Ascenders Rift

Chapter 162: Leo's Acquaintances, A Bold Challenge

When she heard Mark's words, Julie's face sunk as Leo's face shone with an icy ray, however, he tried his best to keep his anger down as he turned to look at her.

At this time, Julie had reigned in on her emotions as she stared at him and spoke, "Sir Anderson, I believe this isn't the time to be talking about unnecessary private affairs. I am also still in disagreement about such talks, so please try to refrain from using such words. Another thing, do, please hurry up with your decision. We need to know if you are willing to let this matter end."

Leo sighed when he heard this, looking at Julie with a vague look of relief.

When Mark heard her words, he frowned as he glared at her for a while before turning and seeing Leo's expression. He had already known of Leo's feelings, but even if he was angry, he similarly knew that Leo wasn't weak, not to mention that Razel was here, being the only person to make him feel a slight feeling of oppressiveness. 

Mark weighed his options before he snorted and spoke, "Fine, I won't press this matter; she only spilled my liquor nothing significant. However, my dear fiance, no need to be so harsh with your words, I am naturally always in respect of your decisions, but it's just a pity, our families won't see eye to eye with this case. Now then, please have a nice day; I shall be in touch with you at the appointed time."

As Mark said this, he made a smile as he stared at Julie, before glancing at Leo with a smug look on his face. He turned and walked towards the entrance as he spoke, "Let's go, we have other matters to focus on,"

"Y-yes Sir Anderson!" The lackeys said as they followed behind him like a tail.

Mark glance at Joe with a vague, but ruthless look, before he scanned the bodies of Layla, Emilia, and Breya, with a slight smile as he thought while leaving, 'Huhu... such beautiful women aren't for the likes of common men to court, just you wait, this is not over yet...'

Moments later, the scene had returned to normal and the tension died due to Mark and his posse leaving. 

By now, Leo, Razel, and Julie had relief looks on their faces as they laughed while speaking.

"Haha, Julie, I didn't think you were so direct, maybe the military was good for you after all," Leo said with a smirk.

"Hmph! Worry about yourself rather than me. You don't think he'll let you go after speaking up to him like that?" Julie said while looking at Leo with a reprimanding look.

"Heh, I have more than one lives, plus he wouldn't dare to step out of bounds, not with my father being who he is..." Leo said with flashing eyes, but though he said this, he also knew that his father's position was rough at the moment, and there were already undercurrents of people trying to kick him out of his role.

Julie naturally knew this, but she didn't say it; she looked at him deeply, staring at his profile from the corner of her eyes as she clenched her fists tightly while thinking, 'If only things were different...'

Razel, who had been silent, knew of their silent struggle, but he also knew that it wasn't his place to meddle as only they could help themselves. 

Suddenly, Razel looked at the side and saw two persons walking over, a young woman with short blue hair dressed elegantly, and a rough-looking man with a square-shaped face. His eyes widen as he spoke, "Oh, well if it isn't Oron and Irene, I didn't notice you where here."

"Of course we'd be, not like we have anything better to do without being deployed. Plus, with both you and that bum sent to that base camp. We've hardly had anyone to meet up with this past month," Irene said with a look of boredom on her face.

Razel shook his head as he replied, "Well, it's not like we can do anything about it. You should know why we were sent there in the first place."

Leo also made a sour look, as Julie showed a similar expression. Irene scoffed at this, but Oron shook his head and spoke, "Enough about that, we couldn't help but notice that bastard Mark was here, hehe, it looks like those Anderson's are getting even bolder as of late. Oh well, not like we can do anything about it at this crucial time, tell me, what are you guys doing back in the city? They couldn't have allowed you to leave your post if it wasn't for something important."

Leo hearing this looked at the duo before directing their attention to Evan's party with his eyes as he spoke, "It's them, we are here to act as the escorts to a few special guests you see."

"Oh, special guests? Do tell us more!" Irene said with beaming eyes.

Leo sighed as he spoke, "Sure, but let's do so at a later time, at the very least, away from here...."

Irene and Oron nodded as they saw a few prying eyes, Leo then began to carry the group over to Evan and the others.

At this time, Joe had brought back the unconscious Breya, he looked at Layla and Emmy and handed her over to them as he spoke, "Shall we call it a day?"

Evan looked at Rick and the others and saw that they nodded, he rose to his feet and spoke, "Sure, since she's out of it, I suppose we should let her rest, I also want to wander around for a bit before night falls."

"Great," The others replied.

Leo had only now walked over with the others, when he saw Evan and the other's actions his eyes widened, before he spoke with a smile, "I take it that you guys are tired of this place,"

"Hmm, we want to let one of our friends rest a bit to recover herself," Evan said.

Leo nodded as he spoke, "Understandable, okay, I'll pay for one of the best rooms you can get, one for the women and the other for you guys."

Evan smiled as he replied with a polite gesture, "That would be perfect,"

As Evan said this, his eyes shifted to the side as he noticed the new faces nearby Leo. When Leo saw this, he only remembered, he scratched his head embarrassedly as he spoke, "Ah, yes, haha, I had almost forgotten to introduce my associates."

Oron shook his head, while Irene snorted while glaring at him from the side. Leo said, "Oron, Irene, I'd like to introduce you to Evan, Joe, Emilia, Layla, Rick, and Breya. They are the special guests that have come to meet with our City Council Members."

Irene and Oron had looks of shocks on their faces, but as Leo said that he would explain to them in more detail later. They didn't overreact, they looked at Evan's party and greeted, "Nice to meet you,"

Evan and the others also made a polite gesture as they replied, "Likewise,"

Leo nodded as he saw this, while Razel and Julie had smiles on their faces. Leo then clapped his hands two times and spoke, "Alright greetings are over, come on let's go, the day is still young, after all, once I sort out those lodgings, I still want to get a few pointers from Sir Evan at the Training Quarters."

Rick and the others smirked as they heard this, while Irene and Oron were curious, they thought to themselves.

'Is he that strong? I didn't think there would be someone this bum is so eager to fight,' Irene thought to herself, as she looked at Evan with curious eyes.

Oron also had a strange look as he gazed at him in silence.

Evan merely made a faint smile as he replied, "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way, hmm, why not make it more interesting? Your party of five against only five of us, we'll go there after our friend here has rested and sobered up." 

"Hmm?" Leo was a bit surprised at this, he turned and glanced at Rick, Joe, Layla, and Emilia and saw that they were each surprised by Evan's words, but soon their faces turned to one of confidence.

Razel and Julie were also intrigued by them. Leo spoke, "Haha, no problem, we can do a mock battle royal."

As both Evan and Leo smiled, the eyes of both parties burned with fascination as if they had everything under control.

Soon, they had already left Heaven's Parlor, using the elevator to travel towards the resting floor. The scene here remaining the same, but if one looked at a random bartender, they would see that he was looking at the elevator that was leaving with a deep expression. He made a smile as he used his wristlet to send a message to someone. 

Away from this scene, in a bright and luxurious room, Manager Paulson was currently standing at a window, on this window was a screen showing a male silhouette.

Suddenly, Manage Paulson glanced at his watch and read a message, causing him to smile. A voice then sounded from the screen before him, "Paulson, how is it? What's your opinion of their party?"

Paulson remained calm; his eyes flashed when he replied, "The conflict didn't go as planned, but... from their reactions, I can tell that there's more to them than meets the eyes."

"..." The person behind the screen remained silent before he spoke again, "Keep them watched; we will only act once we've learned enough..."

"Understood, sir..." Paulson said with a bow, the scene here slowly fading away, as Paulson's smile carried spooky vibe.