330 Into the Chaos Part 2 (2/2)
The young swordsman had a lazy look on his face, almost as if he did not view these four magic beast knights as a threat. He brandished his sword lazily, cutting up snowflake after snowflake that floated down from the sky. Almost all of the snowflakes had been split right down the middle. Without even releasing his sword aura, he had managed to clear the entire area completely of snow.
Only grand swordmasters were able to execute this technique with such precise control.
”You've been chasing me for more than half a year. Aren't you guys tired of this?” the young man questioned, his voice smooth and unusually warm. In fact, Saleen could have sworn that the snow falling around him had melted from the warm tone of his voice.
”Jola, we respected you in the past because you were a prodigy in swordcraft. However, since you have tainted the princess, as her knights, we must wipe you off the face of this planet,” one of them gruffly replied.
”Knights? Are you so stupid that you think you're worthy of being knights? Does the Cloudflow Empire really house people as naive as you? Did your mother drop you on your head too many times as a child? How is it my business that the princess is pregnant? Just get a mage to ascertain the identity of the father!” Jola responded, exasperated.
Upon hearing Jola's smug reply, the four magic beast warriors became so agitated that they positioned themselves to attack once more. However, before any one of them could make a move, the young grand swordsmaster laughed, ”I'm not the only lover than the princess has. Why don't you chase them instead? Why are you so obsessed with me?”
”Oh don't worry, those people won't live for very long either,” one of the knights burst out. The princess had gotten pregnant. However, the people who could have been responsible for her pregnancy had run away a long time ago, angering the emperor enough for him to hire magic beasts knights to eliminate them all.
Even though the royal noblemen led absurdly promiscuous lives, they took steps to ensure that the women would not get pregnant. Alas, the princess just had to get pregnant and even give birth to the child. The emperor had originally intended to send the princess over to the Qin Empire to get married. However, given the values that the Qin royal family firmly believed in, the chances of the princess being accepted into their family were now zero.
Even though the Cloudflow empire was in a state of peril and needed allies like the Qin Empire, the princess had gotten pregnant at the most inappropriate time and ruined everything. In a fit of rage, the emperor had deployed hoards of magic beast knights to arrest the princess's lovers. Jola was the youngest grand swordmaster that the Cloudflow Empire had ever had. He was apparently used to be the mentor of the royal swordsmen. More than half of the magic beast squad that had chased him for over twenty thousand miles had been killed off by Jola, and one of their comrades had just been slain by him as well. Now, it was four against one.
The four magic beast knights knew that if Jola was desperate enough to kill off their comrades, he was probably not going to come back with them willingly. Even with their powers combined, it was possible that they would be no match for him. Four junior grand swordmasters might have been able to take on an ordinary black metal grand swordmaster, but Jola's swordcraft was just too good to beat. Not a single black metal grand swordmaster with the same rank as Jola would be able to defeat him.
The reason why grand swordmasters were so strong was not because of the fact that their sword auras could exit their bodies and attack their enemies like a mage's spells. It was because the person manipulating the sword aura had attained mastery in their craft to the extent that they could defeat a hundred opponents on their own.
Aini and Saleen, who had heard every single word spoken, glanced at each other silently. Their gazes communicated the same question in their heads – are these people out here to get us? Is this a trap?
Four junior grand swordmasters and one black metal grand swordmaster would mean a grand total of five grand swordmasters. Given these numbers, neither Saleen nor Aini would be able to deal with them on their own.
The swordmaster laughed and said, ”Idiots! My buddies are here. It's not too late to run now.”
Buddies? The four magic beast knights had spent so much of their time and focus investigating Jola that they had not detected the presence of the pirates. Upon hearing Jola's words, they started to panic.
If they had been dealing with Jola alone, they could still have enlisted the help of their magic beasts. However, they were now faced with over a hundred new foes, and not just any foes, but knights! Oh no! they thought in dread. They had no choice but to retreat slowly. Even though the emperor's orders were to be followed without any exceptions, they obviously had no control over the situation now. Staying put would mean sentencing themselves to death.
Upon hearing Jola's words, Saleen could not help but bubble with anger. How dare he use my troops to protect himself? Saleen thought. Even if it was a trap, there was no way he could avoid being caught in it. Since we're buddies, you better be prepared to introduce yourself, Saleen thought sinisterly.
”Listen up! I will shoot my arrows if anyone dares to leave. We have over a hundred steel crossbows here. Even if all of you are grand swordmasters, you won't escape in one piece, trust me,” Saleen yelled, using magic to allow his voice to pass through the boulders.
What Saleen was doing at the moment was meant to scare the five grand swordmasters into doing as he said. Out of all the pirates he had, only a dozen of them had their crossbows ready to fire. Even though steel crossbows were fairly lethal weapons, they were severely affected by cold weather. They had contracted slightly, becoming even more taut and fragile than before. This meant that they were not as elastic. They would only use these type of crossbows when they were in a defensive position.
Upon hearing Saleen's voice, the four magic beast knights panicked even more. They were not only knowledgeable, but had also seen the world enough to know that the voice belonged to a mage, and an archmage at that. They more or less believed Jola's words now. Given Jola's status, only an archmage would be worthy of becoming friends with him.