Even though he didn’t have [Observation Haki], as an apex Divine Beast of the sixth rank, Leonel’s soul was no weaker than that of the average mage of the ninth rank. As such, he could easily sense the auras of others within a kilometre.
When Ace mentioned that there was a warrior of the ninth rank guarding Alissa, it was so that Leo knew where he should be going.
Within a few minutes of racing through the deserted streets of Wyning City, Leo led Killian to what appeared to be a hidden passage that led deep underground.
Not wanting to waste any time, Killian swung his axe with all the strength he could muster, thinking he would be able to slice straight through it like a knife through butter and hurry to free Alissa as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out quite like he anticipated.
Despite using his most recent comprehension of ‘wielding heavy as though it were heavier’ to increase the power of his strike, his attack failed to leave so much as a dent on the cellar doors.
“It’s made of solid celonite,” Killian muttered to himself after finally stopping just long enough to focus on the gate’s material before turning his attention to the jet-black horse-sized lion beside him. “Looks like you’ll need to do it.”
Celonite was an especially durable and expensive ore that was said to be breakable only by ninth-rank experts.
Although Killian had made several breakthroughs over the last six months allowing him to take on experts at the eighth rank, a lot of that was due to his skill, versatility, and experience. In terms of raw power, even if he went all out, Killian would, at best, be able to deliver a strike with the power of a seventh-rank warrior.
Considering he was only at the latter stages of the fifth rank as both a warrior and mage, that in and of itself was incredibly impressive, but it wasn’t enough for the current task. Fortunately, he had Leonel with him.
Power had always been the attribute Leonel had excelled at. Upon breaking through to the sixth rank, his raw strength directly reached the ninth rank, but that wasn’t the only improvement he’d made.
Killian watched silently as Leonel’s paw, coated in a skin-tight, burning crimson aura, shot forth, creating a whistling sound as the air around it sizzled.
Like his partner, Leo was now also able to use the ‘pseudo-battle-qi’ method Ace came up with, and the increase in power spoke for itself.
The navy-blue gate held steady for all of one second before it came apart, with the area Leo’s paw landed melting under the heat of Leo’s ‘profound’ flame-coated paw’.
As impressive as it was, Killian had long gotten used to Leo’s freakish power. As such, the moment the gates had been ‘opened’, the dark-skinned teen unhesitantly stepped forward to find his ‘classmate’ as soon as possible when a familiar but worried voice entered his ears.
“DON’T COME DOWN! RUN!” Alissa screamed frantically from her adamantine cell.
Just as he heard Alissa’s screams, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on edge.
Reacting purely off his well-trained instincts, Kil leaned back just in time to avoid having his heart pierced by the dagger of Alissa’s master – Cain.
Cain swiftly pulled his blade out of the boy’s shoulder, preparing to behead the youth who came to rescue his little disciple when he was forced to move like a flash and leap back.
Leonel’s furious roar sounded throughout the whole city as his burning paw slashed at the place where the assassin’s head was, aiming to turn it into a burnt paste.
Although his connection with Killian was nowhere near as close as it was to Ace, after spending every day together for almost a year, Leo had developed a strong bond with Killian, but most importantly, he knew how much Ace loved his ‘little’ brother.
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The thought of Killian dying right beside him infuriated the Divine Beast to no end.
Without a second thought, Leo charged straight at the middle-aged assassin, his whole body now coated in skin-tight flames.
Cain couldn’t believe what was going on. Even though he wasn’t a mage, the strength of his soul still allowed him to pay attention to what was going on around him.
He could sense that aside from ‘Young Master’ Silas, all the other Saber assassins had been killed, and the young master, who was even stronger than him, was clashing against a warrior who, by all intents and purposes, should’ve been defeated by even the weakest assassin assembled today.
‘I guess the reports about the ‘Demonic Trio’ were true after all,’ Cain thought to himself as he clashed with the black-furred lion.
Killian ignored the wound on his shoulder as he glanced coldly at the assassin fighting Leo, or more specifically, at the man’s fighting style.
As the one who spent the most time with Alissa, he was able to spot the almost identical manner in which both Cain and Alissa wielded their daggers. Still, he knew now wasn’t the time to waste paying attention to such things.
Seeing how Leo seemed to be able to hold his own, Killian quickly darted into the cellar, following the winding passage until he found the cells.
“It really is a brat coming to save you, little lass,” the armless prisoner said in a mix of surprise and amusement as he saw the wounded Killian appear in front of their cells.
“Kil, you…” Alissa stared at the familiar figure standing valiantly in front of her cell.
For a moment, all her fears and worries disappeared, leaving only an endless warmth as she saw the concern on his usually stoic face as he stared at her.
But when she remembered where they were, all her fears came flooding back. “Kil, you need to take Ace and go! It’s too dangerous here!”
She didn’t know what was going on outside or even how Killian had made it this far, but she couldn’t bear the thought of Killian and Ace dying because of her.
Still, Killian didn’t seem to pay her words any attention whatsoever as he glanced at the bars of the cell keeping her imprisoned.
“Key?” He asked indifferently, not even bothering to try and break it.
He couldn’t leave so much as a dent on Celonite which may as well have been a flimsy plank of wood in the face of Adamantium.
“What?” Alissa asked, taken aback by Killian’s indifference to their plight. “Did you not hear me? You need to hurry up and take Ace and go before you get yourselves killed. Just forget about me and…”
“Key?” Killian repeated once more, cutting Alissa off mid-sentence.
“Hahaha, you’re an interesting kid,” The armless man said, causing Killian to glance at him before turning back to Alissa with a questioning expression.
“I can tell you where to find the key,” the man continued, grinning wildly as he looked at the youth before him. “As long as you promise to free me as well…
Provided you’re able to live that long.”
“Kil, ignore him and go!” Alissa said. “If you were to free him, your actions would provoke the O’Brien Empire.”
Killian glanced at the man indifferently. As the man was doing nothing to hide his presence, Killian was able to sense that, like Cain, he, too, was a warrior at the middle stages of the ninth rank.
Although far more powerful than him, Kil wasn’t alone. Both Ace and Leo were able to take on experts of that calibre, so as far as Killian was concerned, he had nothing to be fearful of. Instead, what really caught Killian’s attention was Alissa’s last statement.
He didn’t know who the man was, but after everything that’s happened over the last year, an enemy of the O’Brien Empire was a friend of theirs. As such…
“Key?” Killian asked, his eyes trained on the armless prisoner this time.
“Haha, I knew I liked you,” The man chuckled. “That little lass’ master has it on him, but it’s not in his storage ring. The assassins of sabre have a masochistic tendency of storing small but important items in their body by cutting themselves open and sewing themselves shut after putting it in.
Isn’t that right, lass?”
Alissa didn’t reply to him, instead giving him a frosty glare before turning back to Killian, only to find he had already turned to run back to the battlefield.
As warm as it made her knowing that Killian genuinely cared for her enough to risk his life in this way, it also filled her with endless worry.
Unfortunately, she also knew Killian well enough to know that there was no way for her to talk him out of it. Killian and Ace were both the stubborn types; once they had made their minds up, there was virtually no going back on it.
All she could do was pray to whichever sovereign would listen that they would be successful and be able to leave here today with their lives.
At the same time, a seed of hope began to take root in her heart. Before this, she had all but given up on life, knowing she would die without knowing the truth about her origins.
But if they were to get out of this alive, as selfish as it was, not only would she be given a second chance to find out the truth, she would also be given another opportunity with the person she had grown to love.