Kiernan grabbed a heavy-looking money bag that swelled against the safe's walls. The gold coins were almost bursting out.
He swung it over his shoulder and said. "We got what we came here for; we should leave."
"Yeah~" Julian chopped his hand across Wolter's neck, knocking him unconscious.
They then sprinted out of the study and made their way down the spiraling staircase. When they arrived at the long, dark corridors, they headed towards the courtyard.
There they could just jump off the wall and run back to the town.
However, when they arrived at the courtyard, there was already someone there, crouching next to the unconscious-looking young men.
The man was wearing a heavy-looking crimson robe that had shoulder pads studded with gleaming silver spikes. It looked like the robe was weighing a ton.
However, when this man wore it, it seemed light as a feather.
"Did you do this to my sons?" Count Sander turned around with his fiery gaze, his eyes ablaze with rage.
A powerful aura locked into Julian and Kiernan. They felt a chill run down their spines, freezing them in place.
Count Sander then noticed the heavy-looking money bag on Kiernan's shoulder. His anger intensified even further.
"You have stolen from me,' he growled, and stood up tall. "Two dead men walking."
"He must be High Stage Grandmaster, at least…" Julian said aloud. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he has slacked off in his training, so he must still be in his prime strength."
Kiernan dropped the money bag off the wall, and it landed outside the castle walls.
"Shit!" Julian raised his fists.
Count Sander raised his fist, and the room fell silent. He then punched it down on the ground and sent the two young men flying because of the shockwave.
Julian and Kiernan crashed against the stone wall.
"Argh!" Julian groaned in pain.
"…" Kiernan swallowed the grunts of pain and landed on the ground with a pained look flashing by his face.
'Hey, martial soul, I wouldn't mind you giving me a hand here!' Kiernan thought.
However, the martial soul didn't show any signs of peeling. It seemed like the Martial Champion rank was still out of his reach.
"While the gap between us and him is two ranks, it is still as vast as earth and sky." Julian said. "These bottlenecks just keep getting harder, and I've heard of some people taking twenty years to go from Martial Champion to Martial Grandmaster."
"Yeah, I know, he is strong; we're weak." Kiernan said. "The goal is not to defeat him. Just keep delaying time."
"You have any idea how hard that is?" Julian asked. "If he gets one good punch in, we're as good as dead."
"Then don't get punched!" Kiernan lunged forwards like a reckless fool.
Whenever they looked at the Count Sander, he looked like a grim reaper to take them back to the afterlife.
'Unfortunately for you, Count Sander, I've met the real Grim Reaper!'
Count Sander moved his chopping hand over his right shoulder and brought it down at Kiernan. Kiernan moved out of the way. The chop landed on the ground and split the courtyard ground in half!
The crack reached the castle's walls, causing the entire structure to shake and crumble. It then started crumbling down like a stack of dominos, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble in its wake.
Kiernan moved ahead and jabbed his hand across the Count Sander's rib area. The tall man didn't even flinch. His body is far too durable.
'I wanted to pierce his flesh with my hands, but my body conditioning is still poor.' Kiernan frowned.
Count Sander raised his left leg and kicked towards Kiernan. Kiernan ducked underneath the kick and rolled down to the ground.
The kick split the nearby trees in half with a deafening crack, sending splinters flying in all directions.
'Every one of Count Sander's attacks can kill him, but he is still attacking without fear!' Julian grinned and jumped ahead. 'All right then, I'll show my courage as well!'
He brought out his knife and stabbed it towards Count Sander's back, but when it came into contact with his back, the knife shattered into pieces.
"Oh?" Julian raised an eyebrow.
'Count Sander has a body as durable as steel.' Kiernan thought. 'However, it is fake strength, in my opinion. His rank had given him that durability.'
'When I reach grandmaster, I will have an equally strong body, but I don't want that. If I keep body conditioning, when I reach grandmaster, I can stab through Count Sander's body like through cheese.
'Those who rely too much on the strength of their rank will forever stay weak!'
Count Sander turned to Julian with a look of anger and threw a wild haymaker aimed at his face.
Julian ducked the haymaker and punched Count Sander in the groin with all his might.
"No more babies for you!"
"…" Count Sander looked slightly uncomfortable and immediately kicked towards Julian, who simply rolled out of the way with a giddy laugh.
"You're tough, I'll give you that." Julian said. "I expected you to fall down on your knees and start crying like a baby."
At that moment, a whistle sounded, and rapid footsteps started coming towards the castle gates.
Kiernan looked over the walls and saw navy officers with rifles in their hands running towards the castle gates.
'It looks like the slaves did a good job.' Kiernan smiled.
This was what he was waiting for!
There was no way they could fight or run away from Count Sander. It was suicide. However, when the navy finally arrived, he would have way bigger problems than the two thieves!
"Hahaha!" Julian laughed. "Oh boy, you're in trouble~"
"…" Count Sander looked over with a look of anger. "Slaves. You freed them?"
"I hope you don't mind."
"This was your plan all along." Count Sander said with a scoff. "Use the navy as a distraction while you two slip into one of the ships and sail away with your robbed goods?"
At that moment, Count Sander started laughing. It was very unsettling to everyone in the courtyard.
"Not bad; I didn't expect the downfall of the Von Haven family to happen because of two brats that haven't even stopped sucking their mother's breasts!"
'I really don't like that laugh.' Julian thought with a frown.
"Very well then." Count Sander turned around and started walking away from the courtyard, heading to the castle's gates. "Well played. Well played indeed."
"He is leaving?" Julian asked in a surprise.
"Whatever." Kiernan hopped off the castle wall and picked up the heavy money bag. "We should get going!"
"Mm." Julian jumped after him.