Renard was not a fool.
With the awakening ceremony approaching, he had known that the preparator behind the last assassination attempt would make another move.
And the Festival of Warriors provided them the perfect cover to do so.
Crowd, chaos, and countless opportunities for accidents to happen.
Yes, despite this, Renard had deliberately taken the risk of roaming around the festival with Aria, and even now he had walked right into their trap, bringing his sister along.
There were three reason for that.
First, his had come prepared.
Sara and Zain, the bloodhounds that were acting as their guards, were powerful enough to relay on.
Second, he had taken precautions beyond just fighting power. The red flare now painting the sky red was a signal for Lord Agusthus.
The Knights of Draemir territory, along with Kasim and Lord Agusthus would already be mobilizing.
Help was coming.
Very soon.
But the real reason he had taken such a risk was because of Zain.
The Sword of Honor, not yet the man Renard had known - to awaken him as the Knight of codes, he had take these risks.
There were special conditions required for his awakening, conditions that even Renard himself wasn't sure of! But from the rumors he had heard in his past life - he thought it would be possible.
But now, watching the group of assailants rushing towards their small group from all direction, he was having second thoughts.
Despite that, Renard's eyes darted from one opponent to opponent, reading their providence states with his ability.
Blue runes materialized in front of his eyes as Prajna did its work.
The good thing was most of their opponents were either in essence zone or awakened Zone. Individually, they wouldn't even pose threat to Renard, let alone Zain and Sara.
But they were fighting duels!
When they pushed them together, attacking from all direction while coordinating with each other, they became a threat!
So much so that even Sara was having hard time preventing them from reaching Aria.
Even them it could have been manageable.
If not four the four people whose providence state Renard couldn't see, that is.
'At least at Master Zone'
Renard's ability had limitations.
He couldn't see the providence state of individuals who are higher than the Master Zone, but even knowing he couldn't see their providence state was a help in itself.
So, he didn't need anyone to tell him that they were dangerous.
Among the four was the middle aged man himself while the other three were mixed in between others.
'I have to avoid-'
His thoughts were cut short as movement flicked in his peripheral vision.
A blade whistled through the air towards his throat, forcing him to dodge. But he wasn't safe yet.
Another attacked was already moving to capitalize on his evasion with a sword aimed at his exposed side.
"Young master!"
Zain's voice cut through the chaos as he tried to help Renard, but one of the individuals whose Providence state was abstracted blocked him.
And the two remaining tied up Sara's feet, limiting her movement. With protecting Aria as her main goal, she couldn't even act much.
"Lady Aria, Stay behind me."
Sara was literally moving keeping Aria in her shadow.
Knowing that no help was coming Renard had to help himself - so he activated the one ability he could.
Beast Mimicry!
The agility and flexibility of the elegant black panther, Esther was reproduced in an insignificant amount!
But even that was enough.
He bent an unbelievable angle planting his sword on the ground as support and dodged the sword.
Zain who was still locked with the other opponent roared.
The opponent's sword ran through his arm, blood gushing out of the shallow arm - but ignoring that Zain pushed back!
But frustratingly, his sword wouldn't meet the opponent, he was too weak to be a threat to someone who was at the master zone.
But it was quite opposite in the case of Sara.
She who was at the peak of master realm, easily fought against the two opponents, but protecting Aria at the same time was proving extremely difficult for her!
She pushed back one of them, her sword becoming blur for a movement as a silver arc. But before she could strike, she was forced back to defend Aria, who was being targeted by the other.
It was frustrating battle for both sides.
But it was more disadvantageous of Ranard's group. Right now, Sara was handling most of the opponents but her stamina wasn't endless - she would reach her limit too.
On the other hand, the opponents still had the leader who was yet to act and many others.
Despite that, Renard fought back with confidence, as if he had a plan on his head.
Zain couldn't understand that, but he need not to.
His blood was boiling and the battle was pushing him to the limits. He had to concentrate all his attention to keep up with the opponent and that was proving difficult and as time passed, the wounds on his body were increasing.
"What's wrong?"
His opponent taunted, scoring another shallow cut across his arm.
"Is this the limit of your conviction?"
Zain's teeth ground together as he parried another strike that would have taken his head. His essence reserves were running low.
Each clash was sending shockwaves though his arms. But there was no other option, with the young miss and young Lord to his back, he had no option.
And right at the movement, Henry moved!
The ordinary looking man seemed to blur, his form splitting into multiple afterimages as he crossed the distance toward Renard and Aria, ignoring Zain.
His killing intent filled the air, making it hard to even breathe.
This was the true power of their leader - a man who had almost reached the transcendence zone!
"Time to end this game, Children," His voice carried a note of finality as he raised his blade, essence swirling around it like a hungry beast.
The situation was desperate!
Sara was being pushed back by two opponents, unable to break free. Zain was completely useless against the leader who seemed as strong and if not stronger than Sara herself.
In that movement of crisis, Renard turned to Zain.
Their eyes met across the chaos of the battle, and in Renard's gaze, Zain saw something he couldn't quite comprehend - not fear, not desperation but an absolute certainty.
"Do you believe in me?"
He didn't know how he could hear the voice of Renard in midst of the chaos, but Zain knew he had to answer him at that movement.
As Henry's blade descended toward Renard, as Sara screamed in frustration at being unable to reach them, as the weight of his own weakness threatened to crush him - Zain found his answer!
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