Chapter 1015: The Seventh Princess Taken Hostage

The spear tore through the air with terrifying speed, its sharp whistle cutting through the wind. A strange glow clung to its blade, carrying an unsettling aura that seemed to exist somewhere between life and death.

"Someone’s looking for a fight?" Ethan muttered, twisting his body aside.

The spear shot past his face by inches. Before he could even turn, a figure followed the weapon, catching the end of the shaft in midair and using its momentum to swing the spear straight toward his side.

"Hey, lady, I’m just passing through!" Ethan stepped aside again, avoiding the attack without even drawing his weapon. Only then did he get a proper look at his attacker.

She was a woman dressed entirely in red, wearing a light cuirass that offered more freedom of movement than protection and a short leather skirt beneath it. Her expression was cold and focused, her eyes fixed firmly on Ethan as though she had already decided he was her enemy.

The missed attack clearly irritated her. Her eyes narrowed, and she tightened both hands around the spear before launching another series of attacks.

Ethan sighed inwardly.

He had only just arrived in Twilight Pass and already someone was trying to kill him. He had no idea what this woman wanted, but he had no interest in wasting time fighting her.

So he simply moved: left, right, back, forward.

Every thrust of her spear missed by the smallest margin, yet Ethan never counterattacked. He was deliberately holding back, hoping she would realize that continuing was pointless.

She didn’t.

After going through her entire combination without landing a single hit, the woman finally pulled the spear back and attacked again.

Ethan’s patience was beginning to wear thin. "Lady, I’ve been avoiding you this whole time because I don’t want trouble. Don’t make me fight back."

She gave him no answer. Instead, the spear shot straight toward his throat.

Ethan’s expression hardened. ’Fine.’ He flicked his wrist.

Smack! His palm struck the shaft of the spear and knocked it violently off course.

The woman had committed too much strength to the thrust, expecting Ethan to dodge once again. When he suddenly deflected the weapon instead, her balance broke, and the force of her own attack sent her stumbling forward.

Straight into him. Ethan could have easily stepped aside. For some reason, he didn’t. His arm instinctively went around her waist to keep her from falling.

"Not bad," he muttered, mostly out of surprise at how easily he had caught her. "You’re lighter than I expected."

His hand ended up against her lower back, and when she twisted in his grip, his fingers accidentally caught against the edge of her waistband.

"Ah!" The woman in red stiffened. A faint flush spread across her cheeks as she realized how the situation looked. Ethan realized it too.

Before either of them could move, a furious roar came from both groups of soldiers surrounding them. "Cad! Release the Seventh Princess!" the soldiers shouted almost simultaneously. Weapons came out.

Dozens of men charged toward Ethan with expressions of pure outrage, as though they had just witnessed him commit some unforgivable crime against their goddess.

Ethan glanced at them, then down at the woman in his arms. "Whoa. Princess, you’re pretty popular."

The Seventh Princess finally seemed to recover from her shock. "Y-you... let go..." She struggled weakly in his grasp.

Unfortunately, her attempt to free herself only made the awkward position worse, causing Ethan’s hand to shift slightly. "Wait, stop moving!" Ethan immediately pulled his hand away from her waist.

But it was too late. From the soldiers’ perspective, the scene looked considerably worse than it actually was.

Their faces turned red with fury. "You lecher!" "Release the Seventh Princess!" "Kill him!" The soldiers surged forward.

Ethan’s expression darkened. He had tried being reasonable.

He had avoided every attack this woman threw at him, warned her that he didn’t want to fight, and even caught her when she lost her balance. Somehow, he had still ended up surrounded by an army of men who looked ready to tear him apart.

"Enough!" His voice cut through the shouting.

Ethan raised one hand from the woman’s waist and placed it against the side of her throat. The Seventh Princess froze.

"Urk..." Her eyes widened.

The playful awkwardness from moments ago vanished completely. Ethan’s expression was now cold.

"Take another step and she dies." The soldiers stopped.

The Seventh Princess could feel the strength in his hand. He wasn’t pretending. If he wanted to, he could crush her throat before any of them reached him.

Her face lost some of its color. This man really was willing to kill her.

Ethan was furious, but not because he wanted to hurt her. He simply couldn’t understand how a situation that had nothing to do with him had become such a ridiculous mess.

He had barely entered Twilight Pass when some brat had apparently framed him, this woman had attacked him without explanation, and now two groups of soldiers were trying to kill him over a misunderstanding.

He had no intention of slaughtering them.

To Ethan, these soldiers were ordinary people. If he truly wanted them dead, he could wipe them out in moments. But they hadn’t actually done anything to him, and there was no reason to create a pile of corpses over a misunderstanding.

The little brat who had started this mess had already run away. Using the princess as a hostage was the simplest way to make everyone back off.

"All right!" A man who appeared to be the leader immediately raised his hand. "Nobody move! Just release the Seventh Princess!" The soldiers reluctantly stopped.

They were struggling to reconcile what they had just witnessed. One moment, this mysterious man had apparently been holding their princess in a compromising position. The next, he was threatening to kill her without the slightest hesitation.

Whatever his intentions had been before, there was nothing gentle about his grip now. Ethan looked at the soldiers calmly. "Get out of my way. Once I’m somewhere safe, I’ll let her go. Anyone who follows me gets her killed."

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. Their leader clenched his teeth.

If they pursued him, the princess might die. If they didn’t, they would have to return empty-handed and face punishment.

Worse, if the Seventh Princess actually died while under their protection, their punishment would be far more severe than simply losing a prisoner. Their families and clans could all be dragged into it.

Yet there was no guarantee this mysterious man would honor his word. For the moment, all they could do was hope.

Ethan had no interest in hearing their internal debate.

The moment he saw that they had stopped advancing, he shifted his grip and tucked the woman in red securely beneath his arm.

"Don’t make this harder than it needs to be." He glanced in the direction the little brat had fled. That was where he was going. With a single step, Ethan disappeared.

The soldiers stared at the empty space where he had been standing. Silence fell.

One of them finally swallowed. "Holy shit..."

Another stared into the distance. "If he can move that fast, why the hell did he even bother taking a hostage?"

Nobody had an answer.

The two groups that had been fighting alongside each other only moments ago now stood together in awkward silence, exchanging helpless looks.

Their leader gritted his teeth. "What are we standing around for? We chase him."

"But..." "Make it look like we’re trying."

The leader drew his blade and started running. "It’s better than going back empty-handed and watching our families die."

The others’ expressions changed. He was right.

The skull they had been fighting over was gone, and the Seventh Princess was now in enemy hands. Returning without either would bring disaster down upon them. Depending on how the situation was judged, their households might not survive the consequences.

They had no choice. They chased after Ethan.

But deep down, every one of them knew how futile it was. Where had that man even come from? Had he really fallen from the sky?

His strength had been impossible to sense, yet he had treated their Seventh Princess like an inexperienced child. His speed was even more frightening. No ordinary mortal could move like that.

Still, they had to try. Meanwhile, Ethan continued forward with the Seventh Princess tucked beneath his arm.

He wasn’t concerned about the soldiers behind him. His real target was the little bastard who had deliberately set him up.

There was no way he was going to let that slide.

He was a Divine-tier expert, yet some random street rat had managed to drag him into this ridiculous mess and make him the target of an entire group of soldiers.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he accelerated. "Let’s see where you ran off to."

That brat had better have a very good explanation.