n

n

n(A few moments before the rumbling)

nLukas tilted his head towards the west, having to hear something sharp within those parts. The moon was of a beautiful shade of silver with a slight accent of blue, the brightest it could get. It cast a haunting glow over the trees, then to the flowers on the garden, and revealed what was hiding in the shadows.

nThree cloaked figures were swiftly running through the side walls, not even a sound of footsteps can be heard. Well, for normal ears, but to Lukas, it sounded loud enough for him to immediately notice it. The scrunching of shoes against the bricks, turning microscopic rocks to dusts.

nTwo other figures were on top of the trees, following the three people with their watchful eyes, not letting them out of their sights and relaying the information at the same time to one other person.

nLukas's lips quirked to the sides into a form of a smirk. His electric purple eyes glowed eerily into the night as he stretched his neck from left to right.

n

"Let's see… three rats… no, four? But the last one is concealing himself well.. Hmmm, interesting…

"

nLukas then twisted his right foot slightly to the back and in a blink, disappeared out of sight with only a deep mark of his feet remaining on the ground. Of course, he didn't actually disappear. He just moved so fast that he looked like he vanished on thin air.

nBlack smokes billowed all over his body, licking him. Another second passed, one of the three cloaked figures who were running, suddenly flew and planted himself on a tree, robbing him off of his bearing. The two others noticed it instantly, the danger that was looming, and jumped away before a sharp dark blade almost severed their heads.

nThe other one though had acted lately enough that it sliced one of his ears off. The wound immediately cauterized from the heat of the dark flames, stopping him from bleeding.

nThe two retreated backwards and joined the first one limping below the tree and got vigilant.

nLukas then appeared with a knife on his right hand, still blazing with flames.

n

"Oh, not bad. To be able to escape it even though I was just warming up,

" He uttered in a playful manner.

nThe two stared at the white-clothed man and sensed the danger in him. The one leading them, a brown-haired man with a fixed smile, studied Lukas all over, noting down what he could perceive.

nHe was being casual, almost appearing lazy. He could also feel the intense air around him but not to the point that he looked arrogant, it's an innate nature. Lukas's eyes then fell down to the leader who in turn, smiled at him.

nLukas hummed to himself,

"What are the rats up to? Running around because the cat is not present.

"

nThe three did not answer.

n

"You should answer when someone's asking, you know,

" He then moved swiftly and aimed at the man's neck who parried it with his own dagger.

n

"Heh.

" Lukas sneered and maneuvered, but the man retreated again, distancing himself.

nThe man then wiped away the blood from the cut on his cheek and frowned. He didn't see that blade coming for his face at all, when did he cut him?

n

"Are you having fun again, Lukas?

" A voice remarked before a dashing form appeared from the east.

n

"You are late,

" Lukas rebuked.

nThe prince smiled,

"Sorry about that. I was making sure no intruder is in the palace hall,

" he then glanced at the three other people with them. One was sprawled to the ground, unable to lift himself up. The other was beside him while the last one was a few distance away from Lukas.

n

"Are there only three of them?

" he then questioned.

n

"No. They are four but that one was hiding,

" was his response.

n

"Oh? You can't track him? So there are things that you can't do!

"

n

"You wish. It's a bother looking for him. He's not even trying to get close to the walls anyway.

"

nEzekiel clicked his tongue. He had thought he got the better of him but it turns out that Lukas was just being lazy.

n

"Let's just finish this so I can go home,

" Lukas grumbled, looking bored already.

n'That's so him…' was Ezekiel's thoughts.

nThe three have sensed another danger when Ezekiel extended his arm and a sword made from light appeared, brimming with energy from the sun.

nThe smiling gentleman immediately moved to escape from there. Unfortunately for him and the other one who had also tried to leave, they were suddenly blocked by some kind of force field.

n

"How pathetic. You almost let them escape,

" another voice appeared from out of the blue.

nThis time, a white-robed man stepped out to the light, his golden eyes glowing intensely.

nLukas frowned when he saw who it was but did not say something. He knew they were going to escape but he also planned to stop them before they could. It's just, this eccentric magician just beat him to it.

n

"Lord Janus!

" Ezekiel was surprised upon seeing him there,

"What is the Lord doing here?

"

n

"You two look like you need help,

" he replied.

n

"No, we don't. This is not a job for delicate people,

" Lukas countered.

n

"So, not for you then?

" Janus rebuked him.

n'He's pissing me off…'

n

"Tch.

" If this was in another time, he might have done something so he would be unable to use his mouth anymore.

n

"What? No rebuts?

" Janus teased.

n

"You are childish,

" Lukas replied and removed his eyes off him.

nThe three just silently watched the whole exchange, finding it strange. Their leader, Farren Bexley, gazed at the newcomer. There's no doubt, it was Janus Cromwell himself. Their night could only go **tier at this point. To face an unexpected with an unfamiliar powerful man, then the Crown Prince appeared, and now the magician of the tower has also arrived.

nThey won't survive if they tried to fight those three head-on. First, he has to get back to his master and relay the information he had gathered. But how would he do that? They have countermeasures for facing opponents, but it would be another case if the magician is involved. Their survival rate would be close to zero. His master had also warned him about it.

n

"Well, I am here to observe anyway. Go on with your fight,

" Janus then declares.

nThat brought Farren to now. If it's really true that Janus won't interfere, then they still could leave.

n

"You're not thinking that you could escape, are you?

" Lukas uttered in a dark voice. His eyes were nailed onto Farren, cold and unflinching.

n