Mystical Journey

Clang!

The strike of a bell could again be heard coming from outside.

Duskdune Shura’s figure finally disappeared into the distance.

At the same time, the assassins in the estate quickly retreated too. Obviously, Duskdune Shura did not intend to go all out against the Yalu Confederation. That was the reason they halted their attack right at the moment when they had the absolute advantage and did not kill the two generals.

With some difficulty, Garen stood up. After a while, his strong physical constitution and Body Hardening Technique had an obvious effect—he was recovering much faster than the others.

He turned to look at everyone else inside the chapel.

Some soldiers who were unharmed were carefully placing the two generals on stretchers. Aris and Su Lin were crouched beside the Eight Arm Dragon King. Yoda’s injury was extremely horrifying: his shoulder was directly punched through, leaving a fist-sized wound. The bones and flesh within had all become minced meat. At this moment, his face was pale as he leaned on the wall and allowed the medical staff to deal with his injuries and stop the bleeding. When he realized Garen was looking over at him, he was actually still in the mood to stare back.

"What are you looking at? I’m not dead yet!"

Aris hurried over to Garen’s side. At the sight of Garen’s chest—which had been injured in the duel—she was tempted to reach and touch it but didn’t dare to in case it would hurt him.

With tears in her eyes, she asked worriedly, "Are you...okay?"

"It’s nothing. My true strength is much stronger than a certain old man in denial." Garen directed a cold sneer at the Eight Arm Dragon King.

He couldn’t stand someone Yoda. It was obvious that Yoda’s true strength wasn’t up to scratch and he was old, but he still thought he could be arrogant like when he was young. He genuinely believed himself to be the best in the world.

Combined with the fact that his martial arts attainment was terrible, but he still managed to be on par with Garen by relying on firearms, this irritated Garen.

"Do you want to die?!" Yoda was obviously agitated: he quickly stood up and rolled his sleeves.

"Come on! I’ll stand in place for you to hit me. If you can injure me without guns, you win!" Garen replied.

"You! Cough cough..." Yoda was angered to the point that he almost vomited blood. "You bastard!"

"Alright, alright. Let’s not say anything harsh." Su Lin hurriedly stood in between them. He looked frustrated.

"Both of you are at the top of your field, there’s no reason to break the peace just because of a little spat," the purple-bearded bald man on the stretcher spoke. "I have a humble suggestion, why don’t the both of you..."

"Forget it. I would never join the Special Agent Bureau. It’s easier to be alone and free," Yoda rejected instantly.

"You’re not giving it any further consideration? Joining the national force is better than going it alone..."

"No, I don’t. To each their own." Yoda shook his head without hesitation.

The purple-bearded man and Lieutenant General Crohn were disappointed as they exchanged a look.

Compared to Garen who directly confronted Duskdune Shura, they actually respected the Eight Arm Dragon King, Yoda more. Talents like Yoda are able to multiply their combative efficacy in proportion to the increase in the power of firearms. Even merely by controlling guns now, he had such great power. If he used more powerful firearms on the battlefield, it would be unimaginable. It would almost affect a small-scale war.

Whereas talents like Garen, no matter how powerful, the most he could do was engage in special combat, assassinate, or be the vanguard of a guerilla attack from behind the enemy. He could not compare to the magnified version of the Dragon King, Yoda. But regardless, courting such talent was still necessary.

The two men halted the people who were carrying their stretchers, and their gaze fell upon Garen who was standing by the wall at the entrance.

"So what about Mr Garen right here? Are you interested in joining the new Special Agents Bureau to be established?" The purple-bearded man knew that he had made Garen feel left out earlier, and started to compensate for it. "If you are willing to join, arranging a deputy minister position for you would not be a problem."

"My apologies, I am not in pursuit of such things." Garen shook his head. His face was equally pale. After being hit consecutively by Duskdune Shura, he still felt that his body had not fully recovered its smooth flow of Qi and blood.

"Is that so?" Crohn shook his head with slight disappointment. "Fine, then. Since it is so, we won’t force the issue. Both of you have been heavily injured, you will need to recuperate. The estate will be under heavy security 24 hours a day from here on out. Just tell me if you have any requests with regards to safety or medicines."

He was aware that many martial art practitioners had their own method of healing which was more effective than common methods, but it required different drugs than what an average person would use.

These failed invitations were not unexpected to them either. Shifting the point of view from their actual willingness to join the government to the perspective of playing hard-to-get, even if they had intentions to join, they would not agree so quickly either.

Anyway, since both of them were friends invited over by Su Lin, even if they were unwilling to join, they would be convenient to contact in future. The two of them could be considered a strength that sided with them.

After the fierce battle, a large number of support troops and medics arrived and started to clear the battlefield in an orderly manner.

The fighting within the estate merely lasted for less than twenty minutes, but the number of casualties had reached hundreds. There were corpses and body parts everywhere on the ground and blood flowed downstream. Under the hot sun, some areas had already attracted buzzing flies.

The supporting troops which had rushed over were nervous at the sight of the battlefield. Fortunately the General was safe; otherwise, this would have been the biggest scandal since the founding of the Yalu Confederation.

Two generals from the Special Agents Bureau responsible for special force talents and elites forced into a crushing defeat by an international assassin organization and killed in battle.

This would deal a fatal blow to the reputation of the Confederation.

It was akin to a police chief being burgled in his own home.

If the rumor spread internationally, the true strength of the Confederation would naturally be despised by other countries. They might even see the Confederation as a weak force and send troops over to cause trouble. At that point, even if it wasn’t a weak force, it would still be reduced to one.

Supported by two medics, Garen was no longer tense and gradually relaxed.

Just as he relaxed, he felt dizzy; fatigue poured into his head like a tide.

"Give me a quiet room. I want to rest," he said softly.

"No problem," without waiting for Su Lin to reply, Aris spoke first.

Garen felt that even his hearing was muffled, and he couldn’t hear clearly. He didn’t know which martial art Duskdune Shura’s fist strike belonged to, but he was in a very bad state right now, and he desperately needed to recuperate.

It was his first time experiencing fatigue.

This was unimaginable. In past combats, regardless of the opponent—even an expert Grandmaster of Combat like Andrela—he could still maintain an unwavering spirit, and almost couldn’t feel the limit of his endurance.

But now he felt extremely tired.

His heard Aris saying something, but couldn’t clearly make it out. He barely managed to maintain a clear consciousness while allowing a few people to support him. He was carried on a stretcher to a room, where he finally fell into a deep sleep.

*********

An unknown amount of time passed.

Garen slowly came to.

He opened his eyes. He was lying on a large round bed surrounded by pure white plush, as if he was lying in countless white feathers.

The ceiling was covered in pastel purple wallpaper with flowers and organic patterns engraved along the edges; it was exquisite.

He took a deep breath. The bed was filled with a subtle fragrance which smelled floral, but was more like the smell of a woman’s body.

Garen turned to look at the bedside. Sitting on a curved chair to the right of the bed was a beautiful and elegant girl with purple hair. Her long purple hair was tied into a ponytail and her fringe was combed to a side. She exuded a combined sense of innocence and charm.

This girl was Su Lin’s sister, Aris.

She seemed very tired: she had dozed off with her head tilted to one side. This was inconsistent with her usual elegant image, but it gave Garen a more authentic sense of intimacy.

In addition to Aris, there was a basin of clean water for freshening up on the purple bedside table with a black towel soaking inside.

"You’re awake?" In a daze, Aris saw Garen open his eyes. She hurriedly stood up. "How are you feeling? Master Garen?" she asked nervously.

"It’s alright. I can condition myself." Garen felt that his lower body had recovered by a great deal. "That fist strike by Duskdune Shura was likely a type of martial art with temporary effects. Coupled with my strong Physique, I should be fine now."

He supported himself up and leaned against the headboard.

"This is...?" Garen had just realized that the layout of this room was very gentle and delicate, full of floral patterns and designs. A subtle fragrance filled the room. The most conspicuous thing was a pink sofa in a corner of the room. It was shaped into a pink hippo taller than an average person. The back of the hippo was the backrest. It looked naïve, and was extremely cute.

"This is my room." Aris gave a weak smile. "All the rooms are filled with injured soldiers, so I decided to let you rest in my room. You don’t mind, do you?"

"Of course not." Garen paused, then smiled. He vaguely felt that, after this battle, Aris’s attitude towards him seemed different.

He turned to look out the window. It was bright outside; a faint bluish-white ray shone on the windowsill.

"Can I get a glass of water?" Garen was parched.

"Of course." Aris hurriedly poured a glass of water from a delicate purple flask and handed it to Garen.

After two full glasses of warm water, Garen gradually felt relieved.

"What’s the situation now?"

"It’s fine. The estate is managed by my brother now. The Parliament is furious about this terror attack, so now this place has been stationed with thousands of soldiers inside and out. Three generals are rushing over too, to guarantee our safety, and to track the whereabouts of the terrorists."

She paused for a moment, her beautiful eyes looking elegantly into Garen’s.

"We really owe you a huge debt of gratitude this time, Master Garen. Without you, I’m afraid we would have been in deep trouble."

"Su Lin helped me out with a serious issue before. Don’t mention it." Garen waved a hand.

"That’s right. Father says, if you wake up and feel fine, to request your presence at the conference room. There’s an urgent matter. It’s about the Golden Sword Throne."

"The Golden Sword Throne?" Garen narrowed his eyes. "This is what Duskdune Shura is after, isn’t it?"

"That’s right. Father says he will reveal everything. Duskdune Shura’s attack means that this isn’t a secret anymore."

"Alright then. I’ll have to recuperate for a while." Garen nodded.

"I’ll head out and leave you to it." Aris was very considerate and took her leave. She understood that tough martial arts practitioners didn’t like to be disturbed when they were recuperating.

Garen nodded. After seeing Aris leave and close the door behind her, he slowly shut his eyes.

The Attributes Pane in his lower field of vision was unchanged and maintained its original stats.

’Strength 2.64; Agility 1.22; Physical quality 2.09; Intelligence 1.53; Potential 98%’