An Uninvited Guest

"A captain, Forbidden Mountain lies ahead..." A female warrior's hand trembled slightly as she gripped her bow, deep apprehension flashing in her eyes.

The captain of the royal guard looked at Lily, who had collapsed behind the boundary marker and was so terrified that she could no longer even cry. Gritting her teeth, she said coldly:

"The rules cannot be broken! This girl cannot be spared!"

"We'll make this quick. Cut off her head and withdraw immediately!"

A cold glint flashed in the captain's eyes. She drew the longsword at her waist, leaped over the boundary marker, and charged toward the little girl on the ground.

"Die! Evil bloodline!"

The icy blade was raised high and slashed mercilessly toward Lily's slender neck.

Lily shut her eyes in despair and clutched her head tightly.

Just as the blade came within less than half an inch of the little girl's neck.

"Buzz—!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any deafening roar.

It was merely a transparent droplet that had naturally fallen from a leaf, yet it abruptly hovered beneath the blade along a trajectory that completely defied the laws of physics.

"Crack—!"

The seemingly fragile droplet erupted with a terrifying recoil force the instant it touched the blade, like that of a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press!

The captain's proud Armament Haki did not even last 0.1 seconds. The refined steel sword in her hand instantly shattered into dozens of fragments!

"What?!"

The captain's face changed drastically before she could make any defensive move.

The droplet suddenly exploded, transforming into a visible dark-blue ring of air that struck her chest like an invisible heavy hammer!

"Pwah—!"

The captain spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying more than a dozen meters, as though she had been hit by a cannonball.

She crashed