Epic Of The Demonic Sage

When Lucius spoke to Viscountess Blackshield, there was a well-practiced smile on his face and his tone was calm.

"Hmm…?" Viscountess Blackshield momentarily turned away from the stall where she was perusing the wares. "Do we need to go to the re-education center now, Young Lord Asher?"

Lucius shook his head and spoke in a low voice.

"Please keep yourself ready, Viscountess Blackshield. I have no evidence to give you yet, but there might be something wrong. I can feel it."

Viscount Blackshield's expression didn't shift at all and instead, she briefly nodded.

"I am ready for anything, Young Lord Asher. What is it that you have in mind?"

"I do not wish to cause any alarm or panic in this street, so if you are ready, please follow me to somewhere… more isolated," Lucius said.

'To some people, it makes more sense to stick within a crowd. The bodies can easily make it hard to navigate within a crowd and that will act as some sort of shield that will allow an individual to remain safer longer as long as they know how to use it to advantage.' Viscount Blackshield thought. 'Of course, if they're already spotted and a target, it will be much harder to hide… but Young Lord Asher does not wish to put anyone else in danger.'

"Viscountess?"

"I will follow you."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Lucius said.

'If my instincts prove to be correct, then it's far better to have this danger reveal itself where we can confront them. To cause any other more danger for the people in Inanis City will cause damage to the reputation of the Count and myself in turn if anyone were to be harmed.' Lucius thought.

Contrary to Viscountess Blackshield's judgment, the reason why Lucius didn't want the people of Inanis City to be harmed was because of a far more practical purpose.

Kiana and the guards were around the area but also gave some room to allow Young Lord Asher and Viscountess Blackshield some privacy to engage and interact.

They were mostly keeping watch of the people and ensuring that the safety of the two nobles was a top priority, but then Young Lord Asher and Viscountess Blackshield quickly started to move to another area.

"Where are they going next?" one of the guards asked as he kept pace with the way the two nobles were heading to. "Is there anything interesting in that direction?"

"I do not know, but Young Lord Asher doesn't really know this area, so maybe we let him know?" another said.

"Are they exploring?"

"That's too strange."

All of the guards were a little confused with the sudden direction but remained resolute in their duty of watching over the nobles.

Meanwhile, it was only Kiana who pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. Based on the actions of Asher in the past, she knew that the young man really didn't do anything without any particular reason.

"Something must be up. Keep your eyes peeled and open," Kiana ordered.

***

Lucius, Viscountess Blackshield and the rest arrived in a street that was empty and devoid of people.

Kiana was about to go forward and approach Asher to question him, but a laugh suddenly echoed behind them.

Lucius and everyone's gazes quickly turn to a tall and huge hooded man. The man clapped his hands before he pointed to Lucius.

"Haha, it's quite great that you were able to bring me here without alerting anyone else. You are one sharp boy."

"Who… who are you?" Kiana and the guards shifted to combat stances, Kiana's palms already ready to shoot her Sting Sniper if the situation called for it.

All of their eyes showed wariness about the hooded figure, but they did not engage him in a fight right away.

The man was completely suspicious, but they wouldn't immediately harm a person who hadn't done anything yet.

"Oh, you folks will know soon." The hooded figure laughed. "But ah, maybe you guys are interested in playing a guessing game? Of course, there are penalties if you get it wrong."

Lucius's eyes narrowed at the figure, at the brazen way that this man was addressing them, and quickly figured it out. And so Lucius immediately called out a name.

"We have no interest in your little games, but you must be Bordeaux, the Mad Blade."

"Ahaha! Incredible! I didn't even give a clue!" Bordeaux the Mad Blade immediately lunged forward at a neck breaking speed.

At this, all the guards immediately moved into position to defend Young Lord Asher and Viscountess Blackshield.

Kiana shot projectiles towards him, but despite his huge and bulking figure, the man was evasive, and moved agilely, dodging a great number of them.

When Bordeaux was close to the guards, he immediately grabbed one of them and used the man as a meat shield to avoid Kiana's blows.

Kiana hesitated for a second, not wanting to injure the guards, and that was enough for Bordeaux to kick back the guard in her direction harshly before he moved to the other guards.

Bordeaux drew out a short sword and a dagger and quickly engaged with the still standing men, and all of the guards move at once towards him. They knew that fighting the man alone was already an insane idea, so they chose to fight all at once, but they were quickly overpowered by the man.

Despite being outnumbered, Bordeaux's movements were fast and his attacks were exceedingly skillful.

All of the Inanis Guards wore protective armors and were trained well by Captain Donald and yet they were thrown off guard.

Bordeaux the Mad Blade was completely above their level.

All it took was several quick and decisive blow towards them and the gaps in their armor were utilized effectively by Bordeaux.

Bordeaux could have easily killed them in that moment, but once he had disabled the guards and prevented them from being able to make another move, the Mad Blade immediately launched himself towards Asher once more.

However, before Mad Blade could approach Asher, a spray of projectiles shoots from behind him. Kiana having recovered already.