"Who cares about that crap?" the man snorted.
"What?"
"I said who cares about that crap? I'm here to fight you. It's that simple!" He was about to charge at them when the bird hurriedly waved his wings.
"Please wait! How about this then? We will agree to spar with you, but you must agree to pass our message on afterwards." Elder Argo felt a headache mounting. Battle-maniacs were always impossible to deal with!
"Spar? That's fine by me." The Sword King grinned.
"Are you sure about this, Elder Argo? We haven't recovered our full strength, and we're facing a Rank 3 King. This could be ended poorly," Elder Terus whispered to which Elder Unvo and Ludin nodded.
Elder Unvo might be a Perception Realm Expert, a Late Rank 2 Lord, but he was not a fighter by any means. He was essentially deadweight in a battle. Conversely, Elder Ludin was a fighter, but he had backlashed to Medium Condensed Drop. His potential strength had declined greatly. The same went for Elder Crus. None of them felt confident in sparring against the Sword King.
"I know. Sword King Sin, this is a friendly spar, so I expect it to stop before any grievous or life-threatening injuries are inflicted on either party. I have your guarantee, correct?"
The man clicked his tongue. "Stop the blabbering and fight already!"
The five birds glanced at each other. "Very well. Let's fight!" And so, the curtain rose on their epic battle over Guanhuang. The rest was history.
Hearing this, Elizabeth was suspicious. "Both sides were seriously trying to kill each other multiple times. There's no way that could be considered a spar. You should come up with a better lie next time."
Elder Argo groaned. "It's the truth. I admit that things spiralled out of control when we shattered the Sword King's sword. He seemed to forget that we were sparring and fully intended to kill us. However, never once did either side commit everything."
"What do you mean?"
"We, the Featherwind Sect, have our own trump cards that we could have used in a desperate life-or-death situation. For example, this… was once the Featherwind Pearl, a once Lesser Monarch Grade treasure. It might be broken now, but it can produce power equivalent to a Superior Noble Grade treasure, if not greater. We also have other means that we chose not to reveal. The same goes for the Sword King. Although it looked like we pushed him to his limits, he never once revealed his Bloodline Ability. As you know, every Rank 3 King will have awakened their Bloodline and Bloodline Abilities. They're our aces and final trump cards to reverse the odds. The fact that the Sword King never used his shows he never felt the need to. That should be proof enough for you."
"Assuming that were true, you thought it was right to ambush me in the middle of the night when I look like this?" Elizabeth scoffed. Since she woke up, she was wearing a night gown, which was hardly suitable for a conversation of this magnitude. Not to mention, they snuck around without going through the official channels to notify her, General Petra, or the Alzar Kingdom. Anyone would think they had evil intentions in mind.
"This conversation will be a long one. Shall we find another room to talk?"
"First, release me from this spell. I won't negotiate otherwise," Elizabeth said firmly.
"It was meant to safeguard our conversation, but very well… Elder Terus, if you may."
The vast starry sky began to fade and fall away, restoring the hallway to its original appearance. Elizabeth feigned calmness, yet she felt relieved inside. That mysterious spell was too big of an unknown, so seeing her familiar surroundings again gave her a sense of safety. And unsurprisingly, the commotion was captured by the others. The Ten Dawns had detected a powerful magical disturbance, while the Perception Realm Masters felt something was wrong too. Everyone converged on her location!
At the front of the pack was Sir Winstin, who was the closest to Elizabeth when it happened. Using one hand, he unsheathed his glaive, stomped down, and fearlessly charged at Elder Argo. His momentum was shocking! In response, Elder Argo raised his wing infused with Martial Energy. Bang! The collision sent sparks flying, but the bird did not budge. Instead, it was Sir Winstin who flipped in the air and landed in front of Elizabeth to catch his footing. He was stunned that a bird's wing could be so hard! It defied common sense. Then again, the mere presence of a giant talking bird already defied common sense… He was about to continue the assault when Elizabeth stopped him.
"Your Highness?" Sir Winstin was confused.
"It's alright." She directed her gaze towards Elder Argo. "Did anyone else spot you or the Featherwind Sect? If not, then good. Return here tomorrow. I will notify the appropriate people and prepare a formal negotiation. Is that satisfactory for you?"
"Understood. We shall return here at this time tomorrow. Till then," the bird replied before flapping his wings and disappearing out the window. He was gone before they knew it.
"Sir Winstin, can you confirm that they left?"
"I cannot sense them anymore, but more importantly, are you unharmed, Your Highness?"
"Yes, I am. They didn't do anything to me."
"Elizabeth!" Shirley shouted as she ran over with Benedict and Freon close behind.
"Elizabeth, are you alright? What happened?"
"We heard the noise and came over."
"I'm fine, everyone. Sorry for making you all worry. Sir Winstin, could you let General Petra know that I want to meet her in my quarters as soon as possible? I know it's late in the night, but this is an emergency. Wake her up if necessary."
"Understood, Your Highness."
"Is there anything we can do?" Freon asked.
"Then, could you work alongside the Ten Dawns to confirm there are no lingering sources of magic in the area? I wouldn't want the Featherwind Sect to leave any unexpected surprises around."
"Alright."
"Benedict, Shirley, please notify Imperian Qiang and the Imperial Princesses that something urgent has come up, and I request their presence immediately."
"Sure!"
"We can handle that much."
"Thank you."
In less than thirty minutes, everyone convened inside Elizabeth's quarters. General Petra and the others clearly rushed here, given their drowsy faces and disorderly clothes. It was probably the most 'casual' Elizabeth saw them. Xiuying even looked like she was dreaming still from the small trickle of drool from her mouth. Elizabeth felt a little sorry for calling them this late at night, yet this was not something that could be delayed. The quicker they decided, the better! Thinking that, she adopted a stern expression. Perhaps they sensed her shift in mood, but they responded in kind by shaking away their drowsiness. They resumed their demeanors as a general, two princesses, and a patriarch!
General Petra asked immediately, "Is it true that the Featherwind Sect approached you?"
"Yes. Around thirty minutes ago, I was getting something to drink when a bird ambushed me in the hallway and trapped me in a strange spell. He went on to explain that the Featherwind Sect intends to negotiate with the Alzar Kingdom, and that their intentions went undelivered in Guanhuang. They claim they were responsible for rescuing myself and the others from the Battle of Liguang too."
"Putting that aside, how did they penetrate our defenses so easily? We have an army of fifty thousand here. It shouldn't be possible to evade the detection of this many people, much less make it all the way here," General Petra frowned. As the commanding officer, she had a responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone present, especially Princess Elizabeth. Failing to do so meant a severe problem with her leadership! She was deeply embarrassed and frustrated.
"I don't know, but this isn't the first time something like this happened. When I was kidnapped by the Whispering Shadow last year, the Second Hand went undetected too."
"Then are they using the same means or are they related somehow?" Ming wondered.
"I doubt that's the case. The Whispering Shadow was wiped out by the Alzar Kingdom, and any remaining traces should have been snuffed out by now. It's probably possible through a spell or technique that we don't know yet."
"According to what Your Highness said, the Featherwind Sect should have an arrangement with the Imperial Council, bound by the contact-type spell known as Nine Regrets Reincarnation. They shouldn't have the leeway to negotiate with the Alzar Kingdom," Imperian Qiang questioned.
"But didn't they save us in Liguang?" Xiuying added.
"After trapping us inside, massacring our forces, and destroying the town?" Ming retorted.
"That makes it more confusing! First, they attacked us in Liguang, which meant they were helping the Imperial Council, but then they saved us, which meant they were helping the Alzar Kingdom. Whose side are they really on?"