatient…” Lin Li shook his head in pity seeing the Warrior so impatient.

Despite his pity, the over 50 people behind the Warrior still came charging at them. One could definitely tell that they were a trained unit now as they were able to stand in a formation surrounding the mages of the Tower of Dusk even in such a confined space.

The Warrior wielding the huge sword started moving, and all they could see was red light. With the help of his Combat Energy, the level-17 Warrior moved at an astounding speed, and a scorching hot aura charged towards them along with a shining red light. It only took a fraction of a second for the red-hot sword to come flying down on Lin Li’s head…

“Oh no…!” Gavin’s heart sank as he watched the sword fall. He thought that President Felic was really in trouble this time. How could he forget the huge taboo for mages: going too close to a high-ranking Warrior’s weapon?! He was basically courting death!

Unfortunately, it was too late for him to remind Lin Li as Gavin watched the sword land….

However, he soon realized that there was no blood splattering where the sword landed, but only a crisp sound as blinding sparks flew. It was as if the sword landed on a sturdy block of steel instead of flesh.

“What!?” Gavin’s eyes were as round as saucers as he realized that there were four rapidly spinning Solar Spheres flying around the young president.

“My god, Elemental Shield! A level-19 Archmage Elemental Shield!”