Summoning the Holy Sword

When the armored mercenaries appeared, Rhode immediately shifted his body in front of Anne. The mercenaries didn’t seem to realize the situation after rushing in with their heads low. And once they spotted Rhode and Anne, they drew their weapons with caution. Thus, both sides went into a deadlock.

Rhode reacted calmly. He knew where these people came from. The Black Pine Ruins had six mazes, and there were naturally six tunnels. Judging from the direction where the mercenaries came from, they must have entered from the ‘front’ door, whereas Rhode entered from the ‘back’ door.

These mercenaries stared blankly at the duo, totally unaware of what happened. They originally thought that they were the only adventurers within the ruins, but now it looked like things didn’t develop as they imagined. Instead, the situation appeared to be heading in a direction they didn’t fancy.

“What? What happened?”

As both sides were in a deadlock, a deep voice sounded. Subsequently, behind the mercenaries, a burly man geared in full heavy armor stepped out from the back. When he spotted Rhode and Anne, the man was slightly surprised. Immediately. his expression changed into a frown.

“Who are the two of you.”

“That’s none of your business.”

Rhode raised his sword and answered casually. The man clucked coldly after hearing Rhode’s nonchalant response. Apparently, he wasn’t pleased with this arrogant young man. He let out a cough, and all the mercenaries immediately fanned out and surrounded the duo.

“I don’t care who are you, kid,” The man said with a cold tone. “I will give you one chance now to put down that thing so both of two might have a chance of survival. If not, you two can stay here forever.” As though they knew what he was going to say, the mercenaries pointed their weapons at the duo, poised for attack.

This conclusion was logical. And after seeing the six huge doors in the Mystery Hall, the man felt he should be right. Previously his men had notified him that there were several entrances, just that these areas weren’t too safe, so he decided to choose the most reliable route.

If it’s really like this, then things were going to be troublesome.

Thinking of this, the man looked over to Rhode and Anne. He noticed visible battle scars on them which explained that they might have fought their way through. If that’s the case, then he will need to re-evaluate both of their abilities. He brought over sixty people, and he lost almost half of them in order to reach this place, so what were they going to do? Were the two of them the remaining of a mercenary group? Or did the two of them began this adventure from the start? The man felt it was the latter because Rhode and Anne seemed very relaxed, and didn’t appear like they had lost any comrades.

If it’s the latter, then the two of them must be incredibly powerful.

“I am the Diamond Mercenary Group’s leader, Carmen.”

Thinking of this, the man started to introduce himself.

“Diamond Mercenary Group from Leilakala? No wonder I couldn’t understand anything you’re saying.”

Rhode’s insults didn’t go easy despite the man’s mannered introduction.

“But to be frank, that name is kind of vulgar. No wonder you guys were only left with money…”

Carmen clenched his fists in anger. He couldn’t wait to land a punch on this pretty boy’s face. But in the end, he tolerated Rhode’s taunts as his mission was of highest priority right now. To mercenaries, missions were prioritized over personal feelings. This was their professional ethics.

“I am Deep Stone City’s Starlight Mercenary Group’s leader, Rhode.”

Rhode raised his head slightly and said. He looked at Carmen as if a rich man was peering down on a beggar.

“I hope you can remember my name. Don’t forget it. Mr. Carmen.”

“Ha.”

Anne suddenly laughed. She didn’t understand much of this language confrontation, but she knew that Rhode had always been mocking the man. Anne was already used to such remarks like, “You, this bastard…” or “I’ll kill you!”. Compared to those typical antagonistic lines, Rhode’s newest insults was packed with freshness.

Anne’s laughter brought a lot of hatred in the mercenaries. Already a few of them started waving their weapons and stared at their leader, expecting the command to kill this arrogant little white face and to let them taste their strength!

“Mr. Rhode.”

Carmen decisively disregarded Rhode’s provocation. He was equally furious, but deep inside, his senses warned him to remain calm as Rhode was acting too abnormally. They were only two people. Even after being trapped in an encirclement by his men, this young man didn’t seem to comprehend the danger and continued to provoke him repeatedly as if he was not afraid of death. If this was only his reaction, then maybe this young man had a screw loose somewhere. But since this maiden tagging behind the young man was also indifferent to the situation, then that explained everything.

Are they really that strong, or are they just trying to deceive us?

Carmen decided not to entangled himself with this question and got to the main point.

“We are entrusted to complete a mission.”

He pointed to the Sphere of Mystery on Anne’s hands.

“We spent a lot of time to reach here just for this little thing. If possible, I hope you can hand it over to us. I guarantee, we Diamond Mercenary Group will certainly repay you generously.”

Carmen took out a money bag and showed it to Rhode. Even though it wasn’t that bright, but Rhode could see clearly that the bag contained gold coins and diamonds.

“If you could pass that little thing to us, then all of these are yours.”

Rhode laughed at Carmen’s words. He softly shook his head and placed his right hand on his waist —- this motion immediately made everyone tense.

“Just that little amount of money and you wish to buy this Sphere of Mystery? Mr. Carmen, do you think I’m an idiot?”

Rhode shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m sorry. This thing is mine, and I will not give it to anyone. If you want it, then come and get it.”

Rhode abruptly stretched his hand and opened his spatial bag.

“Anne.”

Hearing Rhode’s command, Anne immediately tossed the Sphere of Mystery into the spatial bag.

“Capture them! Get that sphere!”

The negotiations broke down. Carmen couldn’t tolerate this white devil any longer. He drew his weapon and immediately gave a command.

The mercenaries who had been stomaching their anger finally shouted and raised their weapon while charging towards Rhode and Anne.

And at the same time, the spatial bag in Rhode’s hand suddenly expanded and swallowed the Sphere of Mystery.

The room that was illuminated with magical lights suddenly fell into total darkness.