Chapter 7: Hasty Escape
The president of the Dawson Chamber of Commerce, 'Monroe Dawson'
"Whoa~~" The many knights simultaneously yanked their reins, hooves rearing high before finally coming to a halt.
"Release the young master," Monroe Dawson immediately ordered. The ninth-rank expert responsible for escorting Yale moved his hand, and the binding ropes snapped apart directly. Yale jumped down from his horse, while Reynolds and George had already dismounted long before.
"Third brother, you're really okay." George's eyes were red with emotion.
"Third brother, great, I knew you'd be fine." Yale said excitedly.
George simply punched Linley on the chest without speaking.
"Third brother, come on, leave Fenlai City with us." Yale immediately said. Monroe Dawson also spoke up: "So you're Linley, right? Come with us. As long as no Saint-level magical beasts attack, our safety is absolutely guaranteed."
Monroe Dawson also wanted Linley to join them.
What the Dawson Chamber of Commerce lacked were Saint-level experts!
"No, I still have things to do. Yale, George, Reynolds, you go on ahead." Linley shook his head.
"Third brother, are you still going to...?" Yale exclaimed in shock, having already guessed what Linley intended to do.
Linley nodded. "Yes."
Clayde had to die!
His last failure was because of the Saint-level magical beast scroll, but Linley believed that for a king of a kingdom to possess one Saint-level magical scroll was already rare. He didn't believe Clayde would have two. Moreover, the Saint-level expert of the Radiant Church was now struggling to save himself and likely had no energy left to protect a king.
"Yale, where are you all going? I'll find you later." Linley said.
"With so many magical beasts this time, even Ernst Academy, which is close to Fenlai City, has probably been attacked. We can't return to the academy. Reynolds and George plan to head back to their respective families once they reach a safe place. As for me... I'll go with my father first." Yale replied.
George and Reynolds both nodded.
"Alright then. I'll come find you all later. Yale, George, Reynolds, farewell." Linley gazed at his good brothers, nodded firmly, and without hesitation, leaped up swiftly, covering a hundred meters in just a few bounds.
Yale, Reynolds, and George understood that it would be hard for the four brothers to meet again.
The three immediately mounted their horses.
"Giddyup!"
The cavalry unit of the Dawson Chamber of Commerce moved forward once more.
*******
On this day, many families throughout Fenlai City faced the threat of annihilation, and the Debs family was no exception. The patriarch, Bernard, and the primary heir, 'Kalan', were directly trampled to death by the Saint-level magical beast 'Violet-Eyed Golden-Fur Ape'. Before the Debs family could even consider who would inherit the patriarch position, the family suffered an even greater disaster.
Magical beasts stormed into the Debs family estate.
Guards, servants, maids, and family members died one after another. The people of the Debs family went completely mad, grabbing whatever valuables they could and fleeing in all directions. At this point, few thought of anyone else.
"Sister Alice, what do we do?" Rolin was completely stunned.
Alice, initially dazed, had now snapped back to her senses.
"Follow me." Alice shouted. Alice was a fourth-rank mage, and Rolin was a fourth-rank warrior. For their age, this was quite impressive. But with fifth-rank magical beasts everywhere, they had no means of resistance.
Alice led Rolin into Kalan's room and directly retrieved two magic crystal cards from a box.
"Sister Rolin, each of these magic crystal cards has 100,000 gold coins inside. That's enough for us to live on. Let's go now." Alice and Rolin each pocketed a magic crystal card and rushed out of the estate. One was a mage, the other a warrior.
At least their physical fitness was decent, making them agile runners.
"Help! Ah!"
A maid ran desperately toward Alice and Rolin, with a Windwolf right behind her. The Windwolf lunged and bit her throat viciously. The maid stared at Alice and Rolin, her eyes filled with a longing for life, before gradually dimming.
Rolin stared blankly at the scene, completely horrified.
"Let's go." Alice dragged the stunned Rolin along. At a time like this, anyone who let their compassion take over would be walking to their death. Not even a ninth-rank expert would dare to be overly charitable. In all of Fenlai City, there were over a dozen Saint-level magical beasts and nearly a hundred ninth-rank beasts.
The lower the rank, the more numerous they were, especially fifth- and sixth-rank beasts like the Windwolf packs, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Fenlai City's total population barely exceeded a million, and most residents were only at the first or second rank, completely defenseless.
"Pfft!" Alice and Rolin tore their wedding gowns to move faster.
"Sister Alice, there's a magical beast ahead." Rolin shouted immediately.
"This way." Alice dragged Rolin into a nearby alley.
But looking through the alley, they could clearly see another magical beast at the far end. Alice and Rolin could only stay in the narrow alley between two estates.
"Roar~~" From the other end of the alley, a Bloodthirsty Iron Bull charged in.
"Quick, go!" Alice yanked Rolin and dashed out of the alley, ignoring the magical beasts ahead. There were still plenty of people in front; maybe the beasts wouldn't target them. They sprinted forward with all their might.
Their breathing grew heavy. In this life-or-death moment, they were both tense to the extreme.
"Howl!" "Howl!" "Howl!"...
Suddenly, over a dozen Windwolves chased after them from behind. The Windwolves were far too fast, twice as quick as Alice and Rolin. Soon, the pack caught up, and ahead of them appeared a massive Earth Dragon.
The Earth Dragon's bulk blocked half of Green Leaf Road, along with its tail. Alice and Rolin had no way through.
"Sister Alice." Rolin was on the verge of despair.
Alice looked at the two-story-tall Earth Dragon ahead and then at the Windwolves charging in unison from behind. She couldn't think of any way to escape.
"Is this the end?" Alice hugged Rolin tightly. In that moment, she felt no hope. The dozen Windwolves charged together, their fangs gleaming with a cold, pale light.
A flash of dazzling purple light streaked by.
The heads of the dozen Windwolves flew into the air simultaneously. A figure shot into the sky and then plunged toward the massive Earth Dragon ahead.
"That's..." Alice and Rolin stared blankly at their sudden savior.
Alice saw clearly.
"A long, long time ago, something like this happened too." Alice's eyes grew misty as she looked at the figure. The newcomer was Linley. In fact, Linley's estate was very close to the Debs family estate, and Alice and Rolin were now about a dozen meters from Linley's front gate.
Linley at least wouldn't stand by and watch people die.
"Hah!"
Linley twisted his waist, channeling power through his hips to his leg. His right leg swung like a steel whip, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle as it slammed toward the Earth Dragon's head. As it descended, scales emerged on Linley's leg.
Half-Dragonization!
"Bam!"
The kick was too fast. Before the Earth Dragon could react, it smashed the beast's hard skull, sending brain matter flying. The Earth Dragon's massive body crashed to the ground.
Linley landed.
Alice and Rolin stared at the figure descending from the sky, dumbfounded.
"Lin... Linley..." Alice whispered.
Linley glanced back, frowning slightly. He didn't have time to escort these two women, but leaving Alice and Rolin alone outside would mean certain death. Linley spotted a cavalry unit charging in the distance, led by an old man on a horse—Meyer, the head curator of the Proulx Gallery.
With the magical beast invasion, almost all the sculptures at the Proulx Gallery had been destroyed, except for a few important ones that Meyer had stored in his spatial ring.
Spatial rings were extremely rare. Meyer's ring had been passed down through his family.
"Curator Meyer." Linley shouted loudly.
Meyer saw Linley and was overjoyed: "Master Linley, you're here." Meyer had the utmost admiration for master sculptors, and he deeply respected Linley, who at such a young age could create works rivaling masters like Proulx and Hopkinson.
The fact that Linley had attempted to assassinate Clayde was known to very few. The public rumor was that a demon had tried to kill Clayde. Meyer naturally believed that.
"Master Linley, come with us." Meyer said confidently.
The armed forces of the Proulx Gallery could ensure their safety as long as no Saint-level magical beasts attacked.
"Curator Meyer, I can't. But I have a favor to ask. These two women are connected to me. Please take them to a safe place." Linley pleaded.
"No problem. But Master Linley, Fenlai City is very dangerous." Meyer urged.
"I can't. I still have things to do. I'm entrusting these two to you." With that, Linley leaped directly into his estate. Alice and Rolin watched for a moment before Meyer ordered them to share a horse with someone else.
"He... didn't even say a word to me." Alice suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
The sound of hooves continued as Meyer's group left with Alice and Rolin.
Linley emerged from his estate a short while later, carrying a black bundle on his shoulder. Inside were several magic crystal cards, some Hemolytic Poison powder, and some Blueheart Grass.
"BeBe, now we're heading to the palace."
"Boss, let's go on a rampage!" BeBe was excited too.
Linley immediately took BeBe and rushed toward the palace at top speed.
*******
Inside the palace, many people had already begun to flee, but Clayde had entered the royal treasury. How could Clayde abandon the wealth accumulated by the royal family over the years? The wealth of a royal family was terrifying.
For example, the Debs family had nearly 100 million gold coins in assets.
But a corrupt finance minister, Duke Patterson, also had assets close to 100 million gold coins. The royal treasury's wealth far exceeded that.
Inside the treasury.
"The accumulated wealth of the Fenlai Kingdom over thousands of years." Clayde looked at the vast array of treasures, but he didn't have time to dwell. He quickly stored a few precious items into his spatial ring. As a king, Clayde was fortunate enough to possess a spatial ring.
"And these thirty-two magic crystal cards." Clayde looked at the cards in his hand.
These thirty-two unregistered magic crystal cards represented the Fenlai Kingdom's millennia of accumulation. Each card held 100 million gold coins. Thirty-two cards meant 3.2 billion gold coins. That number was staggering. Even some major families in the four empires likely didn't possess such wealth.
People said being a king was the most profitable job, and the royal family's accumulation over thousands of years was naturally astonishing.
"The capital, Fenlai City, is finished." Clayde glanced back at the remaining treasures in the treasury and gritted his teeth as he left.
But Clayde didn't know that it wasn't just Fenlai City that was lost. The entire Fenlai Kingdom had become a paradise for magical beasts. He was no longer a king. In fact, not only the Fenlai Kingdom, but the entire territory of the Holy Alliance was being steadily devoured by the magical beasts.