151 Ambush on the hill! (1/2)

”Of course not~ Watching from up here is not exactly fun, you see~” a voice echoed throughout the steep slope.

In the next second, an old man in white robes appeared in front of Rufus, who did not even bat an eye.

His speed was so fast that most of the Mages could not even catch a glimpse of where he came from. However, Rufus was also a Rank-8 Mage. It wasn't a big deal in his eyes.

The old man had silky and completely white hair with a small beard. His hands were crossed behind his back as he appeared so calm in this situation that the mercenaries almost thought that they were going to have some tea party.

He would've looked like an old man that was about to die of old age, but his posture alone was enough to prove otherwise.

Although he had a small smile plastered on his face, Rufus stared back with a cold expression. He looked as if he wouldn't be happy until he tore apart that old man in front of him.

”Well, Look around. We do have a party here! You've brought quite some people, didn't you, my old friend?” The old man spoke with mirth.

”Don't call me as your friend. Not to mention, speak for yourself! Heh, I am still not as old as you are.” Rufus snapped. Without letting the old man reply, he added, ”You don't have any fewer people.”

”Hohoho~ Easy, my friend. It's not like we are enemies here-... Oh, nevermind. We actually are!” The old man suddenly stopped in the middle and thought for a moment before replying.

Just as he said this, a few more Rank-7 Mages appeared behind Rufus and the man in white robes.

”I must say, I didn't expect to see you here,” the man in white robes said.

”Neither did I,” Rufus said in response. At this point, a weird pressure and tension had started to generate in the air because of the heated debate of these two.

Even though their tone and words almost made it seem like they really were some old friends, the tension in the atmosphere shattered that image in others' minds.

”Well, it was a good thing that I had some business, so I tagged along with this team. Because if I wasn't here... it seems like you had set up a pretty good trap~” The old man said in a teasing tone.

He was pleased with his decision to follow the team in this mission. If he weren't here today, the whole team would have been annihilated by Rufus!

”Tch! It would help if you had stayed where you were. Your old bones might start to wear out too soon,” Rufus spat with annoyance.

”To be honest, you really did have a good plan, and I admit that I did not think that anything was off. Pity that your luck is still as bad as before, hahaha!” The old man started to laugh crazily.

The mercenaries were all confused while hearing their conversation. But the smart ones could make out the gist of the situation from the bits and pieces of information that they could gather.

They were hired as a front so that the enemy let their guard down. And when they attacked, Rufus would show up to annihilate enemy forces that would deal a huge blow to them.

Although he was not sure of the details, Ozul could figure out this much already when he thought of why the Royal Family needed some mercenaries to escort their important guests. Sometimes, he thought that people were foolish. How could someone even fall for a trap like this!?

'I guess the opponents aren't as smart either...' Ozul thought while shaking his head slightly.

Even with both sides' stupidity, it turned out that they now confronted each other with almost the same forces.

Both sides had a Rank-8 Mage while the Rank-7 Mages seemed almost equal in numbers as well. Of course, that was not counting Ozul in it since he would really like to stay out of it.

He had thought that it would be something huge, but as it turned out, it was the usual struggle between life and death from both sides.

At this point, Ozul only stayed here because he knew that Rufus was informed of some other plans for him. He wanted to see what the Emperor was up to, and sticking together with this was his only way to find out.

Everyone was nervous since a fight was about to break out, and the chances of dying were all-time high in this type of battle.