Chapter 53: Those who shoulder the future

“But before that, we still have to drive back the enemy first…”

The dust from the explosion hadn’t settled yet.

Through Swamp Energy, Dongfang Jiang and Pandana sensed a considerable number of people approaching the Badan Family Mansion.

Pandana transformed the Swamp Moon at her waist into a dark green ring, which floated around her.

Seeing Pandana enter combat mode, Yisela and Xi turned their rings into Mirage Shadow and River Islet, respectively.

“Uh, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while—except for Miss Fengyu, everyone else’s weapon really has its own style, huh.”

Qin Ye couldn’t help commenting as she watched the three of them summon their weapons.

“They sure came fast.”

Yisela turned around, spreading Mirage Shadow in her hand.

The golden fan ribs refracted tiny beams of light in the dim setting.

Outside the mansion’s main gate, the first wave of silhouettes had already vaulted over the courtyard wall.

Their movements were uniform, and they landed almost silently.

On each person’s ring finger, a ring glowed faintly red or gray under the moonlight.

These were specially calibrated standard-issue rings.

Not top grade, but each one bore the imprint of the same Mental Spell.

That imprint made their coordination several times better than ordinary fighters, and their attack rhythms nearly synchronized.

The group stopped as soon as they spotted Dongfang Jiang.

Then, a voice like a robot echoed.

“Dongfang Jiang?”

“It’s me.”

Dongfang Jiang stepped forward a few paces, then sent the four Elemental Swords, each imbued with a different energy, charging toward the enemies in front of him.

He controlled the Elemental Swords: Glacier Sword swept through the air, accurately killing two enemies; Swamp Sword bound several foes; Desert Sword forced the enemies back; Stream Sword transformed into energy and flowed into Dongfang Jiang’s body.

But under the influence of Mind Control, these enemies felt no pain and cared nothing for life or death.

Their only goal now was—

Kill Dongfang Jiang.

“Cover Dongfang Jiang!”

“You don’t need to tell me that!”

Seeing the enemy’s attack pattern, Qin Ye realized these people were no different from puppets under control.

She immediately raised her Long Spear and knocked away an enemy trying to trade one-for-one with Dongfang Jiang.

Gracia wasn’t to be outdone.

She manipulated White, slicing a distant enemy who was preparing to throw a hidden weapon into two pieces.

After a brief observation of the first round of combat, Pandana noticed something off.

“What’s wrong?”

Yisela, who was about to use Illusion Magic, saw the odd expression on Pandana’s face and turned to look at her.

“It’s strange. Logically, the attacks from Mister Dongfang, Xiaoxue, and Qin Ye should have caused at least some emotion in the enemies…”

“Yes. Any human who suffers an attack would feel pain and fear. But I don’t sense any of those emotions from these enemies.”

Everyone present caught on to the problem, so Yisela abandoned the idea of using Illusion Magic.

“Hah… this is going to be troublesome. I’m not good at direct combat, you know.”

“Then just leave it to Mister Dongfang.”

Pandana said that, but she had already switched her Swamp Moon to Moon Waning Mode.

Pouring Swamp Energy into it, she drew back the bowstring and fired toward the enemy lines.

Several enemies who feared neither death and threatened Dongfang Jiang’s and the others’ safety were instantly pierced through by Pandana’s attack, pinned firmly to the ground.

Such a swift strike took the lives of several enemies on the spot.

Pandana noticed a few were still alive, so she turned the energy arrows into vines, binding tightly the ones she had hit.

Thanks to everyone’s efforts, Ambrose’s first wave was quickly neutralized.

Most of the enemies who had attacked the Badan Mansion were killed on the spot, and the rest were mostly captured by Pandana.

But even after Yisela tried interrogating them, she couldn’t get anything out of them.

“Hah… judging by the enemy’s trajectory, a second wave will arrive in less than a quarter of an hour.”

Pandana ended her reconnaissance and shared her judgment with the group.

Then Ignatius’s voice came from behind them.

“If we just hole up at a time like this, everyone will die in the end, right?”

Dongfang Jiang and the others turned to look toward Ignatius.

Beside him were two people Dongfang Jiang hadn’t expected to see—

Prime Minister Odrich and Grand General Vard.

“Surprised to see us?”

Dongfang Jiang’s expression amused Vard.

Vard crossed his arms and teased him.

“Honestly, yes.”

Dongfang Jiang nodded.

He really was surprised by this combination.

“So, what do you need us to do?”

“…Sir Dongfang, you don’t have to go this far for the Kingdom of Aiselin.”

The Prime Minister didn’t answer Dongfang Jiang directly.

Instead, he threw out a statement that was unexpected yet reasonable.

“Yeah, you little brats. It’s no problem to leave the Kingdom of Aiselin right now. Head to the Dust Kingdom, or go to the Northern Border—make plans after the Kingdom stabilizes.”

Vard also tried to persuade them.

They had to preserve seeds for the future, and Dongfang Jiang was undoubtedly the best choice.

“That’s a decent proposal…”

Dongfang Jiang listened to Vard and the Prime Minister’s advice, wiped his nose, and grinned at the three of them.

“But I refuse! Since Ambrose has been scheming for so many years, he must have already calculated what roles you two can play. This is when we need to step in.”

“Heh, a young hero, indeed. In that case, let us old folks pave the way for the youngsters. Badan, Vard, what do you think?”

“Agreed.”

“No objections.”

Ignatius and Vard exchanged a glance, twitched the corners of their mouths, then turned around together.

“Ah… we’re all grown-ups here… The urgent priority is to figure out the situation at the Royal Palace, then regain control of the Imperial Guard.”

“Looks like we’ll have to split up.”

Hearing the Prime Minister’s plan, Dongfang Jiang quickly made corresponding arrangements.

“For the Imperial Guard, we’ll need General Vard’s token and men. The candidates are General Qin Ye and Gracia. For the Royal Palace operation, we’ll need a lot of intel, so I’ll go with Pandana and Xi. Yisela will provide support from the rear. It’s not many people, but Yisela can get some hands from the Jones Family in my name.”

“Let’s do it that way.”

Pandana agreed first.

Xi and Yisela had no objections either.

Qin Ye and Gracia looked at each other, silently telling the other not to hold them back.

“Perfect… then let’s do it. Everyone, the Kingdom’s future is in your hands.”

The usually solemn Prime Minister bowed solemnly to Dongfang Jiang and the others.