Chapter 34

At the governor’s mansion.

The atmosphere was still and silent. If one looked around, they would be able to see that littered all around the compound were face-down bodies, lying completely still, all stained with blood.

There was no one alive in sight. Clearly, anyone who had survived the onslaught had fled the scene.

At this moment, a silver masked man with a cracked mask stepped onto the empty property, suspiciously eyeing the large, luxurious red mansion.

‘Kael… would he have been imprisoned here?’ the man thought.

He cautiously opened the gate and strode into the estate, constantly scanning his surroundings. After seeing that no one was around, he let out a breath and began to travel a bit faster.

Arriving at the door, he raised his fist and then pounded down.

BOOM! The door was bashed open with one swift punch.

Taking a deep breath and entering the inside of the mansion, he once again inspected his surroundings.

“Brother? Are you here?” He shouted out.

There was nothing but silence.

Naire furrowed his brows. Was his brother here?

If he wasn’t held here, was it possible that the governor and the mysterious cloaked expert had already… disposed of him?

A murderous gaze shifted onto his face. “I swear… my brother better not have been hurt!”

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“Shit… at this rate, they’ll catch up to us!” the governor grumbled as he ran through the forest.

He could already hear quick pursuing footsteps only a short distance behind him.

In truth, if he was alone, it would have been easy for him to escape from these bronze and silver masked men. However, he was bogged down by grandpa Dinran, Alivia, and Finn, and thus, his speed was nearly halved. Furthermore, because he was carrying Alivia and Finn over his shoulders, he couldn’t use his fists to fight.

Eyeing the space behind him, he could see faint outlines slowly catching up on him, some only tens of meters behind him. It was only a matter of time before they reached him.

However, he kept calm. As the figures approached closer and closer, he took in a few slow breaths and steadied his mind. He had to delay these pursuers without wasting any time.

“G-governor…? What do we do?” Grandpa Dinran huffed, out of breath. At this point, even he noticed that the masked men were about to reach them. Hearing this, Alivia and Finn went pale.

However, the governor was unresponsive, seeming to be focused on something.

Seeing the governor’s silence, Grandpa Dinran couldn’t help become a bit worried.

At that moment, a group of five bronze masked assassins finally emerged from the rear and reached the group. “Finally got you, Governor! Surrender-”

But before the man could finish his speech, the Governor finally moved. In one swift motion, he deftly flipped around, hopped onto one foot to shift his weight, and used the other foot to complete a powerful roundhouse kick.

Bam! The kick slammed into one unprepared masked man, who blasted sideways into two fellow members of his group. Those two masked men then stumbled and fell, tripping the last two members of the group into a twisted heap.

Having successfully dealt with the nearest threat, the governor landed back on two feet and quickly leapt forward to rejoin Grandpa Dinran without missing a beat.

“Whoa…” Alivia and Finn couldn’t help but gasp. They had witnessed this impressive move with front row seats, from on top of the governor’s shoulders.

“We can make it,” the governor spoke. “Don’t worry, we’ll be safe soon enough. We just have to flee for about 30 more miles...”

No one was reassured by that.

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“Where could he be?!” Naire screamed.

He was frustrated. Having scoured the entire governor’s mansion twice, he hadn’t encountered a trace of his brother. He was beginning to believe that his brother really had been disposed of.

Furthermore, all the rooms were decorated nicely. There didn’t seem to be a place to hold a prisoner.

“Ahhh!!!” Naire screamed, stomping onto the floor, generating a hollow ring. “Black cloak. Governor. You would really just kill him, in cold blood?”

He bit his lip until blood began to flow, violent thoughts of revenge flowing through his mind like a river.

‘Wait…’ Naire suddenly thought of something. He raised his foot and stomped on the floor again, once again generating the hollow ring.

He tilted his head. ‘When I stomp on the floor, it creates a hollow ring. That means that there must be empty space underneath… a basement?’

He looked around. ‘But… I looked all around and there’s no entrance. How do I get down there? Is the entrance hidden?’

‘Wait a second…’ he suddenly thought. ‘I thought it was a little excessive to have so many intricate rugs in so many rooms of the mansion. Maybe there is an entrance underneath one of them!’

With this new idea, he turned around and began to rush through the mansion once more.

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“Hah… hah…” the governor wheezed as he ran. At this point, he had dealt with more than two dozen masked men. Even he was starting to get tired.

He observed his surroundings, and started to recognize certain large landmarks. ‘Looks like we’re now about 20 miles away from Sunrise City. We have to make it!’

Right next to him, Grandpa Dinran didn’t look much better as he continued to sprint. As an old man, even though he didn’t need to fight, running for such a long period of time was extremely exhausting.

“Governor, it’s time to meet your maker!” A voice suddenly screamed from behind.

“Hm?” The governor glanced backward and furrowed his brows.

Approaching from behind him was a silver-masked figure. The governor clicked his tongue in annoyance before once again flipping around and striking the figure with a roundhouse kick.

Bam! The kick hit a silver masked man’s crossed arms, and he was pushed backward.

Yet, although he was knocked back a bit, he still managed to regain his bearings. Unfazed, he once again screamed and charged forward.

“Shit… they’re getting stronger,” the governor muttered. “This guy isn’t such a small fry. Looks like I’ll have to raise the power a bit.”

With a thought, he silently channeled some spirit energy into his lower body. Then, just as the silver masked man arrived again, his entire body rotated once more, his foot lashing out like a whip.

This time, his kick was clearly much faster and more powerful!

BASH! The silver masked man didn’t even have a chance to react before he was hit in the side of the head. His body was blown to the side before hitting a tree and slumping forward.

Confirming that the silver masked man had been incapacitated, the governor once again ran forward and rejoined Grandpa Dinran. At this point, it had become routine.

‘I’ll have to be efficient with my spirit energy if I want to be able to deflect all of them…’ he furrowed his brows. ‘Yet, it seems that the more powerful fighters are finally arriving. Can we make it?’

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“Aha! Found it!” Naire shouted excitedly.

In front of him was a faint outline of a trapdoor in the floor, and on it, there was a small wooden handle. It had been hidden under the rug inside one of the living rooms.

He had been searching for only a few minutes before finding it. This was merely the fifth rug he had checked.

‘Kael must be down here,’ Naire thought, and he immediately grabbed the handle and lifted up. The trapdoor lifted easily, letting out a gush of cool air.

“Wh...Who’s there?” A rickety voice suddenly rang out from inside. “Governor?”

“Huh… Brother?! Kael?” Naire hurriedly shouted out. “Is that you?”

There was a slight pause. “Brother! Naire!” A delighted voice sounded out. “You’ve come to rescue me!”

“Yes I have! Did you think I would abandon you?” Naire responded as he jumped forward into the hole, landing onto the cold stone floor with a thump.

He looked around, and after waiting a moment for his eyes to adjust, saw a large, spacious room made of stone.

He looked around and soon spotted his maskless brother, hands and feet bound by rope and sat in a chair. Although a bit haggard, he seemed to be in one piece. “Are you alright?”

“Now that you’ve come for me, yes…” Kael replied, looking gratefully at his brother. “Just a bit tired. Although the governor attempted to interrogate me multiple times, I never gave up any information. What happened to the governor?”

“We’ve invaded the village. The governor has fled, and we have everyone chasing after him now,” Naire replied as he pulled out his knife and walked towards Kael's binds, before working on cutting them off.

“Oh, great!” Kael at first began to smile, but then his expression began to wane. “He’s pretty strong though. Do you think we’ll be able to get him?”

“Don’t worry,” Naire looked up, his eyes narrowing. “I’ll make sure we will.”