Just when Shane was inexplicably starting to feel emotionally stirred, suddenly, he sensed some movement.
Shane's eyebrows raised, and without any hesitation, he vanished from his spot with a flash of movement.
He hadn't strayed far from the area, just into a dark corner nearby where he could observe the direction of the waterfall.
In the next second, Shane saw it.
With a buzzing sound, the waterfall that was roaring downward suddenly began to part from the middle.
The rock wall behind the waterfall then rose, as if pushing the waterfall aside and splitting the flow of water.
Behind the rising rock wall, a rather spacious passage appeared.
For this scenario he had anticipated, Shane let out another sigh.
However, what appeared next truly surprised Shane.
He saw a group of figures within the passage.
They were a group of knights clad in armor, swords at their hips, with expressionless faces and fierce eyes, radiating an aura of solemnity and murder.
The armor worn by these knights was not the heavy armor commonly seen in the Empire, but full-body armor styled after the Kingdom.
It was the armor of the Kingdom.
This group of knights was not from the Empire, but from the Kingdom.
At the forefront of these Kingdom Knights stood a person very familiar to Shane.
He was handsome, with golden hair and blue eyes, and his armor was not the standard issue for ordinary knights, but a very exquisite Guard Knight's armor.
The man was a Guard Knight.
A Guard Knight whom Shane had dealt with on numerous occasions but could hardly be considered to have a good relationship with.
Shane couldn't help but mutter the other person's name.
The Guard Knight in question was none other than the eldest son of the Sterling Family, Lymco Stirn, who, during the battle at Cosmos, had gone missing along with the First Knight Order of Duke Sterling's Domain.
At this moment, this eldest son, who had always coveted Luoqi and constantly thought about stealing Shane's affections, was leading what seemed to be the First Knight Order of Duke Sterling's Domain, appearing in this place.
On closer inspection, it could be seen that the eldest son's eyes had become much colder than before, his expression no longer filled with feigned amiability but now revealed a cold and fierce nature. T.ha.nk you for read$i!ng#.+ T!his& was b%rou$ght to you by *.
The atmosphere around him had also changed, becoming much more dangerous, and the Magic Power he emitted was somehow discomforting.
He led a group of knights, emerging from the passage behind the waterfall.
"Go, conduct a thorough search of the area," Lymco ordered with a cold voice.
A group of knights promptly acknowledged the command and dispersed in all directions, beginning their search.
Lymco himself did the same, standing on the spot, scouring the surroundings with an eagle-like sharpness.
It was as if he had confirmed the presence of an intruder nearby and was intent on turning over every stone in search.
This caused Shane to narrow his eyes.
"Could I have been exposed?"
While he mused, several knights came searching in his direction.
Unfortunately, they could not find Shane.
Hidden by the power of "Inner Destiny", it was simply impossible for knights of Level less than seventy to locate Shane with their search.
Even if they came to Shane's position, passing right in front of him, they would see nothing at all.
The concealment "Inner Destiny" provided not only erased traces like scent and presence but even allowed invisibility.
Therefore, unless they physically bumped into Shane, he was not worried about being discovered.
Besides, should that happen, Shane could just use Instant Teleportation to temporarily leave the area.
Being able to move instantly at will was indeed an overwhelming advantage.
When Shane first acquired this ability, he had marveled at why Laischa could wander so recklessly without restraint.
With such a capability at one's side, he felt more secure than ever.
Thus, Shane waited patiently for the knights to finish their search.
He had now become completely interested in this place.
He wanted to know what was within, why Lymco was here with the members of the First Knight Order, acting as if guarding the area.
Therefore, Shane didn't lash out to knock down everyone present but prepared to sneak in quietly, to investigate without stirring the grass and alarming the snakes.
Before long, the search by the First Knight Order ended.
"Report, no anomalies found in the east."
"Report, no anomalies found in the west."
"Nothing found in the south."
"Likewise here, nothing found."
One after another, the knights returned to Lymco to report.
Lymco, however, frowned.
"No findings?" Lymco said coldly, "Impossible. The High Priest definitely sensed an unusual Magic Power entering the Barrier, and for some unknown reason, it didn't trigger the barrier's alert system. There must be something fishy."
Upon hearing this, one knight couldn't help but speak up.
"Maybe the High Priest's senses are mistaken?"
The knight questioned thus.
Clearly, he wasn't very loyal to guarding this place.
Shane made such a judgment.
However, the action Lymco took the next moment surprised him.
This was the sound of a Longsword cutting through flesh.
Facing the knight's challenge, Lymco Stirn drew his sword without hesitation and beheaded him.
Blood suddenly became a fountain, spurting out from the severed neck of the knight.
The surrounding knights' faces drastically changed, and they couldn't help but take a step back.
The headless corpse convulsed twice before falling to the ground.
As for his head, it had already dropped nearby, staining the gravel red.
The knights watched all of this with their complexions turning pale, fear visible in their eyes.
Only Lymco, holding his blood-dripping sword, swept his chilly gaze over everyone.
"Have you all forgotten the rules here?" Lymco pressed the sword against the neck of the knight closest to him and said, "Speak, what are the rules here?"
He was very scared, very fearful, looking at the one he should be loyal to with eyes as if he was looking at a stranger.
Then, with a trembling voice, he spoke.
"No... It's forbidden to question any command, and any act of defiance is not allowed."
These weren't particularly strict rules.
Many knight orders and even private troops had similar rules inside.
However, here, the situation was clearly different.
"Whether it's questioning or defiance, there's only one outcome for the violator."
Lymco raised his sword, pointing at the headless corpse on the ground.
That was the rule here.
The knight just now had violated that rule.
"Don't think that you are still in Duke Sterling's domain, and don't think you're still proud knights," Lymco said with an icy face. "You are now nothing but dogs kept secretly by the Imperial Concubine, do you understand?"
The knights nodded in trepidation.
"Then continue the search!" Lymco shouted. "If you find nothing tonight, none of you will get to eat. Go on!"
The knights scattered around immediately, still looking scared and pale, but they searched more seriously than before.
It was evident that their pride had been worn away; even a hero seemed no longer in existence. Despite being insulted and driven without any dignity, they dared not resist anymore and followed Lymco's orders without question.
Shane quietly watched all of this, especially Lymco, whose gaze had become a lot sharper.
Lymco, who was standing in place and expressionlessly wiping his longsword, seemed to feel something and turned his head towards Shane's direction.
Shane's eyes flickered, but he didn't look away. He kept watching, just with much less sharpness in his gaze.
Lymco frowned deeply, continuing to look in Shane's direction, lost in thought.
The next moment, Lymco took steps towards Shane's direction.
The sound of the Knight Captain's boots hitting the ground rang clearly, bringing a surge of tension.
Lymco walked directly toward Shane.
Shane watched this scene, his expression unchanged, calm and composed as if he wasn't afraid of being discovered at all.
Lymco approached Shane, stopping less than a meter away, staring intently at him.
After several days, the two were once again facing each other.
The difference was that this time, Shane simply looked calmly at Lymco, while Lymco couldn't see Shane at all and was there frowning in thought.
But Lymco's gaze grew colder and colder.
Accompanied by a flash of sword light, Lymco slashed out without hesitation towards what was in front of him.
Lymco's sword cleaved through a tree in front of him, causing the tree to slowly fall.
The sound of the tree trunk crashing to the ground followed, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Lymco stepped back to dodge and looked at the fallen tree and the empty space before him, his frown gradually easing.
Leaving behind such a conclusion, Lymco turned and left.
The other knights were startled but still obediently conducted a search. In the end, with nothing found, they regrouped around Lymco to report.
As expected, they had found nothing.
Lymco seemed quite displeased with this.
However, since nothing unusual was discovered, they were helpless.
"Let's go back," said Lymco expressionlessly. "I will report to the High Priest."
The knights breathed a sigh of relief.
Quickly, under Lymco's leadership, the knights returned to the waterfall's back.
The stone wall descended, sealing the entrance while also restoring the flow of the waterfall to continue thundering down.
Everything returned to calmness.
Shane appeared once again in the same place, looking at the waterfall before him, and then without any hesitation, he instantly teleported through.