The soldiers watched carefully as the small group of 7 came running out of the forest, the Prince's attention predominantly on the space behind them, but after a while, there were no indication of the Eagle platoon and with them his beloved little sister.

She had always come rushing to him for help whenever she was bullied, and he imagined with these fugitives running out of the forest successfully she would be right behind, already close to tears.

Perhaps she did not encounter them?

"Halt!" A masculine voice rang out from the prince to them. It wasn't his tone, being a young chap at 13 years old he had only begun his voice break, but the confidence, the robustness and red-blooded nature behind the way he pronounced his words that caused others to instinctively treat him with respect from uttering a single word.

Kairos' team, of course, ignored him and continued running forward. They looked at the hundred men before them, picked the weakest position in their foes' formation and headed towards it with determination.

Kairos and Jones moved themselves to the front, while the rest positioned themselves to be able to provide support at a moment's notice. They jogged in the formation for the Northern Sword Saint Array, the same powerful arrangement they used when they defeated Syriong the first time.

"Stop them," The Prince said dismissively. He is increasingly concerned each moment his sister remains absent. By their plans, the Prince's group, the Fox Platoon, should only be the last barrier to prevent these fugitives from escape.

With the golden lynxes as the Imperial troops' official mount, there should be no reason they would fail to catch up. And although the others could not see through the disguise of Syriong, the prince has a truth mirror on his body, and he had long since noticed that they could catch up with their targets because of the guardian's help.

This artefact is so powerful that it will reveal to him a person's actual appearance beneath any form of illusions, enchantments or even make up. But its only flaw is the mirror's ability comes from scanning one's spirit, and thus it could not identify inanimate objects under a disguise nor any disfigurement a person had. In the mirror's reflection, the person would always appear as his spirit is.

The troops quickly move to strengthen their blockade, but they were still too slow to create a defensive line against their foes' charging speed. And soon, the guys have already entered attacking range.

As for their strategy to escape, they have prepared the simplest plans. To break through by brute force!

Depending on the number of practitioners, the Northern Sword Saints Array they are in allows them seven attacks with their maximum power at the cost of draining all of their energies. There are no regulations on who should attack first, nor what technique to use. In fact, a person could even choose to attack twice should he wishes. However, this technique comes with a massive recoil besides taking the users' strength as fuel.

The strain to attack with one's maximum power is ridiculously heavy, and even the rule of having the same number of attacks as the number who power the array is just a safety measure. Those with a stronger physical strength could sustain themselves after taking on the backlash, but the weaker ones would only break their arms. However, the formation not only allows a person to summon the force to their body's limits but also share their strength equally among everyone.

Which means that even though Jones has the lowest cultivation among them, he could still deliver a blow at Mid A ranking, the same as everyone else in the Northern Sword Saints array.

"I'll go first," Edward said, confident that his arrows could pierce through the crowd and create a path through for them. But, because they hardly had time to recover any energy, the shots he fired barely held the power of A rank.

Translucent arrows made of lightning flew one after another, guided by a soft wind that wrapped around each. The soldiers at the front tried valiantly to defend against it, but they merely gained a large hole in their body and started freezing into an ice statue, starting from their wound. The ones behind saw the gruesome scene and quickly jumped out of the way. They are not confident to stop the projectiles flying at them when those at the front had fallen, and the strongest are usually placed there to receive the most dangerous attacks while those in the back rows only provides support.

Even if the arrow became weaker after going through the first person, it wouldn't be realistic to ask the next person to step up and block it. Even if the second person managed to stop the arrow, there are still arrows behind, then what?

These men may be brave Imperial troops that dared to shed blood and give their lives on a battlefield, but no one is foolish enough to die for a mission that is only a 'personal request' from the princess to their Royal Guard Commander.

Of course, these are only the soldiers' thoughts. Should they have known that failing this mission might cause their empire to be wiped out by the Immortal realm, or even those from the divine realm, they would have already charged bravely into the arrows.

"I'm next" The next person prepared to unleash an attack, Jones, said quickly. They had planned to use their skills to deter the soldiers from regrouping and trapping them in. And in this way, one after another cast their secret arts.

While they are running, the ground in front of them started to rumble, and a smile appeared on their faces as they rushed towards it.

Just when most of them had reached the spot where the quaking started, a large brownish snout poked out from underground with draconic scales and hot steam coming out from its mouth with every breath. Two oversized front paws tore through the soil and with a heave from its massive maw, the land wyrm surfaced underneath everyone's feet.

The soldiers looked in shock, instinctively respectful towards the draconic aura emitted by the Wyrm. It is still weaker than the soldiers, even now at B rank after feeding on the many beasts that the boys had slain, but its presence is not something a human could have. The majestic aura of a dragon could humble even gods, therefore when the soldiers backed away carefully even though it couldn't defeat even one human, Wyrmy proudly swished its tail.

It charged through the gap created between the soldiers, and neither the captain of the Fox platoon nor the prince himself know how to stop them.

The imperial troops gave chase after it, but with their efforts waning, and the powerful secret arts thrown at them, the guys succeeded in keeping them a distant away.

The Prince himself, who is in charge, was not keen to this chase, though he too wanted to apprehend them, in the corner of his heart he felt that his little sister has been too spoilt recently.

"It simply cost too much to stop them, and perhaps a little disappointment would do Axtalia some good" He shook his head as he thought.

The prince has on his person, several top-tiered artefacts. Being the crown prince, both the quality of the treasures and the amount he has is numerous times better than his sister. And any one of those items would be better than even what Fritzgen has collected in his treasury. With the Silent Lambs Empire having a relationship with some establishment from the Immortal world, it is no wonder that he could get his hands on such precious artefacts, and it shows how his father, the Emperor, favours him.

Prince Axtalius could immediately think of several abilities that would be useful now. For example, his heaven-sealing hour glass would be able to freeze the time of all of them for a quarter of an hour and long enough to apprehend them. It is so potent that most immortals would not be able to repeal the effect once they are caught, and there is no limit to how many targets it could affect as long as the person is within sight.

Such is the power of a Titan rank, Heaven grade artefact. An object that is half a step away from an immortal artefact. If not because it could only be activated for a few times before crumbling into dust, it would certainly have a higher rank, and the Prince would have used it.

In comparison, the time-space orb that Vouno has is also something rather high ranked, but being at Titan Rank Huang Grade, it cannot even be said to be of the same level.

The orb's time freezing potency is limited by the strength of the target, the number of people and the length of time. By itself, it could only be considered at the peak of the Beast ranks at most, but because it also has space-altering abilities, the treasure barely managed to enter the illustrious Titan rank.

There are other methods for the Prince as well, and should he wished; he could use to kill off the entire group. Such firepower was never entrusted with the wilful Princess. But in return to execute any extreme methods, would require a tribute of sorts and it made him hesitant. Some of the artefacts would extract such large amount of energy from him that the backlash would be dangerous. Others, like talismans, are either 'one use' or 'limited use'.

In the end, the imperial troops and the Prince could only watch their targets widen the distance between them. Kairos' group fired wave after wave of Secret Arts, too powerful for them to brave. Each person after using their attack fell flat on the back of the Wyrm, being exhausted of all their strength. But unfortunately, because Kairos did not have any area attacks and Vouno do not even have his own Secret Art, their burden has to been handed to someone else.

It was Jones who bore the strain of the two extra attacks. Having only seven shots were already too little, and they could not afford to spare. He stood tall on the back of the land wyrm, raised his trembling hands to towards the sky again and again, and for three times, he aimed the Resonate Blade: Shards at the closest troops.

When the soldiers felt the tremors and saw how deeply each missile drove into the soil, they backed away fearfully. Their faces looked confounded by how such attacks could be so devastating when the troops themselves are also A rankers, not knowing that the boys had pooled all they had in each strike.

Of course, there is another reason for this destruction that could upheaval the land and scare off these battle-hardened men. Origin Energy.

Though they are elites among elites, they are still far less talented than Jones. And unlike him, they fail to notice this strange energy called 'Origin Energy' coursing through each Secret Art.

Now a distant away, the boys rested on the back of Wyrmy, completely worn out.

Jones, in particular, had once again sweated blood. His capillary blood vessels burst under the strain that would be fatal to even Kairos, whose physique is similarly ranked at Titan rank.

But for now, he had managed to pull it off thanks to his special constitution, and a broad smile is on his face for knowing they had escaped their pursuers.

The other three, Edward, Jim and Alan, are already unconscious and cared for by Kairos and Vouno who have frowns on their faces.

The next time, I will also I will share this burden.

.....

A short moment after the land wyrm transporting the fugitives had left, the Prince finally felt the presence of the other platoon coming out of the forest. They turned and rode forward to meet with their comrades, but as they neared, they quickly noticed that the princess is not among the group. She should be easy to spot with that striking dress she had adamantly refused to change, even in a chase.

"Where is Axtalia," The prince asked simply. He assumed that his playful sister had gone off for one of her secret excursions again, like how she had always been doing. He did not suspect that in those times where she disappeared, she would often be busy with her 'experiments'. A fact unhidden from many who knew the Princess.

In Prince Axtalius' mind, he never thought for a moment she could be wounded or dead. After all, all the imperial troops here are top elites, chosen out of the strongest soldiers that the empire has. And what more, the Guardian of the Realm, Syriong, is with her.

When he noticed that Syriong is no longer here, he is doubly certain that the Princess had wandered off.

"Your highness" A grim and pale looking soldier rode forward to address him. With a glance, the prince identified him as the captain of the Eagle platoon. Out of this army of 10,000 under Lord Borax's command, the strongest five had been selected as captains of the top 5 platoon. And this captain is one of them.

This usually proud captain now spoke his words hesitatingly with quivering lips, and at once the Prince had a bad feeling.

"...My prince. We failed to defend her highness, the Princess," he continued.

The words were soft, yet Prince Axtalius' complexion instantly paled. He did not doubt his ears, nor the soldier's words. A captain of the imperial troops does not jest.

Struck by the force of the news, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and his head seemed to spin violently. Then steadying himself not to fall off his mount, he asked with barely a whisper, "How?"

"It was t....the guardian... He had murdered her with his Violet Violence Sword" The captain whispered fearfully. He had given his Prince a blatant lie and accused the Guardian of the Realm. The one who, only moments ago, were still a war god in their hearts.

They had thrown all caution to the wind when they made this accusation, but this is their only method of coming out unscathed when all other options are death.

Of course, if their lie were found out, the one hundred of them would be dead before the sun sets. It would be their word against Syriong's in the end, and if they were ordered to swear by the soul jade, it would be impossible to hide the truth. But with their reputation, it is highly possible they could somehow escape from given such a test.

At this time, all the soldiers and the Prince himself, suddenly felt their hair stand on the back of their necks. They felt that many dangerous presences are coming towards them at high speed.

Those arriving did not hide their presence as an indication of their coming, but even so, the power of their aura is frightening even for the well-trained Imperial troops.

There wasn't much of a wait. Above their heads, they could see a speck of black dot cutting through across the sky towards them. He wasn't hovering effortlessly like the immortal Old Ye, but instead drifting over at high speed. A privilege of a cultivator above S rank.

The person quickly landed before them. His appearance is completely shrouded in his black clothing, leaving only his eyes exposed. And whenever he looked at someone, it felt to the person as if death is glaring at him.

"I've heard you say that the Princess has fallen. Is that true?" He whispered softly, but his voice could be heard clearly in the ears of everyone.

"The Phantoms" The captain astonishingly mouthed when he recognise the status of the one before him.

As one of the strongest soldier among the imperial troops, he felt tiny before this man. Like an ant sitting on the foot of an elephant.

But this isn't the reason he was so fearful, after all even this person cannot be compared to the guardian. It was, instead, the organisation this man clad in darkness belongs to that frightened them.

Before anyone responded to his questions, multiple black shadows started coming down from the skies. The number quickly increased, until over a hundred dotted the area, each of them landing neatly alongside the first one. And every one of them a double S ranker and also a death warrior*.

*- Soldiers trained for the most difficult missions. Fearless in the face of death.