Both Kahn & Albestros stood rooted on the spot as soon as Szayel's command reached their ears.
The ally had suddenly turned into a foe.
"What's the meaning of this?" asked Kahn as he released his killing intent aimed at Szayel.
"Did you really think I would let all the rude slanders you made to me slide away? You humans are nothing but pests of society, yet you dared to treat me, the son of the noble Vandereich clan, without any respect. Did you think that there won't be any consequences?" spoke Szayel in a mocking tone.
"But, he saved your life!" exclaimed the grandmaster blacksmith standing behind Kahn.
But Szayel acted as if he didn't hear anything.
"Captain Livaan, put both these men in our prison. I will come to see through their punishment myself after talking with father & the elders.." ordered Szayel and walked towards the main hall of the castle.
At this moment, although Kahn could easily escape using his skills and artifacts, he could only do it for himself. Albestros would be caught in the crossfire.. Something he couldn't afford to do. So for the sake of the old man, Kahn decided to surrender to the soldiers without putting up a resistance.
Ten minutes later, both of them were escorted by the hundreds of soldiers to the underground prison as per the orders of Captain Livaan, the first stage Saint Rank, because they thought Kahn would try to escape or these many people won't be enough to handle him as he was a semi-saint rank swordsman.
They already confiscated Lucifer so there wasn't much he could do as per their assumption.
As soon as both of the humans were put inside the cells, Albestros cursed loudly.
"What the hell is the meaning of this, boy?! Didn't you save that bloodsucker's life? Is he that immature to hold a grudge because you didn't clean his shoes?" spoke the old man in an enraged tone.
But to his surprise, Kahn lazily laid back against the wall and sat down with a carefree attitude. He looked at the old man and gave a light smirk.
"The future is now, old man." he said and chuckled.
"It's part of my plan."
"What do you mean?" asked Albestros.
"We already discussed that he'd put both of us in a safe location first before he tells his family about the ambush. And till then, no one should look for trouble with us. And if they do.. Well, then they're part of the traitor gang who would try to silence us." be explained.
"Then why didn't you tell me this? Do you know how scared I was?" spoke the old man.
"And that's exactly why we did so. I'm really good at acting.. But we needed a genuine expression from you as well. Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll protect you." replied Kahn.
"How? You don't even have a weapon. And I don't see any space ring on you, either."
"About that.."
A black figure suddenly appeared out of his shadow and stood in the middle of the cell.
"What the.. Where did he come from?" asked the old man after he looked at the handsome man clad in black attire who had green eyes.
Ronin knelt in front of Kahn and took out 4 space rings.
"Did you bring it?"
"Yes, master." spoke Ronin and took Lucifer out of a space ring after stealing it from the storehouse where the soldiers previously kept it.
He was a High Lord rank subordinate, so it was easy for him to quietly infiltrate inside the storage room because now, Ronin had Kahn's all Assassin skills as well after Kahn unlocked the Impartation Skill with all those subordinates who had 100% loyalty to him.
"He has skills that let him hide in anyone's shadow." explained Kahn how Ronin also infiltrated inside the cell.
"What do we do now?" asked Albestros.
"Now.. We wait."
After waiting for the next four hours, the duo.. The trio inside the cell finally heard multiple footsteps walking in the passage.
Ronin quickly hid in Kahn's shadow as he couldn't reveal him to anyone stronger than them because his aura wasn't of a human but a monster. And since there were far stronger people than him, they could easily tell the difference.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The group of vampire warriors stood in front of their cell and started unlocking the door.
"Both of you have been summoned." spoke the guard and both the prisoners were escorted out.
However, when they reached one of the entrances towards the main hall of the castle, one by one, two hundred soldiers wearing the clan's armors and various weapons in their hands started surrounding the two prisoners.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Loud footsteps resounded in the area and soon, two figures came out of the troop of the soldiers as they quickly created a pathway.
One of the figures was captain Livaan, the first stage saint rank warrior Kahn had seen before. Behind him, was a white-skinned vampire girl who appeared the same age as Kahn.
Her white skin and red lips along with the long waist-length silver hair paired with the glimmering red eyes gave her the appearance of one of those vampire girls you see in fanarts on the internet. Her calm and cold demeanor gave her a sense of cold and unparalleled beauty.
But the tight and intrinsically patterned silver armor around her body also gave her a touch of a female sword user.
"So, are you the one who saved my little brother?" asked the vampire girl, her melodious voice completely contradicting her warrior-princess appearance.
Kahn however felt a killing intent directed at him the very next second.
"What would happen if I said yes?" he asked back and released some of his aura, instantly giving a warning to the soldiers surrounding him.
"Oh.. I refuse to believe that a human such as yourself can kill more than two hundred trained warriors alone. For all I care, you might as well be a spy sent by our enemies to infiltrate the ranks by appearing as my brother's savior." spoke the vampire girl.
"Oye.. What's with this baseless accusation? What proof do you have? And besides, you all should be thanking me instead of putting me behind a cell. My opinion of your so so-called respectable clan has already hit the rock bottom." retorted Kahn.
"Impudence! How dare you speak back to our lady, Vivian Mor Vandereich without any honorifics; you lowly human!" shouted Livaan in an angered tone and released his murderous aura at Kahn.
Kahn in return activated War Dominance and broke the aura that was surrounding him and Albestros.
"This.." the vampire heiress gasped in surprise.
"So he's indeed a semi-saint rank warrior. And to reach at this level under 30 years.." spoke the girl. But the next second, as if feeling a sense of threat; she commanded the hundreds of soldiers full of swordsmen and knights that were surrounding the two humans.
"Guards! He dared to slander the name of our reputable clan. Kill him!!"
"What the hell is wrong with you people? Is that how you treat those who help the people from your clan?" declared Kahn.
What confused him the most was why these people were adamant about persecuting him instead of showering him with riches.
The next second however, he saw a sneering look with a condescending smile on the girl's face.
[So it's her who wanted Szayel dead.]
Kahn quickly took a defensive artifact out of his space ring and threw it towards the old man.
"I'll handle this. You protect yourself." spoke Kahn and activated the Sword King and Sword Battlemaster skill together. His oppressive and chaotic black & red aura quickly suppressed the hundreds of soldiers. Only those at
His aura reached its peak and multiple mana swords formed around him in a few seconds.
"Yahh!" shouted one of the approaching guards before he could even notice Kahn's aura swords.
But before the soldiers could even come close to Kahn, his left thigh was pierced by one of Kahn's aura blades.
Gasp!
Livaan gasped in surprise after looking at Kahn's skills.
"How.. How is that possible? That's a proper Saint Rank fighter's skill! But he hasn't broken through the saint rank yet!"
"I can get away with it but you won't. So let me deal with this human." spoke Vivian and gave him an understanding look as her eyes turned serious the next second. A malicious intent arose from her as she clenched her hands over the sword on the waist.
Thud! Boom!
One by one, Kahn was beating the hell out of all the attacking guards. He dodged, parried and disarmed all the soldiers one by one. He was so fast that his attacks and kicks in the chest and face would land before the soldiers could even swing their weapons at him.
Although Kahn could easily kill this bunch, he was on someone else's turf. And if he killed the soldiers like he normally does with his enemies, he'd be marked by this clan till his dead body dropped on the ground.
And there was also the first stage saint rank tank warrior there so he had to be careful.
Clang! Shing! Crack!
Dozens of soldiers were stabbed and injured with Kahn's aura blades and their own swords that attacked from various angles from the air.
Slash!
Kahn quickly slashed his sword and blocked a slim rapier aimed at his neck.
"You vermin! You think you'll get out of here alive?" spoke Vivian who tried to make a sudden attack on Kahn's life.
[[Author : Reference Art for Vivian in chapter comments. Check it out]]
"Why are you so keen on killing me? Did I touch you in a wrong place or something?" he asked with a devilish smirk.
"Stop!!"
A domineering and kingly voice filled the surroundings and an unimaginably heavy aura filled the battlefield.
Both Kahn and Vivian were forced to kneel on the ground.
A tall and slim figure of a vampire suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
"Is this a way to treat our guests?" asked this majestic looking vampire in noble clothes to Vivian who was kneeling on the ground and had a face full of fear.
Kahn on the other hand was extremely surprised. Although this aura didn't have any bloodlust in it.. Even his War Dominance failed to help him overthrow this pressure.
He looked at the mature and regal vampire who stood in between him and Vivian and had his hands folded behind his back.
By Kahn's estimation.. The aura belonged to a Fourth Stage Saint Rank person.
The Vampire stopped releasing his pressure and spoke to Kahn.
"I apologies for the rude welcome, young man. But first, we need to have a private talk."