Clark had expressed his obvious love for Fanny during the trials in the Dark Forest, but had been driven away by Han Shuo's evil plan. Who would have thought that a few months later, Han Shuo would see him again on the grounds of the Academy?
Duke and Clark were talking inside a house at the Knight's School, with the senior swordsman standing guard outside the door, as if deathly afraid of anyone coming over and disturbing them.
The Duke personally erected a wind wall inside the house. As Han Shuo's original demon approached, it could only keep an eye on Senior Swordsman Erick standing guard outside because they felt a faint pulse of magic. The original demon didn't dare to enter the house, so he couldn't hear what they were talking about.
The last time Duke and Camilla had met in the Dark Major's classrooms, they had chosen to meet in the middle of the night. They must have thought that no one would discover them, so they hadn't taken those extra precautions, but it was daylight now, not to mention that they were in the middle of Knight's School. No wonder Duke had taken such precautions.
Duke and Clark left the house after a while. Duke retraced his steps and left the Knight's School alone. The original demon followed behind Duke and Erick and discovered that Duke had returned to the Wind Major buildings, while Clark had stayed inside the Knights' School training ground to practise his techniques.
This was exactly the time of day when the knight students would be practicing their techniques, and Han Shuo didn't stay in the same place to continue watching. He headed straight for one of the training grounds to find Lawrence, following the directions he had left earlier.
Aside from a variety of weapons in the training grounds, there were also several battle steeds, fully clad in heavy armour, that looked quite fierce. The biggest difference between knights and swordsmen was that knights relied heavily on horses in battle. The ability to control horses was an important skill for knights to master. They could use the power and speed of a battle steed to exert even greater force.
Dressed in shining silver armour and wielding a long spear, Lawrence dashed back and forth across the training ground. The warrior under his lead leapt over several high obstacles. As they charged forward, the spear in his hand was like a flash of lightning as a glorious aura of combat blossomed from it in the air.
"Hello Lawrence!" Han Shuo stood in front of the door, watching for a while before suddenly opening his mouth in greeting.
With a shrill whinny, Lawrence turned his battle helmet around and launched a fierce attack at Han Shuo with the long spear in his hand. Lawrence's spear plunged straight into Han Shuo's chest, accompanied by the clatter of the horse's iron hooves.
Although the attack was unparalleled in its ferocity, Han Shuo was unmoved until Lawrence had charged in front of Han Shuo on his battle steed. Only then did he suddenly draw out the Demonslayer's Edge, infusing it with raging, violent demonic qi and thrusting it at the long spear.
Under the impact of the Demonslayer's Edge, the long spear broke in two, starting from its tip. It was a good thing Lawrence let go in time, otherwise the Demonslayer's Edge might have injured his hand after decimating the long spear.
However, the combined power and speed of the Battle Edge also made it a bit difficult for Han Shuo to withstand this attack. The irresistible force of the attack also caused his arm holding the Demonslayer's Edge to tremble uncontrollably.
Pulling back on the reins and stopping the horse, Lawrence leapt off and, after removing his heavy armour, arrived excitedly in front of Han Shuo. His two eyes were fixed on the Demonslayer's Edge in Han Shuo's hand as he exclaimed in amazement. "What kind of strange weapon is this, it's so sharp!"
"Heh heh, black iron ore, black gold ore, and many rare metals were mixed to create this weapon. It was personally forged by dwarves, it would be strange if it wasn't sharp." Han Shuo explained to Lawrence after he had put the Demonslayer Edge away.
Lawrence grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his brow, "So that's it, your weapon is indeed quite unusual. Oh, right, did you come to find me this time because you've already acquired some black iron ore? Heh!"
Nodding, Han Shuo took out the black iron ore he had dug out of his space ring yesterday, "That's right, this piece of black iron ore should satisfy your needs. Let's conclude our business!"
"No problem, give me your crystal card, I'll transfer five thousand gold to you." Lawrence happily looked at the black iron ore in Han Shuo's hand as he said this, too impatient to wait.
After Han Shuo and Lawrence completed their transaction, Han Shuo discovered that another five thousand gold had appeared in his crystal card and a trace of a smile broke out on his face.
Just as the two of them were basking in their comfortable feelings, the Earth Rider Knight Clark walked in from outside. Clark had just entered and was about to speak when he suddenly saw Han Shuo. His face immediately changed as he shouted softly, "You!"
When he turned his head to see that Clark had come in, Han Shuo also gave a slight start of surprise inwardly. He nodded to Clark and smiled, "Hello Clark, long time no see. Why did you leave without a word last time in the Dark Forest?"
"Huh. I was set up by an evil person and had no choice but to leave." So much time had passed that Clark must have understood the truth of what had happened. As soon as he saw Han Shuo, he immediately started making insinuations and cursing a certain person.
Pausing for a moment, Clark looked at Han Shuo, "How is Master Fanny? I wanted to pay her a visit and also apologise."
"Master Fanny is very well and doesn't need your concern!" Han Shuo said immediately with a cold look on his face when he heard that Clark had not forgotten Fanny yet.
"Hey hey, what's up with you two? Eh, Senior Clark, didn't you graduate already? What are you doing here? How do you know Bryan?" Lawrence saw the two of them practically spitting fire at each other and hurried to speak up.
"I've come back to the Knights' School this time to investigate the matter of my younger brother Claude's disappearance. My brother seems to have been involved with Bryan in the town of Drol. If I find out that he has anything to do with my brother's disappearance, I'm going to make him pay". Clark's face darkened as he replied to Lawrence and Han Shuo.
Han Shuo jumped in horror and also looked at Clark with some shock. He had never thought that Clark was Claude's brother. This meant that he was the eldest son of the chief of the Gryphon Legion. Although he'd gotten rid of Claude in a clean way back in Drol, Claude had actually met him in a bar. If Clark really wanted to investigate this, it would be a bit difficult.
"What's that got to do with me, I don't know Claude that well. Besides, his martial arts techniques are so advanced, what could have happened to him?" Han Shuo's face was calm as he said indifferently. Then, after thinking for a while, he said to Lawrence, "All right, I don't have any more business, so let's finish here today."
Han Shuo didn't wait for Lawrence's answer after he finished and left the training grounds directly. He left the knight school at an even faster pace and hurried towards the academy grounds.
The three original demons had to be called back into Han Shuo's body because of the distance problem. When he found out Clark's identity, Han Shuo felt that there was something wrong with this matter.
As the eldest son of the head of the Empire's Gryphon Legion, why would he meet with an emissary from the Kasi Empire and stay in that room so secretly? Although he did not know what the two had discussed, Han Shuo felt that the sooner he reported something he could not control to the leaders of the Dark Mantle for them to worry about, the better.
There was a large mansion in the northern part of the city, only three hundred metres away from Phoebe's collapsed residence. Taking out the Dark Mantle medallion that was his identity, Han Shuo knocked on the metal door after noting no abnormalities from the outside. A thin, short youth opened the door after a long time.
He looked Han Shuo up and down, sizing him up, and then asked brusquely, "Who are you looking for?"
Han Shuo didn't say much and just handed the medallion to the youth. The boy looked at the medallion and turned his body to the side to let Han Shuo pass. The boy handed the medallion back to Han Shuo after he had entered. The boy's expression had relaxed and he said quietly, "You've just joined us, haven't you? I've never seen you before. Your medallion is also one that a newcomer would wear. Who's in charge of you?"
As he followed the boy inside, Han Shuo discovered that there weren't any special magical boundaries or mechanisms in the entire manor. This made Han Shuo feel quite astonished and he observed his surroundings even more closely. He carelessly replied, "I just joined a few days ago, an old man named Candide is in charge of me!"
"Wh-what? Are you sure? Sir Candide is in charge of you just after you joined?" The boy was noticeably surprised as he asked Han Shuo with a soft exclamation.
Nodding, Han Shuo asked confusedly, "Yes, is there a problem?"
"Uh, no problem, but Sir Candide is one of the three heavyweights who holds the real power within our 'Dark Mantle' organisation. Sir Candide can deploy the troops of any city directly throughout the realm without first seeking the approval of His Majesty. He can kill common nobles and military officials directly. You're a rookie, yet you report directly to Sir Candide?"
Han Shuo shrugged and said, "How should I know? He's the one who brought me here anyway. I'm looking for him this time. Right, I've looked around and discovered that this secret fortress doesn't seem to have any defensive capabilities. What's going on here?"
"Hehehe, you're a newbie. Come with me, I'll show you around!" The thin youth took on the tone of an elder as he led Han Shou in with a smile.