Chapter 38: Do you also…

Lien looked her up and down, his smile widening with each passing moment.

“You look just like her, so much like her… Esbelle, what is your name?”

“Uh… what?”

Melina first paused, then froze instantly.

‘The other party knows her surname!?’

“Answer my question, little girl, what is your name?”

“Uh… I, my name is Melina, Melina Esbelle,” Melina replied obediently, her heart filling with boundless vigilance.

“Is Aida your mother?” Lien continued to inquire.

“That… yes, may I ask you…”

Before she could finish, Lien’s gaze shifted to the longsword at Melina’s waist.

“That’s Glory, isn’t it?”

Clearly, the “Glory” he spoke of was not a family name, but rather a direct reference to the strongest Glory!

At this, Sephylia and Wynn simultaneously stepped in front of Melina, weapons clutched in their hands.

Melina, too, placed her hand on her sword hilt, ready to fight with all her might at any moment.

Even with Melo currently asleep, she was prepared to fight, relying solely on her frail body.

Only Qi Lin, the outsider, failed to grasp what was happening.

‘What’s going on?’

Lien observed the three young people before him with keen interest, a flicker of appreciation in his eyes.

“Hahahaha, there’s no need to be so nervous. I have no intention of harming any of you. Furthermore, if I truly wanted to do something, you wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

Despite his words, Melina and the other two showed no signs of lowering their guard.

It was crucial to remember that the Glory Knight, a wanted individual, was currently presumed dead, with only their Companion Spirit Weapon, Glory, unaccounted for.

The Alliance was now searching the entire world for Glory’s whereabouts.

And Melo’s identity was the greatest secret of all!

If the Alliance were to discover that the Glory Knight was still alive, the consequences would be dire and irreversible.

Especially, if the Alliance were to learn that the Glory Knight had survived as a Spirit Race member and could still fight independently.

What might happen then was simply too terrifying to contemplate.

Yet, the enigmatic Rozval before them had clearly stumbled upon this secret!

Seeing that the three had not changed their minds, Lien shook his head helplessly.

“The loyalty of friends who care for each other is indeed commendable, but failing to recognize the current situation is utterly foolish.”

He suddenly raised his flintlock pistol and pulled the trigger, aiming at the hammer in Sephylia’s hand.

With a resounding boom, Sephylia was instantly sent flying backward by an immense force.

Wynn directly transformed into a shadow, darting towards Lien like a venomous snake.

But in the next instant, Lien effortlessly snatched the “seven inches” (TL Note: A vital point on a snake’s body, metaphorically referring to a weak spot or crucial part) of this ‘snake,’ grabbing Wynn by the neck and pulling him out of the shadows.

“Damn it!”

Melina’s face darkened; with Melo asleep, she couldn’t even use her spiritual energy.

She could only draw her golden longsword and charge at Lien, relying solely on her physical strength.

Lien shook his head, sighed, and then flung Wynn, whom he was holding, towards her.

Upon seeing this, Melina quickly retracted her sword and caught Wynn.

Sephylia, who had been behind them, had already rushed back.

She leaped high, bringing her massive war hammer crashing down towards Lien’s head.

*Clang!*

A deafening crash echoed!

That powerful, heavy hammer blow was effortlessly parried by an externalized armor.

It was Lien’s Spirit Art Battle Armor, though at this moment, only a portion of it had materialized, much like the Spirit Masters whose resonance rates hadn’t reached 50%.

However, those Spirit Masters would absolutely not have been able to handle Sephylia’s hammer strike with such ease as Lien did.

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

Three consecutive shots struck Melina, Wynn, and Sephylia, knocking them all to the ground, where they writhed in pain.

He had clearly held back his strength; otherwise, what lay on the ground would not have been three people, but a pile of shattered flesh.

“Can you calm down and listen to me now, you three impetuous youngsters?”

Lien said with a beaming smile.

“f*ck! Qi Lin, you just stand there, doing nothing to help!” Sephylia cursed, seeing Qi Lin’s inaction.

Qi Lin looked somewhat innocent.

“No, didn’t he say he wanted to talk properly? Why are you all getting so agitated? Besides… you really can’t beat him, can you?”

“You motherfucker… whose side are you on, anyway?”

Qi Lin shrugged.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with whose side I’m on, just like an old saying from my hometown goes, ‘He who recognizes the times is a wise man’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning a wise person adapts to current circumstances). It means you have to recognize the situation.”

He looked at Lien.

“Wouldn’t you agree, Judge?”

Lien nodded noncommittally.

“You are indeed very perceptive of the situation, but should you really be standing here right now?”

Qi Lin paused, then scratched his head.

“Hehe, well… you see, I’m a lone wolf here, and I’ve allied with them, so…”

“So, you, a person capable of simultaneously contracting four Companion Spirit Weapons, aren’t going to clear out the other teams?”

“Cough, cough, alright, you’re incredible, you call the shots.”

Qi Lin raised his hands in surrender, turned to leave, but then suddenly stopped.

“Um, one last thing,” he said sheepishly, then squatted beside Sephylia.

“Can I add you on WeChat (TL Note: A popular Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media, and mobile payment app)?”

He pulled out a phone.

“Get lost!” Sephylia snapped.

“Oh, come on, let’s be friends, we can keep in touch.”

Qi Lin seemed to be shamelessly persistent.

Seeing Sephylia turn her head away, clearly unwilling to humor him, he shamelessly sidled over to Melina.

“Um, protagonist… ah, no, Miss Melina, how about we add each other as friends? If you ever need anything, just say the word, and I, your humble servant, promise to be there at your beck and call.

Or perhaps I could be your assistant consultant?

If all else fails, you could even assign me a job cleaning toilets! I guarantee I’ll scrub your bathroom until it shines!”

This time, everyone understood.

Just like Cassie and Lien, Qi Lin was also here for Melina.

Lien, too, eyed the peculiar young man with a hint of curiosity.

Melina watched him warily.

“What is your purpose in wanting to approach me?”

Qi Lin chuckled foolishly.

“I’ll be honest with you, I do have my own reasons, but rest assured, I would never do anything to harm you! On the contrary, if you or…”

Qi Lin extended his index finger, pointing downwards.

Melina followed his gaze, realizing Qi Lin was pointing directly at the knight’s sword in her hand.

She then heard Qi Lin continue, “…or if something were to happen to her, or even if she were to die, then I would truly be in deep trouble.”

He looked at Lien.

“Therefore, if this Judge hadn’t truly been without malice, I would certainly have fought him to the death.”

On Qi Lin’s smiling, seemingly humble and unkempt face, a startling surge of killing intent now emerged.

Despite having a resonance rate far lower than his own, Lien still felt a faint sense of danger.

‘What is going on with this boy?’

‘Even Melina hadn’t made him feel this sense of threat; why could this mere youth?’

He had indeed contracted four Companion Spirit Weapons simultaneously, but that didn’t mean he could bridge the chasm of a 50% resonance rate.

Unless he possessed some other hidden trump card.

Lien’s gaze towards Qi Lin also changed.

Just then, a faint, warm ripple of spiritual energy emanated from the knight’s sword in Melina’s hand.

The gazes of several individuals instantly converged on the blade.

The thorny black patterns entwined around the golden knight’s longsword were now being slowly forced back into the guard by a faint golden glow.

Melo had awakened!