Chapter 18: One Before, One After

A red flash passed through the dark forest.

The hard, heavy black armor moved through the shadows of the trees. It crawled on the ground, hiding its entire body in bushes and grass, cautiously observing the camp not far away. There, hundreds of fully armed soldiers were cleaning the area and setting up camp. The black armor’s bright red gaze lingered for a moment on these tents under the firelight, then quickly disappeared back into the darkness.

Julian raised an eyebrow, looking at the Wraith Warrior before him.

“Not bandits?”

“They appear to be regular troops, sir,” the Wraith Warrior quietly replied, standing in front of Julian. After gaining enough soul power, they not only changed in appearance but could also speak. Although mental communication was very convenient, it could only convey simple information. It was fine to use when unable to communicate otherwise, but for reporting complex situations, it was still necessary to speak aloud.

“Regular troops, huh…” Julian’s lips curled into a slight smile. He turned his head towards the distant forest, where faint firelight could still be seen emerging from the trees. According to the Wraith Warrior’s report, this group numbered about a hundred. Even so, the fact that they could maintain such quietness in the forest showed their strict military discipline. They were certainly not ordinary noble private armies.

“Do they have the same goal as us?”

“Judging by their direction, it seems so,” the voice coming from the Wraith Warrior’s black helmet was clear and melodious, like an oriole’s song, in contrast to its clumsy and frightening appearance.
“What about their flag?”

“No flag was seen,” the Wraith Warrior shook its head.

“The only thing that can be confirmed is the silver armor worn by those soldiers, and the eagle pattern carved on it.”

“The Pale Hawk?” Hearing this, Ophariel widened her eyes in surprise, unable to believe what she had heard.

“You know those guys?”

“Of course, my lord,” faced with Julian’s inquiry, Ophariel replied tensely, with a hint of seriousness.

“The Pale Hawk is one of the three major knight orders of the Kingdom of Wester. They take orders directly from the royal family, are very powerful, and bear the important responsibility of protecting the royal city. Every soldier among them is an outstanding warrior. Especially the commander of the Pale Hawk Knight Order, Duke Balen. If I remember correctly, before I died, he had already become a high-rank swordsman, and it was rumored at the time that this duke was very likely to obtain the title of ‘Knight’…”

Although he felt there were many points worth criticizing in the princess’s words, Julian thought for a moment and decided to focus on resolving the main issue first. Ophariel didn’t understand much about combat, so it would be difficult to judge the true strength of that knight commander from her words. However, since he could possess the strength of a high-rank swordsman at the age of thirty, becoming a knight didn’t seem to be much of a problem…
“Why not start with him?” Julian’s self-mutter made Ophariel’s face change drastically.

“My lord, you’re not thinking of…”

“Just a joke, I don’t plan to rebel now,” if they were to wage war against the royal regular army, it would be equivalent to declaring rebellion. Even if they had the intention of killing everyone to silence them, the disappearance of the royal troops would immediately draw attention from above. For Julian, who didn’t want to be in the spotlight at present, he naturally didn’t want to see all sorts of people wandering around outside his territory every day. Although those people certainly wouldn’t suspect Julian, with only a dozen warriors, of having such suspicions, Julian never wanted to cause unnecessary trouble.

So does that mean in the future?

Faced with Julian’s harmless smile, Ophariel felt inexplicably drained. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but quickly gave up on her idea – it would be futile anyway.

“Retreat, our target is the bandits. We don’t have time to play with these kids,” after casually teasing Ophariel, Julian no longer had any intention of staying here. In fact, this was originally just an accident – to ensure there were no tails behind him, Julian had specifically left two Wraith Warriors responsible for infiltrating the rear to find clues. But he really hadn’t expected the Kingdom of Wester to have such grand ambition, sending a knight order to encircle and suppress bandits. From a certain perspective, it could be considered quite face-giving to these guys. Even in the war-torn era Julian had experienced before, the bandits in Twilight Forest were only the responsibility of the guard unit. Although there were many knight orders coming and going through Twilight Forest at that time, no one had ever paid attention to these petty thieves.

Indeed, the wheel of fortune turns. Even these bandits could reach the point of having the royal family send elite troops to deal with them. If their old predecessors saw this, they would surely be moved to tears…

Originally planning to rest for a night before continuing forward, after seeing these knights, Julian changed his mind. It should be known that over the past ten days or so, they had already eliminated several bandit groups, gradually approaching the territory of the so-called strongest bandit in the Golden Trade Route, “Moon Wolf Darlos”. If Kyle hadn’t lied, they should be able to reach the opponent’s lair by tomorrow evening. Julian had originally planned to rest on the spot, make full preparations before setting out, but now he had obviously abandoned the rest plan and chose to set out immediately. Although with Julian’s current power, even if he faced the so-called “Moon Wolf”, it was absolutely impossible to fail, but due to the shortage of numbers on his side, even though after devouring souls, the Wraith Warriors’ power began to gradually manifest, quality still couldn’t replace quantity. If Kyle’s information was accurate, this bandit group numbered nearly a hundred people. Even if the Wraith Warriors went all out to kill, it would still take a considerable amount of time. And now, this troublesome knight order was following right behind them.

Although they probably didn’t have someone like Kyle who was familiar with the bandit routes to guide them, judging from how quickly they had caught up, these knights must have some method to move so fast in the Twilight Forest.
Although also a noble of the kingdom, Julian didn’t plan to meet them. Although there was the issue of unauthorized action that Ophariel was worried about, it was more that Julian didn’t want to expose his power in this situation. So he made up his mind to finish early, then withdraw and return to Twilight Castle. If they could avoid these troublesome guys, that would be even better.

Even in the pitch-black forest, Julian’s pace didn’t slow down. With the help of the faint starlight above, he walked with his usual fluid and versatile posture, moving through the forest. And those Wraith Warriors now showed their unusual side. The heavy armor didn’t hinder the Wraith Warriors’ movements at all. They stretched their arms, twisted their joints, avoiding those crisscrossing branches and leaves. Even when faced with thick tree trunks blocking their way, the Wraith Warriors would bend their waists at a 90-degree angle backwards, while continuing to move forward through the narrow gaps without stopping.

Among them, Ophariel had it the easiest. She was now leaning in the arms of a Wraith Warrior, being tightly held as they moved forward. After all, this princess was not at all familiar with outdoor movement methods, and if she were to walk on her own, it would inevitably slow down everyone’s speed. Because of this, during the march, Julian had the Wraith Warrior carry her to speed things up.

At first, Ophariel was quite resistant to Julian’s instructions, but she also understood that now was not the time to display a young lady’s modesty, so she could only helplessly accept. Although being held by this huge armor made Ophariel feel very awkward, when the Wraith Warriors evolved to be able to speak, realizing that the one holding her was a girl finally put Ophariel at ease.

At this moment, Ophariel was half-sitting on the Wraith Warrior’s body, watching the constantly moving figure in front – most Wraith Warriors didn’t have Julian’s agile steps and nimble form, but the one holding her was obviously different. She could not only keep up with Julian’s speed but also protect Ophariel in her arms from any harm.
The girl blinked her eyes in confusion, then turned her head to look at the Wraith Warrior before her.

“Miss Judy, will this battle be very dangerous?”

Originally, chatting during movement would distract attention and was a very dangerous behavior, so Ophariel always maintained silence. However, she soon discovered that these so-called common sense rules didn’t apply at all to these people. Whether it was Julian or the Wraith Warriors, they were all accustomed to this mode of action. Even if they talked to each other, they wouldn’t be distracted and make mistakes. In these days, they had encountered bandit patrols more than once while chatting, but even so, they hadn’t made any mistakes or errors. So Ophariel understood that her so-called common sense didn’t apply at all to this group of people.

Because of this, she would now speak to the other.

“Dangerous? Why does Miss Ophariel think it’s very dangerous?” The crisp voice coming from that black helmet, no matter how you listened to it, would only make one think of a young, lively, bouncing girl full of youthful vigor, which was too much of a contrast compared to the huge black armor nearly two meters tall in front of her.

“Because…” Ophariel frowned, hesitantly organizing her language.

“Because, it’s said that this bandit leader is a high-rank swordsman, and has very powerful strength, right… But Miss Judy, you all, according to what the lord said, seem to only have the strength of intermediate swordsmen now?”

“That’s correct,” Judy laughed lightly, dodging a branch stretching from the side, continuing to follow Julian’s footsteps while answering.

“Our current strength is only able to use protective aura. But after reaching high-rank swordsman, one can freely wrap soul power around weapons, unleashing attacks with greater power and wider range. Moreover, high-rank swordsmen don’t just use ordinary soul power. Some talented swordsmen can even evoke the ‘attributes’ in their soul power, which are even more troublesome enemies.”

Although she didn’t fully understand Judy’s explanation, Ophariel wasn’t completely ignorant about this. Before her death, when Ophariel was fifteen, she had seen the commander of the Pale Hawk Knight Order on the dueling field. That young warrior, as a high-rank swordsman, fought simultaneously against ten royal elite soldiers, and then in the shortest time, defeated them all without a scratch. As the saying goes, professionals focus on the essence, while amateurs watch the spectacle. Although these Wraith Warriors were also very powerful, compared to the scene Ophariel remembered in her mind, they were still lacking.

If Julian knew Ophariel’s current thoughts, he might only be able to sigh helplessly that women are indeed creatures that think with emotions. It should be known that battles between swordsmen are not just about comparing numbers and speed and time. If a warrior with protective aura faced ordinary warriors, not to mention ten, even twenty could be easily dealt with. Had he known this, perhaps Julian shouldn’t have let all the Wraith Warriors rush in for efficiency. If he had only sent one or two people to fight, maybe Ophariel wouldn’t think this way.

Unfortunately, history has no “what ifs”. Because of this, after hearing the Wraith Warrior’s explanation, Ophariel seemed even more worried.

“Then, if that bandit leader really is a high-rank swordsman, Miss Judy, how will you fight?”

Although Ophariel was indeed very worried, the other’s answer was beyond her expectations.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Ophariel… We don’t need to deal with that high-rank swordsman. He is the lord’s prey, naturally to be dealt with by the lord.”

The “lord” referred to by these Wraith Warriors could only be one person.

“But does the lord have such power?” Hearing Judy’s answer, Ophariel’s inner doubts deepened. She couldn’t help but glance at Julian not far ahead. In these days, they had experienced battles together, but Ophariel saw very clearly that although these Wraith Warriors had shown considerable fighting power, only Julian had never fought at all. In the battles with bandits, he was, like Ophariel, merely an observer. If Ophariel was only an observer because she had no combat ability, then Julian’s attitude was somewhat intriguing. Although she was also aware that this young man had some strange abilities, Ophariel still didn’t quite believe that Julian could defeat a high-rank swordsman head-on.

“It seems you don’t understand the lord,” hearing Ophariel’s question, Judy didn’t get angry.

“Although high-rank swordsmen are considered quite powerful beings to ordinary people, for the lord, they are merely that… In fact, the reason why the lord wants to take action personally this time is not just because we don’t have the ability to deal with him, but more because the lord needs that high-rank swordsman’s soul power to awaken his sword.”

“Sword?” Hearing this, Ophariel was stunned again. Come to think of it, Julian did have a sword hanging at his waist, but what did this have to do with fighting a high-rank swordsman?

“Isn’t his sword hanging fine at his waist…”

“You’ll know when the time comes,” faced with Ophariel’s inquiry, Judy only gave such an answer.

“Rather than me telling you, it’s better for you to observe with your own eyes. I think this is also why the lord brought you out.”