The land, littered with the corpses of the special variant manticore and five shadow knights, was periodically swept by dry sandstorms. After Leonard and the Fifth Shadow vanished, no signs of life remained, and it seemed the battlefield would stay untouched until it was eventually buried in the sand.
Thud!
A hand suddenly burst from the previously flat ground, and its owner soon emerged. It was Leonard.
"That was close," he muttered, his back drenched in cold sweat.
If he hadn't dug several meters underground using his earth manipulation technique and the Turtle Breathing Method, he wouldn't have escaped the senses of the Transcendence Tier knight. His life had danced on a knife's edge in those few seconds.
The Fifth Shadow is even stronger than I expected.
He had been disappointed by the Thirtieth Shadow and only revised his opinion upon encountering the Twelfth Shadow. However, the Fifth Shadow was far beyond them, making it almost an insult to compare them. Even with his senses dulled by the Turtle Breathing Method, Leonard was soaked in sweat. This opponent was comparable to or stronger than the top two of the Yellow Lotus Temple's Seven Absolutes.
He's comparable to the Explosion Blade Rakshasa or the Black Flame Duke. Considering the difference in internal energy and physical capabilities, he's probably stronger than both of them.
Even Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk was only about seventy percent confident of his victory against such a formidable foe. Feeling the presence of such a being up close, Leonard found his lips stretching into a mad grin. He wanted to fight to the death right then and there, but knowing his current power at the Third Degree External Force Tier wasn't enough to fight satisfactorily, he held back.
He barely managed to calm his surging battle hunger and took off in the opposite direction.
Swoosh!
With a few strides, he caught the wind and dashed out of the now heavy and silent Valley of Lions. Its former inhabitant's death cast a long shadow over the valley. A Transcendent could synchronize their power with nature, maintaining maximum speed with the Lightness Art while conserving internal energy for hours. Leonard needed to get as far away as possible before the Fifth Shadow realized he had been deceived.
Still, I learned quite a bit from his monologue.
Leonard mused, piecing together the information in his mind.
The Fifth Shadow said something like "I was too late. If I had hurried, I could have saved you all." That's more than enough. He had been gathering the other shadow knights, and the five who had died today were likely the last of them.
How many of the original thirty survived was unknown, but at most, it would be around twenty. The shadow knights, already at a numerical disadvantage, had no one else to rely on apart from the Fifth Shadow.
There are only two choices for him now: regroup with the survivors and escape from the island or mobilize all remaining forces to achieve their goal.
While Leonard did not know how they had entered the Galapagos Island, he was sure they had prepared an escape route. The Thirtieth Shadow had mentioned a Mass Teleport magic scroll that could cast large-scale space magic once. However, it took considerable time to activate and was easily detected. As such, they would have to increase the distance to prevent the Order of the Fledgling Dragon from arriving on time.
It seems unlikely that the Fifth Shadow would choose to escape. I don't think he has any intention of giving up just yet.
If so, Leonard should expect the latter to be chosen. Thinking from the shoes of the Order of the Shadow, he had to come up with the best way for their small group of elite forces to achieve their objective. Leonard soon came up with an answer.
"If they aim to strike swiftly by kidnapping a few before escaping, they would use the Swordmaster as the vanguard. That's their best option," Leonard concluded.
Originally, the plan could have been to kidnap dozens of scattered apprentice knights across the island. However, that would become impossible once the Cardenas family learned of the attack and prepared countermeasures. Only a swift assault led by a Swordmaster would allow them to achieve their goals, as it would be hard to stop even if the Cardenas family knew about it.
Commander Fabian's arrival is the only effective counter. Unless the Cardenas family had something like the 108 Arhat Formation of the Shaolin Temple, which not even a Swordmaster could easily break through.
The Shaolin Temple was a school with such an extensive history that it was stated that all the martial arts of the world originated from the Shaolin Temple. The 108 Arhat Formation was renowned as the most powerful formation of the ancient Shaolin Temple.
While some might joke that 108 martial artists beating up one person was hardly fair, anyone who saw 108 Peak Realm experts subduing a single Creation Realm master would be impressed. Leonard had never encountered it during his time as the Sword Emperor, which was one of the things he regretted.
I've heard that if 108 Apex Realm experts gathered, they could even handle a Profound Realm master...
Having fought the Heavenly Demon himself, he knew such a claim was ridiculous. If a hundred-foot-tall Asura statue rose and punched a mountain into pieces, even a hundred Apex Realm experts wouldn't stand a chance. Even Yeon Mu-Hyuk had barely held on for a hundred seconds by burning almost all his Innate True Qi.
I can't teach the Order of the Fledgling Dragon any joint attack formations anyway, so it's a meaningless assumption. Their swordsmanship is too formless for them to be organized in a systematic formation.
The more advanced a formation was, the more important the synergy and cooperation of the people involved were. Advanced formations like the Quanzhen Sect's Heavenly North Star Formation required precise coordination of internal energy and techniques to be effective, unlike simpler formations such as the Three Man Formation that could be taught through brute force. If advanced formations were not done right, not even ten percent of their true power could be exerted.
"Is it somewhere around here?"
Leonard did not just make one or two exits to the underground passage he had dug from his residence. After finding his way to where he had dug on the edge of the Forest of Wastes, he used the earth manipulation technique to burrow into the passage. As the underground passage was dug to be a few meters in height, he was able to land on his feet despite being underground.
He ended his secret excursion from the base camp without anyone in the Order of the Fledgling Dragon finding out. Walking through the several-hundred-meter-long underground passage, Leonard returned to his residence. He was finally able to let out a long sigh. Only then did he feel truly free from the Swordmaster's pursuit.
"Hm?"
He noticed an unusual commotion around his dwelling. It extended to the entire base camp. When Leonard stepped outside, a sense of foreboding washed over him, and his eyes narrowed.
This is not a good sign. Confusion, anger, and even a faint trace of fear...
Using his upper dantian to observe and sense the emotions swirling through the area, Leonard tilted his head.
Why was the Order of the Fledgling Dragon shaken to this extent?
They already knew from Bradley's briefing that there was a Swordmaster among the enemy and that their strength was formidable. It didn't make sense for everyone to start fearing them now. So, Leonard decided to ask someone who might know more.
"Senior!" he called out.
"Hm? What is it? I don't have time to entertain you right now," replied a mid-rank knight.
Leonard recognized his face but couldn't remember his name.
Grabbing the knight as he passed by, Leonard urgently asked, "What's going on? I've been in my quarters, so I don't know the current situation!"
"Oh, I see! Well..." The mid-rank knight hesitated, a shadow crossing his face.
It was because the mid-rank knight knew of Leonard's relationship with the missing people. Sensing something was wrong, Leonard stood waiting for an explanation.
The knight finally spoke, averting his eyes. "One of our patrol teams was ambushed. The Swordmaster appeared, and before reinforcements from the other nearby patrol teams or the banneret could arrive, the battle was already over."
"And the result?" Leonard asked.
"Forty-three mid-rank knights died, and eight apprentice knights went missing. Those bastards must have taken them," the knight replied.
It was just as Leonard had predicted, only one thing differed—the Fifth Shadow's swift judgment and actions.
Damn it.
Leonard cursed, realizing he'd misinterpreted the Fifth Shadow's remarks.
"I was too late. If I had hurried, I could have saved you all without ruining our grand plan."
The Fifth Shadow hadn't been lamenting the loss of his subordinates; he had been regretting not involving them in a successful operation.
As Leonard clicked his tongue and mulled over his mistake, the mid-rank knight cautiously added, "I'm sorry to say this, but some of the missing apprentice knights were close to you."
"What?" Leonard's eyes widened.
"Hayden, Ian, and Gale. Their patrol team was the target. We didn't find their bodies, so we believe they were captured."
The knight then turned and walked away, leaving Leonard to process the news.
Those three, huh, Leonard thought, momentarily lost in his memories.
Hayden.
A seemingly frivolous guy who actually cared deeply for his comrades. His talent with the sword made teaching him enjoyable.
Ian.
Leonard murmured. A thinker rather than a fighter, but he never misused his intellect. Despite approaching Leonard with the intention of making Leonard indebted to him, he always ended up being on the receiving end. He had a foolish side to him.
Gale.
Though slower-witted than the other two, his earnestness matched his slow but steady progress. Given a few years, he could become truly exceptional.
Leonard had given a lot to them, but he had received just as much in return.
Can I save them with my current power?
He pondered, closing his eyes in deep thought. He was at the Third Degree External Force Tier, with unmatched physical abilities and ninety years of internal energy, but he didn't have the confidence to rescue the captives from a group of shadow knights led by a Swordmaster. If he couldn't do it alone, he needed to leverage the strength of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon, an allied force.
There's a way.
A plan started to take shape in his mind, becoming increasingly practical and feasible. He considered the route the shadow knights were likely to take, the corpses in the Valley of Lions, and the Fifth Shadow. Piecing together fragmented information, he devised a strategy. With a plan in his grasp, Leonard contemplated it a final time.
The risk is high, and all that is to be gained is only the lives of those eight apprentice knights.
If left unattended, the shadow knights would likely return to their homeland with the eight apprentice knights in captivity, prompting the Cardenas family to retaliate against the Kurdish Kingdom and eventually bring them down. Even a single knightly order from one of the Seven Great Orders could annihilate the Order of the Shadow and devastate the entire kingdom. Their reckless ambition to surpass the Cardenas family by researching the Cardenas' bloodline would be shattered, but the fate of the apprentice knights would remain uncertain.
"I have no choice but to do it." While caressing the hilt of his sword, Leonard decided that he would jump into the lion's den.
That's right. Since when did I start worrying about whether I can or can't do something?
He reminded himself that it wasn't about whether it was possible or not. It was about whether he should or shouldn't wield his sword. That principle was the only thing that defined the life of the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk.
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