Chapter 666: The answer.

Ruen kneed Sunni right in her chest, breaking Sunni’s ribs and almost punctured her heart. Sunni got thrown away as she coughed blood as Ruen took the blades from Sunni’s hands. She then threw the blades into the air and suddenly they floated in the sky. She flicked her finger and the blades began to flew toward Sunni’s disciples while they were escorting the guests and the tournament participants. The blades ambushed Sunni’s disciples and pierced right through their hearts, killing them instantly.

The sight was too much to process even for the Zeniths because for a Grandmaster to master Evil Art that specifically focused on curses and illusions, but also mastered Demonic Sword Art that was similar to the Heaven Sword Art that controlled the sword with one’s mind. The danger level had risen to one level above that they had observed.

This time, Zenith Jin, the Sword Emperor and Zenith Rukan, the Heaven Sword decided to fight Ruen. Jin dashed toward Ruen while Rukan used his ultimate technique, the Heaven Sword, sending his sword toward Ruen.

Ruen was enjoying her time killing the helpless martial artists and the guests when she suddenly tilted her head to dodge the flying sword that barely hit her by the neck. She glanced at Jin that was already in front of her with the tip of his sword right between her eyes. She leaned back and arched her back, dodging the sword that was right in front of her eyes, seeing her own grin on the sword’s reflection.

Ruen moved her right hand and deflected Jin’s sword as she slowly stood straight. Her left hand was still controlling the flying blades as she readied her stance to fight Jin and Rukan’s flying sword.

"Escort everyone out of the courtyard immediately!" Ogun shouted.

Ruen glanced at the only way out, remembering what Rasmus said about wanting her to kill everyone except the Zeniths, Ogun, and Ma. She couldn’t let them leave, so she released her Mana, a black smoke that appeared from her back and immediately formed a dome, a barrier that prevented anyone from leaving.

"No one is leaving this place alive..." Ruen spoke as she giggled eerily, enough to give a chill down the Zeniths’ spines.

When the guests and the martial artists tried to leave the gate, the barrier stopped them. They used their most powerful techniques to break the barrier, but they failed miserably and their weapons shattered when they tried to use brute forces. They were stuck in the courtyard with a monster and blades that were hunting them down.

At the same time, Ma observed Ruen as Jin and Rukan fought her with everything they got. The sight of Ruen deflecting and blocking Jin’s attacks and Rukan’s swords while at the same time controlling the blades were both fascinating and terrifying. He then glanced at Rasmus, standing on the edge of the barriers with Aris and Rullein beside him.

"(Are they leaving?)" Ma thought with his eyes narrowed.

Rasmus looked at the barrier that Ruen had made for a moment before he clenched his fists and punched it. The wall of barrier in front of him cracked and finally broke. He casually walked out of the barrier with Aris and Rullein.

"Over there! The barrier is broken by Rasmus!" One of the guests pointed at the gap and crack in the barrier.

When everyone ran toward the barrier, they pushed each other and revealed their trueself. When they were close to the gap, the barrier suddenly regenerated and closed the gap right in front of their faces. They banged the barrier, desperately trying to break the wall like Rasmus did, but they broke their fingers and knuckles in doing so. They finally looked up at Rasmus, Aris, and Rullein, who were standing right in front of them outside the barrier.

"Help us!" An old man looked at Rasmus.

Rasmus stared at the old man with a cold gaze, seeing the fear and helplessness in the man’s eyes.

"Why should I help my enemy?" Rasmus asked with a flat expression.

Everyone’s expression that was filled with hope because they had just witnessed how Rasmus could escape from the barrier suddenly turned grim and hollow. They had forgotten about Neesa’s words due to the chaos and the fear. They realized if they begged him to save them, they would be seen as traitors for the act of treason to the empire.

"Please..." One of the guests suddenly begged on his knees, shocking everyone around him. "I don’t care, I just want to live... please, save me," he clasped his hands together and looked up at Rasmus.

"I saw what you did earlier. You pushed others away when you tried to reach the gap. Why should I save someone who has a desire to save themselves? I know what kind of a person you are. You will do the same to the imperial family as soon as I freed you. I have no reason to take such risks," Rasmus stared down at the man with a cold gaze. "Why should I save the people that will eventually point their weapons at me?" He asked once again.

In the back of some of those people’s heads, they were thinking of doing that because they knew that the Emperor had always been benevolent to them. Not only that, they could persuade Alliance Leader Ma and Master Strategist Ogun to help them in that matter. They weren’t expecting Rasmus to reveal the schemes that were building in the back of their heads.

Even with the words, Rasmus said, the people still chose to live, to survive no matter what the cost. While Sunni’s disciples tried to protect them, they chose to betray the only institution that protected them. Ogun and Ma couldn’t help but notice the people knelt in front of Rasmus, begging to be saved.

Rasmus looked at the people below him before he slowly lifted his head and turned toward Ma. Their eyes met, Rasmus’ gaze toward Ma was still the same as the first time they encountered at the waterfall, but Ma’s was different. Even with the distance, their eyes were enough to communicate. One was questioning and the other was contemplating. The moment Ma’s eyes looked away and focused on Ruen, it was the answer.

Rasmus glanced at the people begging at him, but then he turned and walked away.

Not even a few steps since Rasmus walked away, a powerful slash wave sliced through the ground and pierced through the barrier. He stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder and saw Ma raising his sword, and the attack he released was visible in the courtyard. The ground split into half, but what made Rasmus raise his brows was when he saw the clouds above were also splitting into half.

The barrier was completely destroyed by Ma’s single attack, and everyone was looking at him in awe. Ruen, who was enjoying the fight with Jin and Rukan, suddenly paused to look at the aftermath of his attack. She finally saw the person she wanted to fight, not those Zeniths that she had been playing with.

"(Can I?)" Ruen telephatically asked Rasmus.

"(Make it real, no more playing)" Rasmus said as he continued to walk away.

Ruen giggled and slowly turned into an eerie laugh before she suddenly screamed in excitement. The barrier that was completely destroyed, the people that were escaping, and Sunni’s disciples that were escorting them out of the courtyard suddenly caught on fire, burning them into ashes in just a matter of seconds.

"I’m done playing around," Ruen tilted her head and stared at Ma with a cold and eerie smile that reached her ears.