Chapter 427 Chapter428-Escape
Antalya showed no particular reaction, which didn't surprise Ali in the least.
Howard had already obtained the communication crystal from Jelia, so he must have made contact with Antalya by now.
"Has he reached out to you?" Ali asked, even though she was pretty sure of her guess.
"Yes," Antalya nodded.
"Howard contacted me. He had an encounter with Jelia, and now Red Eye's people are onto him."
Ali thought of the four bodies.
"He killed those four men, but not before he managed to extract some information from them."
Antalya's gaze fell on Ali's face.
"The Old Nobles. This secret seems to be tied to everything behind Red Eye - his motives, his strength, his influence. Do you know anything about it?"
Ali shook her head.
"I didn't expect Howard to resort to torture. I saw the scene, and it's still unsettling to me."
"That means you still need training," Antalya remarked, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Is this what adventurers are like?" Ali asked.
"Not all, but those who are tend to survive longer. And surviving is one of the biggest hopes for an adventurer," Antalya explained, pausing as if recalling something, then continued, "Do you have any way to find out more about this?"
After a brief hesitation, Ali nodded.
"There is one way. It failed recently, but it's worth another try."
"That's enough," Antalya said, rising to her feet.
"We shall return to the inn now and wait for Howard's message."
"Wait for Howard's message?"
It was only then that Ali realized she hadn't seen Howard.
"Where is Howard? Didn't he meet with you? Didn't you ask him to stay?"
"He was captured by the Three Knights."
A piece of rather unwelcome news made the corner of Ali's eye twitch.
"It's not a big problem, don't be too anxious," Antalya said calmly.
"Though Howard has been captured, if he wishes to escape, he will undoubtedly find a way."
Antalya didn't specify what Howard's methods were, but Ali sensed a firm belief in her words.
Antalya's confidence in Howard's capabilities seemed to suggest that Howard possessed strengths beyond Ali's knowledge.
What had he encountered during his days of absence?
It wasn't just his demeanor and approach that had changed; even his strength seemed to have undergone a significant transformation.
"What exactly happened?" Ali inquired.
"Howard said he had obtained some crucial intelligence about Red Eye. He hopes to join forces with the Three Knights, or at least make them more vigilant, to avoid unnecessary deaths."
Overall, this didn't greatly alter Antalya's original plan.
There remained questions about how much the Three Knights would believe Howard's information.
However, without a doubt, Howard's news would prompt a shift in the Three Knights' stance—a tangible change.
"Let's go," Antalya said, heading towards the skylight.
"Although we can't assist him now, at the very least, we can prepare an escape route for him."
...
"Old Nobles?" Sorovo's voice carried an indescribable mix of emotions.
He asked sharply, "Where did you learn about that?"
"How about this... You tell me what it is, and then I'll tell you where I learned it from?"
Howard replied with a playful smile, settling back into his chair and fiddling with his nails.
"Look at me, I can neither beat you in a fight nor can I run away. If I lose my last bit of value and you decide to chop me down, wouldn't that be a terribly unsatisfying way to die?"
"Are you saying I can't kill you after telling you?" Sorovo sneered coldly.
"Of course, you can, but then, you'd miss out on a lot," Howard paused, then smiled.
"Besides, trust me, if I wanted to kill you... Well, perhaps I couldn't do it myself, but... the others present might not find it as challenging."
"You wouldn't want to corner a wild dog," he added.
A wounded beast is frightening, but a beast with no way out is even more terrifying.
Watching Howard's smile, Sorovo suddenly burst into laughter.
It wasn't the forced sneer of pretense but a hearty, genuine laugh that almost made Howard wonder if the roof would come tumbling down.
Sorovo's deep laughter echoed through the living room, creating an almost reverberant effect.
After laughing for a few breaths, Sorovo finally controlled his emotions, his gaze landing on Howard's face.
"Did I say something funny?" Howard raised his chin, questioning.
"You know, it's been a long while since anyone dared to threaten me like this," Sorovo sighed, shaking his head.
"It seems you are an outsider, through and through. If you knew my name, or had even heard a bit about me, you'd understand such threats are utterly useless against me."
Sorovo raised his hand, pointing towards a knight standing in the corner.
"Him!" His finger shifted direction, pointing towards two guards at the door.
"Them!"
"Or him!"
Leaning back in his chair, an arrogant sneer formed on his face.
"They are merely my hounds. If a hound dies, it dies. I can always get another."
"Now, do you still think you have any leverage to threaten me?"
Howard scratched his face, not anticipating Sorovo would dismiss his threat so directly, so forcefully.
By doing so, Sorovo had essentially written off all his subordinates.
"Aren't you afraid that someday someone will stab you in the back?"
Sorovo shook his head.
"That's why I said you're an utter outsider. Your insight isn't bad, but you know too little about us. My name might not carry far, likely unknown beyond Breeze City, but here, this is Breeze City's domain!"
"Just as you said earlier, I am a warrior, a pure warrior," Sorovo declared.
"You should understand, a pure person is indispensable to those with ambition, for they make the sharpest blades."
"As long as I remain pure, I will be unharmed."
"So, now, will you speak, or not?"
With a sigh, Howard stood up.
"Well, it seems our conversation ends here."
In an instant, Howard mobilized his mana, erupting with a speed three times greater than before.
Almost in a blink, Sorovo lost sight of him.
Howard's movements stirred a violent airstream, and before anyone could react, dual blades were already in his hands, slicing towards the guards at the door in a cross motion!
Staying to fight was the least wise decision.
Yet, Sorovo had no intention of letting Howard simply walk away.
Although slower to react, his speed surpassed Howard's!
Pale blue mana endowed Sorovo with the swiftness of the wind and the agility of a cheetah.
Howard heard only the violent tearing of air before a figure appeared in his path of attack.
Sorovo, reacting later but moving faster, raised his blade in a stabbing motion towards Howard's face.
Howard's crossed blades parried the attack, clashing with a burst of sound and sparks.
While it appeared perilous, Howard evaded the true lethality of the strike.
Using the blades as leverage, Howard flipped, changing direction upon landing.
He pushed off the door frame for a second boost, spinning to appear behind Sorovo, one blade gripped normally, the other reversed, swinging both down in a return strike!
This sequence of actions, though complex, was compressed into two seconds under Howard's precise control, leaving no room for reaction!
Against a slightly weaker level 3 magus, this strike would be unavoidable, forcing them to endure it.
But Howard's target was Sorovo.
Without moving his feet, Sorovo reversed the blade in his hand, appearing behind Howard!
The air was filled with a piercing slicing sound!
As three long blades clashed, sparks flew in all directions.
Sorovo took a step forward, intentionally moving out of Howard's attack range, then turned around, his long blade drawing a bright silver arc in the air, released from his grip.
At this moment, Howard had not yet landed.
Suspended in the air with nowhere to leverage, Howard was completely vulnerable to Sorovo's attack!
In this life-or-death crisis, that familiar sensation emerged once again for Howard—the surrounding time slowed, almost to a halt.
Mana exploded in Howard's mind, silver-white light engulfing his entire field of vision.
Howard's movements doubled in speed at this instant, with silver-white mana mixed with flickering electric light bursting forth, forming a visible vortex in front of him.
Sorovo's thrown long blade entered the vortex without any hindrance!
Howard landed, watching as the blade's tip passed through the vortex, his gaze unchanging.
The situation unfolded as he anticipated.
That vortex wasn't a conventional defensive maneuver, nor did it possess any capacity to block attacks.
It was a powerful electromagnetic field!
Mana transformed into a strong current, piercing through the air to form a surrounding magnetic field, altering the direction of the long blade!
The blade whistled through the vortex, its course already diverted.
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