No Hero

Volume 8, The Beginning NO.9: The Chosen One

Volume 8, The Beginning NO.9: The Chosen One

Translated by Raylight (proofread by Trespasserby; C/E edited by Taffygirl13 & lucathia)

Ezart charged into the room. This guy was Ah Ye’s first friend. He had his hair dyed orange red, a tattoo on the left side of his face, and a very muscular physique—When I first heard that this kind of person was Ah Ye’s friend, all I wanted to do was kill him.

If it was not for An Te Qi claiming that it would have a bad effect on Ah Ye if his first friend died violently or disappeared off the face of the Earth, I really would make him vanish without a trace!

Ah Ye has no standards to speak of when choosing his friends, accepting riffraff of any sort. At first, I thought that it was because Ah Ye trusts people too easily. However, all the people I picked for him were adept with the pen and sword, yet he refused to keep them by his side. It wasn’t that he did not want to keep anyone that I sent over though, since he accepted that female vampire and the three bodyguards.

To think that those people all passed the test.

Perhaps Ah Ye has a much more discerning eye than I had originally thought. This way, perhaps I do not need to be too brutal…

The moment Ezart saw the situation in the room, he unclenched his fists and then looked suspiciously at Ah Ye.

Ah Ye’s face was mournful as he said, “Ezart, Charles attacked me.”

“The butler attacked you?” Ezart started at this and asked, “How could ‘that butler’ possibly make a move against you? Besides, he can’t possibly defeat you. Is he simply asking for death?”

Ah Ye froze, and said, “Charles is very strong. He’s even faster than before. He attacked G?—He attacked me!”

Ezart’s face was still full of suspicion, that bastard! He dared to not believe Ah Ye’s words… Though they were indeed lies.

“Charles said that you are on his side, too?” Ah Ye’s face was sorrowful as he asked, “And even aided in hiding him. Is that true?”

Ezart scratched his head as he said, “I did help hide him, but that has nothing to do with whose side I’m on! Ah Ye, are you mistaken? That butler would actually not stand with you? Is he being controlled by someone again?”

“No, his head was clear.” Ah Ye seemed unable to continue lying much further, and cut to the main point, “Ezart, where is Charles hiding? I’m going to find him to ask him clearly!”

“How would I know!”

Dark Sun’s cold expression flickered across Ah Ye’s face for a moment as he asked, “Are you really on his side?”

“What nonsense are you spouting!” Ezart’s expression changed and he roared, “He’s your butler, not my butler. Why would I stand on his side?”

Ah Ye fell silent for a moment, and then said, “I can’t tell.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell if what you said was the truth or a lie.”

Ezart’s expression shifted. He stared hard at Ah Ye, and only said two words, “Dark Sun?”

Ah Ye did not reply back, but the look on his face was true to what Ezart had guessed. It was Dark Sun.

“Why did you become Dark Sun?” Ezart slowly retreated, and warily asked, “What exactly have you done to the butler?”

“Where is Charles?”

Ah Ye drew closer to Ezart step by step. Faced with his good friend of many years, Dark Sun’s face did not falter one bit. However, I could hear his anguished cries, the helpless and frail Ah Ye that was hidden behind Dark Sun’s face…

If I simply cancelled the plan and explained everything, Ah Ye would immediately stop suffering now. However, the phrase “thousand years” immediately came to mind. His pain right now was only temporary. For the sake of his thousand years, all of this was required. All of this was necessary…

All for the sake of Ah Ye’s upcoming thousand years.

My current state was truly strange. I did not feel the slightest desire to sleep, and even if I were to shut my eyes to try and get some rest, I would get up very quickly.

Though in the current situation, not requiring sleep may perhaps be a good thing. However, would it really not become an issue in the long run?

As for Lieder’s medicine, X was also unable to come up with an explanation for it. He merely told me to drink more blood, which I did and drank four full bags, with each bag containing two hundred and fifty grams of blood. In the past, drinking a thousand grams of blood would be enough to make me not feel hunger for the entire day. If I was not too active, there would be no issues lasting two days on it. However, as of now I had chugged down four bags in one shot, and my hunger was still not satiated. I probably would have been able to drink more if it were not for X’s concerns that we did not have enough blood bags, hence chasing me out to find some fresh human blood.

“Go and hunt for food! You must drink till you start feeling full, to test how much you need to drink before it’s enough.”

Once X gave an order, there was no room for negotiations. I had merely just removed the bullet from my left shoulder when I was forcefully chased out, not even having enough time to advise him to leave quickly.

I put down the man in my arms and lay him leaning against the alley wall. There were already two others there, all young men in their twenties. Losing five hundred grams of blood would not cause them too much harm, and given the excellent security of Daystar City, it ought to be fine leaving them in the alley.

This time, I finally began to feel somewhat full. If I add the thousand grams of blood I drank earlier, with the five hundred grams or so each from three people, that means it took about two thousand five hundred grams of blood for me to be satisfied? Is this normal, or is it perhaps because of my heavy injuries that I need so much blood?

I was uncertain of how long this blood could last me. Though it was not difficult to get blood in this current era, it would still be largely inconvenient if I would feel hunger periodically.

After I had drunk my fill of blood, I felt much more energized, and the heaviness I felt from my knee seemed to have lightened. Pain still throbbed in my shoulder from time to time, but it did not hinder my movements.

I moved my hands and feet, making sure that I had no problems with a range of motions before I then rushed over to the location. What I was about to do was truly risky and required utmost caution.

I wore a disguise of a brown wig, an office suit, and thick glasses. Without a closer look, even I would be unable to recognise myself. However, I was still extremely worried about being discovered. I hesitated for a long time before I got on a taxi. If I did not use x-speed and merely walked and glide stepped, it would take far too much time and energy.

I got out of the car two streets away from my destination, and then slowly walked in the shadows, going through numerous hidden sentry posts along the way. This place was simply much too dangerous, but I had no choice but to return here—the hotel that I had just escaped from.

Walking up the hotel walls, I carefully avoided the surveillance cameras that were practically everywhere. I looked at the French window, the majority of which was covered in cracks spreading in a spider-web pattern. With much difficulty, I managed to find a small patch that was still transparent and looked in, inwardly thankful that the people inside had not switched rooms.

Everyone in the room was injured, and I could tell that their injuries were casually bandaged. Bramble seemed depressed as he drank his tea. It appeared that there were no more tea bags and what he was drinking was canned tea. Every time he took a mouthful, he frowned. Bandages were wrapped around his left arm, and the rest of him was covered by his clothing, so I could not tell where else he was injured. However, there were quite a few areas stained with blood.

May was seated on the sofa, not saying a word with his head hung low. On the left side of his face was a massive bruise, and his left eye was so swollen he could only keep it partially open. Half of his face remained delicate while the other side was disfigured, making him look rather frightening.

Dell was lazily sprawled over the three-seater sofa. He was not wearing a top, and half of his chest was wrapped in bandages. Though he wore a lazy expression, his face looked extremely pale.

Melody was seated on the only office chair, idly looking at the nail polish on her fingers. On the table was a nearly emptied glass of blood. For someone who valued beauty over all else, her neck to shoulder was covered in charred black burns. They were not bandaged, since for a vampire, it would be more effective to drink more blood than apply medicine.

I walked to the other window. The curtains were drawn, but there was still a small gap. When I peered through the gap, I saw Briar lying on the bed. She did not seem to be having a restful sleep, as she would roll around from time to time. On the bed, another person was seated while looking at her with worried eyes. That person was Poseidynne. It seemed like these two were unharmed.

Nitewalker was standing behind Poseidynne, right in the utmost corner of the room. It looked like he was guarding the two.

At this moment, the bathroom door opened, and Ezart walked out. He was not wearing a top either, and his abdomen was bandaged. However, some parts of the bandages were reddish in color, so it seemed that quite a bit of the blood had seeped through the bandages even after he wrapped it up.

He exchanged a look with Poseidynne, the two of them not speaking a single word. Then, Ezart headed toward the living room.

At this point, the situation in the room was fully clear to me, unless there were more people in the bathroom. However, I believed that Ezart could not possibly have been sharing the bathroom with someone else.

Where is Luo Ye? Was he already killed?

I pondered for a while, and then jumped off the building. I targeted someone who had just wrapped up his conversation on his phone, and brushed shoulders with him. In-passing, I took his phone and of course, I did not forget to throw a golden ring into his pocket.

Then, I returned to my original spot above the hotel’s French window, and dialed Melody’s number.

“Do not speak.”

Inside the room, Melody’s eyes turned wide.

“You should be able to recognize me from my voice. Now, leave the room by yourself and do not alert any others. Do not bring any electronics with you, and then walk to a place with fewer people. If you contact anyone else or have someone accompany you, I will leave immediately.”

Melody had already composed herself by now and calmly said, “Is that so? Okay, I’ll go and pick it up from you now.”

When she met the questioning gazes of everyone in the room, she explained, “The blood delivery I ordered arrived. He’s waiting outside. I’ll go and get it. You all better look after the young master’s two precious wives well.”

Dell made a cutting remark, “Of course Bri goes without saying, but to look after the other… I think it’s more like she’ll be looking after us!”

Bramble’s face turned darker and May’s head hung even lower.

Melody raised an eyebrow, and said, “What are you saying, bodyguards?! That fish is strong indeed, but her sense of alertness is terrible! By the time she discovers the danger, she’s probably already half-dead! If you all don’t keep watch, then who will?”

Dell sat up, May raised his head, and Bramble finished his canned tea in one gulp. Dell chuckled and replied, “Of course we’ll keep watch!”

“That’s more like it.”

Melody gave a snort, and then took out a silk scarf from her bag to cover up the burn marks on her neck. Her footsteps rang loud and clear as she stepped out of the room. After waiting for a while, I saw her exit through the hotel doors, and she rejected the attendant’s suggestion to call a taxi for her. She walked by herself on the road, her graceful and beautiful posture attracting many admiring gazes.

After walking for a distance, she turned into an alley and moved all the way in. She then shouted, “Come out! This is the only alley around with no surveillance cameras, and I can’t be too far from the hotel.”

I checked the surroundings for a while, and just as she was about to impatiently leave, I jumped to the alley entrance and blocked her exit.

Melody froze and said, “Your skills sure have improved really quickly. Could it be an advantage of a pureborn vampire? Forget it, that’s not important here. Butler, did the young master call you here to say something?”

I remained silent, not sure how much the youn—Ri Xiang Ye had told Melody. She seemed not to know of the clash between me and Ri Xiang Ye.

“I wish to know the exact events that transpired last night. Where is Luo Ye? Is he dead?”

“The young master and Ezart didn’t tell you? Oh right, what’s up with Ezart? He doesn’t answer my questions. Putting aside the fact that he suddenly rushed out in the middle of a fight yesterday, there hadn’t been a wound on his stomach when he’d left, and it looked as though his stomach had been sliced open when he returned. I asked him who injured him, but he didn’t say a single word and only wore a foul expression.

At this point, she looked at me and asked in suspicion, “Could it be that you injured him?”

I shook my head and answered, “I did not see him yesterday.”

Melody nodded. She seemed not to suspect what I said and merely asked, “The young master is at the Sun Emperor’s place right? When he called back, his only orders upon listening to our report was for us to stay here and await orders. He didn’t say anything else and wouldn’t let Bramble and the others follow him. The three of them were so disheartened that they nearly wanted to quit their jobs.”

Quit? At first I was astonished, and afterwards I quietly said, “Perhaps it may be a good thing if they quit.”

Melody froze. She stared at me in disbelief and asked, “What did you say? Y-you’re the butler right? That butler?”

“… If the butler that you are referring to is Charles Endelis, then I am indeed ‘that butler.’”

Melody glared at me, seeming to finally realize that something was off. She retreated a few steps and said cautiously, “You don’t seem like him. ‘That butler’ cannot defeat me, but you… keep giving off a dangerous vibe!”

“I was injected with a lot of tranquilizers.” I could not help trying to explain, but once I said that, it felt like a foolish excuse. No matter whether or not there were tranquilizers at play, I was no longer “that butler” from before.

“What exactly happened?” Melody inquired seriously, completely retracting her casual attitude used with familiar people. She added, “Don’t come over!”

Such a distance would be nothing with x-speed. I did not remind her, and merely asked with some curiosity, “Did Ri Xiang Ye not tell you?”

Her eyes widened, and in a strange tone, she shouted, “What did you call him?”

I fell silent for a moment, then repeated, “Ri Xiang Ye.”

“Charles. Endelis. Did you raise a hand against the young master?” Melody’s expression was stern, and her voice turned into the Hollow Roar unique to vampires.

“…. No.” He was the one who raised a hand against me.

Her expression eased a little, but her gaze was still sharp as she said, “Fine, I’ll tell you what happened. But you also have to tell me what on earth happened between you and the young master! As well as what matter of business Ezart has been up to!”

“I do not know of Ezart’s business.”

Melody shouted in rage, “Even if you really don’t know what happened to him, you must at least know something! Right?”

I pondered for a moment, and then nodded my head in agreement.

Melody drew a deep breath, and then started narrating the events of that day.

“I was summoned back by the young master, who then ordered all of us to stay in his room. We didn’t know what to do so we could only look at each other helplessly. Not that I want to say it, but I really don’t like that guy.”

“To whom are you referring to?” I asked in puzzlement. Could it be possibly Ezart? However, at that time he was rescuing Briar with the young master, so he should not have been in the room.

Melody’s lips were pursed as she said, “Who else is there aside from that Luo Ye!”

“He looks similar to the Sun Emperor.” I was a little surprised, for I had thought that Melody would like him because of that. It would not have occurred to me that she would instead dislike him.

Melody gave a cold snort and said, “One high and mighty monarch is enough. He isn’t that person, so showing such an attitude only makes one dislike him! Who does he think he is? Hmph! But even if I dislike him, the young master wanted us to protect him, so we had to follow orders.”

At this moment, her expression suddenly turned strange as she said, “But the people who burst in that day, were no other than the adjudication squad.”

As I expected. I stared at Melody with furrowed brows, recalling Kyle’s words: The young master’s people all belong to the Sun Emperor.

Melody, where do your loyalties lie?

“My!” Once Melody stepped through the door, she saw many familiar faces seated on the sofa with dark expressions. However, among those people, the only person who was supposed to be here was Nitewalker. She could not resist asking, “How long have you all been here?”

“We just arrived today.” Dell seemed discouraged as he lamented.

Melody burst into laughter. “Are you all even professional bodyguards? To think you would be discovered by the young master in less than a day!”

The three bodyguards were unable to retort. Dell had a pitiful look, while May and Bramble looked rather surly.

“It’s fine!” Melody comforted, “I mean, who’s our young master? It’s extremely difficult to hide things from him. Even if he found you all, it’s no big deal. I’ll help speak up for you guys. You guys know our young master’s personality too. He can’t stay angry for long. I don’t even think he could punish you.”

“Briar is missing.” Poseidynne clenched her fist. If it were not for Ah Ye sternly forbidding it, she definitely would have gone out looking for her.

Melody was shocked and exclaimed, “You actually brought Briar over, too?”

She received a confirmation from reading everyone’s faces, and then weakly said, “Did you all feel masochistic and have nothing better to do? To bring the young master’s precious one to this kind of place, are you forcing him to punish you?”

“Who is Xiang Ye’s precious one?” Luo Ye suddenly asked.

When they heard the words “Xiang Ye,” everyone almost could not react, for simply too few people addressed the young master as such. If they did not call him Young Master, then they would be calling him by his nickname Ah Ye.

“His daughter.” Melody casually pointed at Bramble, and then continued, “She is also the young master’s fiancée.”

After saying that, she pointed at Poseidynne and said in poor taste, “This is the backup fiancée.”

“Xiang Ye is already betrothed to two people at such a young age?” Luo Ye asked in astonishment, “Was it arranged by the Sun Emperor?”

Melody nearly rolled her eyes at that. The main point was that he was too young, and not that he had two betrothed? Damn these rich people… She tried to remain patient as she said, “Of course not. If the Sun Emperor arranged it, would he arrange for Ah Ye to marry a bodyguard’s daughter?”

Bramble raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything. After interacting with each other for so long, everyone knew each other’s personalities, and he understood that Melody had no ill intent.

Luo Ye coldly answered, “It is precisely because he is the Sun Emperor that he would do such a thing.”

“This is the little girlfriend that the young master found on his own. If anyone were to stop him and Briar from dating, he will immediately fall out with them.” Melody intentionally exaggerated, to prevent this person that popped out of nowhere from ruining the young master’s happiness and stirring up a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Luo Ye frowned. It seemed that he too had realized that now was not the time to be meddling with such matters, and hence he did not speak any further.

Melody turned to ask everyone, “So that means, someone snatched Briar out from your hands?”

Everyone fell silent, while her gaze shifted left and right. Bramble and the others were trained professionals, so their expressions were unfazed and could not be read. However, Poseidynne was not trained. She too knew that she would not be able to conceal her emotions, and thus turned her head to one side, refusing to look at Melody.

Melody felt that something was really off, and questioned, “You all couldn’t possibly have let Briar go out on her own, right? Hm, I don’t think so. She’s Bramble’s precious daughter. It’s absolutely impossible… Who was with Briar?”

Everyone forcefully suppressed their panic. It was really much more difficult to hide things from Melody than the young master.

“Is it Ezart? Is he also missing?”

Everyone seemed to be sticking to the rule of “silence is golden.”

“I understand.” Melody looked deep in thought as she said, “It’s the butler, right? He hadn’t left at all.”

Everyone’s expressions changed.

“I knew it!” She clapped her hands together.

“How did you know?” Poseidynne finally could not resist asking.

“How hard could it be to guess?” Melody laughed. “There aren’t many people by the young master’s side, and most of them are already seated here. Within the remaining people, how many of them are trusted by you guys? I would say if it isn’t Aren or First Wind, then it’s the butler. But someone you don’t dare to name could only be the butler that the young master had sent home!”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, and Dell quietly said, “Thankfully the young master isn’t this smart.”

Melody snorted and said, “Our young master is just overly concerned and therefore unable to make a good judgment right now. Once he realizes it, he will most likely figure out something is wrong too. Just wait for your punishment!”

“It’s none of our business!” Dell wailed loudly, “When we first met the butler, we didn’t even know that the young master had sent him away!”

“You’re the ones who brought Briar.” Melody rubbed it in further. Glancing at Bramble’s and Poseidynne’s expressions, she comforted, “Don’t worry, regardless of who captured Bri, they would not purposely harm a little girl.”

Bramble frowned and did not say anything; Poseidynne’s expression was full of dismay, clearly not believing what Melody said.

Luo Ye seemed displeased as he said, “Why would Xiang Ye get involved in so much trouble? Do you mean that as his older brother, Ri Xiang Yan did not lend a hand to help him resolve these problems? This should be just a small task for the mighty Sun Emperor. Is he not willing to even help with this?

Melody laughed out loud and said, “Our young master’s hobby is looking for trouble, and nobody can stop him from that, even the Sun Emperor himself!”

Luo Ye shot a glance at her. Though her words sounded a little derogatory, everyone’s expressions looked proud at that. He understood that he was being kept out of the loop, so he fell silent and did not speak further.

There was nothing to do while they waited, and everyone just stared at one another. Because Briar’s safety after disappearing was unknown, even Dell was unable to joke around. Only Melody seemed to not know what silence was as she bugged Nitewalker to remove his sunglasses so that she could take a look. However, Nitewalker did not even respond to her and simply changed the television channels.

Suddenly, the three bodyguards jumped to their feet. Seeing that, Melody knew that something was up. With a quick glide step, she dashed in front of Bramble and the others. It was not that she looked down on them, for even she would be afraid of their firepower—if there was a distance between them, she would not have an advantage. That was precisely why she would choose to stand in front of them, so as to let them fire bullets from the back and achieve the maximum efficacy in battle.

At this moment, Nitewalker joined Melody at the front. She looked at the two short tridents the other held, and then understood that he also specialized in close combat. She gave a smile and said, “This weapon is pretty uncommon.”

Everyone was facing the room door, and Melody had planned for the worst. The door being kicked open was a small affair, but if they were down on their luck then it would probably be blasted open. What they did not expect was that the room door opened normally.

“Young Master, you’re back?” She shouted gleefully.

Hope appeared on everyone’s faces, but the person that entered was not the one they were hoping for. There were several people, all dressed in black military clothes. They wore masks, and right in the center of the masks was the sun emblem that everyone recognized.

Though the adjudication squad in front of them and the people in the room answered to the same boss at the very top, there were still countless layers in the middle to reach there. In other words, Melody, Bramble, and the others had no intention of treating the adjudication squad as colleagues.

However, regardless of whether they wanted to treat them as colleagues, at the very least they could not treat them as enemies. As the person with the highest authority at the scene, Melody took the initiative to walk up front to deal with them.

One of the adjudication squad members also walked up to her. Without saying a word, he handed her a document.

Melody received the document, and upon taking a look, her expression immediately changed. This was an execution order, personally signed by the Sun Emperor, and the target was—Luo Ye.

She knew that she would only have a few seconds to decide what to do. The adjudication squad were not human; they would not give her ample time to respond, nor would she be able to delay time by befriending them. They simply executed orders.

Melody turned and yelled, “Call the young master!”

May immediately sprung into action, but as soon as he glanced at his pulled-put phone, he immediately put it back down.

“The phone has been turned off remotely.”

Been turned off? At this point, Melody was out of ideas. The adjudication squad sure was “good.” They did not have room for negotiations nor compromises. Unless they were all utterly annihilated, they would execute their orders to the end.

The rest of them also realized that something was wrong. Even though the people they were facing were the adjudication squad that answered to the same superior, they did not have any intentions of putting down their guns.

Melody’s expression was pained as she said, “They have come under the Sun Emperor’s orders to kill Luo Ye.”

Luo Ye stood up. His face had turned a little paler, but he still kept his composure.

Melody first looked toward Nitewalker, who gave her a small nod, and then she turned to Poseidynne. These two were the only people who did not need to follow the Sun Emperor’s orders, and neither of them were weak, especially Poseidynne. If she was willing to help, they might be able to fend off the adjudication squad here with the two. If that was the case, then the others would not need to choose between the young master’s protection orders, or the Sun Emperor’s execution orders.

Poseidynne raised an eyebrow, and said, “Don’t look at me! I’m not a bodyguard, and the only person I promised to protect is Briar!” It’s a no go! Melody shot Poseidynne a hateful glance, but she knew that the other had not done anything wrong. She could only feel resent by herself.

The adjudication squad made a move, and the person at the very front walked past Melody. In that moment, she was at a loss as to what to do. Bramble and the others also frowned, and though she did not know what they would do, she knew that as the person with the highest rank here, what she did would have the largest impact on the three bodyguards.

Young Master… Sun Emperor…

“Nitewalker, let’s go!” Melody gritted her teeth, and then roared to the three bodyguards, “You all decide for yourselves!”

As she finished her words, she formed a blood claw and taking advantage of the adjudication squad’s inability to react in time, she made a large swipe.

I’m so dead. This time, I’m really dead meat, right?

Melody smiled, her mood suddenly turning happy. Perhaps this time, I can finally meet my beloved.

With both the blood claw and the trident simultaneously striking, the adjudication squad member in front fell, not blocking the view anymore. Melody saw the Bramble and the others raise their guns.

Will the target of their shots be me or…

Before she could finish her thoughts, bullets screamed out.

“You all opposed the Sun Emperor’s orders?”

I felt a little shocked at that. It was not unexpected for Melody to make a move, for even though she looked like she did not care about anything on the surface, I could feel that she actually valued the young master a lot. If she could choose an address for the young master, I believe she would definitely call the young master “little brother.” However, even Bramble, May, and Dell had opposed orders?

Melody did not continue her story after she stopped here, but since she was standing here now and had even been in the same room as Bramble and the others earlier, I believe that the target the guns had pointed at had not been her.

“Yeah. If it were you, you would definitely fight, too. Why are you so shocked?”

I… Taking a deep breath, I calmly asked, “What happened after that?”

“After that, we fought of course!” Melody suddenly burst into laughter. “But Poseidynne also helped out. Though she said she wasn’t going to help, she was secretly using her water currents to lend a hand. Then…”

She suddenly frowned. I could not hold back my curiosity and asked, “Then what happened?”

“Reinforcements came.” She indifferently said, “Those adjudication squad members are pretty good, but not to the point of being terrifying. After all, we are still people who were sent by the master to stay by the young master’s side. Those adjudication squad members can’t do much to us, but they have an advantage that we don’t—there were so many of them it was like toys from a factory line. We were heavily surrounded and even Poseidynne had to become serious…”

“We can’t stay here any longer!”

Melody retreated as she fought, and not having the time to turn around, she directly roared in her vampire voice, “We can’t care about the young master’s orders to stay here anymore! Jump out of the window!”

For Bramble and the others, jumping out the window was simply certain death. Normally they would be able to descend using the equipment on them, but given that they were surrounded by enemies right now, they really had no choice but to “jump” out the window. However, the three of them were not vampires, and definitely would not suddenly sprout wings to fly.

However, since Melody said so, they started retreating backwards without any hesitation, escorting Luo Ye while firing shots. Upon turning back though, Dell cursed quietly while May immediately shouted back to report, “There are enemies outside the window. We are surrounded! I repeat, we are surrounded!”

Melody was so busy, she practically had to do ten attacks with two hands. Regardless, she had no choice but to glance at the situation, and then realized in shock that a whole crowd of military men in black were dropping down outside the window. Though she did not know why they had not broken in through the window, it was clear that they would not let them escape out of the window safely.

Melody drew in a sharp breath. The best case scenario that she could imagine right now would be that the adjudication squad would complete their mission to kill Luo Ye and leave directly after, not eliminating her and the others in passing.

She understood that there was no chance of that happening. Though they were not colleagues, she was different from the bodyguards like Bramble and the others. She too had received missions to “eradicate” and “annihilate,” and of course in those missions, adjudication squad members were also in the team.

As long as no one stopped them, the adjudication squad members would eradicate anyone who dared to raise a hand against them, because that was regarded as declaring war against the Sun Alliance.

“Melody!”

She felt heat on the side of her neck, and immediately glide stepped away, even knocking away a few adjudication squad members in the process since she was surrounded by enemies. Immediately, her whole body cried out in pain, but she did not have the time to check on her injuries before she was forced to defend herself. She could barely keep up with the assaults from various directions, and could only barely block a few attacks aimed at vital areas. As for the rest of the body, she could not afford to pay any mind…

Something flashed in front of her eyes, reducing her vision to a large sea of white, while sounds akin to the ocean’s waves reached her ears. Melody’s eyes turned wide, but she did not dare to move a muscle, for water currents were on both sides of her. They were far from a trickle of water; such an imposing sight would probably only be seen at the seashore during a typhoon.

The adjudication squad in front was cleared out like the autumn wind blowing away fallen leaves. Melody stood up, panting heavily. Only then did she feel a sharp pain from her neck, which made her break out in cold sweat.

Someone walked to Melody’s side and placed a hand on her neck. The pain at her neck immediately subsided, and she felt as though it was being bathed in warm water.

Melody was so comfortable, she was almost starting to feel a wave of lethargy come over her. She said, “You can both attack and heal. Poseidynne, you must be a legendary non-human, right?”

“Legendary what?” Poseidynne snorted as she said, “A dull title!”

Melody did not speak any further. Since a legend like White Stone whom all the non-humans of Sunset City knew about existed, it was natural for there to be a legend that did not want to let others know of their existence, such as Poseidynne. Regardless, it would be wise to follow as they wished.

“When is the young master—”

Their words were interrupted by the sound of uniform footsteps. Clearly the water currents just now were unable to immobilize the adjunction squad, and they had returned.

Poseidynne’s expression was uncertain and clouded. However, Melody and the others were quite courageous, completely unwilling to ask Poseidynne for help and not even casting a single look at her. This instead made Poseidynne feel guilty. She gritted her teeth and turned to say to them, “You all owe me one! Hide behind me.”

Everyone felt very upset about having to be protected by others despite being bodyguards, but they did not intend to pay with their lives for it, and promptly gathered by Poseidynne’s side.

Water rushed out from all sources, from the faucet in the bathroom to even the fire sprinklers on the rooftop. Though this was a high-rise building, in current modern day society, tap water could be found everywhere. Moreover, they were in a hotel, and one simply could not compare the number of water towers on the rooftop and the volume of water that could be held to an ordinary household’s water tower.

As long as she had an endless supply of water, Poseidynne was equipped with unlimited weapons. She stepped forward bit by bit, the lower half of her body submerged in the translucent water with a slight tint of blue. What was strange was that the people standing behind her were not wet in the least bit.

Water was truly something hard to defend from. Watching the enemy being swept off their feet by something that was everywhere and usually not noticed like water, Melody sincerely hoped that Poseidynne would be blissful with the young master to the end—Being lovers with her was definitely better than being her enemy!

“W-What exactly are they made of?” Poseidynne seemed flustered and exasperated as she shouted. Even after a few waves hit them, the adjudication squad members would still stand back up.

“Mix of metal and human flesh?” Melody replied honestly.

“… Your description can’t be any grosser!” Poseidynne gritted her teeth and complained.

Melody raised an eyebrow, and said, “Your future husband is also a mix of metal and human flesh.”

“…” Even Bramble, Dell, and May cast a sidelong glance at that, especially Bramble, given that this “mix of metal and human flesh” was also his daughter’s “future husband.”

Footsteps were heard once again, and Poseidynne finally went berserk as she shouted, “I don’t care anymore! It’s fine even if we destroy the building, right?”

No, that would be a big problem. Destroying an entire hotel under the Church’s eyes isn’t something that one can escape unscathed from. Melody felt her scalp tingling.

“Go ahead and destroy it.” Melody weakly said. They had already defied the Sun Emperor’s orders anyways, and doom was certain. It wasn’t as if they could die a second time by adding the Church to the mix.

Poseidynne immediately raised both her hands high, and the water currents became so violent that everyone felt as though they were in a storm at sea. If it was not for the fact that everyone thought of themselves as trained bodyguards and wanted to keep their pride intact even in death, they would be huddling together and shrieking in fear instead.

The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Poseidynne also froze in her movements. Her expression was cold as ice as she waited for the person to step in. She did not care whether they were a mix of metal and human flesh or not. Even if they were fully metal, she would turn them into scrap metal!

A figure turned the corner, and with a wave of Poseidynne’s hand, the water currents rushed toward them violently. However, her beautiful eyes suddenly turned wide, and she gave a low shout. She forcefully turned away all of the water currents, but it was too slow and accidentally destroyed the door and decorative fireplace.

She gleefully shouted, “Ah Ye!”

“Young Master!” Melody happily shrieked. The savior’s finally here… Strange, what’s that stick that the young master is holding? Ri Xiang Ye stepped forward a little more, immediately answering her question. What was attached to the back of the long stick was a giant blade—the Death Scythe.

Did the young master bring the Death Scythe here? Melody was bewildered for a while.

“Ah Ye!” Poseidynne ran to Ri Xiang Ye’s side, and smilingly said, “You’re finally back. Where’s Bri?”

However, Ri Xiang Ye did not say a single word. His expression was cold, and he did not pay any heed to Poseidynne, instead staring straight at Melody and the others.

“Ah Ye?” Poseidynne looked around but did not see Briar. Ri Xiang Ye also did not respond back to her. Gradually, she started to feel that something was wrong.

Melody’s scalp started tingling. She recalled that a microchip was embedded in the young master’s brain that caused him to be unable to defy orders, and he would obey the master’s orders. In the past, the master pampered the young master to no ends, and would not give the young master any orders. But now… what exactly was this situation?

Ri Xiang Ye reached out to grab the Death Scythe resting atop his shoulders. In that moment, the glint of the blade kept flickering, causing everyone watching to feel as though they had been cut several times. In their hearts they started to realize, but still they did not wish to believe… After all, they had just made the decision to defy the Sun Emperor’s orders for the young master. How ironic it would be if they did not die from the adjudication squad under the Sun Emperor, but instead was killed by the young master’s own two hands!

“Ah Ye, what are you trying to do?” Poseidynne’s eyes turned wide. She stared at the Death Scythe in Ri Xiang Ye’s hands and started to feel more and more anxious.

The young master calmly said, “Poseidynne, Nitewalker, this has nothing to do with you two. Back down!”

Everyone’s expressions changed. Nitewalker frowned. He seemed hesitant yet did not back down as ordered. Poseidynne looked at Melody and the others with conflicting emotions as she said, “Ah Ye, are you going to kill them?”

Ri Xiang Ye actually nodded as he said, “They defied G?ge’s orders, so G?ge wants me to kill all of them. It can’t be helped.”

Poseidynne’s heart sank. Though at first she had only gone to the apartment because she liked Ah Ye and had gotten acquainted with Melody and the others as a result, they had already spent quite some time together. Poseidynne did not think she could be so cold-blooded as to watch them be killed indifferently.

“Ah Ye, go and plead to your brother.” Poseidynne beseeched, “Your brother listens to everything you say. If you go and beg him, he will definitely listen to you and let them go.”

“No.” The young master drew closer step by step, and said, “G?ge has set an order. I must obey.”

Melody finally started to retreat slowly, but Ri Xiang Ye charged forward with a twirl of the Death Scythe. She immediately evaded with glide steps, but Bramble and the others were incapable of such a feat. They could only split up in three different directions with good coordination. This way, even if Ri Xiang Ye really attacked them, he could only pursue one person. As for who that person would be, that would depend on who was unlucky.

May suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck. He was abruptly kicked by someone, causing him to crash on the ground, and his face immediately slammed into the ground. However, he had no time to shout in pain. With a quick turn of his head, he just happened to see a silver light flicker past. At his side, Nitewalker squatted down to dodge this attack. If it were not for his timely kick, May would already be decapitated by now.

However, the danger was not over. May twisted his body left and right, dodging in succession the sharp blade that attacked continuously. However, no matter how flexible he had trained himself to be, there would always be a limit. The scythe brushed past his waist, instantly drawing blood. Just as he was about to be tragically cut in half, May’s entire body unexpectedly moved backwards as Bramble and Dell dragged him away.

Ri Xiang Ye continued to give chase, intending to swoop up the whole lot of them, including the disobedient Nitewalker. Then, a large dark-red blood claw swung at him, sending him flying into the wall.

“Melody!” Poseidynne shouted loudly, “Don’t you dare raise a hand against Ah Ye! He was forced—”

Melody roared back in reply, “He is not the young master. He’s DSII! The young master’s movements are more fluid and using the Death Scythe isn’t this strenuous for him. The young master can glide step too, while DSII can’t! Not to mention—Would the Sun Emperor really send the young master to come and kill us?”

Everyone froze. Melody confidently continued, “If the Sun Emperor wanted to kill us, there are many methods of doing so. Would he send the young master to kill us personally? We are the people closest to the young master. Imagine how sad it would make him to have to kill us with his own two hands. Would the Sun Emperor really bear to do this to him?”

Everyone started to have their doubts, with only Luo Ye having an “as I expected” tone as he said, “I already warned you long ago that the Sun Emperor definitely wouldn’t have good intentions toward Xiang Ye, and that it’s just his facade, but none of you believed me!”

However, there was no way they could believe these words. They had seen and experienced how the Sun Emperor had treated Ri Xiang Ye before, simply pampering him to no ends. If it weren’t for that unique personality of Ri Xiang Ye, the world’s strongest prodigal son would probably have appeared a few years ago!

Ri Xiang Ye crawled up, and indifferently said, “Melody, no matter how you change the topic, it’s of no use—”

“DSII!” Melody sternly interrupted him, and roared, “If you want to kill us, then just do it! Don’t pretend to be the young master anymore! I don’t know if the young master has to obey the Sun Emperor’s orders or not, but he absolutely would not kill us with an indifferent attitude, definitely not!”

“That’s right! The young master definitely isn’t that heartless!” Dell shouted loudly.

“Seconded!” May said resolutely.

Bramble merely nodded.

Ri Xiang Ye coldly observed everyone present—and then smiled, his entire demeanor changing. His smile did not display the coldness of Dark Sun, but neither did it look like Ri Xiang Ye. If one were to compare, it would be like Ri Xiang Ye had gotten a more mischievous brother.

“Melody is great! G?ge told me that if you guys can tell that I’m not Ah Ye, he will give all of you a final chance—Kill Luo Ye and you will be pardoned.”