"Behind you." I chuckled.
The old man's face changed, but his reaction befitted a powerhouse. Instead of panicking, he exploded his mana outwards, blowing everything around him away.
It just ruffled my clothes, though. I continued behind him with a teasing smile.
Realizing that his attack was useless, the old man insta-casted a teleportation spell, teleporting ten meters away.
I did not bother to stop him. It would be bad if I scare the bigger fishes.
When the old man reappeared, he looked at me with a grave expression.
"Who are you?"
I smirked. "Is it not obvious? I'm the one backing the Red Skull Gang."
The old man wrinkled his brows. "So it's you huh... The young miss was right after all. She told us that the Red Skull Gang had someone powerful behind them, but she could not discover who. Your strength... Twelfth-layer?"
"Your young miss is very observant." I smiled and ignored his question about my cultivation. Technically my current strength is at the twelfth layer. I still need a couple of days more to return to the thirteen-layer.
Of course, my cultivation method is intrinsically different from this world's one. Just the purity of my mana alone puts me way above any twelfth-layer practitioner of this word.
While I was seizing the old man in front of me, the old man suddenly smiled.
"You are younger than forty, right? To think you are so young... Unfortunately, you are going to die here."
"Oh?"
"Do you not understand yet? Our young miss was expecting someone like you backing the Red Skull Gang, so she obviously made the necessary preparations."
Before he finished speaking, three more people appeared from the shadows. Two were like the old man, twelfth-layer practitioners, and the third was an acquaintance.
Aaron, Alice's butler and a thirteenth-layer practitioner.
The old man put on an arrogant expression. "Brat, it's better if you surrender and swear your loyalty to our young miss. We don't to kill someone so talented like you."
I whistled in surprise.
"Hoh... It looks like Alice has a good impression of me."
Instantly, the four powerhouses froze.
"Do you know the young miss?" Aaron asked.
I smiled mysteriously. "What do you think?"
Aaron wrinkled his brows. "Could I ask if I have met you before? I find you familiar."
A small giggle escaped from my lips. "Maybe, maybe not. If you want to discover it, you will have to defeat me first."
A serious expression appeared on Arron's face. "It looks like you know more than a normal person. Whose noble family are you from? Why are you going against our Ferret family."
I looked straight to Aaron's eyes and lifted the corners of my lips mischievously.
"Guess."
Instantly, I appeared in front of him.
Aaron's eyes narrowed into slits. He drew his sword out of his sheath and slashed towards my neck.
Sword technique, [Quick Draw]!
A giant sword slash appeared in front of me. The enormous sword energy seemed as though it wanted to slash the world into two!
I furrowed my brows and took a step forward. Instantly, my body blended into the surroundings. The sword slash passed through my body without causing any damage while I extended my hand forward.
Aaron's eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment. He unsheathed another sword from his waist and used it to stop my hand.
At the same time, he spoke to the other three.
"Nara, put on an isolation barrier! We will be in trouble if the palace's masters notice the commotion here! Be careful, this boy is not as simple as he looks."
"Understood!" One of the twelfth-layer practitioners answered and created a barrier around the place. She was a middle-aged woman that was dressed as a mage.
The other two moved at the same time. The old man from before jumped back and started to cast a spell. Meanwhile, another man charged towards me with a spear.
Two mages and two martial artists. Even for me, the current lineup was a little troublesome.
However, only enemies like them are able to make my blood boil.
My lips curved into an excited smile. Ignoring the spear-wielding man, I charged towards Aaron and threw a fist towards him, collapsing the space where he was.
But Aaron reacted quickly. He slashed down with one of his swords and cut the collapsed space. Then, he filled his body with sword qi and used the other sword to stab towards me.
Feeling his pure sword energy, understanding dawned on me.
Aaron was a pure sword practitioner. Someone whose life was dedicated only to the sword. It had been a time since the last time I met someone like him.
Aaron's sword was incredibly sharp. The mana around his sword was filled with an incredibly sharp sword intent that seemed to cut the world itself.
I formed a hand-blade and slapped his sword aside. Using that opportunity, my body closed the distance between us. My knee advanced towards his abdomen while my left hand tried to punch his face.
It was checkmate. If Aaron would have been alone, this attack would have been enough to decide the match.
Unfortunately, he was not alone.
"[Space Shackles]!" The old man bellowed.
I felt the space around me turning heavy. My movements slowed down to a crawl, and the world around me seemed to pressure my body.
The next instant, a sword and a spear were cutting towards me. At the same time, the female mage unleashed a burning spear towards my position.
Aaron looked at me indifferently. His eyes seemed to declare my death, certain I was unable to avoid their attacks.
However, my lips curved into a sneer.
How dares the old man use space against me?
Watching the three incoming attacks, I raised my hands and clapped once.
... And the entire building was destroyed.
...