<h4>Chapter 1410 Smoke Screen</h4>


    The bushes rustled and a group of three walked out.


    A young woman in blue top and white trousers, a casual outfit that one wouldn''t expect in the royal pceplex.


    She seemed to be in herte twenties, with short red hair, soft purple skin and four sharp, thin elf-like ears.


    "There are no rats here. We noticed that you noticed. We''re just waiting to settle things when you''re finally ready." A hunched olddy with thin gray hair snorted.


    Even though she looked so weak that she might be blown away by a gust of wind, the powerful aura of a rank 9 oozing out of her said otherwise.


    "Archduchess Seraphina, I''m not a guy who goes around picking fights. But do you think you can bully me with your seniority?" Varian crossed his arms and sneered. "My Sister-inw is not the kindest woman I know. But she is very protective. If you stille at me, I am not responsible for what''s going to happen."


    The olddy gnashed her teeth at the threatening remark but didn''t attack. "You killed Merov and you expect no retaliation? I am not a spineless coward like those two."


    "If you were going to attack, you wouldn''t be giving me these boring speeches. So, how about you call it a day and fuck off?"


    "Hah! You filthy bastard! Watch your mouth or I''ll rip it off!" The purple-skinned, red-haired young man stepped forward and brandished a spear.


    "Grandma, I''ll make him beg for mercy."


    At that moment, a sickly thin grey-skinned pale woman in ck clothes raised her hand. "Princess Xe, do not kill him."


    "You aren''t qualified to order me."


    With a contemptuousugh, Xe kicked the ground with the tip of her foot and shed forward.


    ''A Paragon Body, huh.''


    She reached Varian in a millionth of the second and four glowing earrings appeared on her ears.


    ''Natal Treasure? What do they do—''


    The earrings rang like they were bells.


    With the first ring, Varian''s vision was blinded. The second took away his sense of smell. The third stole his sense of touch. And the final ring curtailed his hearing.


    Except for the sense of taste, which was practically useless in the situation, he was rendered blind. Deprived of all senses, he''s the perfect punching bag, left at his opponent''s mercy.


    Pushed into the dangerous situation, the young man brandished his own ''natal treasure'' to push back.


    Requiem entered this ''deprivation domain'' and roared with its life and death powers.


    Like removing water in an area in the middle of an ocean, a small area around him was now mapped in his mind''s eye, giving him some visibility.


    With the sound of a bubble popping, a line cut through the domain, and the tip of a spear raced for Varian''s chest.


    The man swung his sword, not at the spear but at its wielder. And not at her chest but right at her throat.


    Red mes zed on the sword''s red de and the power of death soared, reaching Xe''s skin.


    Varian would be severely injured by the attack. But if that much death power went straight to her head, impacting her brain and subsequently her soul, even if she wouldn''t die, she''d suffer far more damage.


    "Enough!"


    An irresistible force separated the two at thest moment.


    Varian regained his deprived senses and noticed Xe panting heavily, looking at him with a murderous gaze.


    He red at Archduchess Seraphina, dissatisfied with her for stopping the battle before turning back to her granddaughter. "If the old bitch saved the young bitch but the young bitch can''t save the dying old bitch. Wait a minute…that''s pretty poetic, isn''t it?"


    Duchess Seraphina''s chest heaved up and down. She knew she didn''t have much time left. But to be called out like this, she felt a fire in her heart and wanted to burn him alive.


    "Let''s not make this any worse than it already is. Xe is still young and angry over her fiancee''s death. Please understand." The sickly thindy, Nexa, bowed to the young man in a polite but distant tone before leaving with the two.


    Varian ignored the impulsive Xe and the prideful Seraphina. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Nexa.


    "Something…is off."


    His intuition was right.


    Once they reached their manor, Princess Xe both bowed to Nexa. "I apologize for my words."


    "No worries," Nexa shook her head. "When you act to deceive others, you must act so well that it convinces even yourself."


    "Lady Nexa, did you confirm?" The Archduchess asked in a polite but urgent voice.


    "90%. He''s in the sword. Master…is in the sword." Nexa''s voice grew murderous.


    She wanted nothing more than to kill Varian then and there to free her master''s soul. But if she did that, her master''s grand n would fall short. She couldn''t allow that to happen!


    "But how could that bastard even seal him? I reduced my power to rank 7 and he barely won. He''s not that capable." Princess Xe spoke as she released her rank 8 aura.


    "It''s not him, of course. It''s her." Nexa said. "No wonder my intuition was telling me something was off. But the bastards in Merov''s faction wanted to go ahead and investigate. Sureway to die a miserable death. Idiots."


    "I apologize for the inconvenience, Lady Nexa. None of them know your identity. If they do, they''ll treat you with too much respect and it''ll draw unwanted attention." Archduchess Serenthia sighed.


    "It''s fine. I don''t care what happens to me, as long as my master gets what he wants." A bright smile appeared on the woman''s face.


    The Archduchess and her granddaughter looked at each other, both feeling a hint of difort at the outsider''s obsessiveness.


    "If he''s only that strong, I can defeat him." Xe''s face was filled with confidence.


    "You better. He''s using treasures to hide his age. So, I''m not sure if it''s his full strength. Even if he held back a bit, his real strength wouldn''t be a third more than what he''d shown now." Nexa said.


    "Definitely." Xe bowed again.


    This whole affair—tailing the group, getting found, using that man''s arrogant character to make provocativements against them, and using that as an excuse to let Xe fight him to figure out his strength—was carefully nned and executed.


    It''s to hide their real intentions. And as far as they could tell, they did well.