There was indeed Skylark in this team coming from the direction of the Platinum District. She was accompanied by two young nobles and a group of well-equipped adventurers.

"We heard that the slums were attacked by dragon lizards, so we immediately led a team to come." The noble who led the team said, "Where did the monster go?"

Osprey pointed to the canal next to it.

"Just the two of you?" the noble said in disbelief, "one witch hunter, plus one..."

Costa put down the hood of his cloak and looked coldly at the young noble who spoke. "Nice to meet you, Lord Sedu."

"It's actually you!" Lord Sedu showed a surprised expression, which then turned into a smile, "Ha, that makes sense."

"Who is this guy?" asked another noble.

"Costa de Mercer, the number one swordsman in the Bonfire District." Lord Seydoux explained, "Don't you always want to compete with Gram, Russo? This man is the only opponent Gram takes seriously.

.”

Russo narrowed his eyes and looked at Costa, "There is no doubt that this guy is a dangerous person. I will not fight him."

"Wise decision, your lordship." Skylark said and walked out of the crowd.

Osprey always thought that the training at Black Tower Academy made him lose most of his emotions, but he was wrong. He was still ecstatic to reunite with Skylark. But he was not a good expressive person, so he just held on tightly without saying a word.

Hugging the witch hunter, completely ignoring the looks around her.

"Be careful, Osprey." Skylark said in a teasing tone, "If you continue to hug me, I will misunderstand you."

Osprey let go of his arms and turned his back to everyone. When he turned around again, there was only a cheerful smile on his face. "I knew you were still alive," he said.

Feng Ling landed on Yunque's shoulder and stuck out her tongue at him, "Liar."

"If only I could say the same thing." Skylark looked at him, "You look different, Osprey. The last time we met, you were still a young witch hunter who had just graduated from the academy. Now you are finally a little bit different.

What a man."

"If you mean these beards," Osprey stroked his chin, "I just didn't have time to deal with them."

"Of course that's not what I'm referring to. You suffered a lot and suffered almost fatal injuries. These experiences can teach young people valuable lessons and let them understand that no matter how powerful they are, they are still just a mortal." Skylark said.

, "You look much more mature, Osprey."

"Don't get carried away, kid." Fengling added.

Osprey looked at the magical creature that turned into a girl, "Where did you find this guy?"

“Zoo at Bonfire Zone.”

"So she is an escaped prisoner?" Osprey was not sure whether it was appropriate to call a wind spirit "she". After all, there was no evidence that spirit creatures had a gender similar to humans. But he instinctively felt that the wind spirit definitely did not want it.

called "it".

"You are the escaped prisoner!" Fengling said unconvinced.

"I let her out," Skylark said, "Although the process was somewhat illegal - you shouldn't report me, right?"

"Of course not! If it were me, I would do the same thing." Osprey said with a smile, "This is the first time I have seen a wind spirit that can speak Seren language. I have never even heard of it before.

"

Fengling made an unsightly face at him.

"She also claims to be your partner." Osprey said.

"Incompetent partner," Skylark showed an expression similar to a smile, "She was not there when I was in danger."

"It's not because Yunque has been doing terrible things!" Fengling said sharply, "I hate Shen Wen the most!"

"It's an interrogation."

"It's just annoying anyway!"

"Hatefulness is no excuse for refusing cooperation."

————

Quite different from the friendly atmosphere when the two witch hunters reunited, the conversations between Costa and Pavel were always tense.

Facing the two young nobles and the ten adventurer guards behind them, Costa made no secret of his hostility towards Lord Sedu.

"I'm glad to see you're safe and sound," Pavel said, trying to break the icy silence. "Did your operation that night succeed? Is Miss Marron okay?"

"She is very good, but I don't think she needs your care." Costa said coldly, "You and I both know very well that the massacre in the Sphinx Restaurant was not an accident at all."

The smile on Pavel's face disappeared.

But he didn't deny it.

"How dare you do this to her?" The veteran soldier's tone did not change at all, but the anger in it couldn't be more obvious. "First you took advantage of her, and then you allowed the enemy to capture her!"

"Watch your tone, commoner." Lord Russo Greco reminded him in a threatening tone, "You are talking to a noble. His father is the agent personally appointed by Duke Oren of Fire Seal City."

Costa turned his cold eyes to Lord Greco, "Do you want to defend him?"

"Stop talking, Russo." Pavel stopped his friend, "Although these words are harsh, they are indeed true. Mr. Messer is right, I am indeed ashamed of Shireen Marlen

Miss, shirking responsibility will only deepen my sins."

"It's great that you can realize this." Costa said reluctantly, "If I were you, I would never approach her again from now on, so as not to continue to deepen my sins."

"Well, I'm sorry to have to obey you." Pavel met the other person's gaze without flinching. "I must make up for the mistakes I made and cannot evade responsibility."

Russo raised his eyebrows, "What on earth did you do to that girl... Wait, are you going to have an illegitimate child?"

These words had an impact beyond his expectation, but fortunately Pavel stepped between the two before Costa could draw his sword.

"Don't take it seriously, Moses. He doesn't have his wits about him."

"Then he'd better think clearly before speaking." Costa said coldly. His right hand was already on the hilt of the sword and could be pulled out at any time.

"You just insulted a young lady's reputation, Russo." Pavel told his friend, "You should be ashamed and apologize to her."

"Okay, I just made a mistake. But why did this guy draw his sword against the nobles?" Russo Greco said without any sign of weakness, "How could you allow him to do this to you, Pavel?"

The adventurer guards behind them unsheathed their swords. Although no one wanted to be an enemy of Costa in a one-on-one battle, after all, their captain was threatened, and the adventurers had a numerical advantage.

————

It was Skylark who stopped the conflict from escalating further. The witch hunter's stern voice cracked the air like a whip.

"Gentlemen! You should all be ashamed of this!" she shouted. "The enemy is ravaging our city, but you boys who call yourself heroes draw swords against your own people? I order you to put away your weapons immediately! Who dares?

If you refuse, I will deal with him personally!"

Russo and their adventurer guards quickly put away their weapons. Costa hesitated for a moment and removed his hand from the hilt of his sword.

"Calm down, everyone. We all have a common enemy, and only by uniting as one can we win," Osprey said.

"I will not cooperate with this kind of person." Costa looked at Lord Seydoux with disgust.

"Do you hate him personally, or do you simply hate all nobles?" Skylark asked calmly.

"Both," the retired soldier replied.

The witch hunter walked up to him. Although there was a foot difference in height, Skylark did not fall behind in terms of momentum.

"Hate is not an excuse to refuse cooperation." She said calmly, "You are a proud warrior, but pride is often accompanied by blind confidence and insistence on going your own way. Ask yourself, Costa. Do you really want us to lose this war?

Because of your pride and willfulness?"

Costa had a sullen face and did not answer.

"I have fought against him," Skylark said, rolling up his sleeves, revealing a recently added scar, "I know how powerful he is. Thomas Ende is a monster twisted by hatred, and we cannot kill him with a sword.

His enemy - not even you. But if we unite as one and combine all the forces we can, we have a chance to stop him."

If these words left a crack in his stubborn hostility, Costa did not show it. He controlled his expression so well that not even Skylark could see through it.

"You are wrong about one thing, madam." Costa said, "We are not the protagonists of this war, neither you nor I. I have never thought about defeating the Thorns alone, because I know that only one person can do it.

No. But if I were asked to choose my allies, I would only choose those who are trustworthy."

"Lord Seydoux is also a victim." Skylark said, "He inadvertently contributed to the massacre. I believe there is someone else behind the scenes."

Pavel looked surprised when he heard this. He obviously thought that Skylark knew nothing about the incident at the Sphinx Restaurant.

"You can't prove his innocence," Costa said coldly.

"It's just that there is some evidence missing." Skylark shrugged, "But the facts are the facts. I am very confident in my ability to recognize people."

Costa fell into silence again, but the atmosphere seemed to have eased. Everyone seemed to be relieved, because no one wanted this reunion to turn into a bloody fight.

"We captured the mercenary team controlling the dragon lizard and locked it up in that room." Osprey pointed to an abandoned empty house nearby, "Is it okay to leave it to you?"

"Of course, no problem. We are here specifically to capture these criminals." Lord Sedu waved to his men, and the adventurer team immediately rushed into the house and quickly took the prisoners out.

"I still have a lot to say to you," Osprey turned to the witch hunter beside him, "but I still have responsibilities and missions." He said, taking out a letter from the inner pocket of his shirt and handing it to Skylark.

in hands.

"What's this?"

"A personal letter from Ms. Alessa Ewings, the current ruler and protector of the Academy District. The Thorns single-handedly caused her father's death, so she has an extremely firm determination to take revenge."

Skylark looked at the letter, "She wants to form an alliance with the Kraang Gang?"
To be continued...