Chapter 282: Mysterious Enemy

"Everyone, watch out! They can use mind control!"

Lariel shouted as his eyes swept over everyone.

"He tried to take over his mind before he attempted to self-destruct!" He pointed at Soren and then at the unconscious elf. "We need to check everyone! Right now!"

Everyone in the room stiffened, their expressions shifting from shock to wariness as they sized each other up. The guards reached for their weapons, and even the elves began to eye one another with fresh suspicion. The knight, having managed to stop the elf from self-destructing, rose to his feet.

"Calm down." He muttered. "We are already in my domain. Everything is under control."

"Oh, really?"

A cynical laugh broke out from one of the humans watching near the wall. Before the man could even blink, the knight vanished from the center of the room and reappeared directly beside him, driving a light elbow into his chest. The human collapsed instantly, unconscious before his body hit the floor.

"I wouldn’t be so certain if I-" another elf across the room began to mock.

The knight blurred forward again, striking the elf across the temple and dropping him like a sack of stone.

"-were you," a third elf finished from the far corner, his voice strangely calm despite the violent display.

This time, the knight didn’t attack. He stopped a foot away from the third elf, his armored finger hovering inches from the suspect’s forehead.

"What do you want?" the knight demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous rumble. "And where is the girl?"

"Ok, ok, I will tell you," the elf said with a dramatic sigh. "But... only tomorrow."

"..." The knight squinted at the culprit. "Just what are you plotting?"

"Nothing noteworthy," the elf laughed. "However, I advise you not to cancel the competition."

"What do you mean by that?" The knight asked, his suspicion growing.

"As I said, you will find out tomorrow." The elf replied with a wicked smile.

"Both finalists should be present there too." He added, glancing at Soren. "Or else... you can forget about getting her back."

"...Alright." The knight nodded, choosing to play along with this mysterious enemy. "We promise to do it; however, you should also promise not to harm her."

"Deal." The elf smiled, waving. "See you tomorrow then."

A moment later, the elf stopped moving, his hands dropping, clarity slowly returning to his eyes. "W-What happened?"

The knight’s gaze swept over everyone, wondering if the guy really left.

"...Oops, I almost forgot." Just then, the closest elf beside him spoke up, staring intensely at the knight. "Was it really a good idea to leave your precious princess all alone?"

"..."

The room went deathly silent.

The knight froze, his eyes shaking from shock. ’D-Don’t tell me?!’

He turned to the elf. "You... You are messing with the wrong people. If you dare to touch a single hair on her head, I will make sure you suffer a fate worse than death."

"...Whoa. Scary. I almost wet myself there." The elf chuckled, looking down at his pants as if to confirm he really didn’t. "...Thank goodness. Hooh."

"And... are you sure about what you said?"

"Yes..."

"Noted. Then, we won’t touch her hair at all. But I really can’t promise anything else." The elf paused, licking his lips as he continued. "Hands, legs, eyes... everything except hair is totally fine, right? Glad you are so generous-"

"..." The knight knocked the elf unconscious before he could finish, his gaze furious.

"Whoa! Why so aggressive?!" Another human spoke this time. "I was only repeating what you said!"

"...Get lost before I lose control." The knight muttered.

"Ok, ok, no need to be so touchy." The man raised his hands in mock surrender, taking a slow step back with a lazy smirk still playing on his lips. "I’m leaving..."

"...I said stop playing." The knight appeared behind the man and knocked him unconscious.

But he didn’t stop and kept moving, appearing in one spot after another, and knocking out everyone who could be taken over by the villain.

And the villain kept playing with the knight, infuriating him with each passing second. And soon, the room was filled with unconscious bodies, with only City Lord Asad, the elf leader Lariel, Soren, and his wife remaining.

The silence that followed was suffocating, broken only by the soft breathing of those left standing amidst the sea of fallen guards and elves.

The knight turned to the City Lord Asad. "I’m going to check up on Her Highness; he might have been bluffing. Please, take care of the rest."

"Understood." Asad nodded with a solemn expression.

The knight then turned to Soren. "Thank you for your warning earlier. And... I must ask you to stay. Given everything that has transpired, you cannot leave the city just yet, and your participation in the finals is now mandatory."

Soren stared back at the knight, his eyes narrowing in silence.

Before he could offer a response, the door creaked open. A guard peeked his head inside the room.

"Ah, my apologies for interrupting," the guard said, an apologetic smile spreading across his face. "I just forgot to say hello to someone."

His gaze bypassed the knight, sliding past Asad and Soren, until it locked directly onto Ethea.

"Long time no see, Miss Hero," the voice sneered, dripping with mock intimacy. "I truly thought you were long dead and was depressed for three whole weeks. But now I can rest easy... knowing I get to kill-"

A shadow blurred across the floor.

Soren appeared directly in front of the guard. Without a word, he delivered a strike, cutting the speech short and sending him crumpling to the floor.

"..." He caught the falling body and put it gently on the ground; however, his expression was anything but calm.

The knight watched the exchange in silence, his suspicion of Soren and his mysterious wife deepening. Unfortunately, he was in a hurry and had no time to press the issue right now.

"...We’ll talk later."

He muttered and disappeared from the room.

"..." Soren calmly walked back, kneeling beside his wife. "Are you ok, dear?"