Chapter 1745 - 107 - 115

Chapter 107: Interlocked Stratagem

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In a short while, the housekeeper walked out with a crystal ball in his hands and gently passed to Hotchbini. She took over the crystal ball and quietly chanted for a little bit. Images appeared in the crystal ball one after another. When a sweet and cute priestess appeared in the crystal ball, Hotchbini was shocked for a second and turned around, looking at Davidson coldly.

Davidson fell his heart skip a beat. Davidson thought to himself, "Did Orwell really harass that priest, and when he found out she was from Tiger of Tawau mercenary group, he killed the whole mercenary group to cover it?"

"Davidson, you can leave now." Hotchbini looked disgusted. Obviously, she speculated the same thing.

"Madam, are you asking me to leave like this?" Davidson's vicious mind encouraged him to reach his hand to the sword shaft. No matter what would happen, he could not go back like this. Even though he did not have to take revenge for his little brother, he had to save his pride.

"So? Do you want to come in to have some tea? My place is too small to have so many guests." Hotchbini slowly moved back a step. She had noticed Davidson's evil intention. Goddesses were very powerful on the battlefield, but they had to stand at the back of the army. If senior swordsmen and goddesses were fighting face-to-face, goddesses could be killed in a second.

"Fine," Davidson screamed with rage. He decided to kill her without thinking of consequences.

An angry yell came from the distance, "Davidson!"

A person covered with white combat power rode a horse quickly towards them. The person rushed to them in the blink of an eye. With a banging sound, dirt arose in the air when the person got off the horse. He was the second most important person in Glory mercenary group, Shanteler.

"Davidson, what are you doing", Shanteler yelled.

"Bro, someone in Tiger of Tawau mercenary group killed Orwell. I am coming," Davidson explained.

"Go back, right now!" Shanteler interrupted his talk.

"Bro," Davidson called out.

"I said 'go back'. This is an order." Shanteler's whiskers trembled intensely, which showed that his anger had almost reached its limit. He was only one year older than Davidson. But he looked seven or eight years older than Davidson. Capable people tended to work more. Smart people tended to think more.

Commander Anthony only gave directions on big issues. Shanteler was in charge of all other issues. Shanteler had worked diligently for over twenty years. With the hard work over the years, he looked old for his age.

Shanteler was working on something in the station when a mercenary came in and reported to him that Davidson had taken his comrades to Tiger of Tawau mercenary group station. His little brother, Orwell, had been killed, and the witness had claimed that the killer was from Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. Shanteler was astonished by it and rushed over to Tiger of Tawau mercenary group immediately. Tiger of Tawau had just had a political marriage with Shansa Empire. They were still at a sensitive stage, where anything could trigger a conflict and turn it into a disaster.

There were loud noises from the street. Shanteler was a deep thinker and very cautious. His intention was to stop conflicts, but he also sent the main force in his mercenary group to Tiger of Tawau mercenary group just in case he had had no control of the situation when he got there. He could not watch his mercenary group get hurt. He would take it when it was necessary, but he was not afraid of fighting with anyone if it was needed.

Davidson quietly watched Shanteler as Shanteler looked at Davidson. They looked at each other for a while and then Davidson put his long sword back into the sheath, turned around and walked away. They were brothers who had experienced ups and downs together for so many years, so Davidson knew Shanteler's temper. He was used to listening to Shanteler, so he made a compromise at the last moment.

Shanteler sighed with a relief. He turned to Hotchbini, "I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, Madam."

Hotchbini opened her mouth a little bit, but did not come up with any words. She looked far down the street, while group after group of Glory mercenaries surrounded her. They had blocked the whole street.

"Shanteler, what are you doing to me?" Hotchbini said calmly.

"It was a misunderstanding," Shanteler heaved a slight sigh, raising up his hands.

Glory mercenaries saw his signal and slowly moved back. The mercenaries in the front stepped back while the ones in the back tried to move forward. It was a mess, and they did not know which direction they should go until the section commander blew the whistle.

"Madam, if there is nothing else, I will be leaving now," Shanteler said quietly.

"Take care." Hotchbini still looked very calm.

Shanteler helplessly nodded at her and walked away. He knew what Davidson had done already created a great divide. This divide would not diminish anytime soon. It would not matter what he said anyway.

"Misunderstanding?" Hotchbini watched Shanteler's back with sadness in her eyes.

* * * *

"Suzanna, can you knock anyone down without using combat power? Suzanna, what are you thinking?" Anfey asked quietly.

"Huh? What?" Suzanna acted like she just got woken up by someone.

"You…" Anfey shook his head. "What are you thinking?"

"I am thinking you are a formidable person," Suzanna said.

"Me? I am formidable? What do you mean?" Anfey was confused.

"Anfey, how did you know Shanteler would send the main force there?" Suzanna stared at Anfey.

"Silly, it was so easy to guess." Anfey just realized what was going on. He could not help smiling at Suzanna.

"But how come I could not guess it?" Suzanna asked.

"That is why I said you are so silly," Anfey said.

"You…" Suzanna was so mad that she turned her head away. She did not want to look at Anfey.

"Ok, ok. What are you mad about? I am stating a fact." Anfey made it even worse by saying so. He found he got strangely interested in just seeing Suzanna get mad.

Suzanna tightened her lips. She neither talked nor refuted him. In fact, she did not have anything to refute.

"Seriously, Suzanna, can you knock a person down without using combat power?" Anfey secretively pointed somewhere in front of him with his hand.

"I cannot do it," Suzanna said.

"In fact, it should be easy to do. The key is the area you attack." Anfey had a serious look on his face. He decided to show Suzanna some basics about martial arts.

"How to do it?" Suzanna asked.

"You can slowly thrust your sword out, aiming at this area." Anfey turned his head, pointing at his artery on the neck to allow Suzanna see it clearly. "Did you see it, the area I pointed at? As long as you thrust upward, you can cut off the opponent's artery. Your opponent would not have any chance to make a sound."

Suzanna kept quiet but she started to make some moves.

Anfey pointed at his own artery on the neck more than ten times without hearing any responses from Suzanna. He turned around curiously to see. He suddenly saw Suzanna's sword tip shaking around his neck artery area. Anfey was shocked and jumped back. "What the heck. What are you doing? You could have killed me."

Suzanna tried not to laugh. She twisted her wrist a little bit and hid the sword at the back of his arm.

"Say something. Do you think you can do it. If not, we will have to just fight with combat power. These people should not be able to stop us. The key is the speed. It would be too late if we wait for Shanteler to come back," Anfey said quietly.

"I should be able to do it." Suzanna nodded.

"Ok, watch me, and we will attack them together." Anfey quietly moved to the other side.

Glory mercenary group station was quiet. The yard in front of Anfey and Suzanna was an important area. Usually twenty-four junior swordsmen in eight different groups were on watch in turns. Shanteler sent his best teams out today to deal with the potential conflicts, so the soldiers on watch in the yard now were just regular soldiers. Three medium-level swordsmen had the highest level among other soldiers.

Most mercenaries crowded into the rooms and chatted with each other. There was a mercenary lazily leaning against the wall at the corner, while two other mercenaries squatted in the grass next to the fence. They only had one topic: Orwell had been killed. This was sensational news. They knew Saidy had a hot temper and would not just let the killer go. If he had conflicts with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group at other times, they would not be so concerned. However, it was a sensitive time right now. The wagons of the princess's caravan had just arrived. Thousands of soldiers were not nothing. If the wagons and Tiger of Tawau mercenary group fought together with their mercenary group, they could only run away.

The mercenary leaning against the wall at the corner yawned. He suddenly noticed a person's shadow on the fence facing him out of the corner of his eye. Before he could respond to what he saw, that person had already thrown himself on the mercenary, while the other two mercenaries were still chatting not far from him. That mercenary was shocked. He felt the pain on his neck and saw a cloud of blood mist in front of him before he could warn others.

Anfey slowly pulled out a knife and listened to his surroundings. He looked at a magic array 90 feet ahead of him. Glory mercenary group was one of the four super mercenary groups, but there was a huge difference in power and finance compared with other three mercenary groups. This magic array was only a medium-sized one and it would not start unless it was necessary.

Seeing mercenaries chatting about Orwell being killed in the rooms and no one noticing anything outside their rooms, Anfey hunched in the grass and rushed towards Suzanna.

Suzanna moved to the side to save some room for Anfey. They hid in the dark together. Anfey took out a bow from his Dimensional Ring and aimed at the crystal above the magic array. Suzanna slanted her head and glanced at Anfey. She had a good memory and she remembered the first time Anfey could only tightened the bow seventy or eighty percent of the full stretch. He could easily stretch the bow to its utmost now. Suzanna was not stupid. She knew what this meant.

Chapter 108: Secret Unveiled

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The arrow struck the magic crystal in the middle of the portal. The crystal was covered with tiny cracks, then shattered with a loud bang. The light above the portal grew incredibly bright, runes flashed into sight then disappeared as fast as they had appeared.

"Let's go," Anfey called.

There was no need for hiding anymore. Suzanna summoned her combat power and dashed out. The portal's explosion had drawn many mercenaries. They hurried out of their residences and ran towards where the explosion took place.

If the mercenary group's high ranking members were here, or if there were some swordsmen or magisters present, they could pose a potential threat to Suzanna. However, the ones that were left at the campsite were some low-ranking mercenaries. Suzanna was able to cut through their ranks like a hot knife through butter.

The ones that arrived later saw that Suzanna had slain a dozen mercenaries in a few seconds' time, and were terrified. They hurried out of her way. This was the difference between mercenaries and actual soldiers. Actual soldiers had rules that needed to be followed. The mercenaries, on the other hand, had much more freedom, and fewer rules. If this had been an army camp, the soldiers would have tried to stop Suzanna with their lives.

A few senior mages tried to attack Suzanna with fireballs, wind blades, and ice arrows. Anfey used his bow and defended Suzanna from the mages. The shields the mages used were not very effective. Anfey's bow had no name, but it was no normal bow either. Its powerful wind arrows destroyed the shields easily, and the arrows easily killed the mages.

After two mages were killed, the other ones ran for their lives. The magical attacks ended. Suzanna and Anfey easily made their way through the crowd. They flipped over the high wall and onto the street.

A carriage stopped in front of them, and the two jumped onto it. By the time the mercenaries hurried into the streets, the carriage was long gone.

Anfey sighed in relief. He sat down on the carpet and asked, "Won't we encounter patrols?"

"There have been three robberies, one break in, and four rapes. There are patrols to spare," Black Eleven informed him.

"Good," Anfey nodded. "I trust you."

Black Eleven felt strangely repulsed by his words. He opened his mouth and wanted to object, but in the end did not say anything. "Why did you destroy Glory mercenary's transmission portal? Don't forget how powerful they are. It won't take more than a day to fix that."

"A day is more than enough," Anfey said. He grabbed Black Eleven and whispered into his ear.

Black Elven looked surprised. "You're mad," he said.

"Never mind about that," Anfey said. "Are you brave enough for this? This is the last step. If you don't want to help me, everything else will go to waste."

"Did you even think about the consequences?"

"Consequences? My goal is to make this place as chaotic as possible."

"Then why don't you wait until the Shansa princess's caravan leaves the city? This way both Glory and Tigers of Tawau mercenary groups will fight each other until one side is completely defeated."

"It doesn't benefit me to have both sides seriously harmed. I'd rather leave the Tiger of Tawau in full force and have Anthony avenge his mercenaries later."

"Anfey, you have a good plan, but let me be honest with you. Anthony, Shanteler, Mooly Tawau, Hotchbini…these aren't the people you can fool. If they realize that something was off, if they can keep their composure, then you're mistake is nothing but a failure."

"So what if they realize something?"

"I'm not trying to discourage you," Black Eleven said. "I'm speaking the truth. You have never worked with them, but I know. Mooly Tawau, for example. It may look like he follows Hotchbini's every order, but really, he was the one pulling all the strings. He pushed Hotchbini out, so people pay little attention to him. In reality, he is the one truly in control.

"Anthony is good at keeping himself out of the eyes of others. There are very few people who have actually seen him. Most of the power is in Shanteler's hands. Unless something major happens, he wouldn't actually show himself. He may seem harmless, sure, but think. Anthony took over the group more than ten years ago, and even now it still ranks at the top of the four mercenary groups."

Anfey had never heard Black Elven talk so much, and was intrigued. He watched the man, and did not say anything.

"After Mooly Tawau married Hotchbini, she helped to lead his mercenary group, but they could never beat the top three. Now they must use political marriage to gain an upper hand. Think about it. What does that mean? It means that the other three leaders are people to be reckoned with. They are not people you can easily manipulate."

"Of course, of course," Anfey said. "You're right. However, you have ignored the power of hatred."

"Hatred?"

"Yes. If enough blood was shed, it doesn't matter how powerful these people are. Even if they do realize something was off, they could do nothing about it.

"Think. Even if they can keep themselves calm, can they keep everyone else calm? Plus, they must have ambitions, as well. Turning the four groups into three means more power for everyone in charge," Anfey smiled. "You said Anthony is mysterious and dangerous. What about Davidson?"

"What you say makes sense," Black Eleven said hesitantly. "Just a little."

"Alright, let's talk about our plans. Can you find something suitable?" Anfey watched Black Eleven carefully. "Don't tell me you don't know a single person close to Shanteler."

Black Elven thought about it and said, "I do now someone, but I do not have power over him. There are a few dozen of them all over the world. We don't have any contact with them. I cannot activate him, nor will he work for me without a letter from His Majesty himself."

"Glory mercenary group's transmission portal is destroyed, but yours is still functional. I need that person immediately. So I need you to obtain that letter as fast as possible."

"Alright," Black Eleven said.

"The king isn't dead, is he?"

"What?"

"You don't need to hide anymore. Your expression when you talked about him has already betrayed you. If he really died, who would give you the letter?"

"The commanding general would, just fine."

"Too late for that. There's no need for explanations."

"We are on the same side," Black Elven smiled bitterly. His own mind was on how to deal with the impending war in Blackwater City, and he had trust Anfey. Otherwise he would have never made such an elementary mistake.

"That's who's been following us," Anfey said. Clearly, out of the three people that had been following them, at least one worked for Yolanthe, who would have never wanted harm to come to Niya. "He is doing this because of the war, isn't he?"

"Yes," Black Eleven said. Anfey already knew the secret, and there was no need to hide it. "This is a secret, Anfey. Right now I should be thinking about killing you two off. This is a secret, and I need you to keep it at that. Else hundreds of others would die in vain."

"Don't worry, I will," Anfey promised. Black Eleven sighed and shook his head.

"When this is no longer a valuable secret, I need you to tell me."

"What?"

"I need it for an exchange," Anfey said, smiling. "Else how am I supposed to get close to Anthony and the royalty of Ellisen Empire?"

Chapter 109: Accident

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Shanteler quietly looked at the destroyed magic array. He looked serious and cold. Glory mercenaries, including Davidson, all believed Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had sent their people to destroy the magic array. Only Shanteler knew none of these had anything to do with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group.

The death of Orwell had nothing to do with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. How could any killer be stupid to leave a trace after he killed Orwell? Others did not know that he knew well about Mourtta and Hotchbini. They were cruel and cold in fact. If they wanted to, they could have killed that woman. It would not be possible to chat at the killing scene and talking about the princess. Shanteler thought all of these were just to cover the truth.

Who actually did it? Why would they do it? Shanteler was deep in thought. He felt something big would come soon. He had thought to report to the commander after he returned to the station. He could have asked him to come to Blackwater City as soon as possible. However, the magic array was ruined, and the connection between Blackwater City and White Mountain City was cut off. It had become hard to report to Anthony, not to mention sending him here with the magic array. Right now their commander should be practicing the sword skills to pursue the highest level in legend, and he had no idea what sensational news was coming out of Blackwater City.

"How long does it take to repair the magic array?" Shanteler asked with a concerned voice.

"Not so sure. Master, we will try our best." A mage looked up with a bitter smile.

"What is the longest amount of time it could take?" Shanteler was not happy with that mage's answer. He needed a specific time in order to make a series of plans. The enemies hiding in the dark must not be simple. It would take a lot of courage to plan a scheme that involved both Glory and Tiger of Tawau mercenary groups.

"One day. Master, magic array will be able to work again in a day." The mage said.

With that mage's answer, Shanteler heaved a sigh of relief. Compared with regular mercenary groups, Glory mercenary group was very powerful. If they wanted to hide away for just one day to avoid potential dangers, they should be able to do it.

"Shanteler." Davidson came to the yard with a group of mercenaries behind him.

"Go back to your room." Shanteler had no patience for Davidson and gave him a dirty look.

"Shanteler, what are we going to do about Orwell's death? Are we just letting the killer go?" Davidson asked with a distorted face.

"Orwell would not die for nothing. I will investigate his death and give you an answer. You need go back to your room and wait for the results of my investigation. Pass my order that everyone needs to stay inside the station and no one is allowed to go out from now on. All other assignments will be postponed," Shanteler said with a serious voice.

Davidson looked down. Although he and Shanteler had similar positions and they only had one year difference on age, he had respected Shanteler for the past few decades. A long time ago, Anthony had similar powers as Shanteler, and Davidson was far from them. After Anthony took over his family business, he asked Shanteler to be in charge of the daily management of Glory mercenary group.

Everyone could only do so much in one day. Shanteler spent a lot of time managing the mercenary group, but he also had to spend a decent amount of time on practice. It was really hard to balance both. After giving it serious thought, Shanteler made the decision to take the responsibility of managing the mercenary group so he could spare some time for Anthony to focus on practicing sword skills. Anthony became a master swordsman and Davidson became a senior swordsman, while Shanteler remained a senior swordsman. Shanteler's sword skills were not as good as before, even a little worse than Davidson's.

Both Anthony and Davidson knew what Shanteler had contributed to the mercenary group, so Davidson had to take some crap from him and was willing to take it when Shanteler asked him to do certain things.

Shanteler had been in the wagon, thinking about how everything had been fine a few days ago and how could things just suddenly changed. Shanteler felt confused and could not find reasons for all the things that had taken place.

* * * *

A poor mercenary hobbled on the street. Life had its ups and downs. There were many rich people in Blackwater City, but also many people who could not feed themselves. It was not strange to see both poor and rich people in the city.

A wagon passed by a poor mercenary. That poor mercenary sneered, and then he rolled pretty far and laid on the ground, screaming in pain. He had his eyes opened wide, watching the wagon. If the people in the wagon did not care about him and continued to drive, he would report to the patrol. If they were nice people, maybe it was a good thing for him to be hit. He could get some compensation at least. An idea flashed in his head, "Should I look for opportunities to be hit?" A new profession had developed.

The wagon stopped, an old man jumped off and walked up to that mercenary. He only talked a little bit before the patrol came to the accident. Justice could only be provided by patrols. They would be able to facilitate the communication between the two parties.

Shanteler's wagon just passed the crossing of the streets and suddenly stopped. He frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"Master, it seems there was an accident ahead of us. Patrol was there," The wagon driver answered.

"Patrol?" Shanteler had an almost unnoticeable smile on his face. His fingers touched the sword shaft like he was caressing his lover. "Are you sure it is a patrol?" A smart person was usually very suspicious. Shanteler used to analyze it from different angles when something happened. He did not think it would be simply an accident. It was Tiger of Tawau mercenary group's turn to to have control over patrols this year. If Shanteler was attacked by a fake patrol, it would make the conflicts between Glory and Tiger of Tawau mercenary groups even worse.

"Master, it's a patrol. The wagon ahead of us hit someone. Patrol is taking care of it." The wagon driver said.

Shanteler lifted the wagon curtain and looked outside, seeing a familiar back among a group of patrols with torches. The person facing the opposite direction seemed to notice something. He turned around to look. His eyes met Shanteler's. Shanteler smiled even though he was worried about things that had been happening. Seeing that person, he could not help smiling. That person was a tycoon in Tumen Commercial Union. His name was Robert. He was a very capable person, having many businesses with four super mercenary groups. He was one of the aggressive businessman among others who had business with the Country of Mercenaries. The most important thing was he was a good friend of Robert's.

Under the torch light, Shanteler could see some hesitation on Robert's face. He called a housekeeper out and whispered something to him. That housekeeper turned around and run towards Shanteler.

After Robert left the Country of Mercenaries, that old housekeeper was in charge of managing everything. Shanteler had many contacts with him as well. He did not suspect anything. He lifted up the door curtain himself to welcome the old housekeeper.

"Master," the old housekeeper whispered with half of his body inside the wagon. "My master said the next few days would not be peaceful. Please be careful."

"Hum?" Shanteler was shocked and then he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Master, these are the words my master asked me to pass on to you. I did not know the meaning either," the old housekeeper said quietly.

Shanteler looked up at Robert, but Robert looked away. Robert's body was relaxed. It seemed that he sighed. Shanteler seemed to understand something.

Robert's capability was self-approved. In the past twenty years, Shanteler had seen young Robert grow from a regular businessman into a tycoon. He had enough people to help and protect him and only needed to hire a few mercenary groups as bodyguards. Robert was generous. He was a people person, so he had many friends.

Shanteler believed Robert must have heard of something. However, for some reason, he could not tell him everything, so he sent his old housekeeper to give him a hint.

Shanteler thought a little and gently knocked on the wagon. "You guys can go back now. I have to deal with something right now."

"Master, take some fellows with you", the wagon driver said.

"No need." Shanteler shook his head. He was a senior swordsman. As long as he was alert, he should be able to rush away from enemies even when he was in trouble. In addition, he had an SOS magic scroll and other magic tools in his Dimension Ring that he could use to save himself, so he was not afraid. In other words, he subconsciously trusted Robert. If he had to suspect their twenty-year friendship, what else he could trust.

"Master, take a few people with you," the wagon driver said.

"If I said I do not need them, then I don't need them." Shanteler had already jumped off the wagon and walked in big strides to Robert.

The patrol had almost finished it's work. The injured mercenary did not care about his pain and had smiles across his face. It was obvious that Robert was generous and gave him a decent amount of money as compensation.

Robert saw Shanteler walking over. He looked a little panicked and smiled bitterly. Shanteler seemed not to see his panic and bitter smiles and continued up to Robert. He smiled, "My old friend, I need discuss something with you. You won't refuse me, will you?"

"My old friend, why would I refuse to talk to you. Come on in and we can talk." Robert could not stop his bitter smile. He had a regretful look on his face. He seemed to regret leaking some secrets on impulse to Shanteler.

Shanteler also felt a little bad about it. He did not like to put people in awkward situations. In fact, he really appreciated that Robert had given him some hints. However, at this very crucial moment, he had to dig up as much information as possible. He had to make Robert feel uncomfortable this time, but he would return his favor hundreds of times more once he could pass this dangerous period.

Shanteler skipped the courtesy greetings and stepped into the wagon. He was a good friend with Robert, but they were different kinds of people. Shanteler's wagon looked like a regular wagon. Beside a carpet, there was nothing else in the wagon. He did not care for luxury goods. People who enjoyed luxury goods would not indulge themselves in so much work as he did. Robert's wagon was very fancy, with all kinds of luxury goods. Shanteler was looking at the wagon but could not take everything in at once. He was thinking what to say as he looked around the wagon.

Chapter 110: Bait

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Robert, what happened just then?" Shanteler asked. He needed something to start the conversation. He was the one asking for help, and if he asked what he needed without any warning, he could come off as too direct.

"My carriage hit someone," Robert told him.

"You could've just let your men take care of it. Why stay and do it yourself?"

"It's my responsibility," Robert said.

Shanteler nodded, his eyes was filled with admiration. He knew Robert very well after twenty years of friendship, and he knew that Robert's best traits were that he was responsible, loyal, and honest. Sometimes he could be a bit careless at times, but as the years went on, this trait was replaced by maturity due to his experience. Shanteler remembered, many years ago, when they went out to a gathering one night and all got seriously drunk. Robert and his lover of many years went to a tavern. The next morning, Robert woke up and thought the woman next to him was not his lover but a random prostitute. He threw a few silver coins on the bed and left without waking the woman up. When his lover woke up, she was furious after finding the coins. She found Robert and berated him loudly for it. They mended their relationships soon after, but this event had already made its way around.

Of course, it wasn't seriously damaging to his reputation. There were very few people that refused to pay the prostitute, since the women did bring them pleasure. It was because Robert had paid the wrong woman that made the situation interesting. Many people spoke of the event and imagined Robert as someone who was adorably careless.

"We must have known each other for at least twenty years," Shanteler said.

"Say no more, old sport, I know what you're thinking," Robert sighed and said. "I will never forget how I came by my first deal. If it wasn't for you selling me that batch of high tier magic crystals at a discount, I would not be the Robert I am today."

Shanteler remained silent and smiled. All smart people had one tendency, and that is to observe others quietly while acting as if the other person was the center of the world. Sometimes, these people were able to understand what kind of person they were observing. Others would be baffled by the people they were observing. And others were fooled by the people they were observing. The last two types of people were often these smart men's downfall. The last type was especially dangerous.

Shanteler had known Robert for twenty years, and was very familiar with what kind of a person he was. He didn't need to play the emotional card. All he needed to do was help Robert recall some memories.

There were many truths that were buried by the flow of time. When Robert first started doing business, he often found himself at a disadvantage. Sometimes he knew he was going to be tricked, but as long as he made a promise, he would stubbornly follow through with it. Luckily for him, he had some secret patrons helping him, and every time he was down in the dumps he would always find a way to start making money again.

Slowly Robert established the reputation of being honest and responsible, and more and more people began to do business with him. Everyone trusted him. Robert had become what he was largely because of his reputation.

Of course, there were things Robert didn't know about Shanteler, either. The story Shanteler told Robert about the magic crystals wasn't the full story. Back in the day, Anthony hadn't yet inherited the mercenary group, and they were still out in the world, training. They were on the way to White Mountain City when they discovered a few secret guards. Cargos that required secret guards was usually very valuable and few in number. For unknown reasons, they didn't travel by the usual road due to the fear of being seen by others. Anthony and his men discussed the matter and, in the dark of night, attacked the guards. They found out that the guards were mercenaries from Brotherhood mercenary group, and that they were guarding some top tier magic crystals they had stolen from the group. After that, Brotherhood mercenary group was meticulous about checking every merchant in the city. Anthony, however, wasn't one to surrender valuables. In the end, Shanteler found Robert, whom they had trusted, and sold him the crystals at the much lower price than the market price. He told Robert that there was another story behind how he had came by the crystals, and that Robert should immediately leave the city.

After careful consideration, Shanteler made the choice he thought was best. He waited for Robert to make his own decision. Robert would tell him everything he should, and nothing that he shouldn't.

Robert's expression changed. One moment he appeared hesitant, another he seemed troubled, the next looked nervous, as if he was fearing something. To Shanteler, this was normal. If Robert had immediately made a decision and told him everything, it would appear suspicious to him.

"Sir, we're home," the old butler called from outside the carriage.

Shanteler stared at Robert, who hesitated for a second and said, "come in for a cup of tea, old sport."

"Alright," Shanteler said. If Robert wasn't going to tell him anything, then inviting him in for tea would be pointless.

Robert was a business tycoon, and his home was decorated very lavishly. If he purposely made it seem squalid, it would appear strange and unlike Robert's personality.

They walked through numerous strangely shaped doors on cobblestone paths. They passed through a blooming garden and towards a small building protected by magic. Shanteler lifted a brow. He had visited Robert's home many times and had been to every corner of the estate except for this building. He had always only observed this building from afar. Now that Robert was taking him there, it meant that whatever he was going to tell Shanteler, it was something serious.

"My lord." A shadow walked out of the door.

Robert waved his hand. The person began whispering a spell, and the light on the building began to dim.

Shanteler narrowed his eyes. He did not expect that Robert was able to recruit an intermediate magister to work for him. Then he realized it wasn't anything serious. Everyone had a trump card, and Robert was no exception. He would show Shanteler this meant that he had trusted him.

"Come in, old sport," Robert said quietly. He then turned and walked into the building, his slightly stooped back looking troubled.

Shanteler walked in behind him. The magister whispered a spell and the light of the magic began to shine again.

They walked into a lobby. The room was lavish and clean, and was clearly the home of a rich man. The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling was an everlasting light using magic crystals. This kind of lighting was impossible to find in a commoner's home. Even Glory mercenary group didn't use this kind. If Robert had used low tier magic crystals, he could have wasted several dozen a day. Top tier crystals could last for a few days at best. Shanteler was almost left flabbergasted by Robert's display of wealth.

"Old sport, what should I say…" Robert said. He smiled bitterly and sat down on a chair slowly. He motioned for Shanteler to sit as well. "It's not that I don't want to tell you. That's like I'm conspiring with someone else against you. If I do, I am betraying other's trust in me. You're putting me in a very difficult position, old sport."

Shanteler sat on the chair and looked at Robert, but didn't say anything. He knew in this situation listening would do him more good than talking. Robert invited him inside to offer him information. He couldn't express his gratitude with words.

"Don't put me in a difficult situation now, old sport," Robert said. "I'll talk. You'll listen. Don't ask me anything. I can only tell you some things. I think don't it will be hard for you piece them together."

Snanteler smiled and nodded. He appeared calm but was in fact very nervous. What was it that could make Robert so nervous?

"You know how Shansa Empire invaded Maho?"

Shanteler nodded. It wasn't a secret anymore. When Anthony told him about it, he had laughed about the situation and Yolanthe. He said that thank god Yolanthe had died early, or else he would be worried sick now.

"Maho Empire's people were contacting Brotherhood mercenary group."

Shanteler felt his heart skip a beat. It was a short sentence, but it described a difficult situation. Maho Empire's people had contacted Brotherhood mercenary group? What were they talking about? Cooperation? Was Brotherhood mercenary group behind all of this? Shanteler thought about it for a second, and said, "Yolanthe is dead. None of the princes had the guts to do something like this. Could it be…"

"Yolanthe died too unexpectedly, and didn't leave a will. All the princes had the right to the throne, so they have a lot to offer," Robert said, smiling. "Like I've said, I'll speak, you'll listen. Don't ask any questions."

"Sorry," Shanteler said. Robert was right. The princes would offer amazing conditions in order to draw followers. Maho Empire was being invaded by two empires. Even if they weren't aiming for the throne, they could be doing this to preserve their empire.

"There's something else but…you should hear it from an insider and not me," Robert said. "Let Hui Wei come in here."

Hui Wei? Shanteler searched for the name in his mind, but couldn't find anything.

After a moment, a young man with black hair and a blank expression walked in through the side door and sat down next to Shanteler.

"Ask what you want, old sport. Hui Wei, this is my old friend and my closest ally. Tell him everything that you know. Don't hold anything back." Robert stood up slowly and said, "You guys talk. I'll be outside."

Chapter 111: Being Stupid

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Shanteler was shocked. It took him while to realize what Robert meant. Robert must have agreed with someone that he would never tell the secrets to anyone. Robert chose the way he did under the obligation of friendship.

Shanteler took a close look at Hui Wei and smiled. "I am the vice commander of Glory mercenary group. My name is Shanteler."

"I know," Hui Wei said coldly.

Shanteler's attitude did not change, and he still smiled even thought Hui Wei was rude. He did not have patience to be courteous to Hui Wei, so he went directly to the topic. "I do not know what you can tell me?"

"I can tell you something you definitely do not want to hear," Hui Wei said.

"Please go ahead and tell me," Shanteler said.

"I want you to die," Hui Wei was brutally direct.

Shanteler was shocked, and a thick cloud of combat power appeared immediately. He was an old man, but his reaction time was actually shorter than a young man's. He reached his right hand to the sword shaft, while his left hand released a Magic SOS scroll at the same time. Shanteler's heart dropped the moment he found that his magic signals were blocked by the magic array in the building.

Shanteler's moves were done in the blink of an eye. A waving light circle diffused from Hui Wei. If Shanteler's combat power could be described as white snow, Hui Wei's light circle was more like boiling water. If a pot of boiling water was poured onto the snow, the white snow would be dissolved immediately. When the light circles passed through Shanteler, the thick combat power disappeared in places where the light circles passed through.

If Shanteler had not been an experienced commander, this dramatic change would have caused him to panic. A proud powerful man had been turned into a helpless person. Even thought he was cool, Shanterler was quite helpless in front of Hui Wei. Shanteler still quietly watched Hui Wei. It seemed whatever just happened had nothing to do with Shanteler.

The side door opened again and Anfey slowly walked in. He was shocked when he saw that Shanteler's look hadn't changed a bit. Because of Anfey's experience as a killer, he had seen all kinds of reactions at the verge of death. Some were angry, some struggled, some begged, some tried to exchange wealth for their lives. Of course, some people remained calm.

Anfey had the experience of killing a retired mafia leader. His hand was already on that old mafioso's neck while the mafioso just calmly looked at him without fighting back. Anfey was curious and asked him why he was so calm, knowing he was going to die. The old man told him that everyone would die someday. When Anfey gave him an admiring look, the old mafioso started his last strike. Anfey almost died at his dangerous game. Since then, Anfey understood the saying, "Curiosity killed cat."

However, curiosity did save him once. Once Anfey took an assignment to kill a mainland businessman who was on a business trip to Hong Kong. At the beginning, everything went well, but he suffered vicious attacks at the end. Anfey was more experienced and skilled than the businessman, and he was winning. The businessman suddenly asked Anfey why he did not work for the country but instead lived in the dark. Anfey did not know whether he should laugh or cry about this question. He chatted a bit with him and learned that the businessman was a special agent in police department. Anfey realized that he was being used by his employer. It also could be a setup by the man's enemies to kill the special agent. He would have no good days left if he killed that special agent. No matter how powerful he was, he would not be able to against the government. He was just a two-year beginning killer. His experiences were not so great. He knew what he would end up with if he fought with the government.

Since then, Anfey had been smarter. He hired informers and created several identities. Every identity had certain social networks. Once he got an assignment, he would do a thorough investigation on the target and then decide whether he was going to kill the person. The informers gave him different information, some even conflicted with another. He had to find the reasons for the conflicting information. He gradually developed his own way of doing things. He would proactively cancel the assignment if he thought the target could not be killed or did not deserve to be killed.

"Did you do all of these?" Shanteler laid his eyes on Anfey.

Anfey slowly walked to Shanteler and did not say anything.

"Antimagic terra? It was amazing. I thought Antimagic terra the stuff of legend." Shanteler smiled. "Can I see Robert? I want to ask him a question, only one question."

"I am sorry." Anfey finally talked. His wrist moved a little bit and a cool light appeared and passed through Shanteler's throat.

Hui Wei could not help opening his eyes. He thought Anfey would attack Shantler after at least saying a few sentences to him. Shanteler did not ask for too much. To fulfill what a dying old man wanted was a good deed. He did not realize that Anfey did not intend to talk to Shanteler at all. Anfey quickly took Shanteler's life.

Black Eleven hurried in from the side door and saw that Shanteler had died on the chair. The blood from the wound on his neck had dyed Shanteler's leather armor. He could not help smiling bitterly. "Anfey, you killed him too early."

"Hum?" Anfey calmly turned around to look at Black Eleven.

"Shanteler knows many secrets of Glory mercenary group. Since you had control of him, why did you have to kill him so early?" Black Eleven asked.

"It looks like Mr. Robert has told you about Antimagic Terra," Anfey smiled.

Black Eleven nodded. "Yes, but unfortunately I came here too late."

"Do you think Shanteler would tell us? If he told us some fake information, how would you know which pieces of information he said were true or false? Shanteler has seen Antimagic terra, but he still could keep calm. It showed how determined he was. What do you think you could do to make him tell secrets? Torture him?" Anfey shook his head.

"How do we know if we never tried?" Black Eleven asked.

Black Eleven heaved a long sigh and then turned to look at Hui Wei. Robert was also looking at Hui Wei. Both Black Eleven and Robert were good at controlling their facial expressions to hide their real emotions, but the two pairs of eyes were like the bright stars in the lonely dark sky, telling Anfey they were very excited inside.

It was easy to tell what level of power Hui Wei had, which meant that the Antimagic Terra must be released in some way. Once Anfey's mercenary group learned the method to release it, they could create an Antimagic Terra as well. The power of Antimagic Terra was well known. However, it was still unknown what Antimagic Terra could do to master swordsmen, archmagi and other people with high powers. However, the effects of the Antimagic Terra was not all powerful. As long as they had a regular bow, they could kill any swordsman or magister once the Antimagic Terra was released. Wasn't it enough?

Hui Wei still sat on the chair with his hands firmly holding onto the arms. His body was slightly trembling. For the past few days, when Anfey was not around, he tried to talk to Christian and others to build their relationship. He could tell only Anfey was cold-hearted in the whole team, while the rest of the team was easier to negotiate with. Anfey had done so much for the whole team. When Anfey wanted to force him to tell secrets in crude and torturing way, the team would be against him. When Anfey asked him to fight with a senior swordsman, he agreed without any hesitation. He meant to make Anfey like him, but who would think Anfey sold his biggest secret out. Hui Wei was very scared by it.

Black Eleven and Robert looked at Hui Wei up and down. If the stares had any power, they would have torn his clothes off him. Who did not want to know about his secrets?

"We need send Shanteler's body to the station of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group immediately. Who is going to do it? Your people or my people?" Anfey asked calmly.

"I will have my people do it." Black Eleven only glanced at Anfey and returned his gaze back to Hui Wei.

"Ok, let's go." Anfey smiled. "Hui Wei, what are you sitting there for?"

Hui Wei could barely stand up. He slowly walked to Anfey, staring at him without words. His look was so complicated.

Anfey walked outside. He seemed not to notice anything wrong. Hui Wei followed him. He could feel the stares on him. He wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.

"Anfey, you did it on purpose!" Hui Wei yelled as soon as they had walked out of the building. He could not hold his anger or horror anymore.

"I just lost my patience with you. You can either tell me the secrets about Antimagic Terra or I will give you to others. You make a choice," Anfey said calmly.

"Are you crazy? Do you know that if this secret is known by others, many people would want to kill us? Even if I tell you about the secret, how long do you think you can survive?" Hui Wei said.

"That would be my business." Anfey shook his head. "You only need to know if you want to collaborate with me, you will become one of our mercenary group from today. You will experience everything with us, no matter whether we are in good or bad times."

"I am not going to die with you," Hui Wei yelled.

"You can leave as long as you leave behind the things I need," Anfey said.

Hui Wei thought for a while without saying a word. He smiled bitterly. "Anfey, I thought you were a very smart guy. I did not think you would do something so stupid. Go? Where am I going to go? No matter whether you will be able to survive or not, I will be their target."

"Then you have to trust me. Do you really think I would do something stupid?" Anfey said.

Chapter 112: Counterattack

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the middle of the Tiger of Tawau mercenary group's campsite, there was a small building. It appeared to be a mage's tower, but in reality it had nothing to do with mages. Mooly Tawau commissioned this building simply because he enjoyed the view of the landscape around him.

A group of mercenaries hurried towards the building, led by a intermediate swordsman. The rest of the mercenaries halted outside of the building, and only the swordsman pushed open the door and entered the building. It was one of the forbidden places within the mercenary group, and not everyone could enter it.

Inside the building, Mooly Tawau was entertaining himself with a nature sound bird. These birds were very rare and valuable. Its feathers were radiant, and it sounded like a beautiful, constantly changing harp. When the bird was satisfied, it would sound bright and clear. When it was upset, it would sound sad and hoarse. The bird had become the staple of wealth among the wealthy and the powerful. However, because of the increased demand, the number of birds in the wild had decreased, and it had become more and more expensive.

Hotchbini sat next to Mooly Tawau and was deep in thought. Her son Saidy was sitting nearby and quietly conversing with an old man. Saidy appeared to be enraged, but he would never dare to explode here in front of his mother.

The swordsman hurried inside and said, "My lord, we found this in Orwell's residence." He held out his hand and showed Mooly Tawau some Tiger of Tawau badges.

Mooly Tawau glanced at the badges, then turned his gaze back to the bird as if he did not care at all about the discovery.

"See, father! Orwell was the one that killed our men!" Saidy shot up from his seat, angered.

"Sit down," Hotchbini said, frowning.

Saidy froze. He clenched his teeth, then unwillingly sat back down.

"My god, stop playing with that cursed bird. Don't you have something to say about this?" Hotchbini turned to Mooly Tawau and said.

"About what?" Mooly Tawau asked, turning around slowly.

"What do you think about this?"

"Why are you asking me? You make the decisions."

Hotchbini slapped the table and made a loud noise. Mooly Tawau jumped up from his chair and walked towards the swordsman. He grabbed the badges and played with them in his hands. "Do you really need my opinion on this? Of course this had nothing to do with Orwell."

"Father, they found this in Orwell's residence!"

"These aren't coins; there's no reason to collect them," Mooly Tawau said, shaking his head. "Why would Orwell leave this in his home? Did he worry about everyone not knowing he was the killer? Or did he have a habit of collecting these? Found anything else there?"

"No, my lord."

"It's clear," Mooly Tawau said, tossing the badges to the ground. "This is planted evidence." He looked at Hotchbini, then he went back to his seat and began entertaining the bird again.

"Saidy, you see? You need to pay more attention to your father," Hotchbini said, shaking her head.

"What's the hurry? They're still young," Mooly Tawau said.

"Young? They are in their twenties. Think about us. What were we doing when we were their age?" Hotchbini asked. She finally found a chance to discipline her son, and she wanted Saidy to learn something from this. She didn't need Mooly Tawau ruining this opportunity. Usually the father was the one to discipline children, but in this family, the roles were reversed. Hotchbini wanted to discipline her kids, and the "nice" parent was always Mooly Tawau.

Mooly Tawau grinned and didn't say anything else.

Just then, a mercenary hurried into the room and screamed, "My lord! Urgent news! Shanteler is dead!"

Everyone in the room turned around, and their expressions hardened. The bird seemed to have realized its master's change in emotion and returned to its cage. Its song stopped, which plunged the room into utter silence.

"Are you sure?" Mooly Tawau asked. He looked very serious, and the earlier carelessness was gone.

"Definitely, my lord," the mercenary said.

'What should we do?" Hotchbini asked. Even someone as inexperienced as Saidy realized the impact of Shanteler's death, let alone Hotchbini. Asking this question didn't mean Hotchbini did not know what to do. It meant that she trusted her husband more than she trusted herself.

In the past, Mooly Tawau stayed away from the group's business and only made appearances during the most urgent situations. He tended to relay his orders through Hotchbini, and time and time again proved his wisdom in doing so. For most people, Mooly Tawau did not have the charisma of a leader, but the ability. It was assumed that he led his mercenary group to glory because of his brilliant wife. Hotchbini, however, knew her husband's true intentions. They had been married for twenty years, and no one knew him as well she.

Mooly Tawau suddenly laughed. "Whoever it was, they had to force Anthony to appear? Soon this person will learn the price of angering Anthony."

"My lord, Glory mercenary group's transmission portal was destroyed. They are completely cut off from White Mountain City."

Mooly Tawau's hand shook. He stared at the mercenary, his eyes frozen rage.

"Looks like we need a plan immediately," Hotchbini said, shocked.

One accident wasn't enough to change anything, and they had the ability to reduce the impact. Two accidents, however, produced a knot no one could undo. Knowing Davidson, he would come for revenge without consulting Anthony's first. Hotchbini was worried because of the impending crisis.

"We're at war, then," Mooly Tawau said slowly.

"My lord!" Hotchbini cried out.

"I know what you're thinking," Mooly Tawau said. "But we have no other choice. It's better to strike first than to sit here and wait to die."

Hotchbini frowned. She knew what Mooly Tawau meant. It would be better to attack first, before Davidson, because that way they could mess up Davidson's plan. Even though Davidson's commanding skills were dubious, Glory mercenary group wasn't one to mess with. The quicker they could calm the storm, the easier it would be preserve themselves. Mooly Tawau was right.

"It's just…frustrating," Hotchbini sighed.

"I know it is," Mooly Tawau said, shaking his head.

"We have other choices," Hotchbini offered. "If we immediately send men to Anthony and explain the situation."

"No," Mooly Tawau shook his head. "If we don't send the right person, Anthony would never believe them. Unless we show up ourselves, of course. But have you thought about how Anthony may react? Write his order and have us bring it back? Do you think Davidson would believe anything we present? Anthony would never use our transmission portal. If he did, I think I might alter the portal and cause the greatest mercenary of our time to disappear. Anthony could just take us out. Glory mercenary group would suffer great loss here, and he would want some compensation. We would be stupid to go."

Hotchbini fell quiet. Anthony would, no doubt, try to hold them prisoner. It was a risky move.

"You forget about time, my dear. The men who did this must have made sure Davidson heard about this before us. Davidson must have already prepared himself. Even if we could go to White Mountain City and explain everything to Anthony, conflict would have already ensued by the time we got back."

"Alright," Hotchbini said. "Alright. We are at war, then."

"It's a good opportunity for us," Mooly Tawau smiled and told her. "Don't forget about the army outside the city. The kingdom is only so big. Better for it to be in three people's hands than four. That way we all live better. If we could eliminate those Glory mercenaries, Brotherhood and Thunderwind would take the chance and strike as well."

"I'll go prepare." The two, in a few minutes, decided the fates of Glory mercenary group and themselves.

"Wait," Mooly Tawau suddenly said. "I think it might be time to trouble your kin. Anthony is a master swordsman. We need our own trump card."

Chapter 113: Punishing the Wrong Person

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The horrified residents of Blackwater City witnessed a sudden and bloody fight break out. Davidson led two groups of Glory mercenaries in a surprise attack on the station of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. However, they were badly defeated as a result.

Each individual had different personalities and ways of doing things. Davidson was brave but he tended to rush into things. If Shanteler was still alive, his plans would have been more thorough. Davidson was simple and direct. He did not even bother to send people to check on Tiger of Tawau mercenary group before he took revenge.

Davidson first saw the scene where his little brother was killed and then heard that his respected brother had died. Hot-tempered Davidson almost went crazy. The stupid moves he did were predictable and understandable. The problem was whether his apologies would be accepted by others, especially the mercenaries who had trusted him and were willing to fight for him. Would they forgive a stupid leader?

Mourtta hurried to the outskirts of the city. He had the chance to contact the bodyguards of the Shansa Empire princess and then, taking advantage of his administrative authority, asked the patrol to open the city gate. The Shansa Empire military, lead by four senior swordsmen, marched into Blackwater City.

The situation totally flipped. The people led by Davidson, even with help from the mercenary group led by Anthony in White Mountain, would be no match for an alliance of Mourtta and Shansa Empire. There was no doubt which side would win.

Waves of intense magic surges were flashing in Blackwater City's sky. Countless people were running, killing and screaming in the streets and alleys. One party asked their soldiers to kill all the enemies, while the other party struggled to fight back. Both parties went crazy killing people. Hatred actually could develop so easily.

Different-sized mercenary groups in the city were so confused about what had just happened. The mercenary groups with some capability kept themselves in their stations to avoid confrontation, while the ones with low capabilities stayed in hotels to keep themselves safe. Regular citizens shut their windows and doors super early, afraid that something disastrous would fall on them.

However, there were some people who liked this chaos instead of peace. Anfey was one of them. He hid himself outside the battlefield early, quietly watching it. At this critical moment, everyone did not have time to hide their real ability. Anfey could clearly sense the positions of the powerful men around him.

As the leaders of mercenary groups, Davidson and Mourtta were fighting hard with each other. They were suddenly tied by a cloud of entangled ivies from the sky. The ivies were so tough, especially because hundreds and thousands were entwined together instead of just a few. Hotchbini released the life magic, which only belonged to the Elf tribe. It sped up the process of defeating Davidson.

Davidson was thinking of rushing out into the sky. Mourtta and Hotchbini had been husband and wife for more than twenty years, so they did not have to verbally communicate to know what the other wanted. The moment Hotchbini released life magic, Mourtta had already rushed into the sky and got control of Davidson.

Ivy was flying everywhere in the sky, which was fatal to Davidon but helpful to Mourtta. Only a couple of vines wrapped around Mourtta's waist, which allowed him to stay in the sky. His left hand was constantly making all kinds of moves while Hotchbini sent ivy to where Mourtta wanted to go.

In the beginning, Davidson destroyed many ivy vines with his strong combat power. Hotchbini was a senior Cleric of Life. She had similar power levels as Davidson, so wherever Davidson destroyed ivy vines, more ivy would grow up, The ivy was trying to wrap itself around Davidson. Davidson had missed the opportunity to escape from the sky. He was positioned to only do defensive moves without any offensive moves under the couple's attacks.

This was a street fight, not a justified battle. Mourtta and Hotchbini did not feel bad about fighting him together. Davidson was not stupid. He did not bother to ask them why the two of them fought against just one. He just tried to fight back as hard as he could.

The four senior swordsmen from the wagons of the Shansa Empire princess joined the battle, which decided Davidson's tragic fate. The moving ivy suddenly disappeared. Davidson was exhausted. The swords thrusted towards him and sword radians from the top had sent Davidson to hell in the blink of an eye.

With the death of Davidson, Glory mercenaries started to flee. Mourtta would not let them run away so easily. The main force was sent out searching for Glory mercenaries. He wanted to weaken Glory mercenary group, which would allow Band of Brother and Storm mercenary groups the chance to weaken Glory mercenary group even more.

Saidy was at the City Hall of Blackwater City. He took advantage of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group's administrative authority to demand patrols to collaborate with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. He sent a few patrol lieutenants to the jail because they failed to follow his orders.

Since the day the Country of Mercenaries was established, patrols remained neutral among mercenary groups. Patrols never took sides against any mercenary group. Although they needed to follow the orders of the mercenary group in power, they had the authority to overthrow the mercenary group in power if the mercenary group in power was harmful to other mercenary groups. What Mourtta had done was definitely against the law of Country of Mercenaries. It looked like the start of a chaotic period.

The influence of Mourtta's action would be significant and have serious consequences. Even though Brand of Brother and Storm mercenary groups wanted to divide the benefits from Glory mercenary group for the time being, Mourtta's actions would be a problem once those two mercenary groups finished their benefit segments.

No one knew why Mourtta did that. Was it because he wanted to wipe out the rest of the Glory mercenary group or take the opportunity to make a claim against others?

Mourtta sent his main force throughout the city to search for Glory mercenaries. He had to try to make time. It was not because he worried about Anthony's coming, but because he wanted to prove his capabilities. If this conflict lasted several days and nights, he would not feel proud even if he had won. If Glory mercenary group was wiped out in one night, it would make all the mercenaries open their eyes wide to look up to Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. He would not only win the battle, but also the reputation and fame.

The opportunity Anfey had been waiting for finally came. He put on the badge of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. He strutted out onto the street, where blood had not dried yet, and buried himself in the crowd who were cleaning up the battle field. Mourtta was actually very cautious. He only sent his own people out to search for Glory mercenaries. He kept some of soldiers of Shansa Empire in his own station to be on watch and other soldiers to clean up the battle field. It seemed reasonable to send some of the soldiers to clean up the battle field since they were trained for it.

Shansa Empire had a different system in their military than Tiger of Tawau mercenary group, so they would not even care what Anfey was doing. Even when Anfey met other mercenaries, the excitement on his face appropriately showed a winner's pride. Others could tell he had been through many bloody fights from the blood on his body. Regular people would not be able to tell anything wrong by observing Anfey. Anfey just walked to the station of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group without any trouble.

He had already seen the map of Tiger of Tawau mercenary group's station. He memorized every route. Right before he reached his destination, Anfey had his face scratched by tree branches on purpose. He was in thought with his hand on his cheek. He made sure there was no body around and quietly emerged into the dark.

It took a lot of money to make a model of the princess's house, but they did not do it for nothing. After Black Eleven saw Anfey shooting the arrow piercing the wall and hitting the bed beams, he stopped doing half-assed jobs. He put a lot of effort into making this model. With limited time, it was a rough model, but it included a large area with more than ten rooms and hallways.

The benefit of having a model showed at just that moment. Anfey walked around there like it was his backyard. He swiftly passed the hallway and made a turn. He met the princess's servants twice on the way. He was able to quickly find a suitable place to hide. He finally got close to the princess's bedroom

The bedroom's door was not closed all the way. "She must have felt safe, so she did not lock the door," Anfey thought. Anfey did not walk to the door immediately. He looked around and even up in the sky. He found a few places where he could hide before he slowly walked to the door. If anything happened, he could find a nearby place to hide, just like when he had met princess's servants before.

Anfey slowly pushed the door open a slit with his finger. Luckily, he only needed to move his body a little bit to be able to see what was inside the room through the slit. He saw a woman reading a thick book on the chair. Anfey frowned after he saw her.

He had seen the magic image of the princess. He knew this woman was not the princess after just one glance. But the badge she wore belonging to the royalty did not make sense. He looked through the slit again. He felt she looked familiar. Anfey had a super memory. He tried to think and remembered she was the female bodyguard who had whipped him before.

Anfey was one hundred percent sure that she was not a princess, since others did not show respect to her. Even if Black Eleven's information was false, or the princess disguised herself as a bodyguard, how could those soldiers dare to laugh out when he flirted with a princess. They should have fought with him for life.

Anfey jumped up onto the house beam. He was wondering what that female bodyguard with a royal badge was doing there? Was she the cover for the princess? But what was the reason to have a cover for the princess? Suddenly, something flashed in his head. Black Eleven got information that the princess's wagon route was in trouble a few days previously, but he was not able to find out what happened. Did the princess run away from the marriage?

Chapter 114: Turning Point

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Did you do it?" Suzanna asked. They were worried about Anfey, who was out by himself. The group was gathered in a room prepared by Clark and waiting. When Anfey had returned, they turned their curious gazes on him.

"No," Anfey said, shaking his head.

"As long as you're back safely, we can find another chance," Christian said.

"It's not that there wasn't a chance. It wasn't the princess inside, so I left her alone," Anfey told them. "Where's Clark?"

"In bed already, I reckon," Blavi said, yawning.

"You all should go to rest as well," Anfey said. "Did people from Tiger of Tawau come today?"

"They did, and looked quite angry as well. Wanted us to show them proof. They calmed down after seeing Suzanna, though," Riska said. "Don't know when I'll become a senior magister."

"Where's your ambition?" Blavi joked. "You should say you will one day become an archmage."

"Because I don't live in a fantasy world, Blavi."

"Alright, alright. Everyone, let's go to our rooms," Christian said, waving his hand. "We should rise earlier tomorrow. This is a critical time, and we should all be careful."

Everyone stood and left the room, but Christian and Suzanna stayed. Anfey sat down next to the table and began formulating his plans.

"Anfey, there's something I need to tell you," Christian said slowly.

"What is it?"

"Everyone's been…off lately."

"What happened? Are you guys hiding things from me?"

"Can't you see? Anfey, you are the reason," Christian told him, his face grave and serious. "Do you remember what Riska just said? He wanted to be a senior magister."

"Everyone has their dreams…"

"It's not a dream! It's a hope. Riska has said the same thing many times."

"Dreams? Hopes?" Anfey asked, smiling bitterly. "I don't understand. Christian, tell me what you need to say."

"When we were learning with Master Saul, we were children. After everything that happened, we left to explore the world, with you." Christian smiled. "We were stupid. No, Anfey, listening to me. We were stupid. We once doubted and we united against your decisions. Obviously, we were wrong. The world wasn't what we expected it would be. Even though no one said anything, after everything we've been through, we have all come to our own understanding about the world."

Anfey's face grew serious. He thought he had taken enough care of his friends. He took care of them like a babysitter, and whenever they encountered danger, he tried to take care of everything himself. Like the assassination tonight. He could of course have let someone else take care of it. If the assassination had been successful, he would still receive the credit. If it failed, he wouldn't have to take the fall for it. If he treated the assassination the way he would a business transaction, he would act to benefit himself and try to avoid risks.

However, was it the right thing to do? No, it was not. After listening to Christian's words, Anfey realized he had ignored his team members' change of heart. Whenever they encountered a danger or obstacle, he would tell them what they should and should not do. However, he had never told them why they should and should not do certain things. Anfey felt he needed to keep listening to Christian.

"This opened our eyes and increased our knowledge. We all wanted to prove that we are useful, that we aren't just children that need sheltering. Lately, though, you always tell us to stay here and only leave with Suzanna. We all know we are not as powerful as Suzanna and can't do as much, but you've got to let us do something."

"Christian, I'm sure Anfey is doing this out of good will," Suzanna whispered. "I sure he would hate to see you hurt."

"Anfey, I don't know how you became so skilled in fighting, and I won't ask. Think about it. Would you have this power if someone tried to clear every obstacle and danger for you when you started training?" Christian asked slowly. "Lately, even Riska and I have to stay here in the tavern. The others were too scared to leave. Maybe some people enjoyed this, but not us. For us, this is a precious chance to train ourselves. We don't want to waste it."

Anfey sighed but didn't say anything.

"Do you know who we are so envious of? Vonmerge. He can leave anytime he wants to to gather information. We know that he has a lot of connections, but he wasn't born with them, either. We can't help much, but whatever Vonmerge can do, we can too. If you keep on telling us to hide, we'll never find a chance to change. Ten, twenty years from now, we will still be as childish and clueless as we are now." Christian sighed and continued, "Anfey, all we need is a word from you. Let us do something, even if it's small. Give us a chance to prove ourselves. Let them know that they matter. You've been so secretive, and you only talk to Suzanna. Even I felt uncomfortable and useless. What must they be thinking?"

"I've been wrong," Anfey nodded and admitted. This was one of his good traits. Whenever he realized he had done wrong, he was always quick to admit his fault and would never argue against it.

"No one's right or wrong here," Christian said, smiling. "We all understand that you're concerned for our safety. That's all I need to say. Everyone's been practicing really hard lately to overcome their obstacles. That's not the right way to practice magic. It's too dangerous."

"Let's go out tomorrow," Anfey said. "We can go around the city and gather some information. I'll go with you."

"Alright," Christian said. "I'll be in my room."

"Night."

"Anfey, you're not angry at him, are you? Since you're doing this because you're concerned for them." Seeing that Christian had left the room, Suzanna moved over and asked Anfey.

"What kind of a man do you think I am?" Anfey asked, amused. "Christian was right. My way of doing things has not benefitted everyone. If he didn't say anything, I would never realize my mistake."

"As long as you're fine with it," Suzanna said, relieved.

"Suzanna, you should be more like Christian. Whenever you think I'm doing something wrong, you should immediately tell me. The key to a good plan is communication. We're all friends here, and we can all come to an agreement. If we keep our thoughts to ourselves, fights are inevitable."

"Then I need say something," Suzanna said.

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you let me go and kill the princess? Do you think I'm too weak for this? You have to realize I am more powerful than you."

"That's not my intention," Anfey informed her. "I was thinking…"

"Oh, another thing.You should go check on that little unicorn. It hasn't seen you for a few days and is really sad." Suzanna smiled and stood. "I'll be going. You should go to bed soon as well."

"Alright," Anfey said, nodding.

Suzanna walked over and pushed open the door. "Hui Wei? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Is Anfey back?"

"Over there," Suzanna said as she moved out of the way.

Hui Wei walked into the room and stared at Anfey. Suzanna left the room and closed the door behind her, giving them space to talk.

"Know what you want now?"

"Don't have much of a choice, now, do I?" Hui Wei sighed and sat down in front of Anfey. "Give me my ring."

Anfey fished out Hui Wei's dimensional ring and handed it to him.

Hui Wei accepted it and put it on his finger slowly. After a few moments, he sighed, and a bright ball of light appeared in his hand.

"So this is the secret to the antimagic terra?"

"This is a piece of the Will of the God of War," Hui Wei told him. "If you can activate it, it will create a terra around you. It can only last thirty seconds, though."

"How do I activate it?"

"It's easy. It all depends on your mind power." Hui Wei had already told Anfey everything he knew without holding back.

Anfey was already familiar with using mind power. The fights between spirits of the Evil Abyss depend on mind power. He was still relatively weak compared to the power spirits, but was nevertheless fairly skilled with mind power, or else he wouldn't have been able to control the fireballs with ease.

Anfey slowly robbed the light with his mind power, but found the Shattered Will of the God of War was empty. Nothing was inside, and there was no reaction. "What is it?" he asked Hui Wei.

Chapter 115: Testing

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Do you think Antimagic Terra can be started at any time? It was restricted." Hui Wei smiled bitterly.

"What kind of restriction?", Anfey asked.

"Shattered Will of God of War can be started three times a year," Hui Wei answered.

"Only three times a year? How many times have you used it?" Anfey continued to ask.

"It has already been used three times," Hui Wei said.

Anfey had a half smile on his face. "Do you mean this Shattered Will of God of War was just a waste now?"

"How can you call it a waste? Cooling time will pass soon and you will have the Antimagic Terra in the legend. Anfey, I did not lie to you. If you still do not trust me, you can wait and see. Let the facts tell the truth," Hui Wei hurried to explain.

"I do not have time to wait," Anfey said, shaking his head.

Hui Wei was startled for a second, and he felt his heart drop. He did take out Shattered Will of God of War from his Dimension Ring, which was the secret to operating Antimagic Terra. Before he decided to tell Anfey about the secret, he had given it a lot of thought. He wondered how Anfey would treat him. If Anfey did not trust him, he would end up in a very dangerous situation. The problem was he could not release Antimagic Terra to prove himself. The explanation did not matter to someone like Anfey, who was cold-hearted and only believed in facts instead of a person's explanation.

"Anfey, there is a secret that my ancestor died for in my Dimensional Ring. I think these secrets are more precious than Antimagic Terra. As long as you have my Dimensional Ring, I would not run away." Hui Wei passed his Dimensional Ring to Anfey. He was giving it his last try. He even threw out the secret that his ancestors tried to protect with their lives. Of course, no matter what would happen later, he would not give out the rest of the secrets. He needed to get Anfey's interest first. As long he had value to Anfey, Anfey would not want to kill him. He could think about ways to escape later.

"Dimensional Ring?" Anfey took over the Dimensional Ring. He took a look at it with a smile and tossed it back to Hui Wei. "This is your stuff."

"Huh?" Hui Wei hurried to catch the Dimensional Ring. He stared at Anfey.

"You did not look like you were lying to me." Anfey played with the Shattered Will of God of War. "I have promised you that you will have your freedom if you can tell us the secret of Antimagic Terra. By then, you can choose to leave or to be our friend."

"Are you serious?" Hui Wei asked.

"It does not look like there is any need to lie to you, does it?" Anfey asked.

"I got it." Hui Wei put the Dimensional Ring on his finger seriously. The difference in his manner before and after was huge. He looked excited. "Then, I choose to stay."

"Aren't you afraid of me asking about your secrets?" Anfey smiled.

"If you really want to do it, you would not easily give my ring back," Hui Wei said.

"Good. Since we are friends now, I have to let you know that I was not proud of taking away your stuff, but as you can see, I was not affected in the Antimagic Terra. I really need it, but it would not be that useful for you. If archmages and master swordsmen are also affected by Antimagic Terra, I could easily kill very powerful men. When I saw Suzanna's combat power was affected in Orcs' village, I decided to get it no matter what it would cost me," Anfey said.

"I know," Hui Wei nodded with a smile. "Anfey, there is a question I have always wanted to ask. Why were your martial art skills not affected? Did you practice the Skills of Gods?" Hui Wei asked.

"I did not mean to know your secrets. You are trying to ask about mine." Anfey had a weird smile on his face.

"Sorry, I did not mean it." Hui Wei shook his hand immediately. "I was just curious."

"You are one of us from today. You need think about what you can do for us." Anfey switched topics. "Alright. You can go back and take some rest. If there is anything you want to talk about, we can talk about it tomorrow."

"Ok." Hui Wei nodded. He stood up and walked outside. He stopped at the door. "Anfey, aren't you scared? When the Antimagic Terra is known by others, maybe the whole world would be our enemy."

"There is no need to get scared." Anfey smiled, paused, then said, "I know it is risky to do so. However, things will come sooner or later. We need to make a decision for ourselves."

* * * *

In a far away city in Maho Empire, there were two people talking about the same thing as Anfey and Hui Wei were.

"Antimagic Terra? Is it really an Antimagic Terra?" Yolanthe asked in surprise.

"Yes, your majesty. Black Eleven and Robert both have sent the same information back. The second important person in Glory mercenary group was Shanteler. He turned into a regular old man in the Antimagic Terra. There was not even a struggle before he was killed by Anfey," the grey shadow said.

"What do you think?" Yolanthe asked.

"Your majesty, I think we should immediately arrest the guy named Hui Wei and gain control of him," the grey shadow said.

Yolanthe did not say anything. He slowly closed his eyes in thought. That grey shadow did not say anything either. He kept quiet. The hall became unusually quiet.

After quite a while, Yolanthe opened his eyes. "Ask Black Eleven and Robert to pass my order that anything related to Antimagic Terra should stop. Asked them not to tell anyone about the Antimagic Terra. If it gets leaked out, they will receive the harshest punishment."

"Your majesty, how about Hui Wei?" the grey shadow asked.

"You don't have to worry about him. Let him do his own thing," Yolanthe said.

"Your majesty?" The grey shadow could not help raising his voice.

"With your protection and so many royal followers, I do not think my safety is under any threat. Taking control of Hui Wei would do nothing good to us. Getting the secret of the Antimagic Terra? Hahaha…If things are getting that bad, I do not think you guys can protect me. It means that Maho Empire is coming to its end. What could an Antimagic Terra do?" Yolanthe said.

The grey shadow was startled, not knowing how to respond to Yolanthe.

"Do you know about Anfey's plan? What do you think of Anfey?" Yolanthe asked.

"Intelligent, determined, and mature. He is good."

"Do you think it is necessary for him to tell Robert the secret of Antimagic Terra?" Yolanthe asked.

"Hmm, no, not necessary," the grey shadow answered.

"Then why would he tell him the secret?" Yolanthe asked.

The grey shadow thought for a while about the possibility that Anfey may feel it necessary to tell Robert the secret of Antimagic Terra. He smiled bitterly and decided not tell his real thoughts. "Maybe he has a big mouth."

"I remember you said Anfey is very mature." Yolanthe smiled.

"Your majesty, everyone would make mistakes," the grey shadow said, smiling in return.

"I do not think so." Yolanthe squinted his eyes. "I think Anfey is testing me. He knows what kind of person I am. He wants to know if I am worth him working for me."

"What?" the grey shadow asked in surprise.

"Ok, my old friend. We have experienced so much together. I do not think you could not understand Anfey's little trick," Yolanthe laughed.

"Your majesty, I could not hide anything from you," the grey shadow said, smiling bitterly.

"I adore Anfey more now. He killed Shanteler really fast. It showed his martial art skills were not affected in the Antimagic Terra," Yolanthe said.

"I think so too", the grey shadow said.

"Then we will give him what he wants. Antimagic Terra is the most helpful for him. If it were me, I probably would have no way to release the Antimagic Terra with my whole being."

"Yes, your majesty," the grey shadow said.

"Oh, where is Robert now?" Yolanthe asked.

"I have asked him to come back without anyone noticing," the grey shadow said.

"Young people tend to do things without caution. When Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had total control of Blackwater City, he would start doing investigation of these things. The patrol in Blackwater City and the bodyguards of Shanteler had seen that Robert had contacted Shanteler. Robert's identity must have exposed. Old man, you did well and in good time," Yolanthe said.

"Your majesty, do we need remind of Anfey and let him know we noticed Robert's flaw," the grey shadow said.

"I hope it would not hurt his pride." Yolanthe nodded with a smile. "It feels good to be young. Only young people have time to make mistakes and correct them."

"I understand, your majesty," the grey shadow said.

"Anything new on Brufit's side?" Yolanthe asked.

"He has been very active," the grey shadow sneered. He seemed to describe a clown. "He has thought himself a palace chief mage and had a better and better relationship with the big prince."

"Did Wester do anything to make Brufit suspicious?" Yolanthe asked.

"The prince has done a good job on it," the grey shadow said.

"I do not like some parts of Wester," Yolanthe suddenly sighed.

The grey shadow shut his mouth. He never hesitated to offer his opinions on state affairs, but he had been quiet on Yolanthe's family issues.

"Wester is a little too cunning," Yolanthe said, shaking his head. "The most important trait for a king is to have a great personality. Being cunning would keep others away from him."

The look on the grey shadow's face was strange. He was thinking to himself, "It seemed cunning to pretend to be dead to allure Dark Moon Magic Legion of Ellisen Empire to the jedi." Obviously Yolanthe was considering who would inherit his throne. The grey shadow did not want to offer his opinion on this issue.

"Let's wait for few years to see. It's too early to talk about it now." Yolanthe heaved a sigh. It had been a pain for any king to think about who would be his successor. If three of his sons fell in the water and were about to drown while he was only able to save one of them, whom would he save? Two different questions, but the answer seemed to be the same.