Edward and his companions were terrified.
They felt like lambs being stalked by a pack of strong and ferocious wolves.
Gilbert and his brother whispered to each other,
"Should we leave? We can give up on the territory in the Lionheart Empire."
"I don't think we can leave."
Looking at the three of them, Elizabeth spoke first,
"Where did you little brats come from?"
"S-sorry, we came to the wrong place…"
Edward smiled awkwardly and prepared to leave.
But the heavy doors suddenly closed, trapping them inside.
A man spoke coldly,
"Do you think you can come and go as you please? If you want to leave, leave behind a leg or a hand!"
"I prefer eyes!"
"How about leaving a whole corpse, ha ha ha!"
Seeing their crazed expressions, Edward hurriedly revealed his identity,
"Wait, I am the King of the Sword Kingdom."
"I… I am the King of the Clover Magic Kingdom!"
"And so am I!"
Their hearts raced, praying nothing would happen. However, these people didn't care.
Elizabeth sneered,
"Is that so? Then kill them all and bury them under the magic flowers outside as fertilizer."
"What?!"
Gilbert and his brother were so frightened they nearly fainted.
Edward summoned the Sylph of the Wind and drew his sword, its cold blade flashing!
He was ready to fight to the death.
"Don't push me!"
Feeling the fierce sword energy swirling around the hall like a storm, a man in armor couldn't sit still.
"Hahaha, seems you're quite strong. You're my prey now!"
He was none other than Stephen, the fourth-ranked member of the Dragon Slayer Guild.
He had single-handedly killed an ancient dragon over 800 meters long.
Combat power: 9,300.
Before he even called for the fight to begin, he charged forward with a punch!
Boom!
The terrifying punch shattered the walls of the hall, blowing the three men out!
Dust filled the air!
Edward didn't dare to be careless, almost cursing,
"Damn, going all out right from the start?"
Dodging the punch, he didn't hold back either.
"Elemental Sword Skill: Meteor Dance!"
Behind him, Sylph followed like a ghost, blowing a breath onto his long sword.
As he swung, the sword energy streaked like meteors, filling the square with brilliant light!
He continuously attacked Stephen.
The crisp sound of sword energy striking armor echoed, shaking everyone!
It was like countless meteors falling.
Before long, Stephen's armor cracked and then shattered!
"No wonder you're the Sword Saint, breaking my armor with one move. If I don't bring out something special, I might die!"
"World-class Combat Skill: Giant's War Cry!"
A gigantic figure burst from Stephen's body, veins bulging as it roared, shattering all the meteor sword energy.
Before Stephen could react, a cold long sword was already at his twitching throat.
The sword tip pressed against him, just a hair's breadth from piercing his skin.
Edward's face darkened.
"You lost..."
He had seized that moment of weakness, with Sylph forming a wind shield to avoid being affected by the war cry.
Stephen's expression turned ugly.
Screaming in madness,
"Lost? I can never lose!!!"
He charged forward, letting the long sword pierce his throat, blood spraying high!
But Stephen also grabbed Edward with all his strength.
"Ultimate Combat Skill: Death Embrace!"
Crack!
Almost instantly, Sylph's wind shield shattered!
Next, Edward's bones began to crack audibly!
"Ugh!"
The sudden attack of terrifying strength made Edward spit blood, his internal organs pierced by broken ribs!
His body was nearly deformed.
The two collapsed on the verge of death.
Gilbert and his brother were dumbfounded.
"Madman! He's a fucking madman! Isn't living well enough? Enjoying life every night isn't enough?"
"Fighting and killing are too scary! I shouldn't have come here!"
What they regretted most was provoking Lin Tian.
Now they doubted they'd ever return, likely ending up like Edward.
"W-what was the point of this…" Edward said bitterly, his full strength not yet unleashed, taken down together.
It was truly frustrating.
Stephen laughed while spitting blood,
"Heh heh, I wanted you to fear me…"
As he spoke, both felt their consciousness fading, nearing death.
Clap, clap, clap...
At that moment, Elizabeth clapped her hands and slowly approached,
"Well done, you two little ones!"
She stood tall, at least 1.8 meters, so calling them "little ones" was quite appropriate.
Then she separated the two men and took out a bottle of Holy Water, pouring it over each of them.
Their injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Gilbert and his brother, terrified, couldn't help but feel pained,
"Holy Water! That's as valuable as world-class magical items! Wasting it just like that?!"
World-class magical items could be used continuously.
But Holy Water could only be used once.
It couldn't bring back the dead, but as long as there was a breath left, it could save a life and even regenerate severed limbs.
Stephen stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Thanks, boss. That was exhilarating. Did you see that? My blood could spray ten meters, haha!"
"Awesome! Does it feel as good as spraying with a woman?" someone gave a thumbs-up and asked.
They didn't care that Elizabeth was a woman, and she didn't mind either.
Stephen thought for a moment, shaking his head,
"Not sure, but it felt heavenly! You guys should try it sometime."
"Alright!"
Everyone looked envious.
Stephen had taken down the Sword Saint!
They all knew Edward's identity and were intrigued by the idea of fighting him.
Hearing this, Gilbert and his brother huddled together, trembling,
"Did you hear that, bro? He said alright!"
"Hey, you two, let's have a go!"
At that moment, a muscular man approached them from behind.
The two brothers were so frightened they fell to their knees, begging for mercy,
"Spare us, big brother! We were just visiting the museum and got lost!"
"Hmph, useless. You're not worthy to be my prey!"
The muscular man spat in their faces and left, cursing.
Kneeling and begging opponents didn't even spark his desire to fight.
At this time, Edward had gradually recovered and quickly explained to Elizabeth,
"Lady Elizabeth, we mean no harm. We just want to ask for your help in hunting powerful prey."
Hearing this, Elizabeth showed a bit of interest.
"Powerful prey? You should've said so earlier. Tell me more."
She patted Edward on the shoulder.
Her strength almost shattered his bones.
Looking at this tall, muscular woman filled him with dread.
Edward then explained,
"We originally went to defeat the Goblin Empire, but for some reason, three ancient dragons are guarding it, each over 800 meters long! The strongest is close to 1,000 meters—a terrifying black dragon!"
"Yes, yes, we lost 300,000 troops because of this!" Gilbert quickly added.
Still kneeling, he couldn't get up.
Elizabeth's expression changed slightly,
"A black dragon close to 1,000 meters? I've never heard of that. Are you lying? If you dare to lie, I'll crush you all."
Though her tone was playful, like a mischievous older sister, no one thought she was joking.
They believed she really would crush them!
Edward hurriedly shook his head,
"No, no! It's absolutely true!"
"That's bullshit. We know there's only one ancient dragon over 1,000 meters—an elemental fire dragon. Boss, just crush him," Stephen cursed.
As Edward was about to explain further, a soft, fragrant hand pressed down on his head.
Elizabeth wore an evil, exaggerated smile, her one eye watching him playfully.
Thump!
Edward felt the threat of death!
His heart raced, wanting to summon Sylph.
But Sylph didn't respond.
She was too scared to come out!
It was over.
He was going to die!
Gilbert and his brother quickly closed their eyes, not daring to see the gruesome scene of his head bursting!
"I-I don't want to die, Lady Elizabeth, I'm not lying!" Edward was on the verge of tears.
The Sword Saint, a king of an empire lasting centuries!
Yet he was filled with the terror of being a plaything, easily crushed!
In the face of this monstrously strong woman, he felt utterly insignificant.
At that moment, Elizabeth released him, smirking disdainfully,
"Seems like you're not lying, just a bit too cowardly. Stephen, you three brothers go check it out. If it's true, I'll come."
She didn't want to be tricked into going far to deal with goblins.
She knew about the Goblin Empire, but fighting goblins was disgraceful!
The Dragon Slayer Guild had strict rules against killing low-level, weak monsters like goblins.
It was disgraceful. If anyone was found hunting goblins for rewards or other reasons, they would be executed jointly.
Edward's mention of encountering ancient dragons while attacking the Goblin Empire made her suspect he was tricking her into fighting goblins.
So, she sent Stephen and his brothers.
At that moment, two more people stepped forward, named Steven and Steve.
The three were blood brothers, not only very close but also equally strong, each with a combat power of around 9,000.
"Boss, leave it to us. If he's lying, we'll kill him on the spot!" Steven said with a cold smile.
He had two rows of sharp teeth.
He liked leaving bite marks on his prey and had sharpened his teeth with a knife, like a beast.
Seeing their strength, Edward dared not ask for anything else.
Since these guys mainly dealt with dragons, he felt three people were enough.
They could surely handle it.
Gilbert and his brother didn't dare say a word.
Even if they had objections, they had to swallow them.