61 Courting Death (1/2)

'And why is he looking at me like that?'

As he thought about it, Rios felt stranger and stranger. 'Did something happen to Larry today? Ever since Mafa Merlin entered, he remained oddly silent, and now he is looking at me with such an odd expression. Fuck, it's like he feels sorry for me or something…That idiot Larry must have been hit in the head…'

After worrying over it a bit longer, he concluded, 'Doesn't matter, I can just ignore him.'

”That's right, compensation!” Rios temporarily put Larry's strange behavior to the back of his mind as he haughtily looked at Lin Yun. ”The Gilded Rose's provocation has already gone too far. You have two choices now, either compensation or becoming enemies.”

”I feel that compensation is better.”

”You are clever.” Hearing that the other side was willing to settle the matter, a victorious smile appeared on Rios' face. He finally decided to sit down. All this time, he had been standing up so that he could look down at Lin Yun.

But Lin Yun's next words left him flummoxed. ”My requirements are very simple. 200 000 gold for each of the Apprentice Alchemists, for a total of one million. Moreover, I want those stolen goods to arrive at the outskirts of Edge Rift before dark.”

”Hold on, hold on…” The Great Swordsman had just sat down smugly, but when he heard what Lin Yun was describing as compensation, he felt that it was clearly off. ”What is this kind of compensation?”

”Well, Great Swordsman Rios, did you really think that the people of the Gilded Rose could be casually detained? Don't you know, those five people you detained are the Gilded Rose's best Apprentice Alchemists. Each one of them can bring immense profits to the Gilded Rose. Asking for 200 000 gold for each of them is truly negligible.”

”...” Larry on the side was covering his forehead, dreading the result that he knew was coming...

”Hold on, you are saying that you want the Viper Nest to compensate the Gilded Rose with one million gold?” Rios finally managed to react after processing everything.

”And if I am?”

”Mafa Merlin, you are courting death!” Rios jumped up from his seat. His fierce face became somewhat sinister as his scar twisted along with his expression.

”Rios, don't be impulsive…” Larry noticed the situation taking a bad turn and promptly reached a hand out to pull back the Great Swordsman.

”Fuck off!”

How could a 9th Rank Mage physically stop a Great Swordsman that was consumed by rage? Seeing Rios raising his hand, Larry retreated close to the wall.

Rios immediately grabbed the large Magic Greatsword at his side. His aura rose up and a ”Crack” sound came out as the long table was split in half. His rippling aura spread through the reception room like a tornado, crushing chairs into pieces one after the other.

This was the strength of a Great Swordsman.

Compared to Swordsmen who could only use their bodies to fight, a Great Swordsman with aura was an existence on a completely different level. An aura trained to the peak had highly destructive power. Even a hard rock wouldn't be much different from tofu when facing the aura of a Great Swordsman, let alone the furniture.

The sword had vividly displayed the might of aura under Rios' rage.

But Lin Yun hadn't moved the slightest bit.

”Those things you broke just now will also be compensated by the Viper Nest…”

”You are courting death!” Provoked by Lin Yun's words, the furious Rios' face contorted even further. That long scar became extremely conspicuous as his face became red from anger, looking almost as if a centipede was crawling on his head.

The sword that he had lowered after his first slash now rose up once again.

Moreover, the target was no longer just the table or those chairs... it was Lin Yun, who was only a few meters away...

The surging aura rose up like waves, crazily crashing against everything around. Even the walls of the reception room were letting out a screeching sound as a crack spread across one of the walls. The red aura gathered on the greatsword, and with Rios' shout, the greatsword slashed down with a thunderous sound.

This time, even Larry couldn't help feeling shocked.

Although Larry was a 9th Rank Mage, when facing the aura of a Great Swordsman going all-out like this, he wouldn't be able to resist at all. Even though he was only facing the incidental backdraft from the uncontrolled aura of the Great Swordsman, Larry could only put up a magic shield to make sure that he wouldn't collapse under the pressure.

This wasn't a force that a Mage could defend against.

Only a Great Mage could withstand the blow of a Great Swordsman.

The sword filled with aura slashed down while Lin Yun still remained motionless. He only muttered a few syllables, a short incantation. His voice was very low, like he was only mumbling to himself, and it was quite hard to hear in front of that whistling sword.