“What are you all standing there for? Keep looking. I’ll go ask the train conductor if any passengers left midway,” Patrick said to his servant.
"Yes, sir, where are you?"
The servant walked along the aisle calling out, drawing curious glances from the passengers in each compartment.
Eli and Ernest also split up and went to other carriages to search.
Phil Gray went to the cubicle where George was sitting. There was a long sofa for people to recline on, and a cup of still-warm coffee on a small table in front of him.
No useful clues were left behind.
"how's it going?"
The group gathered at the entrance to the cabin and shook their heads at each other.
"The train manager just said that a few passengers seemed to have gotten off, but he didn't notice what they looked like," Patrick said helplessly.
The other passengers stayed in their own compartments and paid no attention to who passed by or who left.
Phil Gray and the others looked out the window. It was a wasteland, with lots of withered grass, dead trees, and strange rocks. A few people were doing something under a tree.
But it's clearly not George.
“Let’s go down and look. Eli, you and the valet continue searching in the carriage, see if there are any clues we’ve missed,” Phil Gray said, pushing open the door of the carriage and getting off.
When we got to the tree, we saw a couple playing with a little girl, and two men standing not far away smoking coarse tobacco.
"Over there!" Patrick suddenly shouted, pointing to a large rock. Phil Gray turned his gaze and saw a figure slowly walking out from behind the rock. Who else could it be but George?
They rushed over, "Young Master George, what's wrong?"
George saw them and smiled. "Oh, I was feeling a bit stuffy in Dali, so I came down for some fresh air."
Phil Gray and the others were speechless. "You should have told us. We thought you'd been arrested."
"It's alright. I'm just the son of a minor duke. No one would dare to lay a hand on me in the territory of the Church of Life," George said nonchalantly.
Patrick snorted and walked toward the line with dissatisfaction.
Phil Gray walked at the back, looking thoughtfully at the dirt on George's clothes.
Just then, he saw the two men smoking tobacco under the tree suddenly produce two bows and arrows, and the arrows were aimed at George!
"not good!"
The arrow flew towards George, but Ernest's longsword cleaved it in two with incredible speed. A flash of white light appeared in his hand as he shouted, "Guardian of Fate!"
The white semi-circular barrier shielded Phil Gray and George in the middle, and then he and Patrick quickly ran towards the two people under the tree.
The couple under the tree, holding the little girl, squatted on the ground, trembling as they watched what had just happened.
"How could this happen!" George exclaimed in panic, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Just then, two more men ran over, seemingly having just come down from the procession. They had cold expressions and carried heavy swords.
Phil Gray turned to the side and watched them thrust their swords at George. The light of the white barrier grew weaker and weaker, and it was about to be broken through.
His hurled blades of fate spun in the air, but they were all blocked.
"War Cage!"
One of them whispered something, and George was instantly locked in an iron cage.
"No! Don't kill me!" George watched in panic as the iron cage shattered the barrier, and their heavy swords were about to strike him. The cage held him in place, unable to move.
Phil Gray put on the gloves of the Sunblaze Sword, gathered divine power, and a burning greatsword appeared in his hand. He also had an extremely mysterious feeling, as if he had been practicing swordsmanship for decades and was so adept at it.
He blocked their attacks with his sword. The hand holding the Blazing Sun Sword seemed to have its own mind, slashing, hooking, and thrusting in one fluid motion, engaging the two in a fierce battle.
Patrick and Ernest, having dealt with the assassins under the tree, were running this way.
"War spikes!"
One of them suddenly stopped, his expression changed, and he threw his longsword away, pointing at George, who was trapped in the cage, with a resolute look in his eyes.
Phil Gray was being attacked by the two men and was struggling to cope. When he saw the man use a skill, he realized something was wrong. The Blazing Sun Sword burst into flames and swiftly struck him. Blood flowed out, and he fell to the ground.
But then a scream came from behind. Turning around, he saw a fist-thick, sharp thorn piercing through George's chest.
It still couldn't be prevented.
Ernest, who arrived at that moment, quickly subdued the remaining person.
"My God, how could this be?" Patrick stared in astonishment at George, who lay dead in the iron cage.
The iron cage and spikes, made of divine power, are now gradually dissipating, and George, with wide eyes, falls to the ground because he has no support.
Wait, why isn't the expert guarding George here?
Phil Gray always thought he was hiding in the shadows protecting him, but now that his master is in mortal danger, why hasn't he shown up?
Ernest checked his breathing. "Dead."
"Hmm, did our escort mission fail?" Patrick scratched his head and asked blankly.
Phil Gray's gaze shifted to the last person he had subdued. This man's eyes were cold, like a robot's. Ernest had sealed his divine power with his own, preventing him from using his skills.
“Who sent you?” Phil Gray asked.
He didn't answer, seemingly determined not to speak.
“Judging from the skills they just used, they are favored by the god of war and destruction,” Ernest said.
“Wait, look at their swords.” Patrick picked up the longsword of the dead man, which was engraved with small characters: “Third Knights of Puna”.
“This is a knightly order that obeys the royal family of the Kingdom of Puna,” Ernest added.
“Isn’t the princess his mother? Why would anyone in the royal family want to kill him?” Patrick asked, puzzled.
Just as they were wondering what was going on, they saw the captured man kick up the sword at his feet, put it in his hand, and slash at them again.
Ernest reacted swiftly, slitting his neck in an instant.
“These four are all at the Blessing level. The chosen ones of the God of War and Destruction are arguably the most offensive and combat-oriented of all the chosen ones. So it’s understandable that George was killed while under our protection…” Patrick said awkwardly.
"What happened?"
The two leaders of the large group came down and looked at the messy scene in surprise.
"Is this how you ensure passenger safety? People are dead before you arrive?" Patrick complained.
"This..." The two people in charge exchanged a glance, unsure of how to answer.
The couple with their child boarded the train with lingering fear.
"Alright, let's go." Phil Gray looked unwell as he walked towards the column.
The two people in charge went to collect the corpses. "Sigh, why is this trip so unlucky? First, the blue crystals were inexplicably depleted, and now some passengers have been killed."
"Should we preserve this scene and notify the Church of Life?"
"Okay, I'll go and inform them right away."
Ernest glanced at Patrick, who ran up to him. "Cousin, are you alright?"
“No.” Phil Gray shook his head.
Once on the train and back in his cubicle, Eli was talking to the servant. Seeing them, he asked, "George has been killed outside?"
They had just witnessed that scene through the window, but the battle was too fast; there wasn't enough time to leave the battlefield, and all that remained was George's body.
"Yes."
"What a misfortune!" Eli exclaimed loudly.
But he didn't show any frustration. He closed the cubicle door and wrote on the table in a low voice, "Don't worry, we've found a clue."
"What?" Phil Gray asked, casting a questioning glance.
Eli took out a small piece of paper and handed it to them.
The sign read, "Everything is going according to plan. Assemble at the Dark Night Cult in Lunsi Port."
The servant nodded and whispered, "It's his handwriting."
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