Chapter 560 (1/2)

“Who is he?” Hank asked Dozer, who stood next to him with folded arms. Although the rest of the almost 100 man group were keeping together in tight formations, Dozer strode alone. So when they stopped at the gates of the Refuge to face the single man standing there, Hank went to the big man for answers.

“He is strong,” Dozer said simply.

Annie stood at the front, opposite the man. “You are going to insist on doing this? Just turn that squirming maggot over to us. It’s already a big favor we don’t just burn your shitty Village to the ground.”

The man grinned at Annie in a way that made Hank narrow his eyes. This man truly had a lot of balls.

“Look, I get what you are saying. I was very surprised when it turned out the Undying Hero had committed an act of terrorism against Donnyton. I was about to give him a stern talking to when I heard he was fleeing the city. Then, because I was bored, I decided to set up shop right here and challenge anyone who comes this way to a duel. It’s just a coincidence that I stopped you all.”

Annie looked at the man like she would look like a piece of dogshit. “How many people need to die before you take your head out of your own ass, Ace?”

The man’s grin didn’t waiver.

Annie sighed. “Fine, but-”

“Please, let me.”

The crowd of people parted and a woman walked to the front. She had a spear, a buckler, and was wearing a Valkyrie helmet. Even just looking at her, Hank felt tingles in his fingers. Alana, the true power behind this expedition. When Donnyton went looking for the pound of flesh it was owed for the attack, Alana was the sharp edge to that attack.

Grinning, Annie moved to the side. “Good, this will be much easier then.”

Alana just walked forward. Ace cracked his knuckles and crouched down. He was only dressed in soft furs and a pair of leather gloves. Comparing him to Alana was comparing a civilian to a tank. But the longer that Hank gazed at the other man, the more his estimation of him rose. Even with Hank’s dueling sense, he couldn’t see any obvious ways to attack the man.

Silently, the presence of the two individuals rose upwards before Hank’s very eyes. But even as the man they called Ace, leader of the Refuge, rose into something impressive, it remained eclipsed by Alana. As she walked forward, the ground seemed to hum with the heat of her passage. The tip of her spear began to glow golden and leave a slow trail in the air.

Around him, the entirety of the force from Donnyton drew a collective breath. Often, Alana would teach lessons on fighting, but very rarely would she ever take an opponent seriously. It was only training, after all. But now, she was pulling out all the stops. Everyone who was here wanted to etch this scene into their memory.

After the dead body was discovered, Donnyton had formed itself to the cause of tracking down the killer. When it was revealed by Glendel that the one who killed her was the one called the Undying Hero, the people were incited. A troop led by Alana left almost immediately. They even took volunteers, which was how Hank joined in the search.

Dozer clicked his tongue in annoyance. “What a fool.”

Hank looked up sharply at the other man and regretted it immediately. Because by the time that he turned back to the fight, Alana had already attacked.

In a blazing charge, she crossed the final several meters to reach her opponent. Even as Ace sprang into motion, spinning out of the way of her first thrust, Alana thrust again. Waves of heat roiled upward off of her blazing spear.

Ace sidestepped three more times, and then rushed forward. There was a strange shadow around him, making him difficult to follow with your eyes. But as casual as could be, Alana brought the shaft of the spear around and smashed Ace backward.

Backflipping mid-air, he landed without seeming to have been affected in the least by the attack. But when he landed, Alana was already there, relentlessly attacking. This time, Ace was forced to block and he was forcibly thrown another dozen meters backward by the clash.

His feet skidded over the ground as he attempted to find his balance, but Alana wouldn’t let up. She rushed forward again with a raised spear that seemed to burn with its own miniature sun.