Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The ground trembled as drops of blood appeared in the air next to Knight of the Bloody Rose that stained it red.

"Brother! Calm down!" Cecilia exclaimed as she approached him.

"Away!" The Knight of the Bloody Rose shouted in a thunderous voice since he tossed her aside.

The Knight of the Bloody Rose could not control his emotions and strength, so he hit Cecilia quite hard as she even vomited blood, but he didn't care about that, his mind was consumed with only one emotion - wrath.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Hundreds of spiky vines burst out of the ground that pierced the blind through and quickly shattered it completely into many pieces.

"Fuck! Somebody stop him!" Karin exclaimed, but no one moved.

Lucian and Meria only took a few steps back; only once in their lives had they seen their leader so angry, and it was worse than even the worst nightmare.

"Shit! I was hoping it would never happen again!" Lucian uttered since he created a protective blood barrier in front of him, just as Meria did.

,m The only one who remained calm was Marcus. He was still sitting at the table with a careless look, as though he knew it would happen that way.

Whooooooosh.

Many shadows appeared next to the ruined crypt, all of them elite members of the Dark Lizards that could easily handle any of the Royal Blades but one.

"Kill him!" One of the shadows said as he attacked, but the next moment they all stopped.historical

"Don't." Marcus raised his hand with a faint smile on his face, "Let him unleash his fury, or it might get out of hand at the most inopportune moment."

"But...boss...those vines could destroy the whole city!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Are you sure? I think the worst is over." Marcus looked at the vines that, though slowly, were gradually calming down.

"The outburst of rage is pretty hard to control, especially one this strong, however, you realize that expending this resource on us isn't what you want, right?" Marcus asked as he stared at the Knight of the Bloody Rose.

"Yeah... You are absolutely right." The Knight of the Bloody Rose shook his head since his aura had calmed.

He took a deep breath as all the vines disappeared, then he walked over to Cecilia, held out his hand, and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you... but... I couldn't help myself and honestly didn't mean to..."

"It's okay." Cecilia grabbed his arm before getting to her feet.

"Shit... My lab is definitely over..." Karin muttered with a blank look.

"Don't worry, it's just an ancient crypt, we can easily rebuild everything. I'll help you, right now." Marcus said as a sphere of ink appeared in his hand.

He threw it into the air, the sphere shattered, and the ink turned into a massive creature that looked like an octopus. The monster grabbed the debris with its tentacles as it set them down.

"Well, it may be a little unstable, but the overall design remains the same. It just needs a little tweaking, and no one will even notice that this crypt was recently completely destroyed." Marcus muttered as he looked up while holding himself by the chin.

"Huh, a builder out of you is just like a leader..." Karin muttered.

"Just as spotless?" Marcus smiled.

"Yeah... Hope so." Karin said as she took off her glasses, "Okay, I'm going to rest. I think you can figure things out from here without me."

"Sure. Bye, bye." Marcus said while waving his hand.

"What's the plan?" Knight of the Bloody Rose asked.

"Hey, I understand that you're already itching to get revenge on the king, but you shouldn't be in such a hurry. I think we all need some rest." Marcus stood up before heading for the exit, "Come on, this is definitely not the right place for long conversations, and someone made the atmosphere too tense."

...

An hour later, they were all sitting at the same table in the most luxurious restaurant in town. Marcus was an excellent leader and liked to use his power, so a whole floor was set aside for them, the top one that had a beautiful view of the mountains and forests.

"Damn... Why do I get the impression that outlaws live better than members of the Royal Blades?" Lucian muttered while looking at the dishes on the table.

Marcus seriously loaded the kitchen and the cooks as he ordered almost the entire menu. There was everything on the table, whether it was rare-beast meat dishes, salads of unusual vegetables, or the most delicious desserts on the continent.

"Why aren't you eating? Don't you find it appetizing?" Marcus asked while popping a scoop of dessert into his mouth that was sprinkled with gold dust.

"Boss, I'm sorry, but he's right. I can't resist tasting it!" Meria said as she plunged her fork into the greasy piece of meat on the massive plate.

"Food..." Knight of the Bloody Rose muttered with a bored look, "I have no appetite at all."

"Hmm? That's impossible. The reason is different." Marcus said while holding a hand with a piece of meat in it with a thoughtful look, "Maybe you want something else? How about some wine?"

"Well, that sounds much better but only red." Knight of the Bloody Rose waved his hand.

"Of course." Marcus nodded as he gave the waiters an order, and after some time, they brought the best wine he had.

Marcus acted quite sociable, as if he were among close friends, however, the others could not act so openly. It all seemed strange to them.

"I understand that you're not quite sure about everything yet, but we don't have time for that. Right here and now, we have to think through a plan of attack on the king, don't you agree?" Marcus asked before bringing his glass to his mouth.

"You want to help me get revenge, but it's not that simple, right?" The Knight of the Bloody Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah... I want to get something." Marcus smiled.