Su Li strode through the shattered doorway, the dark red broad-bladed greatsword slung over his shoulder.
The palace's inner-city square was enormous, its ground entirely paved with neat blue-gray flagstones. The royal noble guards, who usually strutted about with their noses in the air, had long since fled without a trace, leaving weapons and armor scattered all along the way.
Straight ahead lay a broad flight of stone steps leading to the main hall. At the very top stood two men.
One was an old man with a grizzled white beard nearly dragging on the ground, holding a long spear crackling with blue lightning. The other was bald, with two curved daggers rippling like water clutched in his hands.
The two unleashed all their aether pressure, and the energy fluctuations of peak fourth tier came crashing down.
Old Ford sat astride an armored warhorse behind the four of them.
He stretched out a trembling hand to point at the two men on the steps, keeping his voice low.
"Mr. Su, please be careful! Those are the royal family's hidden trump cards—their fourth-tier retainers. The bearded one is Gran, whose lightning aether is tyrannical. The bald one is Morris, a master of water-element dual blades. Those two old monsters have never left the palace in their lives. They're extremely difficult to deal with."
Old Ford kept on analyzing the enemy situation.
Elena rested a hand on the hilt of the Ice Soul Rapier, her high heels clicking crisply against the flagstones.
"The one with the spear is mine."
Saina gripped the rough wooden haft of her heavy hand axe in both hands and weighed it back and forth.
"Then I'll handle the hairless one. Let's finish this fast and get home. The ribs I bought at the market yesterday still haven't