Jared and his party were about to leave, so things were going to get awkward if Joel decided to tag along with Danny. However, if the two of them were to descend the mountain alone, they would be in great danger if they ran into a trap or an arcane array.
Yet, Danny was also worried that Jared and his companions would not agree to let them tag along.
Just as Danny was mulling over asking Jared to take them in, he could sense a large number of auras headed their way. Immediately afterward, more than a dozen men in black surrounded Jared and company.
Facing the men in black, Jared frowned. “Gilbert, don’t you find these auras oddly familiar?” asked Jared. Gilbert nodded in response. “Yes, they seem familiar. The auras are similar to the people who targeted Princess Anne.”
“Wait. Could they be the ones who have already occupied the ruins?”
Jared was shocked. Where have they come from? How did they appear out of nowhere? They must have been here ages ago, otherwise, they couldn’t have been able to breach all those traps and arcane arrays easily.
Joel, on the other hand, seemed rather excited upon the sudden appearance of these mysterious men. Joel suddenly raised his bronze handbell and shouted loudly, “Hearken to me, disciples of Flaming Sect!”
Turns out these men are all disciples of Flaming Sect! Joel recognized them as soon as they appeared.
When the men in black saw Joel ringing the bronze handbell, a hint of panic flashed across their eyes, but they soon calmed down. Danny frowned when he noticed that the men were unfazed by Joel’s orders.
Realization soon dawned upon him, and he whispered in Joel’s ear, “I think these men are involved with the royal family. They are likely Mr. Alex’s subordinates.”
Danny’s words caused the glee on Joel’s face to be replaced by pure, unbridled rage. “You traitors! I am going to kill you all!” With a yell, Joel’s aura began to surge wildly.
He rang the bronze handbell vigorously and sent sound waves rippling through the surrounding area. The men in black instantly formed a circle and fused their auras together to form a shield, fending off Joel’s attack.
When Danny saw this, he immediately jumped into the air with his weapon. “You traitors! I’ll have your heads!”
Danny brandished his weapon, sending multiple sharp glints flying in the men in black’s direction. Joel and Danny were soon engaged in a heated battle with the men in black.
Jared and his party had thus become spectators. “What do we do, Mr. Chance?” asked Gilbert. “Let’s go. We should not interfere with the sect’s internal affairs.”
Jared waved his hand dismissively and attempted to leave. After all, none of that mattered to him. All he wanted to do at that moment was find the ancient ruins as quickly as he could without wasting any more time..
“Jared, given how quickly these men in black showed up, they may have been lying in wait in the ruins. Why don’t we capture one and question him?” asked Flaxseed.
Jared grinned. “That’s a brilliant idea. Ast expected from you, Mr. Flaxseed. We’ll capture one of them for questioning then.”
Meanwhile, Joel and Danny were still engaged in a battle with the men in black. While they had yet to be defeated, they were both at a disadvantage and had sustained multiple wounds from all the fighting.
“Gilbert, capture one of them,” ordered Jared. Gilbert nodded. In a flash, he disappeared and joined in the battle. A man in black spotted Gilbert and swung his scimitar at the latter.
Gilbert dodged the attack and countered with his hand, knocking the man’s scimitar away. The scimitar flew into the air and pierced another man’s chest.
