More than a dozen superhumans from the Soul Guard stood before the steam door, watching Su Xiao warily. The underground hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
"Lan, what do we do?"
The one-eyed youth spoke without taking his eyes off Su Xiao.
"Spread out first..."
Lan had just spoken when a boom came from behind them. The steam door at the rear closed and locked itself.
At the center of the underground hall, Su Xiao gripped the sheathed Dragon Slayer Flash. As he rose, the long blade was already drawn, ringing crisply.
"Be careful. This is the commander of the Ninth Army, supposedly one of the Empire's three strongest. If I'm not mistaken."
Red Hair drew the two rapiers at her waist and crossed them before her.
"You've got to be kidding me. How did we run into someone like this?"
"Stop wasting your breath. He's coming this way."
The dozen or so superhumans all assumed defensive stances, while Lan drew a deep breath.
"Mr. Kukulin, we came here without any ill intentions. We only wanted to rescue Lady Nidia. Even if she violated Imperial law, she should have faced the Arbitration Court's judgment instead of being imprisoned here."
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. He was observing them, trying to determine who was in charge.
Lan waited for a moment before realizing that Su Xiao had no intention of speaking with him. His attitude was perfectly clear: if they had the guts, they should fight their way in. He had no intention of wasting words on them.
From his initial observation, Su Xiao felt that the blond youth who had spoken just now and the red-haired girl wielding two rapiers were probably representatives of the group. As for the others, he could simply kill them.