Chapter 690: Anomalous Descent, Part Two

Ah?

In that instant, Thales froze.

She just... just ran?

Lausanne, who had originally been overflowing with killing intent, also stiffened.

The two of them looked at this scene, both a little unable to react.

"Hey, wait a moment-"

Thales became anxious, but just as the words left his mouth, Hilley's figure disappeared into the darkness and could no longer be seen.

After a little while, even her footsteps vanished into the murmuring water.

So...

The corner of Thales' mouth twitched.

So disloyal?

At any rate, I am your fi... mm, your nominal blind date, right? Although your brother paid for the meal.

After several seconds, Thales stiffly turned his head back and exchanged a glance with the black-clothed killer before him. He curled the corner of his mouth awkwardly.

Bad. This was bad.

A few seconds later, both of them came back to themselves at the same time.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh." Lausanne looked in the direction where Hilley had disappeared and sighed. His tone was strange. "Wow."

Eh, what did he mean by that?

Thales felt terribly embarrassed under his stare and became angry from shame.

What did he mean by "wow"?

Ah! What did he mean!

What kind of damned Lausanne II was this? Was he not an assassin?

Damn it. Why did he have so much nonsense to say?

Were they fighting or not?

Come on, fight three hundred rounds!

In the next second, looking at Thales' awkward expression, Lausanne II seemed to know what he was thinking. His figure instantly closed in!

The fight broke out again.

Thales was startled, but instead of retreating, he advanced. He also rushed forward, his blade sharp!

Wyana had no heart. Hilley had no loyalty.

Now, he could only place his hopes on Ralf and Glover waking up quickly.

Like a mad dog, Thales did everything he could to cause the other party the greatest trouble.

If that really did not work...

At this moment, Thales' ears moved.

"Sagu mo rada... ima ra hai..."

That was Hilley's voice. It came from the depths of the tunnel behind him and was caught by his Hell's senses.

"I ra faoso..."

It was a soft chant, like sleep-talking murmurs and like a folk tune, yet it was not language at all, with no logic. It was as if different syllables that did not belong together had been forcibly pieced together, their meaning unknown.

In the fight, Thales' brows tightened.

Mm?

What was that?

What was she doing?

But battle allowed no distraction.

With two swishes, following Lausanne's clever footwork, the boy's dagger unsurprisingly swung through empty air.

But Thales, who had already gained experience, was not afraid at all. The dagger shot out like lightning!

As expected, Lausanne's figure shifted widely again, completely dodging the strange dagger.

The corner of Thales' mouth curled. He looked in the direction where the dagger disappeared, clenched his left hand, and waited for JC to obediently return to his hand, then let it avoid interception in the air and charge straight at the target...

But at this moment, Lausanne's longsword also flew from his hand. The hilt slammed hard into Thales' left hand!

"Urgh!"

Thales groaned in pain, and his left hand trembled!

Damn it!

He could not grip the dagger, and therefore could not give it its initial momentum...

With a whoosh, the JC dagger once again miraculously appeared before Lausanne. But this time, it weakly fell at the enemy's feet.

It was no threat at all.

This was bad!

Thales was shocked, but Lausanne II before him smiled faintly and was already upon him, fingers pinched into a blade.

Straight for Thales' side jaw.

Bang!

"Beep-"

The instant his opponent hit his jaw, Thales only felt a buzzing ring in his ears.

At the same moment, all sounds became a buzzing tinnitus.

Including Hilley's low murmurs.

"Madua ka yehala... imae yak ro... beep-"

However...

"Beep, beep, beep-"

As he lost consciousness, within his Hell's senses, the strange syllables Hilley chanted in the depths of the tunnel miraculously changed tone and sound amid the buzzing in his ears...

[...thy mother moans without end, birth and extinction cloud the myriad forms, beginning and ending...]

They turned into another language that Thales could not recognize, yet somehow understood.

[...thy veins extend without cease, piercing the layered worlds, ending and beginning...]

Confusion, pain, regret, discomfort, expectation, sorrow... a hundred feelings intertwined in an instant.

[...I see the ancient path that cannot be divided, the bright bridge brilliant and unobstructed, all forms as one...]

In his muddle, Thales raised a question.

What was this?

[...I hold the chaotic ark of the far shore, ferrying across the vast and surging expanse; the worlds cannot divide...]

In the next second, Thales' vision went black, and he completely lost control of his body.

Jade City. The setting sun hung low.

Tormond Mallos stood expressionlessly in this empty lot overgrown with wild grass, dressed like an ordinary traveler.

He silently listened to the noise from Jade City's distant streets, his thoughts unclear.

Until second-class guard officer Gianluca Komuto appeared behind him, panting.

"No good, sir. His Highness' trail cuts off around here. There are few people here, not even eyewitnesses. We... we cannot search any further."

Then why not continue searching?

Mallos turned around and exchanged a glance with standard-bearer Hugo Fubi on the other side.

Why were they foolish enough to come back and report, wasting time and wasting energy?

"You have worked hard," Mallos replied steadily. "Try other methods, such as local connections?"

Komuto nodded and turned to leave.

"Sir!"

Second-class vanguard officer Oli Oskarlson hurried over and passed Komuto on the way.

"The vanguard wing marks that Vanguard Officer Glover drew along the way, this is the last one." He was rather indignant. "We could not find the next damned one. He should clearly be nearby!"

Then you should dig three feet into the ground.

Mallos nodded.

Even if you dig to the Hell's River, even if you dig to heaven, you should dig them out.

Why were you still here complaining?

And looking so furious, as if that could help anything.

Were you waiting for someone to comfort you?

"Do not be impatient," Mallos said in a steady and reassuring tone. "There must be a reason. Look for hidden doors and secret passages in the streets and alleys. Perhaps he escaped into some small path we do not know."

Oskarlson took a deep breath, received the order, and left.

"Yes, sir."

Mallos watched them leave, motionless, letting the shadow cast by the setting sun cover half his face.

A black messenger raven swept over his head and circled twice, until Hugo Fubi, standing at his side, pinched a guiding stone and raised his arm, allowing it to descend. He removed the letter from the raven's leg.

"Duke Zayen's procession has already ended. He is on his way back to the palace and should have received the news by now." Standard-bearer Fubi finished reading the brief letter, his expression grave. "Security Officer Cacquiret has repeatedly pressed for answers, and Butler Ashford has also come. The real Wya, mm, I mean Attendant Wya, is over there trying to delay them, but we probably cannot hide it anymore."

Fuck.

Mallos said silently.

"Have the attendant tell them Miss Hilley invited His Highness to spend a wonderful night together," Mallos said without changing expression, steady as before. "Although they can find that out themselves too."

That troublesome Highness of his, who never listened to advice and liked acting on his own, had collected all sorts of improper people into the party along the way. Whether it was that mute who used to be a thug, the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, even that Arunde girl with trouble all over her, and that black lion cub who was obviously harboring ill intentions behind his back, he took them all in, making the entire team mixed and impure.

Thus came today's embarrassment.

He had even been blinded by lust and mixed together with Covendier's daughter. Anyone could tell that girl had many secrets and was not easy to deal with...

Fubi nodded, quickly wrote a message, and released the messenger raven again.

A few minutes later, Mallos' old subordinate, special-class messenger Heller Toledo, came to report. He shook his head, his expression ashamed.

"I am sorry, sir. We still have not found him... We, we have disappointed you."

Mallos sighed softly.

No. To be precise, you have disappointed the kingdom.

"You have worked hard." Mallos turned back and comforted him kindly. "This was an accident, and the situation was sudden. It is not your fault."

As for me, mm, I had no hopes for you in the first place.

These useless wastes.

Wine sacks and rice bags.

Over all this time, they had been raised by that shameless, dignity-lacking, soft and sticky master into a lax and careless group with all sharpness lost.

Including him, Tormond Mallos himself.

They had utterly disgraced the Royal Guards.

Mallos revealed a smile and patted Toledo's shoulder encouragingly.

"Continue searching. Tell the brothers it is enough to do their best."

When they returned to Star Lake Castle, he would increase this group's training costs by thirty percent and cut their holidays in half...

No, increase their training load by more than three times.

Until they were trained to death.

If they still had lives with which to return to Star Lake Castle, and were not imprisoned in the Prison of Bones by Deputy Guard Captain Vogel, who had been waiting for a chance, until they died of old age for dereliction of duty.

"Grass."

Fubi suddenly spoke, interrupting them.

Toledo was puzzled.

"Your Excellency Standard-bearer, what? What grass?"

Hugo Fubi did not speak, only looked toward Mallos.

Following the standard-bearer's gaze, the Watchman crouched and gently hooked up a bundle of wild grass from the ground.

In the next second, the wild grass in his hand visibly turned yellow, shrank, blackened, dried out, and finally drooped down.

With a touch, it became powdery ash.

"This grass withered a little quickly."

Toledo looked at the powder left behind by the wild grass and said in surprise,

"A species unique to Jade City?"

No.

Not "a little quickly."

Abnormally quickly.

Mallos raised his head. Before his eyes, the wild grass, whether near or far, fast or slow, all showed signs of gradually withering.

He frowned deeply, his expression grave.

And he was certain this was definitely not a species unique to Jade City.

"Toledo, call the brothers back. Everyone."

The Watchman's expression did not change, only his order came a little faster. "Investigate the locations where these wild grasses are withering and find the point of origin. Just like a fire, there is always an ignition point."

Although puzzled, Toledo did not hesitate. He made a gesture toward the distance.

Withdraw and assemble.

Up high, Italiano put away his telescope and returned a birdcall in response.

Mallos hooked up a few more bundles of wild grass and watched them slowly turn black and wither, then exchanged a glance with Standard-bearer Fubi.

"Sir," Toledo could not help asking, "do you... do you know what this is?"

Mallos was silent for a while, then nodded.

"We are in trouble."

"Ah?"

Toledo was still puzzled.

"This phenomenon was first recorded in the ancient scriptures of the Church of the Bright God." Mallos pinched the wild grass powder in his hand and explained softly. "Abnormal signs clearly different from the four seasons and climate, such as rivers and marshes drying up, fertile ground cracking, frost falling in midsummer, scorching heat in deep winter, even the dead coming back to life and broken bodies being restored... Hugo, what records does the Standard Wing have on this?"

Standard-bearer Hugo Fubi narrowed his eyes.

"Most of the time, it means there is an existence beyond the world ignoring the supreme taboo set by the Bright God at creation, crossing the uncrossable world-wall by various means," Standard-bearer Fubi said faintly. "They descend into this world like boiling oil falling into water or a meteor striking the earth, causing order to reverse and laws to lose their norms..."

Mallos nodded lightly and took over.

"Making the normal no longer normal, and the abnormal even more abnormal."

Toledo was utterly confused.

"An existence beyond the world? Reversal? Loss of norms? What does that mean? The end of the world?"

Standard-bearer Hugo shook his head.

"From the Church of the Bright God to the Holy Sun faith, and then to today's Sunset Temple, priests call this a holy sign or divine miracle, indicating that a heavenly divine envoy has descended to the mortal world to perform miracles, or that a mortal prophet has connected with the divine and become sanctified, spreading the will of the gods..."

"Divine envoy, miracle, prophet, divine will?"

Toledo was bewildered. "Now? In Jade City?"

"That is only the church's explanation."

Mallos stood up and patted the dust from his body.

"As for other people, more precisely, the mages of the Magic Tower, they have called this phenomenon for thousands of years..."

The Watchman looked at the wild grass gradually withering around him, his tone grave.

"Anomalous Descent."

Smack!

Burning pain came from his face.

"Wake up, fake Wya!"

Wya?

Why Wya?

Amid the spreading white smoke, Thales had just opened his eyes in a daze when he saw a slap flying toward him!

Mm?

Thales cried out in alarm and instinctively grabbed that slap. Only then did he realize the person before him was Miss Hilley.

"Good, you are awake!" Hilley was both shocked and pleased as she dragged him up from the ground.

Yes, I am awake.

Thales discovered that he was still in the tunnel, and for some unknown reason, faint and peculiar white smoke spread everywhere around them, as if someone were smoking in the tunnel below.

"What is with this smoke? Smoke bomb? Your magic trick?"

Hilley frowned slightly.

"Mm, something like that?"

Still muddled, Thales shook his head, which was still buzzing.

"I... how long was I unconscious?"

"Five seconds. Ten at most."

That long?

Mm?

Then... what about the others?

Thales was startled and instinctively turned his head.

Within the white smoke, Glover, Ralf, Catherine, and Srimanny still lay on the ground.

Srimanny was still smacking his lips in a sweet dream, but Glover was already beginning to wake slowly.

They... were not dead?

Not even a wound. They were fine?

Ah?

Thales was shocked and instinctively turned back.

"He... where is he?"

The enemy?

Where was Lausanne?

Where was that black-clothed man?

Where was that assassin who had knocked everyone down with his ability alone?

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing came, drawing Thales' attention.

Several meters away, Lausanne II's figure swept past and appeared for a startling instant in the white smoke.

Thales was shocked and subconsciously reached for the dagger on the ground, but saw another figure flash through the smoke, charging toward the black-clothed Lausanne II.

Swish!

Sword wind scattered. The white smoke thinned, revealing the battle.

The black-clothed man's opponent wielded his longsword freely and was locked in fierce combat with Lausanne. His steps were steady, and the sword light alternated between bright and dark, reflecting the faint glow of the stove onto the tunnel walls.

That was...

But what surprised Thales was that this swordsman, whose face could not be seen clearly, was not only unaffected by the other party's ability, but also received and blocked all the way, dismantling slow moves and attacking fast.

Facing Lausanne's extraordinary swordsmanship, he seemed completely at ease and did not fall behind in the slightest.

Clearly, he was a rare master.

"Who are you!"

Lausanne spoke coldly in the white smoke, but compared with before, there was a trace of impatience in his tone.

"Who did you learn swordsmanship from?"

But his opponent did not answer. He only kept attacking with his sword, forcing Lausanne away from Thales' side.

Thales came back to himself. He waved away the white smoke, which carried a slightly pungent smell, shook his head, and tried to straighten out his memories.

"What... what happened?"

"Uh." Hilley raised her eyebrows, her eyes flickering. "I was lucky. As soon as I went out, I ran into reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?"

Thales said in surprise.

In this damned Ghoul Tunnel, an abandoned sewer no one could find, where did reinforcements come from?

"Who? What reinforcements?"

He turned back, wanting to see clearly which chivalrous master had saved them after coming across injustice, and could even fight evenly against an opponent with both ability and swordsmanship. But Hilley grabbed him by the collar and ear, dragging him back without allowing resistance.

"Do you not want your life?"

Amid Thales' cries of pain, Hilley stomped viciously on Srimanny's open palm, making the defense lawyer howl in pain and wake from his drooling dream.

"Wake them up. We need to run!"

Chi!

In the battle on the other side, the instant the sword lights crossed, Lausanne II retreated three steps in a row, his left arm trembling.

Now, he had no time to care about the prince or his target.

Lausanne took a deep breath and raised his bloody left arm. The wound left on it was extremely deep, the blade having bitten into bone.

"This is... Triumphant Strike." He spoke through the pain.

That was right. It was Triumphant Strike.

And this Triumphant Strike had been executed perfectly, accurately, and powerfully.

The timing was proper, the pressure was full, and the lethality was considerable.

It was perfect beyond perfect.

It could not be mentioned in the same breath as that young Royal Guard he had encountered at Diop's residence.

If it had been him from a few years ago, he would not have been able to receive it at all.

But this level of Triumphant Strike...

Lausanne lowered his left arm and solemnly sized up the enemy before him, gripping the longsword in his hand tighter and tighter.

This was impossible.

Impossible.

Yet the other party seemed to hear his thoughts and laughed softly.

"The world is vast. There is nothing impossible."

No.

Lausanne took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly.

"You are... who exactly are you? Where did you learn that Triumphant Strike?"

In the white smoke, the newcomer walked slowly forward and revealed his true face under the faint glow of the stove.

"And the world is also small."

It was a man in his forties, handsome in appearance, his eyes bright, his clothing vivid, and his armor complete. He was completely out of place in the filthy and stinking tunnel around him, like a splash of brightness in black ink.

The instant he saw the other party's appearance clearly, Lausanne's gaze sharpened.

No.

This was impossible!

"How is your practice of the Legion's Ten Forms coming along, my best student?"

The longsword turned in the man's hand, agile and clever, moving as if it were an extension of his arm.

Just like Lausanne earlier.

Within the faint white smoke, Lausanne II's expression was one of disbelief.

"Teacher?"

He spoke softly, as if seeing a ghost.

"Handro Joaquin?"