This volume is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.

Chapter 1 : Running away from home

"He"s not breathing?"

Hearing Kaiser"s announcement, everyone seemed to be deep in thought while staring at the ground in shock, looking at Lioa who seemed to be sleeping.

Only Barbalis forcefully pushed Kaiser aside, and grabbed Liola"s wrist to test his pulse. As Barbalis" expression became and worse, everyone"s heart sank more and more.

"He"s still alive."

That sentence relaxed everyone"s emotions a bit. Although Barbalis said that, his expression didn"t improve. After he felt Liola"s pulse, Barbalis sank back in desperate thoughts:

"Strange, strange! Liola"s wounds aren"t very severe, but why is his pulse getting weaker and weaker? If this continues, Liola will die in about ten minutes."

"How is that possible?!" Purity screamed from the top of her lungs, then she knelt down and shook Liola"s body, but there was no response from Liola.

Purity suddenly started bawling, as she yelled at the same time: "Liola-dage please wake up!"

Baolilong also laid on top of Liola"s body. Since it had telepathic connection with Liola, it didn"t need to check his pulse or breath to know Liola"s life was already hanging by a thread.

Baolilong couldn"t do anything except do what exactly what Purity did: desperately shaking Liola"s body while crying: "Papa, papa wake up! Papa said papa won"t leave Baolilong! Papa can"t lie!"

"If I knew this would happen I would have learned healing magic, at least it might be of some help to Liola." Daylight lowered his head sadly, regretting not learning healing magic.

Kaiser looked at Liola in shock, and murmured in disbelief: "I always thought that this guy would never die. How can the best a.s.sa.s.sin die so easily?"

Everyone in the room was either stunned or crying, and no one could think of a way to save him. Only the Silver Knight Feir kept his calm.

Feir pulled away Purity and Baolilong, but Baolilong threatened Feir by showing its white teeth because it didn"t want to leave papa. Feir yelled,

"Back off! Don"t hinder me from saving him!"

Purity hesitated, then grabbed Baolilong and backed away from Liola"s body and yelled,

"Purity almost forgot, brother is a Holy Knight, and he excels at healing magic!"

Feir raised his hand, and a bright light shone on his palm. With a solemn face, Feir put his palm on Liola"s chest near his heart. A few rays of light shot into Liola"s body. Feir closed his eyes, concentrating on a.n.a.lyzing what was endangering Liola"s life.

As time slowly pa.s.sed by, everyone anxiously stared at Feir"s face. According to Barbalis" estimate, Liola had only about ten minutes left to live, which was 7-8 minutes ago.

Feir still had his eyes shut, and what was worse was Feir"s face began to look worse and worse. He was turning pale and sweat ran down his face.

Finally, a strong light exploded from Feir"s body, and everyone was forced to either look away or close their eyes.

After the light had faded away, everyone slowly opened their eyes but immediately closed it again. They were afraid to be witnesses of Liola"s death.

Feir turned around and found everyone covering their eyes, then he laughed and said, "Open your eyes, this big boy is still alive."

Everyone hurriedly open their eyes to see Liola"s condition. Although Liola was still not moving, but they could see his chest slowly rising and falling, unlike the rock-like body he had before.

Baolilong, who was throwing a tantrum in Purity"s arms, finally calmed down, but tears covered its face, and yelled, "Papa won"t die, but, but, papa still isn"t well."

"I don"t have any other way." Feir seemed to be weak after completing his spell. He said helplessly,

"This boy has been poisoned by something very potent. My abilities can only temporarily suppress the venom, but I can"t get rid of it. I"m afraid that you will have to find someone stronger than me to do so. Also, healing Maxun will probably be ineffective on this poison, so it probably won"t do him any good. I suggest that you find a Sorcerer or a stronger Holy Knight."

"Lancelot!"

Everyone"s heart screamed his name. A stronger Holy Knight than Silver Knight Feir, could there be any better choice than Lancelot? However he was the very same person who sealed Liola"s Kung Fu, and the one who ultimately caused Liola his current predicament. So… what should they do?

"Let"s find Lancelot. Rumor says, he"s very righteous. If he knew that Liola"s current state is his fault, he should do something about it."

Kaiser was a bit unsure, but he still made the suggestion. A better healer was impossible to find, and a stronger Holy Knight aren"t found just anywhere. Even if they were to find one, no one knows if they could cure the poison. The best way they had now was to find Lancelot, who should still be somewhere in the Aklan Continent.

"Lancelot, you said? He doesn"t like talking with Sorcerers. Such bad timing, Blood Wolf already went back to the Dragon Continent. Hmm, I guess we have no choice. I"ll contact Blood Wolf first and tell ask to contact Lancelot." Barbalis knitted his eyebrows.

Kaiser held his own princ.i.p.al by the collar, gritted his teeth and said: "Hurry and contact Blood Wolf!"

Barbalis seemed shocked.

Barbalis murmured something about it being troublesome. He then took out a communication device and walked to the other side of the room to talk to Blood Wolf.

Everyone"s heart finally calmed down, and the funeral-like tension in the atmosphere also relaxed. However, Kaiser still had his eyebrows knitted while looking at the a.s.sa.s.sin"s pale face.

"Purity, what is your relationship to this young man? Why do you care about him so much? Can it be that…"

Feir tried to catch his breath while questioning his baby sister. His eyes seemed to be filled with desire to protect her.

"Brother what are you thinking? Liola-dage already has two… no, three pretty female admirers." Purity immediately clarified to stop her brother from thinking too much.

"Three?" Feir raised his eyebrows, then turned around to examine the unconscious Liola.

He said, "Decent looks, respectable rank, but I don"t know what his character is like. And why is he wearing a Sorcerer"s robe?"

"What"s wrong with a Sorcerer robe?" Purity said and pouted.

Feir immediately realized he said something wrong, and hurriedly shook his head.

As a Knight, Feir did look down on Sorcerers a little, but since his precious sister was a Sorcerer, Feir had to keep it to himself. It was only because at that moment, he saw Liola"s Sorcerer robe, and carelessly said his thoughts out loud.

"What did you say? This would be fun!"

Barbalis suddenly screamed from the corner.

Everyone turned and looked, and they saw an old geezer with a Sorcerer robe dancing in the corner, with a "Kaiser-style" sinister smile on his face.

"What"s going to be fun?" Kaiser"s expressionless face suddenly appeared in front of Barbalis" eyes. Barbalis froze, and then coughed purposely.

"Nothing…" Barbalis wanted to vaguely brush off his earlier comment, but many people gave him the death stare.

Purity took off her gla.s.ses, and her hair began to fly in the air, Daylight"s face also began to sink because he was worried about Liola.

Looking at the others, Barbalis bit the bullet and explained:

"Just something minor. Blood Wolf said Mizerui somehow got hold of the news of Lancelot sealed Liola"s Kung Fu. He got really angry and rushed to the Aklan Continent. I heard he"s going to settle the score with Lancelot."

It was Kaiser"s turn to dance, and showing a "Kaiser-style" sinister smile. He then burst out laughing:

"This is great! If these two have a duel to the death, then die together for love, we would be free!"

"Kaiser, that"s not what "dying for love" means. Dying for love requires a gentleman and a beautiful lady, experiencing the hardships of love together, then finally spending eternity with each other in heaven."

Meinan had a longing expression on his face, and it suddenly changed to disgust. "Without a beautiful lady, it can"t be called dying for love."

"And Kaiser, if Lancelot dies with Mizerui, then isn"t Liola-dage going to die too? No! Purity doesn"t want Liola-dage to die!" Purity started crying again.

Feir immediately tried to comfort Purity while Barbalis and Kaiser started a duet together.

Fortunately, Daylight seriously thought about Liola"s life being in danger. He solemnly said to Barbalis,

"Princ.i.p.al, we must hurry and, before Mizerui gets back, find Lancelot first, so we can save Liola"s life, and at the same time, prevent an unreasonable duel from occurring."

Barbalis, who was about to have a dancing duet with Kaiser, heard such the serious speech, his body froze mid-air, and immediately turned around. With his face sported a "I"m very serious" expression, and said:

"Good point. Let"s find Lancelot quickly. From what Blood Wolf said, although Lancelot sealed Liola"s Kung Fu, he has not returned to Dragon Continent. Instead he planned on staying with the Aklan Continent"s Knights a.s.sociation for a while, so he could observe Liola."

"I think it"s more likely that you"re afraid of missing the show." Kaiser instantly saw past Barbalis" words.

Barbalis coughed a couple of times, ignored Kaiser, and shamelessly said to Feir,

"So please, do us a favor and go to the Knights a.s.sociation to locate Lancelot."

Feir considered it for a moment, and with his sister Purity on his side with puppy eyes, Feir had no choice but to nod in agreement.

He asked curiously, "Why did Sir Lancelot seal his own apprentice? And who was the enemy just now?"

Everyone froze, because they remembered Feir didn"t know anything about the situation between Lancelot and Liola.

Feir saw everyone"s frozen and embarra.s.sed expressions, and after glancing at everyone, he settled his gaze on his own sister.

His warm but curious eyes made Purity lower her head, because she couldn"t dare tell the truth, and at the same time she felt guilty lying to her most admired person, her brother.

"This is between me and my master. Please don"t ask."

Liola"s voice was calm and indifferent like usual.

Everyone"s attention was returned to Liola. The a.s.sa.s.sin was no longer lying on the ground, but he looked labored as he propped himself up.

Seeing Liola had woken up, everyone relaxed, especially Baolilong, who desperately hugged its papa, as if in doing so, Liola wouldn"t faint again.

Feir hesitated a bit, and scratched his face as if he has done something wrong. He then said,

"Well then, Sir Silver Mask, I have the duty to tell you that the poison in your body is only temporarily suppressed. It must be re-suppressed periodically, otherwise the poison would come back, and your life will be in danger."

Liola"s silver eyes held their gaze at Feir, and Feir felt a spinal shiver from such an icy gaze.

Liola nodded lightly and said, "Thanks."

Kaiser pulled his hair depressedly,

"Liola"s Kung Fu was sealed, and now he"s poisoned. There are also six a.s.sa.s.sins and a Black Dragon trying kill you. If you can live through this, it would be a real miracle."

"Whatever!" Kaiser carelessly jumped up, put his hands on his hips and said to Liola,

"You stay with Barbalis, let him protect you. As for the poison in your body… we have Feir who can suppress it, so in the short term it"s not a big deal. After the ranking matches, we will come solve your troublesome problems."

Barbalis" expression changed, but with Kaiser"s threatening look, he immediately swallowed his protest.

What was strange was, even Barbalis himself didn"t understand why he was afraid of a nameless little runt. But something in his heart kept telling him, no matter whom he messed with, even if it was the King of Dragons, Miluo, he shouldn"t mess with a sc.u.mbag full of evil ideas, especially when that sc.u.mbag was Kaiser.

Feir, on the other hand, of course had no idea Kaiser was a sc.u.mbag not to be messed with. His precious baby sister kept tugging his shirt, and also using the "teary eyes" technique to attack him.

Feir felt helpless, so he nodded, agreeing to be a poison-suppressing Maxun.

Liola remained quiet. For him, who originally didn"t care about anything, after hearing what Kaiser said, he suddenly felt he now played a role he had could never imagine.

A burden. A burden who attracted a.s.sa.s.sins.

Liola involuntarily held Baolilong tightly in his arms, remembering the scene where Baolilong"s body was covered in blood, and almost died because of him.

Liola"s eyes darkened, and he said lightly, "Perhaps it would be better if I leave."

"Don"t be ridiculous!"

Meinan suddenly yelled angrily. Everyone weren"t startled by what Liola said, but by Meinan"s scream.

Meinan forcefully grabbed Liola"s shoulders, and continued to yell,

"Do you even know what your current situation is? You"ve already experienced the power of one of the six best a.s.sa.s.sins, and you think you can handle it with your sealed Kung Fu? If you leave, you"ll definitely die. If you die, have you thought about what Baolilong would do? Or how upset anyone who ever cared about you, would be?"

Liola was speechless for a moment. He then turned his head, trying to escape Meinan"s interrogation, and said lightly, "We don"t know each other very well. You will forget me in time."

Hearing Liola"s response, everyone"s face sank a bit. Without hesitation, Meinan swung his fist at the a.s.sa.s.sin.

Liola looked at Meinan blankly. Though Liola could have dodged it, he didn"t move a muscle, and was. .h.i.t by Meinan"s fist. Blood dripped from the a.s.sa.s.sin"s mouth, but he still did not turn his head to face the angry Meinan.

With a long face, Kaiser opened his mouth to remind Meinan, "Meinan… your hand is spurting out blood."

Meinan"s face twitched, held his right hand and yelled in pain.

Without a bit of compa.s.sion, Kaiser forcefully pushed Meinan to the side. With his hands on his hips, Kaiser narrowed his eyes, and looked condescendingly at the a.s.sa.s.sin,

"I don"t care what you"re thinking, you better stay right where Barbalis is, and you aren"t allowed to take even a step away from him!"

Liola"s eyes darkened, and slightly nodded at Kaiser. Kaiser didn"t feel a sense of security from the promise he acquired.

Kaiser stared at the a.s.sa.s.sin"s darkened eyes, through his eyes, he tried to figure out, what the a.s.sa.s.sin was thinking, hoping Liola wouldn"t do something to get himself killed… Kaiser frowned, he could only rely on Barbalis to prevent that from happening, and this made Kaiser very uneasy.

‘Would I… bring harm to others?’

* * *

Though Liola"s eyes were watching Kaiser and others in the arena, the situation about the matches never reached his head. The thought of others getting hurt because of him echoed in his mind.

Liola once again held on Baolilong tightly. He happened to touch the wound on Baolilong"s body caused by Black Rose, and Baolilong growled slightly from the pain.

Liola, who had been daydreaming, was brought back to reality by the growl, and looked at Baolilong. Blue colored blood was dripping out of Baolilong"s sleeve.

Liola was shocked. He lifted Baolilong"s yellow kid-size shirt, realizing Baolilong was covered in wounds, and n.o.body healed him. Some of the wounds were still bleeding. A five year old"s body that was covered with wounds and blood was a tragic scene to watch.

"No one healed you?" Liola was shocked again.

Baolilong lifted its chubby hand, stuck out its little pink tongue and licked the wound, then said,

"Baolilong needs to protect papa, so no healing needed. Baolilong can just lick it and it won’t hurt anymore."

Liola frowned, and reached out his hand on a wound on Baolilong"s arm. He concentrated and cast his healing magic. Weak white lights appeared from Liola"s hand; it was far from the healing light of Lancelot or Feir.

After Liola earnestly used his healing magic for a long while, he took his hand off Baolilong"s arm, but the white and chubby arm still had a terrifying, bleeding wound, and nothing seemed to have changed.

Liola was stupefied as he continued looking at the wound. He wasn"t able to treat a simple wound, and thus his heart was filled with frustration. He didn"t know what he had to do to improve his healing magic.

"Papa, look, Kaiser is being lazy again."

Baolilong had gotten excited over the match, and it even climbed onto a table and yelled towards the center of the arena. It was so loud even Kaiser glanced at it during the match, and the crowd around Liola also threw their gazes in his direction.

Many people seemed to have yelled "so cute", and the so-called "bodyguard", Barbalis, seemed extremely alarmed. He immediately quietly said to Liola,

"Before anyone notices, take Baolilong to get its wounds healed, and don"t let anyone find out that his blood is blue."

Liola nodded. He didn"t want to see Baolilong"s body covered in wounds. He picked up Baolilong and headed towards the infirmary.

As for the match, Liola felt he did nothing for Kaiser and the other by just being there, so it made no difference whether or not he was present.

"Wait!" Barbalis nervously grabbed ahold of Liola, "Wait a bit, let me watch this match first."

"I"ll go by myself." Liola said expressionlessly.

Barbalis seemed like he wanted to let Liola go by himself. But as soon as he remembered somebody"s warning, Barbalis struggled a bit and said,

"But… Kaiser and Purity said I have to protect you, otherwise I"ll get a "black hole" as a present."

Although Liola was skeptical of Barbalis being afraid of Kaiser and Purity, Liola was able to find an excuse for Barbalis, "The road there is very crowded; I"ll be fine."

"Well, you have a point. The infirmary is not far from here, and it"s filled with injured students. An a.s.sa.s.sin wouldn"t dare to go there, right?" Barbalis muttered, but when he saw Purity piloting the Angel Mecha and shot down the opposing Mecha, Barbalis immediately jumped up and waved the School of Sorcery flag wildly.

"I"m going." Said Liola, but he didn"t care whether Barbalis heard him.

He took Baolilong and walked towards the infirmary. Before he left, however, Liola stopped for a moment to turn around and watched everyone doing their best in the fight.

Daylight always faced his opponents seriously and his will to fight was inextinguishable. Purity"s superb control of the Mecha allowed Liola to realize the power of Mechas.

Meinan always had out his protective shield at the right time to protect his teammates. Kaiser… even though he was just sitting next to Meinan since the start of the match, Liola knew Kaiser"s gun was already switched on and his finger had always been on the trigger. If Daylight or Purity were to be in any danger, then there will be many fireb.a.l.l.s to rescue them.

Those people worked together really well! Liola suddenly noticed he was actually a little jealous. At the same time, he realized, perhaps they don"t need him at all…

Kaiser, who was just hanging out in the arena, turned to look at Liola, and smiled with his teeth showing while holding up two fingers forming a victory sign. Seeing Kaiser"s action, Liola actually smiled. After he nodded slightly at Kaiser, he carried Baolilong and turned around to leave.

* * *

"What is up with that guy?" Kaiser got goose b.u.mps from that smile. For the first time, he saw the a.s.sa.s.sin wearing such a warm smile, but Kaiser"s heart was full of skepticism. He felt Liola"s smile seemed to imply something…

"Aiya!"

Shocked, Meinan looked at the two streams of blood coming out of Kaiser"s head, and stuttered to apologize:

"K-Kaiser, s-sorry, I thought you would"ve been able to dodge that Mecha sc.r.a.p…"

Kaiser laid on the ground helplessly, and then murmured, "So Liola"s smile was a cursed smile."

* * *

Liola, who was long gone by now, didn"t know that he had cursed Kaiser. He held Baolilong tightly, and rushed to the infirmary. Baolilong said curiously,

"Papa, Kaiser hasn"t finished his match. Baolilong wants to watch."

"Let’s take care of your wounds first." LIola said simply. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Baolilong, is there a way to sever our telepathy?"

Baolilong had puzzled expression while looking at Liola. It pouted and said, "Papa doesn"t want to talk to Baolilong anymore?"

Liola was a bit speechless, "I’m just curious."

"Oh." Baolilong answered naively, "If papa wraps something on the scale on your arm, then Baolilong won"t be able to talk to papa anymore."

Liola nodded. He raised his head to look at a wide open door, and on the side of the frame had the word "Infirmary" written on it.

The whole room was incredibly noisy, and many injured people were walking in and out of it, not to mention the ground was spotted with blood.

The room was filled with injured students lying on beds, and their moans of pain were endless. The ten or so healing Maxuns were also filled with students with varying degrees of injuries.

The ones who only had minor injuries were practically dragged out the moment they went into the Maxun, so other students can continue to use them.

The socially awkward Liola stood at the door, and he was occasionally pushed around by people rushing in and out of the infirmary.

Liola tried to go in, but he often stepped on the patients who were sitting around on the ground. With curses coming from the patients, Liola backed up to the door. He helplessly stood at the door, but he was very worried about Baolilong"s wounds.

"Baby"s papa?"

Jasmine was in the infirmary taking care of the patients on the ground. She prioritized healing Maxun usage to people who had more severe injuries, and helped bandage wounds of those who had less severe wounds.

While Jasmine was really busy, she noticed a familiar person carrying an equally familiar baby, and stood clumsily at the door. The familiar expressionless face however, was replaced with a helpless expression.

Liola heard the familiar voice, and turned his head to look in Jasmine"s direction. With a few steps, she was in front of Liola, then took Baolilong from his arms. She kissed Baolilong"s chubby face a few times, then blinked happily as she asked,

"Liola, are you here to look for me?"

Seeing Liola honestly shook his head, Jasmine sighed exaggeratedly, "I knew you"re not! Fine, are you hurt? Seeing you could still walk here, it"s probably not serious, is it?"

"I"m not hurt, but Baolilong is." Liola answered directly.

Jasmine looked at Baolilong in shock, and realized Baolilong"s two chubby arms had some scratches.

Jasmine immediately took Baolilong and rushed towards the healing Maxun, and many complaints were heard along the way: "Aiya, my head", "Hand! My Hand!", "Ah, my, my…"

Jasmine kicked some poor guy with a broken bone out of the healing Maxun he was using, then she carefully placed Baolilong in it. After pressing the healing b.u.t.ton, Jasmine sighed in relief, then walked back to Liola. She asked with a somewhat accusing tone,

"Why does the baby have so many wounds? As the baby"s papa, you should take care of him, how could you let him get hurt so badly?"

Liola couldn"t explain the truth to Jasmine, so he could only offer silence in response. Liola raised his head and look at Baolilong tenderly.

Baolilong who was swimming playfully within the healing Maxun, occasionally even placed its little face against the gla.s.s and waved towards Liola. Seeing Baolilong, Liola could finally relax a bit.

"How did the cute little child get hurt? You better tell me the truth!"

Lanski, who had saw Jasmine running towards Liola, finished bandaging the patients she was tending, then hurried over. Because she was worried about the situation with the child, Lanski used her most severe tone. She stared at Liola, wondering if this was the result of physical abuse.

"Lanski?" Jasmine was surprised, she had never imagine Lanski would talk with such a tone.

Liola turned his face slightly, trying to avoid Lanski"s accusing face, because it reminded him too much of the past; he replied, with a tone of self-blame, "Because of me."

"I thought you would be at least a good father, but how could you be so heartless to let your child get hurt? You don"t deserve to be his father!"

Lanski yelled loudly in disbelief, and at the same time pushed Liola. It almost caused Liola to fall to the ground since his Kung Fu was sealed.

Jasmine hurried to hold onto Liola, and anxiously said to Lanski,

"Lanski, I think there must be a misunderstanding. Liola really loves Baolilong, that I can atest to."

Lanski looked at Liola with a livid face. In her heart, she didn"t believe this incompetent Sorcerer at all, so why would Jasmine stubbornly believe everything he said?

Lanski couldn"t agree with her friend"s bias, and she was still worried about Baolilong. She glanced Liola in dissatisfaction, then walked in front of the healing Maxun where Baolilong was in. Her thin and long fingers pressed on the screen, trying to find out how bad Baolilong"s wounds were.

Lanski was stupefied, then she looked in complete disbelief at the words on the screen, and she murmured it repeatedly,

"Serious injuries? SERIOUS INJURIES?! How can a five year old end up with serious injuries?"

Hearing what Lanski said, Jasmine, too, was shocked. She rushed to the healing Maxun, and the words "severe injuries" on the screen heavily imprinted on Jasmine"s heart.

Jasmine panicked and raised her head to see how Baolilong was doing… "Ahhh! Baby why did you put your face on the gla.s.s, scared me to death!"

Baolilong had its face pushed up against the gla.s.s, and its look was completely distorted. Seeing Jasmine holding her chest because she was scared by it, Baolilong happily laughed, then continued to swim around in a complete happy-go-lucky mood.

Jasmine sported a strange expression. She raised her head to look at the hyper Baolilong, then lowered her head again to see the words "serious injuries" on the screen; she had no way of connecting these two things together.

Puzzled, Jasmine scratched her face, began to wonder if the Maxun was broken, or if Baolilong was broken… No, or because Baolilong had unimaginable ability to endure pain.

However, Lanski wasn"t as optimistic as Jasmine. Seeing that Baolilong had suffered serious injuries, Lanski felt absolutely enraged.

She hit the screen excessively, then coldly said to Liola, "I don"t know how you could be so ruthless and let your baby suffer such severe wounds. Unless you repent, Jasmine and I will not be returning your baby."

Liola wanted to answer Lanski, and promise her that he won"t let Baolilong get hurt again, but then he remembered he had lost all of his Kung Fu, and it would be impossible for him to fulfill the promise.

Liola closed his open mouth, but his guilt and helpless look made Lanski even more furious. She said ruthlessly, "Jasmine and I will take good care of the baby, and you should take some time to reflect on what you"ve done. When you are responsible enough, then come back for your baby."

"Ahaha, definitely a student from Aklan Academy; he"s actually an irresponsible little papa."

Yiyu held onto the door frame, and he laughed with ridicule. On his side, of course, was the Yizhou with a cold face. Yiyu took one look at Lanski, and his eyes shone. He kept checking out Lanski"s exquisite body and beautiful face, which made the furious Lanski even more enraged.

The Water Dragon Knight Yizhou, however, held his gaze on Liola, and he felt Liola seemed different from the last time they met. But after careful examination, there didn"t seem to be much difference. Yizhou frowned and said,

"You"ve lost your threatening atmosphere."

Liola was a little shocked, he didn"t think the Knight would notice the difference in him. Of course, Liola would never tell the stranger, Yizhou, what had happened. He deliberately turned his head as a response.

"Garbage!" Yiyu lightly grunted.

Jasmine finally couldn"t hold it anymore, she could no longer stand other people belittling Liola. Her anger exploded, and her thin sword unsheathed. Jasmine stood in front of Liola with a protective stance, and said,

"You"re not allowed to call him that. Liola has his merits."

Before Yiyu responded, Lanski first yelled in disbelief to her good friend, "Jasmine! How could you still protecting this Sorcerer? Did you not see how he beat his baby to point of serious injuries?"

Jasmine heard Lanski, and her heart, too, was very anxious. Although Jasmine would never believe that Baolilong"s injuries were from Liola"s own hands, but without knowing the truth, she had no way of explaining to Lanski. She looked at Liola behind her, as if she was calling for help, and said anxiously,

"Liola, hurry and explain to everyone how the baby got those wounds."

Lanski still had an angry look, and her distrustful eyes stared at Liola. But for the sake of her good friend Jasmine, Lanski also quietly awaited Liola"s explanation.

Explain? How could he explain? As soon as he explains, how could the ident.i.ty of Silver Mask remain a secret? He wanted to explain but he couldn"t. His heart felt as if a bucket full of lemon juice had been poured over it, and he had nowhere to vent the sourness and pain.

Seeing Liola"s mood had gotten worse, and good friend Jasmine tugging her clothes, Lanski softened a bit.

She used a somewhat kinder tone to advise him, "Liola, don"t go down the wrong path. Think about what"s best for the baby. Look, that baby in the Maxun is so cute and he"s so fond of you, could you bear the thought of him getting hurt again?"

Liola raised his head and looked at the happy face of Baolilong swimming around in the Maxun, but in his mind, the scene of the a.s.sa.s.sin tossing Baolilong in the corner like a rug surfaced again. As a habit, Liola looked at Anise"s face and asked,

"Do you think I was wrong? I shouldn"t be here, I am a burden to Baolilong, and perhaps to many others as well."

Lanski was baffled by Liola"s questions, and it didn"t sound like it was a declaration of repentance.

Lanski responded only to the first sentence that she understood, "Of course you were wrong. If you know you"re wrong, then correct it as soon as possible, and make up for what you"ve done. Don"t make the same mistakes again."

Liola felt Anise lecturing him about what"s right and what"s wrong. As usual, Liola nodded, without ever doubting what Anise says.

Liola walked in front of the healing Maxun, and put his hand on the transparent gla.s.s. Baolilong, too, playfully put its little chubby hand on the gla.s.s, and the only thing separated between its hand and Liola"s big hand was a sheet of gla.s.s.

"Baolilong, you have to obediently stay with Jasmine." Liola used telepathy to tell Baolilong.

"Why? Where does papa have to go again?" Baolilong pouted with its little mouth. Its entire little body was pressed against the gla.s.s, wanting to squeeze through the gla.s.s to run into Liola"s arms.

"Stay by Jasmine"s side." Liola threw those words to Baolilong. Ignoring Baolilong"s angry kicks on the healing Maxun, Liola turned around and walked alone out of the infirmary.

"Wait, Liola!" Jasmine hurried to try and stop Liola. She would never believe Liola would hit Baolilong.

"Why wouldn"t he explain? Liola seemed a little strange today, as if he was sad?"

Jasmine thought to herself, something must have happened, so she can"t just let Liola leave like this.

Hearing Jasmine calling him, Liola slowed his step, and he tilted his head to say, "Please take care of Baolilong."

Everything Jasmine wanted to ask was stuck in her throat, so all she did was stare as Liola"s lonely figure walking out infirmary.

The splashing sounds from behind them made Jasmine and Lanski turn around to take care of Baolilong, who was swimming wildly in the Maxun and desperately knocking on the gla.s.s, trying to break itself free so it could run to Liola.

Jasmine tried to use calm words to comfort Baolilong, but even she couldn"t help herself from turning her head to look, but the door to the infirmary no longer had any trace of the silver-eyed man.

"Baby"s papa, why does the feeling of sadness surround you?" Jasmine asked in her heart.

* * *

No longer a burden to anyone. Liola walked out of the arena where the ranking matches were, and coincidentally heard Feir"s announcement of Aklan Academy"s victory.

Liola imagined Kaiser"s exaggerated smile, Meinan"s bitter look, and Purity blushingly accept various compliments. Though Liola didn"t know Daylight well, he knew Daylight will always be spirited.

Liola had already decided he can never let these four people and Baolilong be endangered ever again as a result of a.s.sa.s.sins trying to kill him.

Liola thought about Baolilong, and tore off a piece of cloth from his robe. He rolled up his left sleeve, and it revealed a scale of a White Dragon. Liola wrapped a cloth tightly on the scale, so Baolilong wouldn"t have the slightest chance of sensing where he was.

Seeing the deserted roads, Lioa turned around to take one last look at the crowded arena, "Good bye, everyone."

* * *

A right hand with long fingers slowly picked up a fragment with silver lights from the ground, then placed it onto the left palm.

There were already several fragments on the palm, and they were arranged so the original shape could be seen clearly — it was a silver mask.

The man wearing a black and white Sorcerer robe finally retrieved all the fragments from the ground.

He pushed up the gold-framed gla.s.ses. The glare from the gla.s.ses made it impossible to see his eyes, but his mouth was formed into a slight smile. A few lines of incantation escaped from the man"s mouth, and the incantation formed a silver light which landed onto the fragments on his palm, repairing the cracks between fragments. A fully intact silver mask quietly laid on the man"s palm.

"Lancelot, how dare you to touch my things, and my toy. That"s very dangerous." The man with gold-framed gla.s.ses smiled brighter and brighter, showing his long and sharp canine teeth. He looked like a gold-haired fox poised

Back to top

Chapter 2 : The Dark Street

"How could you let Liola wander off by himself? Didn"t I tell you to look after him?"

Kaiser grabbed his princ.i.p.al by the collar and yelled with raised eyebrows and widened eyes.

The three people whose presence caused Kaiser"s arrogance, were also standing behind him with long faces.

If Barbalis couldn"t give them Liola, or if he gave them Liola"s corpse, Barbalis could very well become the first princ.i.p.al ever killed by his own students in the history of Aklan Academy.

"He just took Baolilong to the infirmary, and I told him to go by himself only because I was cheering you guys on. The infirmary is so close, and the path there is very crowded, nothing could go wrong! Liola is definitely waiting inside the infirmary until Baolilong"s wounds are healed."

Barbalis screamed on the top of his lungs for being treated unjustly.

"Yeah, Kaiser, the infirmary is really close. Liola-dage should be fine." Purity quickly tried to calm Kaiser, and at the same time, she felt Kaiser had gone a little overboard.

Kaiser angrily let go of Barbalis" collar, and with a gloomy face, he said,

"If Liola isn"t in the infirmary, then you better be prepared to surrender your neck to Daylight"s sword."

Meinan frowned, "Kaiser, did you also feel there"s something strange with Liola? I"m worried h-he might leave without saying goodbye…"

"Stop. We"ll know when we get to the infirmary."

Kaiser answered impatiently. His face clearly show his insecurities. Even Purity and Daylight seemed to be infected by Kaiser"s face, and they all hurried towards the infirmary. Barbalis" face, however, displayed a moment of hesitation.

However, before they got to the infirmary, Jasmine and the guilt-ridden Lanski were already carrying Baolilong towards Kaiser and others.

Jasmine anxiously rushed towards them, and as soon as they arived, she asked, "Have you seen Liola?"

Kaiser and three others, along with the now pale-faced Barbalis, moved their gazes to Baolilong.

All ten eyes staring at the "should-be-next-to-Liola" Baolilong.

Kaiser took several deep breaths before he gritted his teeth before asking, "Baolilong! Where the h.e.l.l is your dad?"

Baolilong"s big eyes were already watery. After hearing Kaiser"s inquisition, large drops of tears immediately fell out of its eyes, "Waah, papa is gone, gone. Baolilong can"t find papa!"

Kaiser"s angry face sank. He raised his head to look at Jasmine and Lanski, and became suspicious of the uneasy looks on their faces.

"Looks like Liola"s disappearance had something to do with these two."

Kaiser coldly questioned them, "What happened? Liola wouldn"t go missing for no reason."

Jasmine anxiously looked towards Lanski, who said with guilt,

"Sorry, it was my fault. I thought the wounds on Baolilong"s body was the result of Liola"s physical abuse, so I blamed everything on him."

"Papa would never hit Baolilong." Baolilong loudly protested, which made Lanski"s lower her head even more with guilt.

Kaiser frowned.

"Would Liola go be missing just because someone blamed him? An a.s.sa.s.sin shouldn"t be as childish as that, there should be something else…"

Could it be what he had thought before? Kaiser hesitated, then turned around to ask the others, "Hey, do you think that Liola might not want to be a burden to us, and therefore ran away from home?"

The other three"s expression suddenly changed. Purity sat on top of the Mecha and said, "That"s definitely it. I felt that, ever since Liola-dage woke up, something had always bothered him."

Kaiser hit his own head and said, "d.a.m.n! The meaning of that smile of his was good bye."

Barbalis gulped, and lifted his long robe as he tried to tip-toe his way to another continent.

Unfortunately, even with his back to Barbalis, Kaiser pointed his index finger, and Purity"s Angel Mecha raised its giant bow, and the giant arrow pointed at Barbalis" little head. If the arrow was released, Barbalis would definitely not die from an arrow through his body, but rather from a headshot.

Kaiser"s devil-like voice echoed,

"MR PRINc.i.p.aL, please use all your money, time, patience, and whatever other powers you have to look for Liola, otherwise, be careful for those two things of yours!"

Although Purity blushed, the Mecha"s giant bow was not ambiguous, and it slowly moved downward from Barbalis" head.

"No! I still don"t have a Barbalis Jr. I"ll go look, right now!" Barbalis sank in bitter contemplation, trying to think where he should start looking for Liola.

* * *

If he doesn"t go far, then Kaiser and others would probably easily find him. If he was to be found, then he probably wouldn"t be able to leave so easily next time.

However, he stayed with Kaiser and the others, wouldn"t their fate end up identical to Anise"s? Having her dreams taken away because of him, then becoming a cold corpse?

Remembering the scene of Anise closing her eyes for all eternity, Liola felt a sharp pain in his heart.

He could not stop his footsteps, and he walked towards a darker and quieter street, as if it"s where he really belonged.

The crowded streets Liola had pa.s.sed by gradually became less and less populated, and the tall buildings reaching high up into the clouds were no where to be seen. There were only some old buildings scattered about, and a few homeless guys lying on the ground, looking at Liola walking around with his elegant robe with envy and malice.

Liola realized the hostile glares directed at him. Although he lost his Kung Fu, his experience of being an a.s.sa.s.sin for many years, his instincts remained, as well as his dexterity. Though Liola knew he couldn"t handle professional a.s.sa.s.sins, a few homeless guys shouldn"t pose a problem.

Perhaps ten of them would be a problem.

Liola stopped his tracks, when he saw more than ten hobos congregating in front of him, and greed was flashed in their eyes. Their intention was obvious.

Liola said to the person leading the pack, "I don"t have money."

The guy in front who wore a dirty vest laughed and revealed his stained teeth,

"Says who? You"re worth a lot of money, little lost lamb. If we take you a part, your organs would be worth quite a sum, and it would be enough for me and my fellow friends to eat several meals."

All of them let out a sinister laugh. A few of them even started drooling at the thought of food, and they all started to close in on Liola.

Hearing what the man said, Liola knew this ordeal couldn"t be resolved peacefully. He lowered his body and pulled out Broken Silver, but Liola still didn"t unsheath the dagger, so he wouldn"t accidentally kill someone.

"This is great. How many more meals do you think we can get out of that thing?" Greed continued to flash in the leader"s eyes, and he beckoned the people behind him,

"Go! Tomorrow"s meal is in front of your eyes."

Before the man finished his sentence, the hobos were already holding weapons and charged at Liola.

Even with ten people running towards him, Liola"s face was calm as usual, but in his heart, he knew he couldn"t get away completely unscathed.

Being in the a.s.sa.s.sin industry for more than ten years, Liola knew at the very least that he wouldn"t end up having his organs sold.

Liola tightened his muscles, and ran toward the hobos with Broken Silver.

Though his speed was incomparable to what it was before, but to an ordinary person, Liola was agile enough.

A few of the hobos who charged in first were hit by Liola a few times and fell to the ground. However, because Liola"s couldn"t hit as hard as before, they weren"t knocked unconscious or break any bones, but the hits were hard enough for them to be moaning in pain on the ground for quite a while.

But the following fight would not be so easy.

More than ten other people were waving their weapons around. Even though Liola could see or sensed their attacks, his body didn"t have the ability to dodge them, so he took several hits.

Thanks to his a.s.sa.s.sin"s training, he was able to endure pain, and not a single noise escaped his mouth.

At the same time, to prevent getting hurt further, Liola hurried to try to take and care of his enemies. All of his. .h.i.ts efficiently landed on the back of his enemies" heads. For the ones he missed, Liola would immediately add a few more hits, though on some occasions he received a blow because of his mistakes.

"Little runt, stop struggling!"

Seeing his men falling down one by one, the leader yelled angrily, and swung his wooden spiked club towards Liola"s face.

Liola agilely dodged his attack, but he couldn"t escape the man"s knee, which landed heavily on his stomach. Liola held his stance despite the pain, and used Broken Silver to hit the man"s chin.

After a street fight, tens of homeless guys were moaning on the ground, and their leader was unconscious.

The only person left standing, was the man with the gray Sorcerer robe, with his right hand holding on to Broken Silver, and left holding his stomach. Liola"s calm yet pale face was covered in sweat.

Clap, clap

A faint clap came from a shaded wall and Liola held tighter onto Broken Silver.

He knew since a while back that someone was observing at him, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Liola looked in the corner, and warned the onlooker with his eyes.

"Quite amazing skills you have."

A man with a deep voice complimented Liola, at the same time, a middle-aged man wearing a suit walked out of the dark corner. He had a square face, greasy but neat short black hair, and a pair of dark sungla.s.ses.

He looked quite dignified.

Liola looked at the man without letting his guard down. Without the support of his Ki, Liola felt somewhat tired after finishing earlier brawl.

Without knowing the man"s intent, Liola picked himself up and asked, "What do you want?"

The middle-aged man smiled, "Please allow me to introduce myself, I"m the Dark Street"s Barker, and one of the hosts for the Dark Arena."

Liola nodded with no expression on his face; the a.s.sa.s.sin asked again patiently, "What do you want?"

"Ah! You are a straightforward man." Barker placed his arms to his side, and understood Liola didn"t like beating around the bush, so he explained plainly,

"Since I am a host of Dark Arena, I come out often to find new compet.i.tors. Would you be interested in fighting in the arena?"

"No." Liola immediately answer, and turned to leave.

Though he had seen all types of people, Barker didn"t expect this man to be so apathetic that he would reject him without even asking what Dark Arena was.

Barker thought, "The compet.i.tors in my arena were mostly either dead or severely wounded, so if I don"t find another contestant, the Dark Arena wouldn"t be able to go on."

Barker hurried in his footsteps, and blocked Liola"s path.

A pair of cold, silver eyes stared at Barker, which made sent a chill down his spine.

Thinking about opening match which was scheduled just in a few days, Barker bit the bullet and continued to block Liola"s path with a smile,

"Why don"t you think about it? If you win, I"ll share the profit with you, 50 50."

Liola didn"t even bother to respond. He took a step aside, trying to walk around Barker.

"Wait!" Barker gritted his teeth, "30 70, 70 for you. If you win the first match, you get 10 grand, second for 20 grand, third for 40 grand. If you win the whole thing, then the 10 million prize money is all yours."

Liola stopped his footsteps, and the thought of making money flashed in his mind. He needed a lot of money to feed that chowhound Baolilong…

No! He no longer need to feed Baolilong. Liola shook his head, trying to shake away the image of Baolilong eating meat in his head.

Barker saw Liola"s hesitation, and was happy for a brief moment. Then, he saw Liola shook his head, and his face sank again.

He had been the king of the Dark Street for more than ten years and he had ten bodyguards in front and behind him. If it weren"t for the trouble he was having with the arena, and had to personally scout for good compet.i.tors, this little runt wouldn"t even have the pleasure of seeing him, so how can this little runt belittle him so much?

Barker couldn"t swallow the idea of someone scorning him. He yelled, "Little runt, if you aren"t coming with me willingly, then don"t blame me for using force!"

What was strange was that, with Barker"s yell, two large men wearing sungla.s.ses jumped out onto the empty street.

Both men had two black and shiny guns on both of their legs, with alarming looks.

Seeing the guns, Liola"s eyes flashed. He calmly calculated in his mind, and deduced he probably wouldn"t be able to win against guns with his current speed, and if he tried to run, the chance of him being escaping was probably 50 50?

At the exact same moment when Liola took one step back, a shot was fired. Liola turned his head to look, and smoke appeared on the ground not far behind his ankle.

Barker laughed coldly, "My bodyguards are the sharpest shooters of the Dark Street, wanna run? You better ask permission from their guns first."

Liola ignored Barker"s threat, and his silver eyes looked onto the bodyguards with the gun. The one on the left looked younger, and it looked like he was the one who fired, but the middle-aged man still had his gun firmly in his holster.

Liola"s heart was shaken a little, it appeared the two men work rather well together. Without a word being said, they decided who would open fire to prevent him from escaping.

Looks like the success rate of him escaping dropped to 30 percent, and he probably receive a couple of bullet wounds as he tries to escape.

Though Liola"s face remained expressionless, he let out a sigh in his heart. He decided to negotiate with Barker. He looked at him, and clearly stated his biggest principle,

"I can"t kill anyone."

Barker was first shocked, and then he understood that the runt was giving him a compromise.

Thinking he finally found a compet.i.tor for his arena, Barker couldn"t contain his smile, and his threatening tone of voice was completely gone.

Barker placed his hands on Liola"s shoulders as if they were old drinking buddies and said, "Don"t worry, my friend. I was afraid you would kill the other compet.i.tors, then I"d have to compensate them with money."

Liola thought about it of it for a while, and the desire to make money was still there. Besides… he didn"t know where else to go. If he continued to wander aimlessly, he would eventually be found by Kaiser and others.

After some consideration, Liola finally nodded in acceptance to Barker"s proposal.

"Great, I knew you would come around. Bro, I still don"t know what your name is?"

Barker laughed loudly, and the young bodyguard behind him returned his gun to its holster. The two men backed into the corner, disappearing into the shadows.

"Liola."

Barker nodded and waved at Liola, then walked towards a dark alley.

Liola followed without any hesitation, since to him, walking in the darkness was like walking at home.

Barker, who was walking in the front, quietly thought it was quite strange, and at the same time started guessing Liola"s ident.i.ty. The gray robe on Liola"s body puzzled Barker. He would never believe the agile Liola was a Sorcerer.

Walking in the dirty and narrow alley, Liola felt a sense of nostalgia, as if he had gone back to the time before he met Anise, living the shameful a.s.sa.s.sin life.

Liola amused himself with the thought of him being better suited in living in the dark places, and he could caused much less trouble an a.s.sa.s.sin than if he was with Kaiser and others.

After walking for a long time, a light shone through the dark alley — the exit was before them. Barker turned around and introduced the street to the "outsider" Liola with pride.

"This is the Dark Street, a dark place where even the Aklan government has no control over, and it"s also degenerated, dirty, and trashy street to outsiders."

Liola raised his head to look in the street Barker spoke of.

The dark alley even did not make the a.s.sa.s.sin raise a brow, but he frowned upon the colorful and dazzling street.

At the time, the so-called degenerated street was full of strange people, both men and women. There were hot girls wearing revealing clothes, and bucktoothed merchants covered in gold.

There were also some guys wearing a hat and cloak, with their hat lowered enough to cover their entire faces.

The surrounding buildings did fit the "dirty" description. Though the lights on the signboard were blinding, but the strange thing was, the buildings didn"t match the signs at all.

Behind the beautiful signboards were often old, damaged, and sometimes looked like they were about to collapse.

Judging from the dripping wet clothes hanging out from the windows, there were still people living inside.

Occasionally, there were a few children wearing torn clothes pouring water down from their balcony, and people underneath would cursed at them.

Despite the fact that the buildings looked like they were about to come crashing down, the bypa.s.sing crowds didn"t seem to care. They casually walked in and out of shops, try to purchasing all sorts of strange goods from ruin-like buildings.

The entire Dark Street looked like ancient ruins converted into a shopping center.

Modern and tall buildings can only be found in the distant, and they looked elegant as opposed to the surrounding buildings. This scenery created a striking contrast between the background setting of the Dark Street and its surroundings.

At least Barbalis had better taste. Liola thought about the academy"s laughing gate, no! School gate.

[T/N: "Laughing Gate" sounds identical to "School Gate" in Chinese]

Seeing Liola"s expressionless face, Barker, who was hoping to see Liola"s shocked or amazed expression, was disappointed. Nevertheless, he gathering himself together by reminding himself that this outsider has not seen the Dark Street"s most essential establishment — the Dark Arena.

"Wait til he sees the Dark Arena, he definitely won"t be able to hold his calm exterior." Barker stomped his feet forcefully, and at the same time hurried his new compet.i.tor,

"Hurry! We"re going to go have a look at your new workplace."

Liola stopped his wandering eyes, and followed Barker calmly. The a.s.sa.s.sin"s sharp sense noticed Barker"s two bodyguards were closely following them, but moved from one shadow area to the next, and most people wouldn"t even sense their existence.

The two men were strong bodyguards, Liola judged determined. With his current ability, he could possibly beat the young one, but the middle-aged one seemed to be far stronger.

These two people were strong, in the eyes of a normal person. If Liola wasn"t sealed, their combined strength… would pale many levels in comparison to his.

Thinking of the two bodyguards, an idea dawned on Liola, and he asked,

"Why didn"t you ask bodyguards to be compet.i.tors? They"re not weaker than me."

Barker sported a solemn expression.

"Little runt, Dark Street isn"t a playground. If you"re not careful you could lose your life at any moment. I would never let my two bodyguards leave me even for a few matches in the arena."

Liola nodded. His calmly footsteps stopped, and his silver eyes looked at the giant, pyramid-shaped building with curiosity. Having never seen anything similar to it, Liola examined the strange triangular object.

Barker looked proud. The pyramid in front of them was the pride of everyone in the Dark Street, and the spiritual icon of all the outlaws of Dark Street.

In the gloomy Dark Arena, there was only one kind of people: gamblers — spectators gambling money and compet.i.tors gambling money with lives.

Back to top

Chapter 3 : Sacrifice

"What the…"

Barker looked at Liola satisfactorily as Liola"s eyes gazed on the pyramid. Barker was waiting for the outsider to say some words of praise and exclamation.

Liola stared at the pyramid-shaped Dark Arena. Despite being used to seeing strange buildings, He had only one question in mind, which he asked directly, "What is an arena?"

Barker was stupefied. The older bodyguard widened his eyes, and the young one practically slipped. Barker had a blank expression, "Y-you don"t know what arena is?"

Liola nodded a couple of times.

Barker"s otherwise solemn face seemed to be amused, then he waved to Liola. They walked to the entrance to the Dark Arena, which already had countless excited people lined up to buy the ridiculously high-priced ticket to get in.

A buff man who tried to cut in line, was surrounded by the crowds and beaten up. People who were bored from standing in line became onlookers, and cheered as the fight went on.

Barker raised his eyebrows, and walked around the chaos headed directly to the door as if fights were a natural occurrence.

However someone was so confused because of the fight, he thought that Barker was trying to cut in line as well, so he reached his hand to grab Barker"s collar.

Unfortunately, after a sound of a gunshot, the scene fell completely silent, and the guy who didn"t know any better, lost a hand that tried to grab someone"s collar.

Barker pulled the collar of his clean suit, and glanced coldly at the guy rolling on the ground holding his arm.

With the terrified eyes of the onlookers, Barker majestically stepped into the Dark Arena Pyramid, and a few attendants hurried to him to welcome him. There were people who took his jacket, and someone brought a pail of water for Barker wash his hands in. The attendants didn"t dare to neglect Liola and the two bodyguards either, so they hurried to offer them pails of water as well.

Liola looked from the corner of his eyes, and saw Barker placing his hands inside the pail, so Liola did the same thing.

"Do you want to rest, or do you want to go check out the arena?" Barker courteously asked for Liola"s wish.

Liola hesitated.

Though he was curious about the arena, his body continuously warned him with signs of exhaustion and soreness.

Liola lowered his head to look at the bruises and dried blood, thought it was best for him to get healed now that he no longer has his immense Ki to use as shields.

Liola opened his mouth to request, "I want to treat my wounds first."

Barker nodded, indicating his agreement, "Bring my new compet.i.tor to the room we have prepared."

The attendant respectfully agreed.

Barker laughed and said to Liola, "You go treat your wounds first, and rest well for a few days. You will fight in the arena for me in a couple of days. Don"t worry, that guy definitely not a match for you."

Liola nodded, and walked away with the attendants.

As soon as Barker saw Liola turned into a corner, his warm smile immediately vanished. Seeing that the hallway was clear, Barker murmured to himself,

"Finally found a sacrifice. I almost thought the first match I"m responsible for would not go according to plan."

The older bodyguard who had remained quiet all this time finally opened his mouth, "He"s strong, and the match will be exciting."

The young bodyguard remained quiet. As he thought about the nauseating match in the Dark Arena, and with Liola"s face looking younger than his own, the young bodyguard felt sorry for Liola.

The older bodyguard looked at his apprentice"s eyes, and said casually, "Perhaps he"ll be the first "sacrifice" to actually win a match."

Hearing his master say so, the young bodyguard thought about the silver light dancing in the crowd of homeless guys, and Liola"s fluent movements. He nodded, "Maybe he"ll win."

Barker laughed in disdain, "Win? He better enjoy his last three days."

Liola, who had already walked away with the attendant, had no idea he had become a sacrifice.

* * *

Liola followed the attendant to the elevator, and walked to an elegant door. The attendant respectfully opened the door, allowing Liola to enter his room.

Liola was a little shocked as he surveyed the place. Everything that should and could be in a suite was there.

The moment Liola entered the room, there was a gorgeous living room. It had a pricey and soft leather sofa, and the ground was covered with white carpet. One of the walls had a large sliding door installed, allowing Liola to watch the beautiful scenery outside.

"Please rest for a bit, and a maid will come serve you immediately." The attendant bowed towards Liola, and closed the door.

Liola frowned. He thought the room a.s.signed to him was too elegant to the point of exaggeration. He was certain these types of room were reserved for important guests, and not for mere a compet.i.tor such as himself. He didn"t believe Barker valued him so much having only just met him.

"Did I just run into more trouble?" Liola thought with a headache.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

After Liola had said "come in", a middle-aged cougar looking woman waved a feather fan, and led a group of women with varying styles of clothes into the room. Every woman looked fairly pretty. All of them showed Liola their most beautiful side and stare at Liola, which made him even more confused, unaware his current situation.

The middle-aged woman flirtatiously laughed, "Aiya, the guest this time looks so good, even I want to serve you."

The all women stared at Liola"s delicate face. A few of them looked at Liola with flirtatious eyes while smiling to try to show their interest.

Liola frowned. The cougar woman who could read people clearly, understood Liola didn"t like to be checked out.

She immediately asked the girls to settle down, then turned her head to Liola,

"Honored guest, I"m the leader of these maids, and I"m bringing them to you, so you choose. I promise to you that every maid under me are definitely the prettiest, best tempered, and good with their hands and feet. You can pick whomever you want, and she will serve you."

Liola finally understood what these maids were. Without even looking at the group of beautiful women, Liola casually said, "Anyone would do."

Liola then he walked towards the sliding door, surprised to he was able to see the stadium where Kaiser and others were. Though it only looked like a small circle, it was enough to garner Liola"s interest, so he stood at the sliding doors without moving.

Hearing Liola"s response, the cougar woman"s smile froze.

"How could there be a man who isn"t even a bit interested in her daughters! What a joke."

In the Dark Street, she was known as the Mama Sang who had no ordinary girl under her. If someone wasn"t an important guest, they wouldn"t be able to touch her daughters!

[T/N, the middle-aged woman would be like a pimp, and the maids would be prost.i.tutes; in China, it was common for the pimp to call the prost.i.tutes her "daughters"]

"Aiya, guest, are you sure you don"t want to pick carefully? Every baby under me is extraordinarily beautiful, and very obedient. You can do anything you want."

Mama Sang smiled with her teeth showing, and blinked suggestively at Liola. Unfortunately, even though Mama Sang blinked so much that her eyes were close to having spasm and smiled so much that her facial muscles hurts, Liola was still deep in thought, and completely ignored anything she said.

Seeing a person so young, Mama Sang thought he wouldn"t be as picky as her older guests. She hit her palm with her feather fan, and yelled irritably at her daughters,

"What are you all still doing here? The guest isn"t satisfied with you! Go away, and tell my Seven Fairies to come here!"

The women felt cheated and left, and a few of them turned around to peek at Liola, with disappointment all over their faces.

Mama Sang anxiously paced at the door, waving her feather fan repeatedly as she waited for the arrival for her trump card.

Liola was still standing next to the sliding doors, looking at the small stadium, thinking of things like "Are Kaiser and others still fighting in a match?" or "Did Baolilong obediently stay with Jasmine?"

They wouldn"t abandon the match to look for him, right? Liola felt uneasy, but then tried to comfort himself: no, they won"t, even if they try looking for him, and if they fail to find him within a couple of days, they would probably give up.

After all, they had only known him for a couple of months, and Daylight only knew him for a few days. There"s no reason for them to be very worried about him…

Liola suddenly touched his face, remembering Meinan"s punch.

"Dear guest, guest… b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Turn around!" Mama Sang called Liola more than ten times, but Liola didn"t give even a slightest of response. She finally lost her tem