The night deepened.
The lights along Huating Street went out one by one.
In the courtyard next door, only two rooms were still lit.
One was in the front courtyard.
The other was in the deepest part of the rear courtyard.
Bebe lay motionless on a branch of the old locust tree.
He had already been there for four hours.
The courtyard guards had changed shifts once. Two Eighth-level Warriors stood outside the western room, while the ninth-level escort captain stayed in the front courtyard. After entering a room in the rear courtyard, the silver-haired man had not come out again.
A moment later, Bebe slid down the trunk.
He landed on Linley's shoulder and said through Soul Transmission, "Boss, I found them."
"Where?"
"The west wing. Two Eighth-level Warriors outside the door. The windows are sealed shut."
"How many people inside?"
"Five."
Bebe extended a claw and pointed toward the rear courtyard.
"That silver-haired fellow is staying in the innermost room. Less than fifty meters from the west wing."
Sessler sat beside the table, his finger pressed against a rough sketch of the courtyard.
"In plain sight, there are only two ninth-level fighters and one Saint Realm expert."
He looked at Linley.
"With our strength, we have a very good chance of holding off one Saint Realm expert and rescuing five people."
Linley nodded.
"I'll enter the west wing. You and the undead block off the front courtyard. Bebe, Haeru, guard the rear wall."
"Once we have them, we retreat immediately," Sessler said.
Haeru lay beside the rear window, his golden eyes slowly opening.
Bebe bounced excitedly nearby as well. "Let's fight! Let's fight!"
Linley glanced at him.
"Rescue them first."
Lina asked, "What about us?"
"Stay here and guard our retreat," Linley said. "If anyone comes over the wall, raise the alarm immediately."
Sessler said, "Rebecca, have the undead hounds memorize our retreat route."
Lina and Rebecca nodded together.
Doehring stood beside Linley, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his gaze resting on the room where the silver-haired man stayed.
The Dragonblood Battle Qi within Linley suddenly erupted.
Amid a series of hisses, black scales rapidly covered his entire body. Spikes emerged from his forehead and back, and an iron-like dragon tail lashed out behind him. Not a trace of hesitation remained in his dark golden eyes.
Full Dragonform.
"Move."
Linley was the first over the courtyard wall.
Bebe and Haeru followed close behind.
Sessler came last.
Sessler raised his staff.
Gray mist spread along the ground.
The mist passed the corner of the wall and slipped into the front courtyard.
A patrolling guard had just turned when his body swayed, and he crumpled to the ground.
A second guard tried to sound the alarm.
The gray mist had already engulfed his mouth and nose.
He managed only half a muffled grunt.
He fell.
Linley did not look toward the front courtyard.
He headed straight for the west wing.
The two eighth-level guards stood outside the door.
One of them suddenly frowned.
"What's that smell?"
Before the other could answer, a black shadow dropped from the eaves.
Purple light flashed.
Bebe's sharp claws swept across his throat.
At that same moment, a shadow lunged from the corner of the wall.
Haeru slammed a paw down.
Thud!
The other eighth-level guard's head struck the wall.
Blood splattered.
Both men fell at once.
"Stand back," Linley said in a low voice.
The Black Jade Heavy Sword cleaved toward the door.
Boom!
The door bar snapped.
Linley burst into the room.
There was no light inside.
Five enormous men sat side by side on the floor.
Each stood over two meters tall, with astonishingly broad shoulders. Dark golden ropes wound from their shoulders down to their ankles, binding all five tightly.
Wads of cloth filled their mouths, leaving them able to make only low, labored breaths.
The instant the door broke open, all five raised their heads.
There was no fear in those ten eyes.
Only ferocity.
Linley drew the Purple Blood Soft Sword.
One of the enormous men immediately tensed, seemingly preparing to charge before the blade fell.
"Don't move," Linley said.
Purple sword light flashed.
Hiss!
The dark golden ropes snapped.
Linley turned his wrist, sending out four more flashes of sword light.
The ropes fell to the floor one after another.
The five enormous men immediately pulled the cloth from their mouths.
The man at the front stood up.
The ropes had worn deep, bloody grooves into his wrists, but his gaze remained steady.
"Who are you?" Faced with this dragonman, Barker and his four brothers were also deeply puzzled.
"This isn't the time to talk." Linley put away the Purple Blood Soft Sword. "Can you walk?"
"Yes."
The enormous man rolled his shoulders.
His joints cracked in rapid succession.
"I'm Barker." He pointed to the four behind him. "Ankh, Hazer, Boone, Gates. The five of us are brothers."
The last enormous man grinned.
"Just give me a weapon, and I can still kill."
Barker glared at him.
"Get out first."
Linley looked at the five men.
They had no Battle-qi.
Yet those five bodies were astonishingly powerful. The ropes had only just been removed, and the suppressive power within them had not completely faded, but they could already stand firmly.
"Follow me."
Linley turned and charged out of the room.
"Enemy attack!"
The shout had barely risen from the front courtyard before gray mist surged along the ground.
Most of the guards fell one after another.
Two Gold-furred Zombies rushed out of the gray mist, blocking a Ninth-level Warrior and the remaining guards.
"Go!" Linley shouted.
Barker led his four younger brothers toward the rear wall.
Bebe and Haeru, one on either side, instantly killed two pursuing Eighth-level Warriors.
Just as the five brothers were about to cross the wall, a dark red figure tore through the gray mist.
"None of you are leaving!"
Sikaluo, the escort captain, gripped a heavy axe and chopped straight at Barker's back.
Linley shifted a step sideways, placing himself in front of Barker.
The Black Jade Heavy Sword rose.
The Force of the Heavens and Earth abruptly descended.
Sikaluo's body sank.
His heavy axe slowed for an instant.
The Black Jade Heavy Sword had already struck the flat of the axe.
Clang!
The first vibration passed through the heavy axe.
The second followed close behind.
The third suddenly piled onto them.
Sikaluo's body shuddered violently.
His armor did not break, but blood poured from both his mouth and nose.
The heavy axe flew from his grasp.
Sikaluo fell onto his back.
He made no further sound.
One sword strike.
A Ninth-level Warrior, dead.
Linley did not linger.
"Over the wall!"
Barker and his four brothers had just leaped into the neighboring residence when the door in the deepest part of the rear courtyard opened.
A small, thin silver-haired man walked out.
He glanced at Sikaluo's corpse.
Then he raised his head.
His icy gaze settled on Linley.
"Dragonblood Warrior Linley."
His gaze swept over Sessler as well.
"Grand Necromancer Sessler."
A silvery-white longsword appeared in his hand.
"Very good."
"My name is Steller."
A chill blanketed the entire courtyard in an instant.
Frost rapidly formed on the flagstones.
Steller took one step and was already blocking the shattered courtyard wall.
Linley tightened his grip on the Black Jade Heavy Sword.
Killing a Ninth-level Warrior had taken only one sword strike.
But the pressure this man before him exerted far surpassed Sikaluo's.