In the dark room, light entered through an opening on the wall- an opening that should not exist.

Both of them glanced at each other and rushed to the next room. Everything in the room was normal, except the other such opening at the other side of the room, and the bloodied bed on top of which lied a dead couple.

“Fuck!” They charged into the next room.

The situation was the same. There was a door which should not exist by any means just ahead of them, and on the bed- lied another bloody body.

Their face grimaced as they sprinted to the last room.

“Aaaah!” The couple on the bed abruptly sat up.

Their heavy footsteps woke the couple in the last room up. Magic circles manifested in the dark.

“We were sent by his Excellency!” The grey haired man shouted.

“What the ** are you doing here?!” The man shouted. A magic circle was still spinning in the air.

“Fugitives broke into the Imperial treasury and are now on the run. They used this window to escape the inn.” The old man pointed at the open window.

“What?!” The circle disappeared. He had already seen the two newcomers’ dresses. They were indeed nobles, just like him.

Suddenly, heavy and quick footsteps sounded from the corridor.

The door slammed open. An old man wearing a black coat with orange stripes stepped in. He had a stern look on his face as he scanned the room. His eyes finally fixed on the open window.

“He escaped?” The man frowned.

“Greetings General Sprinter.” The two old men bowed. The man on the bed also stepped down and bowed.

“When did he escape?”

“It should not be more than five minutes.” The grey haired man stepped forward.

“Five minutes?” The newcomer raised his brows. “They should not have gone too far then.” He jumped down from the window, but he did not touch the ground. He thrusted up and flew South.

“Now that General Sprinter is here, they should not be able to escape. He has killed level 9s before.” The grey haired man swiped off the sweat from his forehead.

“Our work here is done.” The youngest said. He turned to the couple. “You are lucky. The residents of your neighbouring rooms…” He pointed at the other rooms. “All of them are dead.”

The couple gasped.

The old men left the room. They wanted to get out of the mess as soon as possible. If they knew that there were level 9s involved, they would not even have dispatched themselves.

******

Adrian had Irene in his arms as he ran past the city. He avoided main roads as much as possible and only used the alleys. It might be the dead of the night, but Uropolis was still lively.

“Someone is coming at us. He is closing the distance fast.” Irene said as she turned her head to behind Adrian. “He seems to be flying.”

“I know.” Adrian said. “A battle seems to be inevitable. How much time until you reach your peak?” He asked.

Irene grabbed the ice magic crystal in her hand harder. The frozen sphere was still on her abdomen. “Half an hour.”

“Looks like I am losing a few years of my lifespan today.” He sighed.

He remembered the map and changed his course. He could not afford to duke it out with the level 9 opponent in the streets. Guards and nobles from the surroundings would entrap him.

After five minutes, they had finally reached their destination- the destination for battle that is. Adrian went into the school. It was a detachment of the Grand Imperial Institute- where the students would come once in a while to practice.

At this time of the year, it should be empty. Moreover, the premises were huge- at least large enough to accommodate a high level battle.

There were two large buildings on two sides of the build. A bridge connected the second floors together. From above, the whole structure would look like an ‘H’.

Adrian went to one of the secluded rooms with Irene in his arms. He placed her on a seat and tapped the orb. A dozen high grade Ice magic crystals stacked beside her. “Absorb as much as you can. Don’t worry about injuring yourself, I can heal you later.”

She inclined.

“Good. It’s my first time having a real battle with a level 9. Let’s see how it goes.” He brushed the dust off his hood and went outside.

He knocked the orb. A pair of dark claw gauntlets came out. He wore fitted them to his forearms and put the orb back inside his pocket.

He removed his hood and took out a black mask from his coat. He covered his face with it. The battle would be fierce. The hood could fall off any moment.

He waited and waited, his gaze was to the North- up at the night sky. The little moonlight barely dented the darkness. But the darkness did not do anything to his sight at all. His demonic eyes spotted a dot in the sky.

It was becoming larger and larger as it got closer. Finally, the being landed on the field between the buildings.

He was an old man with black hairs. His grey eyes were fixed on him. He was wearing a black coat with orange stripes- conveying that he was a Sentry. There were four golden stars on the right chest of the coat- indicating that he was a general.

The man scanned the masked being in front of him from head to toe. He frowned. He amplified his senses to the maximum and scanned him again.

Level 6? He knitted his brows further. But he soon rejected this notion as the enemy was someone who killed a level 9. Yes, he had a companion. But the case was same for their own level 9.

Moreover, the masked man was a master at concealing himself. He might show that he was a sheep. But he knew that he was a wolf.

“Greetings.” The masked man said, touching his chest like a gentleman. “Let’s fight and get it over with, shall we?”