Volume 4 (2/2)

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 splashi+ng sounds from behind them , ilass, trying to break itself free so it could run to Liola

Jas, but even she couldn't help herself fro her head to look, but the door to the infirer 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 ierated sly accept various coht 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 assassins 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 fraground, then placed it onto the left palm

There were already several fraginal shape could be seen clearly — it was a silver mask

Thea black and white Sorcerer robe finally retrieved all the fraground

He pushed up the gold-fralasses made it impossible to see his eyes, but his ht smile A few lines of incantation escaped froht which landed onto the fragments A fully intact silver mask quietly laid on the man's palm

”Lancelot, how dare you to touch old-fra and sharp canine teeth He looked like a gold-haired fox poised

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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 principal by the collar and yelled with raised eyebrows and widened eyes

The three people whose presence caused Kaiser's arrogance, were also standing behind hi faces

If Barbalis couldn't give theave them Liola's corpse, Barbalis could very well become the first principal ever killed by his own students in the history of Aklan Academy

”He just took Baolilong to the infiro by hiuys on The infir could go wrong! Liola is definitely waiting inside the infir's wounds are healed”

Barbalis screa treated unjustly

”Yeah, Kaiser, the infire should be fine” Purity quickly tried to calone 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 soht leave without saying goodbye…”

”Stop We'll knoe 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 infiruilt-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,

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 hell is your dad?”

Baolilong's big eyes were already watery After hearing Kaiser's inquisition, large drops of tears ione 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 so to do with these two'

Kaiser coldly questioned the for no reason”

Jasuilt,

”Sorry, it was 's body was the result of Liola's physical abuse, so I bla on him”

”Papa would never hit Baolilong” Baolilong loudly protested, which uilt

Kaiser frowned

'Would Liola go bejust because someone blamed him? An assassin shouldn't be as childish as that, there should be so else…'

Could it be what he had thought before? Kaiser hesitated, then turned around to ask the others, ”Hey, do you think that Liola ht 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, so had always bothered him”

Kaiser hit his own head and said, ”daood 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 arroas released, Barbalis would definitely not die froh his body, but rather from a headshot

Kaiser's devil-like voice echoed,

”MR PRINcipaL, 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 boas not auous, and it slowly moved doard from Barbalis' head

”No! I still don't have a Barbalis Jr I'll go look, right now!” Barbalis sank in bitter conte 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 drea a cold corpse?

Re 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 passed by gradually beca high up into the clouds were no where to be seen There were only souys lying on the ground, looking at Liola walking around with his elegant robe with envy and malice

Liola realized the hostile glares directed at hi an assassin for many years, his instincts reh Liola knew he couldn't handle professional assassins, a few houys shouldn't pose a problem

Perhaps ten of them would be a problem

Liola stopped his tracks, when he saw reed 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 ore a dirty vest laughed and revealed his stained teeth,

”Says who? You're worth a lot of ans would be worth quite a suh for me and my fellow friends to eat several meals”

All of theh A few of theht 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 ?” 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 theweapons and charged at Liola

Even with ten people running towards him, Liola's face was calet away completely unscathed

Being in the assassin 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 tiround 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 theround for quite a while

But the following fight would not be so easy

More than ten other people aving 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 assassin's training, he was able to endure pain, and not a single noise escaped his mouth

At the sa hurt further, Liola hurried to try to take and care of his enemies All of his hits efficiently landed on the back of his enemies' heads For the ones he h on some occasions he received a blow because of his mistakes

”Little runt, stop struggling!”

Seeing his rily, 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 horound, and their leader was unconscious

The only person left standing, was theon to Broken Silver, and left holding his stomach Liola's calm yet pale face was covered in sweat

Clap, clap

A faint clap cahter onto Broken Silver

He knew since a while back that so about it Liola looked in the corner, and warned the onlooker with his eyes

”Quite a skills you have”

A man with a deep voice co a suit walked out of the dark corner He had a square face, greasy but neat short black hair, and a pair of dark sunglasses

He looked quite dignified

Liola looked at the uard down Without the support of his Ki, Liola felt so earlier brawl

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

The ed 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 assassin asked again patiently, ”What do you want?”

”Ah! You are a straightforward man” Barker placed his ar around the bush, so he explained plainly,

”Since I am a host of Dark Arena, I come out often to find new co 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 hi what Dark Arena was

Barker thought, 'The competitors 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 rand If you win the whole thing, then the 10 million prize money is all yours”

Liola stopped his footsteps, and the thought ofmoney flashed in his mind He needed a lot of …

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

Barker saw Liola's hesitation, and was happy for a brief moain

He had been the king of the Dark Street for uards in front and behind hi with the arena, and had to personally scout for good competitors, 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 s the idea of so hi withforce!”

What was strange was that, with Barker's yell, two large lasses jumped out onto the empty street

Both s, with alar looks

Seeing the guns, Liola's eyes flashed He calmly calculated in his ainst guns with his current speed, and if he tried to run, the chance of hi 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 sround not far behind his ankle

Barker laughed coldly, ”My bodyguards are the sharpest shooters of the Dark Street, wanna run? You better ask peruns 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 un firmly in his holster

Liola's heart was shaken a little, it appeared the twosaid, they decided ould open fire to prevent hi

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

Though Liola's face reh in his heart He decided to negotiate with Barker He looked at hiest 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 competitor for his arena, Barker couldn't contain his sone

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 competitors, then I'd have to compensate them with money”

Liola thought about it of it for a while, and the desire to make o 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 knohat your name is?”

Barker laughed loudly, and the young bodyguard behind hiun to its holster The twointo the shadows

”Liola”

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

Liola folloithout any hesitation, since to hi at home

Barker, alking in the front, quietly thought it was quite strange, and at the saray 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 ti the shameful assassin life

Liola a better suited in living in the dark places, and he could caused much less trouble an assassin than if he ith Kaiser and others

After walking for a long tih 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 governenerated, 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 assassin raise a brow, but he frowned upon the colorful and dazzling street

At the tie people, bothclothes, and bucktoothed old

There were also soh 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 ns at all

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

Judging fro out fro 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 co crowds didn't seem to care They casually walked in and out of shops, try to purchasing all sorts of strange goods fros

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 acadeate

[T/N: 'Laughing Gate' sounds identical to 'School Gate' in Chinese]

Seeing Liola's expressionless face, Barker, as hoping to see Liola's shocked or a hi 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 competitor,

”Hurry! We're going to go have a look at your neorkplace”

Liola stopped his wandering eyes, and followed Barker caluards were closely following them, but moved from one shadow area to the next, and most people wouldn't even sense their existence

The two ed determined With his current ability, he could possibly beat the young one, but the er

These two people were strong, in the eyes of a north… 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 competitors? 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 uards leave me even for a few matches in the arena”

Liola nodded His caliant, pyra siular 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 glooa money with lives

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Chapter 3 : Sacrifice

”What the…”

Barker looked at Liola satisfactorily as Liola's eyes gazed on the pyra for the outsider to say some words of praise and exclamation

Liola stared at the pyrae 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 knohat 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 ere bored froht went on

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

However soht 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 couy 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 hiht 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 fro his hands inside the pail, so Liola did the sa

”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 hins of exhaustion and soreness

Liola lowered his head to look at the bruises and dried blood, thought it was best for hier has his immense Ki to use as shi+elds

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

Barker nodded, indicating his agree my new competitor 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 uy definitely not a match for you”

Liola nodded, and walked aith the attendants

As soon as Barker saw Liola turned into a corner, his war that the hallas clear, Barker murmured to himself,

”Finally found a sacrifice I alo according to plan”

The older bodyguard who had remained quiet all this ti, and the ”

The young bodyguard re er 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 ht about the silver light dancing in the crowd of houys, 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 aith 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

Therooround was covered hite 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 rooeration He was certain these types of roouests, and not for mere a competitor such as hi only just met him

”Did I just run into ht with a headache

At this time, there was a knock on the door

After Liola had said ”co wo 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 uest this tiood, even I want to serve you”

The all women stared at Liola's delicate face A few of the 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 iirls to settle down, then turned her head to Liola,

”Honored guest, I' them to you, so you choose I promise to you that every maid under ood with their hands and feet You can pick whomever you want, and she will serve you”

Liola finally understood what these roup 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 stadiuh it only looked like a sarner Liola's interest, so he stood at the sliding doors without

Hearing Liola's response, the cougar woman's smile froze

'How could there be a hters! What a joke'

In the Dark Street, she was known as the Mairl under her If souest, they wouldn't be able to touch her daughters!

[T/N, the ed woman would be like a pimp, and the maids would be prostitutes; in China, it was cohters”]

”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”

Maestively at Liola Unfortunately, even though Ma spasm and smiled so much that her facial ht, and co she said

Seeing a person so young, Mauests She hit her palhters,

”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

Ma 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 ss like 'Are Kaiser and others still fighting in aobediently stay with Jasmine?'

They wouldn't abandon the ht? Liola felt uneasy, but then tried to co for him, and if they fail to find hiive up

After all, they had only known hiht only knew him for a few days There's no reason for them to be very worried about him…

Liola suddenly touched his face, re Meinan's punch

”Dear guest, guest… bastard! Turn around!” Maive even a slightest of response She finally lost her tem