Chapter 135: Old Friend (1/2)

The carriage drove them deep into the city, following the path that Master Edward, disguised as an old driver, took. However, they couldn't know which routes he took, so they had to ask around.

”A royal carriage?” the florist pondered as a blush covered her cheeks. The young man the reason behind that, as his charm seemed to bewitch the woman. ”I think it went that way, and it smashed one of my pots.”

”Ah, I'm sorry for that,” the young man sounded apologetic. ”How about I make it up to you?” he tried to take out some money, but the florist was red-faced as she refused him.

Their carriage followed the route she pointed at, and Nikolai spent the time looking at the young man as he racked his brain. However, he couldn't match the face and features with anyone.

'Should I ask for his name?' Nikolai wondered, but he didn't want to mess the timeline any further. Master Edward was already out there, driving the divergence to 26%.

”You didn't tell me, Lyle,” the young man turned to him. ”Why are you looking for Master Edward?”

”I need to prevent him from attending the ritual because he has a habit of disturbing ceremonies,” Nikolai said without missing a beat. ”Furthermore, did you see the one-horned Minotaur? That was the doing of Master Edward. If they meet, there will be no such thing as peace, and the princess will be devastated.”

Nikolai didn't want to manipulate the young man, but it was necessary to ensure that he helped him. In return, his face turned grave the mention of Princess Maria being sad.

”I see,” he said before spreading his arms. ”Then I need to get serious.”

As he said so, his mana exploded to open a portal beside the carriage, from where the eagle came out. Then, the elemental mana spread everywhere from the summoned monster before he flew in the air.

Nikolai looked through the carriage and could see the eagle making rounds around the city. But then, the eagle disappeared as the young man frowned.

”There is a carriage leaving the city, and it has the emblem of the royal family,” the young man said. ”These horses are running as if their lives depended on them.”

”That's him!” Nikolai almost jumped from his carriage. ”We need to follow them!”

”Then let's abandon this carriage and ride my eagle once more,” as he said that, the man threw the door open as he jumped to land on his eagle, which has magically been recalled. Nikolai followed suit and jumped on the eagle before they soared toward the sky.

”Sir Lyle, take care!” the driver shouted as the two left him behind with a broken carriage's door, which was the result of the young man's uncontrolled strength.

”Dammit, the wind is against us,” Nikolai frowned as they soared above the city walls again, and the archers at the walls grew frightened by the majestic monster.

”Let me help you,” Nikolai used his darkness to hide them since nothing of this was real. However, as the darkness emerged, the divergence began accelerating.

”28... 29... 30!”

As they hid from the archers of the city, the eagle soared high enough to escape their notice. His darkness retracted as the young man glanced at him with an intrigued expression.

”It's better if you don't ask,” Nikolai said as he looked at the divergence meter not slowing down whatsoever. The young man shrugged before he turned toward the carriage.

Because they were flying against the wind, it was hard to catch up. However, another explosion of mana from the eagle pushed them forward again, causing a sonic boom to go off.

Nikolai had to grab the eagle's wings tightly just to balance himself. The young man was even more relentless than Nikolai, which was probably the power of a one-sided crush.

They were on top of the carriage after a few minutes, and Nikolai got to see that red energy was controlling the horses as they raced toward the ritual grounds. With each maniac gallop of the creatures, the divergence increased.

”We need to stop them!”

”Then jump!” the young man grabbed his arm and jumped from the eagle, which dived straight down toward the carriage. Then, the eagle crashed to the horses without stopping as the two began free-falling from the sky.

The young man used the wind for the two to land safely on the ground, descending as the carriage went off route and crashed to a nearby tree. Before the crash, two figures jumped out of the carriage.