Because of this, Rein glared sharply at him.
"Don't you dare ruin my name in front of him, Xin! If you want to cause trouble, don't drag me into it unless you want me to kill you."
"Fine, fine. I was just joking. You two are way too serious."
Rein exhaled sharply while Prince Warren stood with his hands in his pockets, simply watching them.
"Hey! You're all here!"
And with that, everyone's attention shifted to the man who had just arrived.
Dao Daishin, with more than ten companions behind him.
The tension between them intensified. Xin pulled out his threads, secretly preparing to bind Dao's whole group—when he abruptly stopped after someone tapped him from behind.
"Stop that, Xin. You don't want us to start a fight here, my friend. You know that."
Because of this, the threads disappeared, and Xin smiled as he glanced back at Dao.
"Oh come on. What are you saying? I wasn't doing anything. You're too tense."
Prince Warren was astonished at how fast Dao had appeared behind Xin just like that. With the power being shown by these Guild Leaders, the prince couldn't help smirking. These people were monsters—there was no question about it.
Magnus then turned around and began walking away.
Dao looked at him.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't have time to chat with you. I still have a competition to finish."
"Why don't we form an alliance?" Rein suggested.
"Are you out of your mind?" Magnus stared at him.
Rein lifted both hands again and looked away.
"Sorry. Bad suggestion."
"Have any of you seen Emrys around?" Xin asked.
"I heard he got the first badge. That kid's lucky—it's annoying." Dao walked back beside his men, glancing at Magnus whose back was turned to them. "Hey, Magnus. Why are you leaving already? Since we're all here, why don't we talk about this?"
"What is there to talk about?"
"Let's make an alliance," Xin chimed in, now sitting on a wide rock, leaning forward with a grin as he looked at Rein. "Rein's right. We should work together."
Dao crossed his arms, chin raised, staring at Magnus as he turned toward Xin.
"We're from different Guilds. You all know that. Forming an alliance is nonsense. But if you all want to do that, who am I to stop you?"
"Oh come on, Magnus. We're not talking about badges," Xin said.
Magnus frowned and looked at him.
"What do you mean? What other reason is there for an alliance?"
"It's about taking down Emrys Valestron," Prince Warren answered.
Magnus immediately turned to him. Dao snorted with a grin. Xin also smirked, while Magnus kept his focus on the prince.
"So just because of the headmaster's announcement… you all thought of forming an alliance and meeting here? For what?" Magnus said. "To stop Valestron from getting ahead of all of us?"
"Why? Don't you want that guy out of the competition?" Dao asked. Magnus took a deep breath and looked at him.
"I don't need an alliance. I'll take Valestron down myself, and I can do it without any help from you. Thanks for the offer, though."
With that, Magnus left—and none of them dared to stop him.
Xin stood up, hands in his pockets.
"He never knows how to cooperate in situations like this."
Rein crossed his arms.
"He's arrogant. But honestly, he has a point. You two didn't even beat him in the first competition, did you?"
Xin laughed and looked at Rein.
"Hey, hey, hey. What are you trying to say?"
"He just got lucky. That's all," Dao muttered.
"Tsk." Rein turned around and pocketed his hands.
"Whatever. We better get moving and take that kid down as soon as possible."