The night is as cool as water.

Running in the dark forest covered with mist, all I could hear was the crisp cracking sound of stepping on dead branches. Although it was almost spring, the chill of the harsh winter had not yet faded from the deep forest. Countless towering giant trees were hidden in the darkness, and their eyes were full of mist, as if gods hidden from the human world were silently looking down on the wilderness chase under their feet.

- Arthur is really starting to get angry now.

From his time as Camelot's prince until his coronation on the throne, there have been many personal assassinations against him over the years, and he himself is almost accustomed to it. Brush shoulders with death, hunt down, interrogate, ask for the instruct...... This series of procedures is as familiar as it is engraved in the bones. Therefore, if Arthur had any feelings about this May Day assassination, it was only a sense of powerlessness and distraction that 'although I was the one who was almost killed, I would not be surprised by such a thing'.

However, when the fleeing Assassin leader crossed the castle's labyrinthine corridors and took Gwen hostage, who had just come out of the kitchen, nothing was the same.

Follow the trail of your opponent deep into the jungle. Because of the rain for a long time, and the visibility in the suburbs at night was very low, the knights around the king had already scattered to search, and Arthur was followed only by Gauvin, Lancelot, and West, who was not worried about chasing him. Stopping on a gentle slope where the footprints had disappeared, there was no hint of Gwen's current location as far as the eye could see, and none of the four of them looked good, especially Arthur and Lancelot.

-- It's easy to understand that people always have to suffer more about what they care about. If Merlin or Gaius had been lost right under their noses, his expression might have been even more terrifying than theirs.

Thinking so, knowing that there was no time to waste here, West reached out and fiddled with the right earring. Although they can't use any abilities in front of Arthur and them, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to quietly use their special time regression traits to determine the hostages' location.

After all, no matter how much he hides himself, he's still essentially an ability-dependent mutant.

Letting go of his consciousness and gradually spreading with the wind, West carefully felt every trace of information coming back from the air current. As he once did in that London apartment, he went back in time to all the black and white fragments of time in the brainstorming until he found the truth he wanted.

"This way."

That's it, but only for a while. When Arthur and the others looked at the forest in front of them, they found that the young man behind them who was still wearing the manservant's vest had already stepped out of his legs and stepped on the path in front of him.

"Williams?"

Doubts followed. It didn't take long for the assassin and Gwen to be found again, and the look on Gao Wen's face at this time was very subtle:

"How can you be sure to go here?"

"Intuition."

Turning around, the boy winked slyly at the knight and curled the corners of his mouth.

……

So, when they finally saw the corner of the maid's clothes held hostage among the trees, instinctively, they all sensed a very unharmonious strangeness.

The most obvious example of this was when the Assassin saw that instead of fleeing, the old god was standing under a tree, holding the end of the rope that bound Gwen's hands. A group smiled at the pursuers with ease.

- "There is a deception! ”

Arthur and Lancelot, who had more or less the same thinking circuit, reacted almost immediately.

- "There is an ambush here. ”

And what West thinks is clearly closer to the truth than they are. As an X-Men who had experienced similar scenes, not to mention any other tasks, the ambush alone was enough to leave a deep lesson on him.

- "He's got a bad stomach, too?" ”

Almost at the same time as the other three, their thoughts were completely different. For this very characteristic description of Gaowen, West, Arthur and Lancelot suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, 'Is this guy really living in the same world as us?'

"Originally, I was worried that you wouldn't take the bait, but now it seems that you are too worried."

Teased and patted Gwen, who was staring wide-eyed in horror. The man looked at Arthur and Lancelot's angry expressions, snapped his fingers, and a dozen horse thieves wrapped in black cloaks suddenly sprang out of the empty bushes around them.

"Can the king and his first knight chase after him at the same time, regardless of their safety, and our maid lady will be much more attractive than you think?"

"Let go of her, Saxons!"

The knuckles holding the hilt of the sword were white with force, and the eyes of the knight of Lancelot burned with anger, and he no longer had his usual gentle appearance.

Take a step forward and raise your sword in an offensive stance. Although Arthur didn't speak, his movements clearly conveyed the same meaning.

"Leave your lives behind, and I'll let her go."

With a sneer, the man slid a short knife from his cuff and pressed it against the maid's waist as he glanced at his companions.

After receiving the signal, the killers who had been ambushed here for a long time also nodded to each other, pulled out the scimitar at their waists, and pointed at the West.

-- It's a little bit of a mess.

If you don't agree with a word, you will immediately fight. Because Gwen was in the hands of the other party, none of them dared to act rashly, so they had to take their swords to resist the enemies around them who were several times their size. But fortunately, Arthur, Gauvin and Lancelot are all battle-hardened veterans, and as the best knights at the round table, even if there are many constraints, they will not be too disadvantaged for a while.

And West, not to mention. Although he can't use his ability to whip all these people out in public, and according to this guy's own words, he is not good at hand-to-hand combat, but in fact, there are obviously many people who are not good at it ...... With the ease of bending his knees and giving the enemy in front of him a heavy blow to the stomach, West made a mistake and was about to turn around to fight again, only to find that the unlucky guy who had been hit by himself had fallen to the ground foaming at the mouth, completely unconscious.

…… Having dealt with superheroes for too long, he seems to be a little too demanding of these ordinary people?

Touching his nose, he turned his head and dodged a stab in the back. The boy didn't even look at it, he directly reached out and grabbed the attacker's wrist, and with just one force, he broke the fragile wrist bone from the joint.

"Damn, do you want to see how I cut out her heart?!"

probably didn't expect the strength of the four to be so strong. Seeing that his companions could not attack for a long time and could not kill King Arthur for a long time, the assassin was also a little impatient. Taking a step forward, the short knife in his hand was still horizontal in front of Gwen, and he signaled to the killers to stop, a clear malice flashing in his eyes.

"Throw away your sword, King Arthur...... And then there were the knights of Gauwen and Lancelot, and that little manservant had better stand still honestly. ”

The blade slammed upwards and stopped in front of the maid's forehead, stabbing a little red in the center of her brow. The man demanded as Gwen screamed in terror as the dark silence over the forest pierced.

"Serena Williams!" He motioned to the knights to do the same, and at the same time shouted in warning and prepared to put another opponent's boy. Arthur's expression hidden in the darkness was hard to see: "What do you really want?" ”

"I want you, and your manservant to die." The expression was distorted for a moment because of the hideousness, and the corners of the man's mouth curled cruelly.

What was said between them next, West didn't listen carefully. He'd dealt with a lot of these situations before, so he wasn't as nervous as the other three. In fact, he has a number of ways to resolve the impasse and make things work out in a good direction, such as brain control or simply strangling Gwen's abductors to death with air currents. But the premise of everything is that he is willing to expose his abilities in front of these people.

And now, it seems, there is no choice.

With a flick of the right ear stud earring, West silently locked on the brainwaves of everyone present. Consciousness skipped the gentle slope behind a towering tree, but suddenly was inexplicably stunned.

"You let her go, I'll leave her at your disposal."

At this time, the conversation between Arthur and the Assassin was also coming to an end. Ignoring the disapproving glances of Gauvin and even Lancelot, the king looked resolute in the face of his sword, and was about to push aside the knights standing in front of him and walk towards the foreign killers who wanted his life.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

As the canopy above his head made a low sound that was not like the wind blowing, the young man who had been standing quietly behind Arthur suddenly shook and appeared in front of a Saxon with a short knife, and raised his hand to give him a beautiful elbow blow. At the same time, the branch above Gwen's head suddenly snapped, smashing between her and the Assassin she was holding hostage. Before everyone could react to what had happened, an emaciated figure suddenly sprang out of nowhere on the gentle slope behind the assassin and slammed into the man's back, pushing him far away from the maid. Immediately after, the short knife that was snatched by West also broke through the air, and happened to be inserted. The gap between the two figures on the ground forced the Assassin to abandon the grapple with his opponent and dodge.

"Thanks, Serena Williams!"

Pull the frightened Gwen back to her camp. Merlin, who had just come out of the Druid land, wiped the dirt from his face rolling between the dead branches and leaves, and happily beckoned to the young man who was cooperating with him.

"You're too slow." After catching a glimpse of Arthur and the three of them picking up their swords again after a brief pause, West complained half-truthfully, and with an over-the-shoulder fall, he put the killer who wanted to trouble the mage to the ground.

"Your brother fights a lot more than you do, Merlin...... Stay with Gwen at West's, and don't mess with me. ”

Without hostages, there are naturally no worries. Arthur swung his sword back at the already feared Assassins, and had time to turn back and explain to his manservant.

"Okay...... I'm not useless, though. ”

As a mage, if someone stands in his way, he will naturally not be reckless in hand-to-hand combat like a warrior. Merlin guarded Gwen, West protected the two of them, and from time to time he secretly used magic or superpowers to make a little stumbling right under everyone's noses - silently chanting a spell to straighten a crooked tree root, causing the killer who was rushing at West to fall all over his face. The black-haired boy happily poked his head out from behind the boy, and was about to say something, but he was almost pierced by the flying short knife.

"Well, I know you're amazing, hurry up and don't get hurt, or Gaius will put □□ in my dinner!!"

He was pressed on the head and shoved him back again. West grabbed the long sword that stabbed him in the eye with his backhand, and suddenly felt tired.

……

It didn't take long for several people to join forces, intentionally or unintentionally, and the dust finally settled on this unilateral interception in the forest.

Stand all over the ground and groan. Moan among the Saxon assassins. They looked at each other for a moment's silence, and then they all focused on the face of a dazed brown-haired boy, apparently refreshed to a new level of his ferocity.

Captain America Steve Rogers once commented very pertinently that West Xavier's fighting style is actually the same as himself, hiding an absolutely abnormal bloodlust and madness under the normal calm appearance. Compared with Arthur and Lancelot, who uphold the orthodox knightly concept and shoot neatly, and Gao Wen, who likes to play a bit of scoundrels and petty tricks, West's attack is obviously more ruthless and even cruel...... Nearly all of the killers who fell beside him had their bare hands torn off part of their bodies - mostly their necks - and the only ones who survived were because Merlin was trying to ask the mastermind behind the scenes, but almost all of his ribs were broken. Such an injury is backward in this kind of medical treatment, even if he does not die on the spot, without the help of magic, he will not be able to survive for a few more days.

"Have you been like this since before?"

His eyes were a little complicated, remembering that this guy did not hesitate to wipe the neck of an unlucky assassin with a knife at the banquet not long ago, Arthur frowned disapprovingly. If it weren't for this assassination, he wouldn't have seen that this simple-looking teenager would have such a heavy anger...... And this kind of person, if he has been immersed in killing for many years and has become accustomed to seeing life as a mustard, or he is too good at hiding with a mask.

"Which one?" And the young man obviously didn't think he had done anything, his eyes were innocent and confused: "If I don't kill them, they will hurt you, isn't that right?" ”

Shaking his head, although this is indeed true, it does not constitute a reason to convince Arthur to reassure. He paused, turned to himself and realized what the black-haired manservant West had done at this time, and there was a hint of suspicion in his gaze: "Merlin, is he your brother?" Well? ”

I opened my mouth, but I found that I didn't know how to explain. Remembering the Druid's admonition to him, West was burdened with a blood debt they could never have imagined. The black-haired mage's light gray eyes seemed to have a flicker, thoughtful.

And too much to indulge in this awkward silence, when Merlin found a dagger bursting from behind him, about to sink into the back of his heart, it was too late to dodge.

"Merlin—!!"

With the valet standing in front of Arthur and Gauwen blocking their view, West, like Merlin, turning his back to the Assassin, and Lancelot whispering to the side to reassure the frightened, neither of them seemed to have time to stop the last blow of the crossbow.

However, when the blade that flashed with cold light almost pierced the black-haired boy's shirt, miraculously it never advanced for half a minute...... And not only the dagger, as a palpitating force suddenly burst through the forest, the surrounding qiē also seemed to be still. Whether it's the evening breeze, the falling leaves, or the bright and lonely starlight overhead.

Except for one person.

Turning around slowly, he reached out and took the blade that was suspended in mid-air, and West's expression was terrifyingly calm. It seems that he has had such a strange habit since a long, long time ago, the heavier the killing intent in his heart, the more empty indifference his eyes become.

Almost.

Just a little bit.

His gaze shifted to the sneak attacker who had exhausted the last of his strength. The unfamiliar face distorted in the field of vision, as if it coincided with the hideous smile of Elizhe in the real room at the bottom of the Alps for many years.

It was there that he almost lost a qiē that he could have. And just a little bit, the nightmare that once haunted me at midnight is about to reappear in this plane again.

"Wait, ......"

Leng Leng raised the corners of his mouth. As far as he could see, all he could see was Dr. Yi's hateful face, and West casually turned the blade in his hand, and then without hesitation, threw it into the darkest corner of his memory.

"West!!"

The blade that glowed with cold light stabbed the man's throat, shattering all illusions with it. Blood splashed, but memories faded like a tide, and when the boy re-immersed himself in the cold and damp forest in the middle of the night, like waking up from a dream, what he saw again was the hand of Arthur and others on the hilt of the sword, and the undisguised astonishment and vigilance in his eyes.

Nothing was explained. West paused, then turned around slowly, meeting the pale gray pupils of disappointment and disbelief beside him.

- He saw his own reflection like a demon.