Creeeak!
The grating scrape of metal rang out. Imu watched Ron push open the battered iron gate and leave. Behind him, Imu's eyes narrowed as killing intent surged through him.
"That brat..."
Oric had never revealed his methods, but Ron had never let down his guard.
It was not the caution anyone would show before a powerful opponent. It was a conclusion Ron had worked out.
Only Imu knew that he had struck more than once during their meeting, and every attempt had failed.
Rob Lucci, on the other hand, had been caught by accident.
But to avoid alerting Ron, Imu had been forced to spare his life.
I need to be careful. That man is no simple opponent.
Imu sighed inwardly. For the first time in centuries, he felt something called a headache.
Ron's forceful declaration had made one question easy to overlook...
Why had Ron brought Lucci in with him?
Was it really just to flaunt his defiance, put Imu on the spot, and provoke him?
That was a means, not an end.
Imu saw through it. Ron's real purpose had been to use Rob Lucci to test him. If Imu had lost his temper and struck, he would have fallen into Ron's trap.
After all, only Imu knew that his greatest advantage was not some other trump card. It was Ron's ignorance of him.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you would never lose a battle.
That held true anywhere.
But if Imu acted, even if he merely killed Rob Lucci to vent his anger, Ron could learn plenty from the way Lucci died and use it against him.
Rob Lucci would have wept if he knew the truth. Ron had brought him in specifically to die; by sheer luck, he had survived.
Seated in a blue-gray