Chapter 531: Stop Gawking

Despite being in the Tenth Step Core Formation Realm, and only having access to about half of his full strength, Prince Landon Darr was able to quickly gain the advantage over the Second Step Sea Establishment assassin he was fighting.

As the son of the Crown Princess, and one of the most talented youths in the entire Darr Kingdom, Landon had received the very best training possible from the best teachers and instructors in the nation, including famous Generals and war heroes who had hundreds of years of real-life combat experience.

On top of all that, Landon was a genius when it came to unarmed combat and reading the flow of his opponent, so it was natural for him to be far superior to ordinary Practitioners.

That said, his enemy this time was unlike any he had ever faced before.

Unlike Christina, this wasn’t actually Landon’s first experience on a real battlefield where his life was really at risk, but up until now, he had only faced off against low-level bandits and thugs in a kind of law-enforcement capacity.

Most of these lowlifes liked to strut around and appear tough in order to force common folks into obeying them, but almost always they were just poorly trained, poorly equipped, cowards who only knew how to bully those weaker than themselves.

Landon had been warned by everyone around him, his mother and grandfather included, that while bandits could be fierce and even dangerous when pushed into a desperate situation, they were still incomparable to true battle-hardened soldiers, a reality the young prince was experiencing first hand right now.

The assassin he was fighting didn’t shout, scream, or curse like those bandits had. She didn’t make threats, she didn’t beg for mercy, she didn’t make a single sound even when his blade cut into her flesh, all she did was fight with a determination to kill or be killed, seemingly holding no regard for whether she lived or died.

It was, honestly, a bit unnerving for Landon who, while hearing stories about people willing to sacrifice themselves for their cause, had never actually met such a person before. The idea that someone would be willing to die just to take his life, or even just to seriously injure him so her comrades could finish him off, put serious mental strain on the young prince.

Still, nothing focused the mind quite like the threat of dying, so Landon quickly shut out all of these distracting thoughts and put everything he had into ending this assassin’s life.

After exchanging a couple dozen blows, Landon managed to stagger his opponent which created an opening he took full advantage of.

Swinging his shortsword rapidly, the Darr Kingdom prince cut off the assassin’s dominant arm then followed up by driving the dagger he was hold in his off-hand into her chest.

"Get back from her!" Landon suddenly heard Christina shout and was initially a bit confused, but quickly recalling what had happened to the assassin out on the deck after he had died, he realized what she was trying to say.

Leaping back, the prince was just in time to avoid getting caught in the death explosion of the assassin.

Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Landon turned to his companion to thank and assist her, but was instantly dumbstruck by the scene in front of him.

The prince had already acknowledged that the Rockwell Kingdom’s Genius Princess was stronger than him, a fact which had become quite obvious when she had easily dispatched the Fourth Step Sea Establishment Realm assassin who had attacked them on the balcony just now, but it seemed he had still greatly underestimated Christina.

Against 4 assassins, 2 in the Second Step, 1 in the Third Step, and 1 in the Fifth Step Sea Establishment Realm, Christina wasn’t just winning, she was overwhelming them.

Somehow, using that slim frame of hers, she was able to swing her greatsword around faster than any of the black-cloaked assassins was able to thrust their daggers, and the power behind each of her attacks was so immense that the enemy was constantly forced to dodge rather than block or parry.

It wasn’t just that Christina was strong and fast however, she also had incredible combat sense, seemingly able to keep track of all 4 of her opponents at once and accurately anticipate their next moves, blocking, dodging, and counterattacking each time one of them got too close or tried to target her from her blind spots.

The way this girl, who Landon knew had only just turned 16, fought, much more resembled his Initiate-Realm instructors than the Mortal Realm Practitioners he was used to sparring with.

Of course, Christina wasn’t really a Spirit Initiate, that much Landon was certain of. If she were a Low-Rank Initiate, she would have already killed all the assassins attacking them by now.

Still, there was only one logical conclusion to draw from Christina’s current performance, She’s a Sea Establishment Practitioner, and not just a First or Second Step one either.

From the way she moved, and the power she was exerting, Landon guessed that rather than the Seventh Step Core Formation Realm that Christina’s aura suggested she was, she was actually a Seventh or Eighth Step Sea Establishment Practitioner.

A 16-year-old Eighth Step Sea Establishment Practitioner, Landon thought to himself and unconsciously shuddered, understanding now why the first time he laid eyes on Christina, his instincts had practically screamed at him to not fight her.

He also understood why Lucas had done everything in his power to stop him from probing her back during her birthday banquet. This kind of information wasn’t just shocking, it was dangerous, especially for Christina. Should her true strength and cultivation ever come to light, there was a very good chance she would soon be dead.

Now, Landon’s estimates of her Realm were a bit off, but that was only because his limited life experiences. If he had ever encountered true young geniuses from the Large-Sized Kingdoms or the Empire, he probably would’ve guessed Christina was in the Fifth or Sixth Step Sea Establishment; still not right, but much closer.

"Stop gawking and help me!" Christina’s shout shook Landon out of his daze.

Setting aside the fact that the enemy kingdom’s princess, who he had just proposed to and been rejected by, was a monster beyond any he had ever imagined possible, Prince Landon dashed forward and engaged one of the Second Step assassins.

This relieved a bit of the pressure on Christina, allowing her to go for the kill.