Chapter : 22

  In less than sixty seconds, The Sovereign had defeated twenty heavily armed attackers. He didn't have a single drop of sweat on his face. He didn't even breathe hard. The battlefield, which had been full of screaming enemies just a minute ago, was suddenly completely silent. The only sound was the soft thud of bodies hitting the ground.

  The four enemy mages on the hill, who were blowing the smoke, stopped their magic. They looked down at the road in total shock. Through the thinning fog, they saw all their hired men lying unconscious on the ground. And standing in the middle of the road was a man in a high-collared black cloak and a mask with a single glowing purple eye.

  The Sovereign slowly turned his head to look up at the hill. The glowing purple eye stared right into the souls of the four mages.

  "Run," The Sovereign commanded softly.

  The mages didn't need to be told twice. Terrified out of their minds, they dropped their staffs, turned around, and ran into the deep forest as fast as their legs could carry them.

  The Sovereign watched them go. "Checkmate," he whispered dramatically.

  With a flick of his wrist, the black sword dissolved into dark mana and vanished. He looked around to make sure none of the girls had a clear view of him through the fading smoke. They were all still coughing and looking around in confusion.

  It was time to exit the stage.

  The Sovereign dashed backward, returning to the exact same oak tree he had started from. In a flash of invisible magic, the black cloak and mask disappeared. The messy blue servant uniform returned. His shirt was untucked, his tie was crooked, and his hair was perfectly messy.

  Ken Eliot was back.

  He quickly threw himself onto the ground near the back tire of the car. He grabbed his knees, pulled them up to his chest, and started shivering violently on purpose.

  "Oh, the horror! The terror! Please do not cut off my head! I only know how to plant potatoes!" Ken wailed at the top of his lungs, making sure he sounded as pathetic as humanly possible.

  The purple smoke finally began to clear, blowing away in the morning wind.

  Naomi, Sayma, Zinia, and the other girls slowly lowered their weapons. They looked around the road. Their eyes widened in pure shock. Every single mercenary was lying on the ground. They were not dead, but they were completely paralyzed, twitching slightly and snoring.

  Grandmaster Finlay walked over from the front car, his sword still drawn. He kicked one of the sleeping mercenaries with his heavy metal boot. The man didn't wake up.

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  "What happened here?" Finlay asked, his deep voice full of confusion. "Did you girls do this?"

  Sayma pushed her glasses up. She looked at the precise, clean cut marks on the mercenaries' armor. "No, Grandmaster. We couldn't even see through the smoke. Someone else did this. Whoever it was, they moved like a shadow. They used a fast-acting poison magic. It was incredibly high-level swordplay."

  Naomi frowned, crossing her arms. "A shadow? You mean someone saved us? Why didn't they show their face?"

  Suddenly, a loud, fake crying sound came from behind the car. "Waaaaah! Is it over? Are the scary bad men gone?"

  Naomi groaned, slapping a hand against her forehead. "Oh, great. I forgot about the useless farm boy."

  She walked around the car and found Ken sitting in the dirt, hugging his knees and giving her the biggest, saddest puppy eyes he could make. He looked absolutely terrified.

  "Get up, you coward," Naomi sighed, shaking her head. "The fight is over. You missed the whole thing while you were hiding and crying in the dirt."

  Ken slowly stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. He let out a loud, exaggerated breath of relief. "Phew! Thank goodness! I thought I was going to have to use my ultimate move: running away very, very fast! Did you guys beat them all? You girls are so cool and scary!"

  Sayma walked over, looking at Ken closely. "You didn't see anyone else in the smoke, Ken? Someone wearing a cloak or carrying a sword?"

  Ken blinked twice, looking completely stupid. "A cloak? No way! I had my eyes closed the whole time! I was busy praying to the god of snacks to save my potato chips! Speaking of which..." Ken bent down and picked up his half-empty bag of chips from the grass. "Safe! Yes!"

  Naomi let out a sound of pure disgust. "You are unbelievable. Someone mysterious just saved our lives, and you only care about your stupid chips. Get back in the car before I leave you here in the forest."

  "Yes, ma'am! Right away, scary lady!" Ken said, giving a goofy salute and happily jumping back into the backseat of the car.

  As the girls helped Finlay move the burning tree out of the road, none of them suspected a thing. They whispered to each other about the mysterious, powerful shadow swordsman. They wondered if it was a secret royal guard, or a famous wandering knight. They had absolutely no idea that the legendary hero was currently sitting in the backseat of their car, happily munching on barbecue potato chips.

  "Mission accomplished," Ken thought to himself, a tiny, satisfied smile appearing on his lazy face. "I got my workout done for the month. Now, let's get to this Upper Council place. I am ready to be bored out of my mind."

  The cars started their engines once more. They left the sleeping mercenaries behind and drove out of the forest, heading straight toward the gathering of the most powerful Royals in the Belmontia Empire.

  ----

  The three black cars of the 13th Unit finally arrived at the Upper Council building. The drive from the forest had been quiet after the attack, mostly because everyone was still in shock about the mysterious shadow swordsman who had saved them. Well, everyone except Ken Eliot. Ken was mostly quiet because he was busy eating the rest of his barbecue potato chips in the backseat.

  The cars slowly pulled into the massive parking lot of the Upper Council building. This was the place where the Emperor of the Belmontia Empire did his daily office work, and it looked exactly like a castle from a fairy tale.

  Ken pressed his face against the car window, leaving a slightly greasy fingerprint on the glass. "Wow," Ken mumbled, his sleepy eyes blinking. "This place is huge. It looks like the final boss castle in a video game. I bet the heating bill for this place is ridiculous."

  "Wipe the grease off the window, you pig," Naomi snapped from the seat next to him.

  The driver parked their car. Grandmaster Finlay stepped out of the front car, his heavy silver armor clanking loudly. He opened the door for Princess Iris. She stepped out, smoothing down her simple, practical clothes. She took a deep breath, looking at the giant, fancy palace in front of her. This was it. The real start of the Succession War.